A Field Book of the Stars Part 9

and ? are one instance out of many where stars of more than ordinary brightness are seen together in pairs, the brightest star being generally on the east.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ARIES]

CETUS (se-tus)--THE WHALE. (Face Southeast.)

LOCATION.--A line drawn from Polaris, to d Ca.s.siopei, and prolonged two and one third times its original length, reaches the centre of this constellation.

It lies just below Aries and the Triangle, and resembles the figure of the prehistoric icthyosaurus, while some see in the outline an easy chair. The head of the beast is characterized by a clearly traced pentagon, about 20 southeast of Aries. The brightest star in the constellation is a of the second magnitude. It is at one apex of the pentagon, about 15 east of Al Rischa in Pisces, and 37 directly south of Algol.

The noted variable Mira also known as ? Ceti is the chief object of interest in this constellation.

It was discovered by Fabricius in 1596 and varies from the ninth magnitude to the third or fourth in a period of 334 days. It can be observed during its entire range with a 3" gla.s.s.

In 1779 Mira is reported to have been as bright as the first-magnitude star Aldebaran. It lies almost exactly on a line joining ? and ? Ceti a little nearer the former. Ten degrees south of it are four faint stars about 3 apart forming a square.

t Ceti is one of our nearest neighbors at a distance of nine light years.

? is a naked-eye double star.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CETUS]

MUSCA (mus-k)--THE FLY. (Face Southeast.)

LOCATION.--Musca lies between Triangulum and Aries, the diagram clearly defining its position.

The four stars composing it form a group shaped like the letter "Y."

There is nothing of particular interest to be noted in this asterism.

It does not appear on modern star charts and is considered obsolete.

So great is the distance that separates us from the stars that as for the great majority had they been blotted out of existence before the Christian era, we of to-day should still receive their light and seem to see them just as we do. When we scan the nocturnal skies we study ancient history. We do not see the stars as they are but as they were centuries on centuries ago.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MUSCA]

METEORIC SHOWERS.

OCTOBER TO JANUARY.

+-----------------+-------+----------------+---------------+--------------+--------+ | | | | | Other Dates | | | Name of Shower | Date | Radiant Point |Characteristics| of |Location| | | | | | Observation | | +-----------------+-------+----------------+---------------+--------------+--------+ | | | Between Great | | | | | Ursids |Oct. 4 |Bear's head and | Sw. Sk. | Aug. 20-24 | N. | | | | Polaris | | | | +-----------------+-------+----------------+---------------+--------------+--------+ |Epsilon Arietids | | East of Hamal, | | Oct. 11-24, | | | Rich shower |Oct. 14| near Musca | M. Sw. | Oct. 30- | E. | | 1877 | | | | Nov. 4 | | +-----------------+-------+----------------+---------------+--------------+--------+ | Orionids |Oct. 18| Near Alhena in | After 11 P.M. | Oct. 16-22 | E. | | Fine shower | | Gemini | Sw. Sk. | | | +-----------------+-------+----------------+---------------+--------------+--------+ | | |Near Castor and | After 10 P.M. | Nov. 7, | | | Delta Geminids |Oct. 29| Pollux | v. Sw. Sk. | Dec. 4, | N.E. | | | | | | Oct. 16-22 | | +-----------------+-------+----------------+---------------+--------------+--------+ |(e) Taurids. Rich|Nov. 2 | About 13 S.E. | Sl. B.T. | Nov. 2-3 | E. | | shower in 1886 | | of Aldebaran | | | | +-----------------+-------+----------------+---------------+--------------+--------+ | Leonids | |Near (?) Leonis |After midnight.| | | |Brilliant shower |Nov. 13| In the Sickle | v. Sw. | Nov. 12-14 | N.E. | | | | | Sk. | | | +-----------------+-------+----------------+---------------+--------------+--------+ | | | Near () Urs | After 10 P.M. | Sept. 15, | | | Leo Minorids |Nov. 16|Maj., the Great | v. Sw. Sk. | Oct. 16 | N. | | | |Bear's hind feet| | | | +-----------------+-------+----------------+---------------+--------------+--------+ | Andromedids. | | Near (?) | | Nov. 17-23 | | | The Bielids. |Nov. 27| Andromed | Sl. T. | Nov. 21-28 |Overhead| | Fine display | | | | | | +-----------------+-------+----------------+---------------+--------------+--------+ | |Nov. 30|Between Capella | | Aug. 16 | | | Taurids | |and (a) Persei | V. Sw. | Sept. 15, |Overhead| | | | | | Nov. 20 | | +-----------------+-------+----------------+---------------+--------------+--------+ | Zeta Taurids. |Dec. 6 | Near the horns | | | | | Active shower | | of the Bull | Sl. B. | | E. | | in 1876 | | | | | | +-----------------+-------+----------------+---------------+--------------+--------+ | Geminids. |Dec. 10| Near Castor | Sw. | Dec. 1-14 | E. | | Fine shower | | | | | | +-----------------+-------+----------------+---------------+--------------+--------+ | Kappa Draconids |Dec. 22| Near Thuban | | Nov. 14-23 | | | | | (a) Draconis | Sw. Sk. | Dec. 18-29 | | +-----------------+-------+----------------+---------------+--------------+--------+ | Fire Ball Dates | | | | Nov. 29 | | | | | | |Dec. 2, 19, 21| | +-----------------+-------+----------------+---------------+--------------+--------+

