,,round ,,the ,,year ,,with ,,the ,,stars ,,the ,,chief ,,beauties ,,of ,,the ,,starry ,,heavens ,,as ,,seen ,,with ,,the ,,naked ,,eye ,,by ,,garrett ,p4 ,,serviss ,,author ,,of 8,,astronomy ,,with ,,the ,,naked ,,eye0 8,,curiosities ,,of ,,the ,,sky0 ,,etc4 ,,with ,,maps ,,showing ,,the ,,aspect ,,of ,,the ,,sky ,,in ,,each ,,of ,,the ,,four ,,seasons ,,and ,,charts ,,revealing ,,the ,,outlines ,,of ,,the ,,constellations ,,and ,,the ,,designations ,,of ,,the ,,principal ,,stars ,illustration ,,new ,,york ,,and ,,london ,,harper ,,brothers ,,publishers ,,mcmx ,copyright1 #aiaj1 by ,,harper ,,brothers ,published ,september1 #aiaj4 ,printed in the ,united ,states of ,america ,,contents ,,chap4 ,,page ,,preface #g ,,introduction #i ,i4 ,,the ,,evening ,,sky ,,at ,,the ,,vernal ,,equinox #ba ,,ii4 ,,the ,,evening ,,sky ,,at ,,the ,,summer ,,solstice #ej ,,iii4 ,,the ,,evening ,,sky ,,at ,,the ,,autumnal ,,equinox #ga ,,iv4 ,,the ,,evening ,,sky ,,at ,,the ,,winter ,,solstice #ic ,v4 ,,the ,,planets #aah ,,appendix #abi ,,pronunciation ,,of ,,star ,,and ,,constellation ,,names #ada ,,index #adc ,,list ,,of ,,charts ,,page ,,chart ,i4 ,,the ,,vernal ,,evening ,,sky #bc ,,chart ,,ii4 ,,the ,,summer ,,evening ,,sky #ea ,,chart ,,iii4 ,,the ,,autumn ,,evening ,,sky #gc ,,chart ,,iv4 ,,the ,,winter ,,evening ,,sky #ie ,,chart ,v4 ,,the ,,first ,,six ,,hours ,,from ,,the ,,vernal ,,equinox #acd ,,chart ,,vi4 ,,from ,,vi ,h4 ,,to ,,xii ,h4 ,,from ,,the ,,vernal ,,equinox #ace ,,chart ,,vii4 ,,from ,,xii ,h4 ,,to ,,xviii ,h4 ,,from ,,the ,,vernal ,,equinox #acf ,,chart ,,viii4 ,,from ,,xviii ,h4 ,,to ,,xxiv ,h4 ,,from ,,the ,,vernal ,,equinox #acg ,,chart ,,ix4 ,,polar ,,constellations ,,from ,,vi ,h4 ,,to ,,xviii ,h4 #ach ,,chart ,x4 ,,polar ,,constellations ,,from ,,xviii ,h4 ,,to ,,vi ,h4 #aci ,,preface ,this book represents an attempt to cultivate the love of the stars1 and to offer a guiding hand to all those who are willing to believe that some of the most exquisite joys of life are to be found1 like scattered and unregarded gems1 waiting to be picked up by any chance wayfarer who1 without special knowledge1 or optical aids1 or mathematical attainments1 or any of the paraphernalia or advantages of the professional astronomer1 will simply turn his eyes to the sky and open his mind to its plain teachings and its supernal inspirations4 ,the writer's only real excuse for appearing again in this particular field is that he has never yet finished a book1 and seen it go forth1 without feeling that he had overlooked1 or cast aside1 or of necessity omitted a multitude of things quite as interesting and important as any he had touched upon4 ,accordingly1 he yields once more to the lure of this inexhaustible and illimitable subject1 and strives again to find expression for the thoughts which it continually awakens1 and to exhibit1 however imperfectly1 the endless procession of marvels which stream before him who knows and loves the stars like a dazzling rivire of brilliants4 ,this book in no way duplicates another work of the same hand1 ,astronomy with the ,naked ,eye4 ,in that the effort was to revive the romance of the constellations by retelling their fascinating history1 their mythology1 their immemorial legends and traditions1 and indicating their poetic background in the presence of the imaginary figures which1 8from times of which the memory of man runneth not to the contrary10 have been associated with them2 in this the writer tries to draw the reader into more intimate relations with the stars by dwelling upon their individual peculiarities and beauties1 and the impressions which either singly or in constellated groups they make upon the mind of the beholder4 ,surely there is not another field of human contemplation so wondrously rich as astronomy6 ,it is so easy to reach1 so responsive to every mood1 so stimulating1 uplifting1 abstracting1 and infinitely consoling4 ,everybody may not be a chemist1 a geologist1 a mathematician1 but everybody may be and ought to be1 in a modest1 personal way1 an astronomer1 for star-gazing is a great medicine of the soul4 ,there is the writer's text4 ,,introduction ,the charts illustrating this book have been drawn by the writer especially to meet the needs of beginners--of those who1 feeling what a void in their intellectual life ignorance of the stars has created1 would now fill that void1 and thus round out their spiritual being with some knowledge of ,nature on her most majestic and yet most beautiful and winning side4 ,on account of the necessarily diminutive scale of the charts1 everything has been omitted from them which did not seem essential4 ,but for the purpose in view they gain by this process of exclusion1 for with more details they would have been confusing4 ,it is the broad1 general aspect of the sky with which the beginner must first familiarize himself4 ,at the start the heavens appear to him to be filled with an innumerable multitude of scintillating sparks1 scattered everywhere in disorder4 ,but with a little attention he perceives that there is discipline in this host1 and immediately the discovery gives him pleasure and awakens his admiration1 as the perception of order always does4 ,the great leaders of the firmament come forth1 unmistakable1 plainly recognizable1 and thereupon the rank and file fall into their places4 ,then the ineffable beauty of the whole assemblage bursts like a revelation upon the mind4 ,this revelation is not for the dull in spirit1 but he who has once had it becomes henceforth1 and even in spite of previous prejudice or indifference1 a devotee of the stars1 with a zeal flaming brighter with every swing of the pendulum of his years4 ,in the four circular charts representing the aspect of the heavens respectively at the ,vernal ,equinox1 the ,summer ,solstice1 the ,autumnal ,equinox1 and the ,winter ,solstice1 few stars fainter than the fourth magnitude are included1 and not all even of that magnitude1 because the sole purpose is to enable the beginner to recognize the constellations by their characteristic groupings of stars and their relative situations in the sky4 ,the insuperable difficulty is to picture the hemispherical sky on a flat page4 ,a certain amount of distortion cannot be avoided1 and the reader's imagination must supply the effect of perspective4 ,he must always remember that the centre of the chart stands for the middle of the sky overhead1 and that the circular boundary represents the full round of the horizon1 from east through south1 west1 and north1 to east again4 ,if he is comparing the chart with the sky while facing south1 he should hold the chart upright as it is printed in the book2 if he makes the comparison while facing north1 he should turn the chart upside down4 ,if he lies on his back with his head to the north 7and in no other way can one get so vast an impression of the starry dome71 and holds the chart over his head1 it will represent the entire vault of the firmament4 ,the names of the constellations will be found on the charts1 and also the individual names of the most celebrated stars1 but the constellation boundaries are not shown1 because1 in nine cases out of ten1 the precise limits of a constellation are not important for the beginner to know1 and to search for them would simply lead to confusion4 ,as he progresses in his knowledge of the sky any uncertainty about the constellation to which particular stars belong can be settled by consulting the six charts1 drawn to a larger scale1 at the end of the book4 ,on these charts more of the small stars are shown1 and in addition there will be found the ,greek letters which astronomers attach to the principal stars of each constellation for the sake of ready identification4 ,on these charts1 too1 the constellation boundaries will be seen1 indicated by dotted lines4 ,the tracing of these lines is more or less a matter of arbitrary choice4 ,there are no international boundary disputes among the heavenly powers1 and the frontier lines may run anywhere1 provided only that they do not include in one constellation any stars which by common usage1 or prescription1 belong to another4 ,the constellations have been reshaped many times in the past4 ,the 8geography of the heavens0 has known as many changes as that of the earth1 the ambition of the old astronomers being sometimes as insatiable as that of founders of terrestrial kingdoms and empires4 ,about three centuries ago the starry sky was 8,christianized10 ,st4 ,matthew1 ,st4 ,peter1 ,st4 ,john1 ,st4 ,joseph1 ,st4 ,michael1 ,st4 ,stephen1 ,st4 ,gabriel1 ,st4 ,mary ,magdalen1 ,st4 ,katharine1 together with ,noah1 ,aaron1 ,job1 and ,eve1 taking the places of the heathen gods1 goddesses1 and heroes in the sky1 while ,saturn became ,adam1 ,jupiter ,moses1 ,mars ,joshua1 ,mercury ,elias1 ,venus ,st4 ,john ,baptist 7671 the ,moon the ,virgin ,mary1 and the ,sun ,christ 7see ,appendix74 ,it is not an unheard-of thing in uranography 78description of the heavens02 analogue to geography7 for a star1 or a group of stars1 to change allegiance1 or even to belong to two constellations at the same time4 ,the bright star ,alpheratz is still an example of this double nationality1 for1 although it shines on the head of ,andromeda and is her jewel par excellence1 yet her neighbor ,pegasus also lays claim to the star1 and uranographers so far admit the justice of his claim that they call ,alpheratz1 according to circumstances1 either ,alpha 77 ,andromed or ,delta 77 ,pegasi4 ,for many of their purposes astronomers find no use for the constellations1 preferring to identify the stars by their position in right ascension and declination 7equivalent to longitude and latitude71 and in the great modern ,durchmusterungs1 or star catalogues1 this plan is universally followed4 ,still1 the constellations afford a very convenient classification of the stars1 and probably they will never be abandoned even by professional astronomers2 while from another standpoint they never can be abandoned1 because they are among the most ancient and precious of human documents1 valuable for history and for the understanding of mythology1 and resistlessly charming in their poetic associations4 ,but1 to return to the description of the charts1 the reader should be informed as to the meaning of the lines shown upon them1 and of the indications found round their borders4 ,in the four circular charts the closed curve crossing the sky from right to left represents the equator of the heavens1 which is directly over the equator of the earth2 the vertical line through the centre shows the meridian1 or north and south line1 which1 so to speak1 follows the observer wherever he may go1 occupying the same place in the sky1 at the same hour of local time1 in all longitudes2 and the dotted curve is the ecliptic1 or the apparent annual path of the sun through the sky4 ,the crossing points of the equator and the ecliptic are respectively the ,vernal and the ,autumnal ,equinox1 where the sun is at the two dates in the year when day and night are of equal length2 and the farthest northern and southern points of the ecliptic are respectively the ,summer and the ,winter ,solstice1 where the sun is at the times of the longest and the shortest days in our hemisphere4 ,these four fundamental points are all shown on the charts4 ,around the border the hours of right ascension are indicated by ,roman numerals4 ,each hour corresponds to #ae of space1 or one twenty-fourth of a circle of the sphere4 ,the hours begin at the ,vernal ,equinox1 which is graphically described as the 8,greenwich of the ,sky40 ,in the larger-scale charts at the end of the book the hours of right ascension are indicated at the bottom1 and the degrees of north and south declination 7the sign standing for north and - for south7 are shown at the side4 ,in both cases the declination is reckoned from the equator4 ,the four oblong charts of this series1 taken together1 represent the entire circuit of sky between #dj north and #dj south declination1 and the two semicircular charts1 taken together1 show the stars within #ej of the north pole4 ,thus the entire set of six charts exhibits the complete dome of the heavens from the north pole to #dj south declination4 ,in passing from the oblong to the semicircular charts it is only necessary to bring the hours of right ascension into accord4 ,in the semicircular charts the hours will be found round the curved borders4 ,each of the four circular charts in the body of the book represents the aspect of the evening sky at one of the equinoctial or solstitial epochs4 ,to be more precise1 these charts show the sky as it appears1 at about the latitude of ,new ,york1 at #aj ,p4,m41 on1 respectively1 ,march #bjth 7the ,vernal ,equinox71 ,june #bast 7the ,summer ,solstice71 ,september #bc;d 7the ,autumnal ,equinox71 and ,december #bb;d 7the ,winter ,solstice74 ,but the reader must not think that it is necessary to confine himself to the exact latitude1 date1 or hour just mentioned4 ,undoubtedly it would be better for the beginner to do that approximately1 but it is not essential4 ,the effect of a change of latitude is1 perhaps1 the least important4 ,if the observer is farther south than about #dj north latitude1 the southern stars will appear higher in the sky than they are shown in the charts1 and some of the stars close to the northern horizon will sink from view4 ,if1 on the other hand1 he is farther north 7as in ,canada or ,northern ,europe71 the northern stars will appear higher1 and some of those near the southern horizon will be invisible4 ,but if he confines his attention to the stars and constellations represented in the central parts of the charts 7which he should1 in any case1 do for other reasons71 the effect of the shift due to difference of latitude will not be found very serious4 ,as to the effects of a departure from the hours and dates for which the charts are drawn1 they1 too1 can readily be