The Andromedes are usually red, sluggish in their movements, and leave only a small train.

Brilliant displays were seen in 1872 and 1885.

The Leonids are characterized by their exceedingly swift flight. They are of a greenish or bluish tint and leave behind them a vivid and persistent train. In most years the display is not especially noteworthy. Once in thirty-three years they afford an exhibition grand beyond description as in 1833 and 1866.

THE CONSTELLATIONS OF WINTER.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Map showing the princ.i.p.al stars visible from Lat. 40 N. at 9 o'clock, January first.]

TAURUS (t-rus)--THE BULL. (Face Southwest.)

LOCATION.--Taurus contains the well-known and unmistakable group the Pleiades, on the right shoulder of the Bull. A "V" shaped group known as the Hyades is just to the southeast of the Pleiades, in the face of the Bull, forming one of the most beautiful objects in the sky.

The brightest star in Taurus is Aldebaran, a ruddy-hued star known as "The Follower." It is at the beginning of the "V" in the Hyades, and is at the apex of a triangle formed by Capella, in Auriga, and a Persei, and equally distant from them both.

The star called Nath, is peculiarly white, and is common to Taurus and Auriga. It represents the tip of one of the Bull's horns, and the right foot of the Charioteer. The Pleiades are mentioned in Chinese annals in 2357 B.C. On a photograph of the group over 2000 stars have been counted.

The ecliptic pa.s.ses a little south of a point midway between the two horns, where a scattered and broken stream of minute stars can be seen.

Note two pretty pairs in the Hyades, one south of Aldebaran, the other northwest of it.

There are rich cl.u.s.ters below the tip of the horn over Orion's head.

Taurus was an important object of wors.h.i.+p by the Druids.

Aldebaran is near one eye of the Bull, and used to be called "The Bull's Eye." An occultation of it by the moon, which not infrequently occurs, is a striking phenomenon.

The Eskimos regard the Pleiades as a team of dogs in pursuit of a bear. The group is receding from us at the rate of thirteen miles a second and has a common eastward motion of about ten seconds a century.

[Ill.u.s.tration: TAURUS]

ORION (o-ri-on)--THE GIANT HUNTER. (Face South.)

LOCATION.--Orion is considered the finest constellation in the heavens. A line drawn from Nath to ? Tauri (the tips of the Bull's horns), and extended 15, strikes the brilliant Betelgeuze in Orion, known as the martial star. It forms the northeast corner of a conspicuous parallelogram. The splendid first-magnitude star Rigel is diagonally opposite Betelgeuze, and the girdle and sword of the Hunter lie within the parallelogram, a very striking group. The former is represented by three bright stars in a line 3 long known as the "Three Stars," because there are no other stars in the heavens that exactly resemble them in position and brightness.