allowed for4 ,suppose that1 without changing the date1 the reader makes his observations an hour earlier than that given1 say at #i ,p4,m41 ,march #bjth4 ,then he will find that some of the eastern stars1 seen along the left-hand edge of the chart when it is held upright1 have not yet come into view above the horizon1 while other stars1 not seen on the chart drawn for that date1 are visible above the horizon in the west4 ,to the stars thus carried out of1 or brought into1 view he should pay no attention2 he will find them again on other charts when they are better placed for observation4 ,next1 suppose that without changing the hour of observation he changes the date1 and instead of observing on the #bjth of ,march he observes on the #eth4 ,then he will notice precisely the same difference that was manifest when his observation was made an hour too early on ,march #bjth--i4 e41 some of the eastern stars on the chart will not yet have risen1 and other stars1 not on that particular chart1 will be visible in the west4 ,although at first all this may be a little confusing to the beginner1 he will soon find that he can make due allowance for the changes of aspect4 ,the whole matter becomes very simple when it is remembered that the heavens have a double revolution toward the west2 one of these revolutions1 due to the earth's rotation on its axis1 being effected in twenty-four hours1 and the other1 due to the earth's revolution round the sun1 requiring an entire year4 ,one hour of the daily revolution 7represented by an hour of right ascension7 produces the same effect on the position of the stars as two weeks of the annual revolution2 or two hours of the first correspond to one month of the second4 ,if the observations are made at a later date or a later hour than those indicated on the chart1 the changes will occur in the reverse order--i4 e41 western stars will have disappeared and eastern stars will have come up into view4 ,i particularly wish to impress upon the beginner the needlessness of being troubled about these discrepancies4 ,he can avoid all possibility of perplexity by fitting his observations to the exact times of the charts4 ,as ,i have already said1 a difference of a few degrees in his latitude on the earth may be disregarded4 ,the charts1 with a slight allowance for the shift of position of the extreme northern and southern stars1 are available for any of the middle latitudes of the northern hemisphere4 ,and if the effects of a change of hour or date prove in the least confusing1 the beginner has only to await the given date and the given hour1 and all will be clear4 ,then1 as soon as he has become familiar with a few of the leading constellations1 the others1 which in themselves are not so easily recognizable1 will fall into their proper places1 after which there can be no possibility of confusion4 ,in fact1 much less effort is required to become familiar with the aspect of the starry sky than is demanded for a similar acquaintance with the fundamental data of botany1 mineralogy1 geology1 or any other of the observational branches of natural science4 ,it was at first the intention to indicate the course of the ,milky ,way on the circular charts by dotted outlines1 but this was abandoned in view of the restricted space4 ,any one can easily trace the meanderings and branchings of this starry scarf1 the contemplation of which carries the mind to greater heights of intellectual perspective than any other phenomenon of the world of matter4 ,if the reader has the good-fortune to be situated where artificial lights do not interfere with the splendor of the heavens1 he can observe the course of the ,milky ,way on any clear night2 and1 if he possesses skill in delineation1 he may make charts of it and its offshoots which will be of real value4 ,better still if he has the means of photographing it4 ,here is a non-mathematical field of astronomy which is ripe for the harvest1 and in which the laborers are few4 ,the ,milky ,way is so full of wonders that centuries of observation and study cannot exhaust them4 ,there is nothing more impressive than to see how it often follows curves of lucid stars as if some mysterious attraction were drawing it toward them2 and yet it itself consists of stars4 ,a few more words of practical advice to the beginner4 ,let him1 at first1 confine himself to the bright and conspicuous stars and the striking groups shown in the charts1 assigning each to its proper constellation4 ,when he has become familiar with these in their broadest aspects1 he can turn to the charts at the end of the book and familiarize himself with the constellation boundaries4 ,after that1 if he wishes to go further1 as he almost certainly will1 he can obtain a large star atlas1 furnish himself with a telescope1 and open up a new side of his life which will make him rejoice to be1 for a few short years1 a dweller on a planet inhabited by beings intelligent enough to lift their eyes above the horizon and to feed their minds with the inspirations of the universe4 ,yet another thing1 which may be a novelty to many1 and which is sure to afford unexpected pleasure--when you have fairly learned the constellations1 take a mirror and study them by reflection4 ,this is a counsel of intimacy4 ,orion will seem less remote and more comprehensible when his living image is enclosed in a frame1 which you can hold on your lap like an album4 ,there is something startling in the sight of the starry heavens under your feet4 ,i once enjoyed the sensation in perfection while stalking deer in a boat at midnight on the placid bosom of a forest pond4 ,the water was as motionless as so many acres of black glass1 and ,i forgot to look for the deer1 in the shaft of light from the hooded 8flare0 at the bow1 when we seemed to be drifting out into an ocean of ether1 in the middle of the sky1 with stars below as well as stars above4 ,when we silently crossed the pond1 and got far from the shores1 the sensation was overpowering2 it took one's breath away4 ,we drifted right over the ,milky ,way1 and ,vega1 ,altair1 and the 8,northern ,cross0 gleamed beneath the keel4 ,be sure that your mirror is freshly silvered and clean1 and remember the reversals of position which all reflections produce4 ,if you hold the mirror before you inclined downward1 the position of objects in the sky will be reversed top for bottom2 if you hold it inclined upward1 so as to see objects behind your head1 they will be reversed right for left4 ,with these precautions you will find the mirror a great convenience for studying constellations which are nearly overhead4 ,it is the principle of the 8diagonal prism0 employed with telescopes1 and of the hand-mirrors used by many visitors at the ,vatican ,palace to view with comfort the ceiling pictures of ,michael ,angelo in the ,sistine ,chapel4 ,thus the sky becomes an atlas1 and you can study its living charts at leisure4 ,,round ,,the ,,year ,,with ,,the ,,stars ,i ,,the ,,evening ,,sky ,,at ,,the ,,vernal ,,equinox ,the year has its morning no less unmistakable in its characteristic features than the dawn of the day4 ,the earth and all of its inhabitants feel the subtle influences of the dawning year1 and ,nature awakes at their touch4 ,this annual morning comes when the sun transits the equator1 moving north1 at the beginning of his long summer tour1 about the #bjth of ,march4 ,this is the epoch of the ,vernal ,equinox1 when the springs of life begin1 once more1 to flow4 ,then the sun truly rises on the northern hemisphere4 ,then the mighty world of the north1 which ,providence has made the chief abode of vital organisms on this planet1 rouses itself and shakes off the apathy of winter1 and men1 animals1 and plants1 each after their manner1 renew their activities1 and in many cases their very existence4 ,this annual reawakening is one of the profoundest phenomena of nature1 and there are secrets in it which science has not yet penetrated4 ,bliss ,carman has beautifully pictured the terrestrial charms of the vernal season in his 8,spring's ,saraband03 8,over the hills of ,april1 ,with soft winds hand in hand1 ,impassionate and dreamy-eyed ,spring leads her saraband4 ,her garments float and gather ,and swirl along the plain1 ,her headgear is the golden sun1 ,her cloak the silver rain40 ,but why do not the poets see and express the hyperphysical charm of the spring evenings8 ,when the light of the vernal day has faded the stars come forth1 and in the quality of their shining reduplicate and heighten the impressions left by the quickening landscapes4 ,more than half is lost if this be missed4 ,but perhaps this side of nature is too transcendent even for poetry4 ,one can behold but not tell it4 ,emerson has come nearest to its expression1 and he puts it in prose3 8,the grass grows1 the buds burst1 the meadow is spotted with fire and gold in the tint of the flowers4 ,the air is full of birds1 and sweet with the breath of the pine1 the balm-of-,gilead1 and the new hay4 ,night brings no gloom to the heart with its welcome shade4 ,through the transparent darkness the stars pour their almost spiritual rays4 ,man under them seems a young child1 and his huge globe a toy4 ,the cool night bathes the world as with a river1 and prepares his eyes again for the crimson dawn40 ,illustration3 ,,chart ,i--,,the ,,vernal ,,evening ,,sky ,there was not only poetic but logical fitness in the old ,english custom1 abandoned since #agea1 of dating the opening of the year from the last week of ,march4 ,how can the real birth of the year be imagined to occur when all nature is still deep in slumber under the ,january snows8 ,the seasons are manifestly the children of the sun1 waxing and waning with his strength1 and surely that one should be reckoned the eldest which is the first birth of his vivific springtime rays4 ,it seems remarkable that the beginning of the year in ancient times1 when men felt more keenly than we do now the symbolism of natural phenomena1 was not more frequently fixed at1 or near1 the ,vernal ,equinox1 and ,i suspect some defect in our information on this subject4 ,in ,attica1 ,george ,cornewell ,lewis tells us1 the year began at the ,summer ,solstice4 ,but this was to make the second of the sun's seasonal offspring the senior1 thus ignoring the just claim of the true heir1 the season of buds4 ,in ,sparta and ,macedonia1 according to the same authority1 the year began with the ,autumnal ,equinox1 which was still worse1 for in summer the year is at the zenith of its life1 while in autumn it is already stumbling toward the tomb4 ,in ,botia1 at ,delphi1 and in ,bithynia they contradicted nature more decidedly1 as we do to-day1 by making the year begin at the ,winter ,solstice1 when the chilled world is yet asleep4 ,the ,romans adopted this plan eventually1 but it is interesting to observe that they had an older custom of beginning the year in ,march1 which many cherished in their domestic life as well as for some legal purposes1 after the lawful opening of the year had been fixed on the #ast of ,january4 ,and finally we have perpetuated the illogical system of absolutely reversing nature's rule in the succession of the seasons by making the year begin about nine days after the ,winter ,solstice4 ,but in spite of calendars and laws nature prevails1 and everybody instinctively feels that the true beginning of the year is in the season when the currents of life resume their youthful flow4 ,at any rate1 however it may be with strictly terrestrial affairs1 that is the time when the call of the stars becomes the most insistent and irresistible4 ,accordingly the epoch of the ,vernal ,equinox is chosen for our opening chapter4 ,but the reader at the commencement of his star-gazing is not confined to this season2 he can begin at any time convenient to him4 ,to avoid misapprehension it is important to point out that our concern is not with that half of the heavens which the sun illumines when he crosses the equator1 coming north1 at the ,vernal ,equinox1 but with the diametrically opposite half1 where in countless multitudes shine his fellow suns--his peers1 his inferiors1 and his superiors--turning physical night into intellectual day4 ,accordingly1 in ,chart ,i we see not that part of the sky which contains the point called the ,vernal ,equinox1 but the opposite part1 where the sun pursues his course when he is declining from the ,summer ,solstice toward the ,autumnal ,equinox4 ,the chart represents the appearance of the sky at #aj ,p4,m4 on the #bjth of ,march 7see ,introduction74 ,it also represents the sky as it appears about #aa4cj ,p4,m4 at the beginning of ,march1 about #i ,p4,m4 the first week of ,april1 and #h ,p4,m4 about ,april #bjth4 ,let us1 then1 near one of these dates and hours1 go out-of-doors and transport ourselves to the universe4 ,why does not everybody feel the thrill that comes to the astronomer when1 with eager expectation1 he watches the fading sunset light1 the slow withdrawal of the vast curtain of illuminated air which for twelve hours has hidden the prodigious marvel of the spangled heavens1 and the first peering forth of the great stars8 ,i believe that everybody does feel it when he gives himself the opportunity and abandons his mind to its own reflections--but so few embrace the opportunity or encourage the reflections6 ,select1 if possible1 a high place1 where the eyes can range round the whole horizon unobstructed4 ,then try to seize the entire view at once1 as one glances for the first time at the map of a new country4 ,get the ensemble by sweeping all around the sky1 not pausing to note details1 but catching at a glance the location of the brighter stars and those that form striking groups4 ,note where the ,milky ,way runs1 a faint1 silvery zone at this season1 arched across the western half of the firmament1 hanging like starry gossamers in places1 brilliant in the northwest1 but becoming fainter as it dips toward the southwestern horizon--a mere anticipation of its summer splendor1 hiding its light and fading away as it approaches the imperial presence of ,sirius4 ,notice the great hexagon of first magnitude stars that surrounds ,orion in the west--,sirius1 ,rigel1 ,aldebaran1 ,capella1 ,castor and ,pollux1 and ,procyon marking the angles1 and ,betelgeuse glittering not far from the centre of the figure4 ,observe ,regulus with the 8,sickle0 of ,leo on the meridian4 ,look for the glimmer of the 8,beehive0 in ,cancer1 between ,gemini and ,leo1 and for the pentangular head of ,hydra beneath it4 ,still lower you will see the reddish gleam of the starry serpent's heart1 ,cor ,hydr1 or ,alphard1 and then1 running eastward1 and dipping ever nearer the horizon1 the long1 winding line of his stars passing under the overset cup of ,crater and the quadrilateral of ,corvus1 the 8,crow10 until they disappear1 unended1 in the southeast1 for from mid-heaven to the horizon there is not space enough to display all of these beautiful coils1 which take a kind of life as you watch them4 ,away over in the east1 close to the ecliptic1 you will see ,virgo with her diamond1 ,spica1 flashing in her hand4 ,you are now facing east2 to your left1 then1 north of ,spica1 glows great ,arcturus1 with his attendants shaping the figure of ,botes4 ,of ,arcturus1 a star that among a million finds no rival1 we shall speak more particularly elsewhere4 ,farther to the left1 beyond ,botes1 shines the exquisite 8,northern ,crown10 ,corona ,borealis4 ,that too will claim attention in a later chapter4 ,the square of ,hercules is just above the horizon below the ,crown in the northeast1 and to its left1 as you face north1 is seen the diamond-shaped head of ,draco1 the 8,great ,dragon0 that ,athena was fabled to have entangled with the axis of the world4 ,his stars wind upward between the 8,dippers0--the 8,little ,dipper10 which has the ,polestar at the end of its handle1 and the 8,great ,dipper10 which1 brim downward1 shines east of the meridian1 almost as high as the zenith1 if you are as far north as #dj or more4 ,the handle of the 8,great ,dipper0 is the tail of ,ursa ,major1 who treads lumberingly about the pole1 with his back downward1 his head out-thrust west of the meridian1 and his feet1 marked by three striking pairs of stars1 up in the middle of the sky4 ,on the meridian south of ,ursa ,major stands the 8,sickle0 of ,leo already mentioned4 ,away round in the northwest1 beyond ,capella1 are ,perseus and ,cassiopeia1 immersed in the ,milky ,way4 ,having fixed the location and general appearance of all these constellations in the mind1 you are prepared to study them1 and their stars1 in more detail4 ,let us begin in the east4 ,for some occult reason the rising stars always seem more attractive than those that are near setting4 ,in the east1 then1 the eye is at once drawn to the beautiful ,spica1 which the impassive1 immemorial ,virgo wears as her only ornament4 ,it is a fascinating star with its pure white rays1 dashed with swift gleams of exquisite color as the atmospheric waves roll over it4 ,there is not another equal to it in the impression of purity which it gives4 ,we may imagine that some dim sense of this immaculate quality in the light of ,spica led to the naming of the constellation the 8,virgin10 thus called by nearly all peoples1 each in its own language3 1 ,k1 ,puella1 ,kauni1 ,she-,sang-,neu1 ,pucella1 ,virge1 ,mden1 ,jungfrau1 ,virgine--all1 ancient and modern1 ,greek1 ,roman1 ,indian1 ,chinese1 ,norman1 ,french1 ,anglo-,saxon1 ,german1 ,italian1 and ,english worshipping together at this shrine of ideal purity4 ,if the ,assyrians made her the wife of ,bel that was hardly a disparagement1 for ,bel was the sun4 ,so1 too1 the identification of ,virgo with the ,greek ,persephone1 the ,roman ,ceres1 and the ,jewish ,bethula1 all goddesses concerned with the harvest and the fertility of the land1 in no way detracted from her virginal character1 nor did her association with ,astra1 the goddess of justice4 ,beside ,spica1 ,virgo has no very bright stars1 and it is hardly doubtful that the imaginary purity ascribed to the constellation was derived entirely from the unsullied whiteness of ,spica4 ,while gazing at that beautiful star all of these associations1 coming from times so remote and peoples so distant1 crowd into the mind1 increasing the interest with which one regards it4 ,the nations who named it the vernal star1 before all others1 have gone the way of terrestrial things1 but the star remains1 as pearly fair as when ,aratus sang to it3 8,lo1 the ,virgin6444 ,her favor be upon us60 ,then science comes to carry the thoughts to grander1 if less romantic1 heights4 ,spica1 it tells us1 is a sun which might well claim to be included in ,newcomb's wonderful 8,,xm0 class--i4 e41 stars excelling our sun at least ten thousand times in splendor1 for1 notwithstanding the brilliance with which it delights us1 it is so remote that no certain estimate of its distance can be made1 its parallax escaping measurement--what1 then1 must be the intolerable blaze with which it illumines its immediate neighborhood6 ,but when ,science begins her revelations no man can foretell the wonders that she will discover4 ,the spectroscope avers that ,spica is speeding hitherward at a pace of more than #cb1jjj miles per hour6 ,each night that star is almost #gjj1jjj miles nearer than it was the night before1 and yet it is not perceptibly brighter than it was in the days of ,homer4 ,such are the star depths6 ,such is the measureless playground of the spinning suns6 ,then ,science1 inspired by its spectroscopic sibyl1 whispers another startling word in our ears3 ,that core of white fire glowing so softly in the vernal midnight has an invisible companion star1 with which it circles in an orbit #f1jjj1jjj miles in diameter1 and every four days they complete a swing in their mighty waltz6 ,the star ,epsilon 77 in ,virgo 7see ,chart ,,vii1 at the end of the book7 is ,vindemiatrix1 the 8,grape-gatherer10 thus named from some imagined association with the vintage4 ,mukdim-al-,kitaf1 8,the ,forerunner of the ,vintage10 the ,arabs called it1 taking their hint from the ,greeks before them4 ,admiral ,smyth1 in his ,cycle of ,celestial ,objects1 has these curious lines on this star3 8,would you the ,star of ,bacchus find on noble ,virgo's wing1 ,a lengthy ray from ,hydra's heart unto ,arcturus bring2 ,two-thirds along that fancied line direct th' inquiring eye1 ,and there the jewel will be seen1 south of ,cor ,caroli40 ,the reader may be interested in trying the star-loving admiral's plan for finding ,vindemiatrix4 ,gamma 77 is ,porrima1 a prophetic goddess of ancient ,latium1 consulted especially by the women4 ,but for us this star is most interesting as being one of the first binaries discovered in the heavens4 ,it is a charming object for a small telescope4 ,the two components revolve round their common centre of gravity in a period of about one hundred and eighty years4 ,as the reader progresses in his studies he will find ,virgo full of interesting objects1 including the celebrated 8,field of the ,nebul10 marked out by the stars ,beta 771 ,gamma 771 ,delta 771 ,epsilon 771 and ,eta 772 but to see the nebul1 which are thickly scattered there1 he must have a powerful telescope4 ,southwest of ,virgo1 but near the southeastern horizon1 the quadrilateral figure of the constellation ,corvus1 the 8,crow10 catches the eye4 ,its brightest star is of less than the second magnitude1 yet by their apparent association the four stars immediately attract attention4 ,one sees no special reason why the figures marked out by these stars should be likened to the form of a bird2 but it was a raven to both the ,greeks and the ,romans1 and similarly symbolical to other early peoples4 ,the ,arabs1 however1 at first called it the 8,tent10 a designation which at least had a real resemblance for its basis4 ,but these stars possess a charm independent of any fancied likeness to terrestrial things4 ,in looking at them we do not think of the billions of miles which actually separate them from each other1 but only of their seeming companionship4 ,if1 on the other hand1 we force ourselves to consider the immense distances between them the mind is overwhelmed with the reflection that here1 plainly staked out before us1 is a field of space of absolutely unthinkable magnitude with its angles as clearly marked as if a celestial surveyor had placed corner-stones there4 ,note that the star ,alpha 771 once the leader of the constellation in brightness as well as in alphabetical rank1 is now so faint that you have to look for it where it shrinks1 in half concealment1 below one of its now brighter neighbors4 ,these abasements are not very uncommon among the stars4 ,their glory1 too1 is mutable2 they also have their ups and downs4 ,the ,arabic name for ,alpha 77 was ,al ,chiba1 or ,al ,hiba1 meaning the 8,tent40 ,gamma 771 now the brightest star of the constellation1 was called ,gienah1 the 8,wing10 and ,delta 771 ,algorab1 or ,al ,ghurab1 the ,arabic name for 8,raven10 but ,beta 771 which is perhaps as bright as ,gamma 771 has no special designation4 ,from ,corvus the eye wanders naturally to its neighbor on the west1 ,crater1 the 8,cup40 ,both of these constellations rest on the back of the long serpentine ,hydra4 ,crater is far less conspicuous than ,corvus2 but its resemblance to a cup is rather striking1 although the imaginary vessel lies tipped up on its side with the open part toward the east4 ,among the many ascriptions of this starry cup in ancient mythology to various gods and goddesses1 none is more interesting than that which made it the cup of ,medea1 thus including ,crater among the numerous constellations which were associated in the imagination of the ,greeks with their great romance of the ,argonautic ,expedition4 ,its brightest stars are only of the fourth and fifth magnitudes1 and individually not worth much attention4 ,hydra1 which stretches its immense coils across about seven hours of right ascension1 passing under ,cancer1 ,leo1 ,crater1 ,corvus1 ,virgo1 and a part of ,libra1 also carries the mind back through the golden mists of the morning of ,greek mythology to the adventures of ,jason and his crew of ,argonauts1 for it was once identified with the ,aonian ,dragon4 ,it would be interesting to inquire how much of the perennial fascination of this ancient romance may be due to its traditional association with the stars4 ,look first at the head of ,hydra1 now well west of the meridian1 below the glimmering 8,beehive0 in ,cancer4 ,it is marked by five stars of various magnitudes making an irregular pentagon4 ,then let the eye follow the line down southeastward until it encounters ,cor ,hydr1 or ,alphard1 the latter its ,arabic name1 meaning the 8,solitary ,one40 ,it is of the second magnitude and of a reddish color1 and the space about it is vacant of conspicuous stars4 ,there is an attraction about these solitary bright stars that is almost mystical1 their very loneliness lending interest to the view1 as when one watches some distant snow-clad peak gleaming in the rays of sunset after all the lower mountains have sunk into the blue shadows of coming night4 ,cor ,hydr is the ,alpha 77 of its constellation4 ,above ,hydra1 northeast of ,cor ,hydr1 at the crossing of the ecliptic and the meridian1 is the great star ,regulus in ,leo1 the 8,lion40 ,it stands at the lower end of the handle of a very distinctly marked sickle-shaped figure1 which includes the breast1 head1 and mane of the imaginary lion4 ,regulus is not only a beautiful star1 but it possesses much practical importance as one of the principal 8nautical stars10 having been employed by sailors ever since the beginning of navigation to determine their place at sea4 ,the sun almost runs over this star about the #bjth of ,august1 and every month the moon passes close beside it1 and sometimes occults it4 ,thus it serves as a golden mile-stone in the sky4 ,it has strangely affected the imagination of mankind in all ages4 ,from the remotest times it has everywhere been known as the 8royal star0 par excellence4 ,in ,greek it was 1 in ,latin ,rex1 from which ,copernicus constructed our name1 ,regulus4 ,there are three other 8royal stars10 ,aldebaran1 ,antares1 and ,fomalhaut1 but ,regulus has always been1 in a certain way1 their chief4 ,for five thousand years it has been believed1 traditionally1 to control the affairs of heaven1 and the astrologers have seized upon this idea by making it the natal star of kings1 and those destined to kingly achievements and rule4 ,in our age of science we may safely indulge these fancies2 they can now do no harm1 and they add immensely to the interest with which we regard the star that gave birth to them4 ,when the 8,royal ,star0 crosses high on the meridian in the vernal evenings1 the imagination is thrown back over almost the whole course of the history of the ,aryan race1 and the rays of ,regulus bring again the dreams of ,babylon and ,nineveh1 of ,greece and ,rome1 of ,india1 and of the star-watching deserts of ,arabia4 ,cyrus1 in his conquering marches1 may have looked to that star for help and inspiration1 for it was the heavenly guardian of the ,persian monarchs4 ,the spectroscope tells us that ,regulus1 like ,spica1 is approaching us1 but less rapidly1 drawing nearer about #dge1jjj miles per day4 ,but its distance is #iej1jjj1jjj1jjj1jjj miles 7parallax #j4jb71 and it outshines the sun one thousand times4 ,the second star above ,regulus1 in the curve of the sickle's blade1 is ,gamma 771 or ,algieba 7,arabic the 8,forehead071 a beautiful double1 probably binary1 with a period of revolution which ,doberck has estimated at about four hundred years4 ,the larger star of the pair is golden-orange and the smaller bronze-green1 a marvellous contrast1 and an ordinary telescope shows well the spectacle1 the distance between the components being #c4gh4 ,and this wonderful pair is rushing toward the solar system at the rate of two million miles per day4 ,yet so great is its distance that we have no record that in a thousand years men have noticed a brightening of the headlight of this terrible locomotive of space6 ,but probably the more refined methods of the present time1 if applied for a similar period1 would reveal an ominous expansion of that oncoming light4 ,gamma is interesting as marking1 roughly1 the spot in the sky which was the apparent centre of radiation for the ,november meteors1 which were last seen in their splendor in #ahff-fg1 their return in #ahii-aijj1 for which the world had long been waiting1 having been prevented by the disturbing attraction of ,jupiter and ,saturn1 which shifted their orbit4 ,the 8,sickle0 in its entirety is an attractive asterism1 and hanging so conspicuously in the sky on a spring evening it may be imaginatively regarded as a harbinger of the opening of the season when the thoughts of men are turning to preparations for future harvests4 ,in the height of the harvest season the 8,sickle0 sets near sundown1 then no longer standing upright1 but lying along upon the horizon--a symbol of the wearied husbandman's approaching hours of rest3 8,nor shall a starry night his hopes betray40 ,away off at the eastern end of the constellation1 in the lion's tail1 shines its second star in rank1 ,denebola 7,arabic ,al ,dhanab1 the 8,tail074 ,it too is speeding hitherward1 but only half as fast as ,gamma4 ,like ,aldebaran1 the name ,denebola has an indefinite charm1 from its full round vowel sounds1 and a certain nobility in the look of it as it lies on the printed page4 ,as with many sonorous ,indian names in ,american geography1 these old star names lose something of their effect when they are translated4 ,it is better to take them as they stand1 transcending terrestrial analogy and definition1 like the sublime objects that they designate4 ,northeast of ,denebola lies the small constellation of ,coma ,berenices1 8,berenice's ,hair10 remarkable for the confused glitter of the small scattered stars of which it consists4 ,it is a constellation with a romantic history which ,i shall not retell here4 ,it forms an attraction for an opera-glass4 ,we now return to the region of sky above the head of ,hydra1 west of the meridian4 ,there the attention is arrested by a glimmering spot1 a kind of starry cobweb1 which represents the 8,beehive0 cluster in ,cancer4 ,its classical name is ,prsepe1 the 8,manger40 ,in ,astronomy with the ,naked ,eye will be found a copy of ,galileo's drawing of the stars of ,prsepe as they appeared to him with his newly invented telescope4 ,it is delightful to look at them on a clear night with a large opera-glass or a small telescope4 ,they are an example of that clustering tendency so often seen among the stars1 and which reaches its most wonderful manifestations in such assemblages as the famous globular clusters in ,hercules and ,centaurus1 where countless thousands of small stars appear to be so crowded together that in the centre they run up into a perfect blaze4 ,but in ,prsepe there is no such apparent crowding1 though the stars are so numerous that they resemble a swarm of bees4 ,the probability is that none of the stars in this company is as large as our sun--although we cannot be perfectly sure because we do not know their distance--but they are1 nevertheless1 true stellar bodies1 solar children1 which seem playing together1 overwatched by larger stars1 waiting not far away4 ,plato1 or his disciples1 taking the suggestion from older dreamers1 regarded ,prsepe as a gateway of souls through which descended the spirits that were to animate the bodies of men during their earthly life4 ,there are moods in which one can hardly consider our coldly scientific way of treating such celestial wonders as being essentially superior to the more spiritual ideas and suggestions of the visionaries of antiquity1 before man became possessed with the notion that all science is summed up in measurement4 ,unquestionably we have more 8facts10 but have we more inspiration8 ,are we as near to the stars as were those who knew less about them8 ,have we yet got the key to unlock the universe8 ,do many of us comprehend the dictum of one of our own modern sages--8,hitch your wagon to a star08 ,cancer has no conspicuous stars1 and it covers but a small space on the sky1 yet as a constellation it is as old as any1 and it has given us our 8,tropic of ,cancer10 because in ancient times1 before the ,precession of the ,equinoxes had drifted the zodiacal signs and constellations apart1 the place of the ,summer ,solstice1 where the sun is at its northern extreme of declination1 was situated in ,cancer1 though now we find it in ,gemini1 close to the borders of ,taurus4 ,westward from ,cancer we see the great group of mighty stars and constellations of which ,orion is the chief and centre1 but ,sirius the brightest jewel4 ,they are now declining rapidly toward the horizon1 and will be better studied at another season4 ,they include1 besides ,orion1 ,gemini1 ,auriga1 ,taurus1 ,canis ,major1 and ,canis ,minor1 and will be found more favorably situated in the chart devoted to the sky at the ,winter ,solstice4 ,for the present1 then1 we turn our eyes to the northern central part of the vernal heavens4 ,there1 almost overhead1 shines the 8,great ,bear10 ,ursa ,major1 always recognizable by the remarkable figure of the 8,great ,dipper10 or1 as they prefer to call it in ,old ,england--where brimming dippers of sparkling water lifted dripping from the 8old oaken bucket0 are not so familiar as in ,new ,england--the 8,wain10 or the 8,plough40 ,we have already remarked that at this season the ,bear has his feet uppermost in the middle of the sky and his back downward toward the pole4 ,the ,dipper1 too1 is now upside down1 drained of its last imaginary drop1 though its stars may be the more brilliant for that4 ,the figure of the bowl is situated on the flank of the ,bear1 and its handle represents his impossible tail4 ,six of its stars are of the second magnitude1 and one1 at the junction of the bowl and the handle1 of the third4 ,their ,greek letters1 beginning at the northwestern corner of the bowl1 are1 ,alpha 771 ,beta 771 ,gamma 771 ,delta 771 ,epsilon 771 ,zeta 771 and ,eta 771 and their names1 in the same order1 ,dubhe1 ,merak1 ,phd1 ,megrez1 ,alioth1 ,mizar1 and ,benetnasch4 ,i once knew a country school-teacher who thought that he had acquired a pretty good knowledge of astronomy when he had learned these names by heart4 ,he certainly knew more of uranography than most people4 ,the names seem to be all of ,arabic origin1 and at the risk of destroying their charm ,i will give1 from ,allen's ,star ,names1 their probable significations4 ,dubhe means simply 8,bear02 ,merak 7sometimes ,mirak71 8,loin02 ,phd 7sometimes ,phecda or ,phad71 8,thigh02 ,megrez1 8,root of the ,tail02 ,alioth1 meaning uncertain1 probably something to do with the tail2 ,mizar 7originally ,mirak71 8,girdle02 and ,benetnasch 7sometimes ,alcaid71 8,chief of the ,mourners10 from an ,arabic phrase having that signification4 ,the star ,megrez1 now so much fainter than the others1 was once as bright as any of them4 ,it has faded within three hundred years4 ,close by ,mizar a fairly good eye has no difficulty in seeing a small star which is named ,alcor 7signification uncertain74 ,the ,arabs are said to have called these two stars the 8,horse and his ,rider10 and to have regarded it as a test of good vision to be able to see them both4 ,it is certainly not a severe test at present4 ,mizar itself is telescopically double1 presenting a beautiful sight in a small telescope1 the distance asunder being about #ad4 ,the smaller star is like an emerald in hue1 and the color is usually remarked at once by the beginner in telescopic observation4 ,the larger star is one of those strange objects called 8spectroscopic binaries0--two suns locked in the embrace of gravitation and spinning round a centre so near to each other that to anything less penetrating than the magic eye of the spectroscope they appear as a single body4 ,merak and ,dubhe are the celebrated 8,pointers10 so called because a line drawn from the former to the latter1 and continued toward the pole1 passes close to ,polaris1 the ,pole-star1 of which we shall presently speak4 ,the distance between these stars is about five degrees1 so that they serve as a rough measuring-stick for estimating distances in the sky4 ,immediately west of the meridian will be seen a curving row of stars which indicate the head of the ,bear4 ,three of his feet1 or claws1 are represented by as many pairs of stars between the ,great ,dipper and the ,sickle of ,leo1 one of the pairs being east of the meridian1 one west of it1 and one nearly upon it4 ,below the outer end of the handle of the ,dipper1 in the direction of ,denebola1 a fairly bright star1 ,cor ,caroli1 which ,english loyalty named for the heart of the unfortunate ,king ,charles ,i41 shines on the collar of one of the 8,hunting ,dogs10 ,canes ,venatici1 which ,botes is represented as holding in a leash as he chases ,ursa ,major round the pole4 ,this1 too1 is a beautiful double1 the contrasted colors of whose widely separated stars are finely shown by a small telescope4 ,now let the eye run along the curve of the ,dipper's handle1 beginning at the bowl1 and then1 springing on1 continue the same curve eastward2 it will encounter1 at a distance about equal to the whole length of the ,dipper1 a very great and brilliant star--,arcturus1 brighter than ,spica and ,regulus1 and usually1 when not very far risen from the horizon1 of a distinctly reddish hue4 ,it is the chief star of ,botes1 the 8,driver10 the 8,vociferator10 the 8,herdsman10 or the 8,bear-watcher10 as it has been variously rendered4 ,we shall have more to say about ,botes in another chapter1 but ,arcturus is a star so splendid and famous that it cannot be passed in silence the first time the beginner catches sight of it4 ,there is a standing dispute concerning the relative rank in brightness of ,arcturus among the leading stars of the northern hemisphere4 ,its principal rivals are ,vega in the ,lyre1 and ,capella in ,auriga4 ,but all three differ in color1 and that makes it more difficult to decide upon their relative brilliance1 since different eyes vary in their sensitiveness to color4 ,the ,harvard ,photometric ,durchmusterung gives ,vega the first and ,arcturus the third rank among these three2 but many eyes recognize rather a pre-eminence of ,arcturus4 ,my own impression has usually been that ,arcturus looms larger than either ,vega or ,capella1 but that ,vega is the most penetratingly brilliant4 ,it is very curious to notice the effect of the colors of these stars4 ,the sharp blue ray in the light of ,vega gives it a diamond-like quality which is lacking in ,capella1 whose light is white with just a suspicion of amber4 ,arcturus is a very pale topaz when high in the sky1 and a ruddy yellow1 sometimes flaming red1 when near the horizon4 ,it is a thrilling recollection of the writer's early boyhood that he felt an undefined fear of ,arcturus when seen rising ominously red and flashing through the leafless boughs of an apple orchard in the late evenings of ,february4 ,all the ancients feared ,arcturus for its supposed influence in producing storms and bad harvests4 ,arcturus is a sun of enormous magnitude1 estimated all the way from one to six thousand times as great in luminosity as our sun4 ,it is also travelling with great rapidity1 its speed1 according to some estimates1 amounting to two or three hundred miles per second2 but most of this is cross-motion with reference to us1 its general direction being toward the south-southwest4 ,if it is travelling three hundred miles per second1 it would traverse the space between the sun and the nearest star1 ,alpha ,centauri1 in about three thousand years4 ,we shall touch on ,arcturus again when dealing with ,botes in the next chapter4 ,disregarding for the present the exquisite circlet of ,corona ,borealis1 the 8,northern ,crown10 and the quadrilateral figure in ,hercules1 seen northeast of ,arcturus1 we turn to the great dragon1 ,draco1 whose diamond-shaped head may be seen far over in the northeast above sparkling ,vega1 which is just on the horizon4 ,as a reference to the charts of the circumpolar stars at the end of the book will show1 ,draco is a remarkably crooked constellation1 its line of stars winding round between the 8,little ,dipper0 in ,ursa ,minor1 which has ,polaris at the end of its handle1 and the 8,great ,dipper0 of ,ursa ,major4 ,its most interesting1 though not now its brightest1 star is ,alpha1 or ,thuban1 ,arabic for 8dragon40 ,it lies between the end of the handle of the ,great ,dipper and the bowl of the small one4 ,about forty-six hundred years ago ,alpha ,draconis was the ,pole-star1 and is believed to have shone down the long tube-like passage in the great pyramid of ,cheops into the watching eyes of the priestly astronomers1 assembled to view it in the mysterious chamber hollowed out of the solid rock deep under the foundations of the mighty pile4 ,they thus had a telescope more than three hundred feet long as immovable as the solid earth1 but1 alas for their calculations1 the star itself shifted its position1 and their gigantic observing tube became useless until modern science inferred from its position the date of their building4 ,how imposing to the imagination this association between a particular star and the mightiest structure made by human hands on the earth6 ,two centuries ago ,thuban was more than twice as bright as it is now1 and when the ,egyptian priests sedulously observed it from their gloomy cavern1 more than a thousand years before the magic-working days of ,moses1 it may have been brighter still4 ,gamma 771 or ,eltanin 7the 8,dragon071 in the triangular head1 is now the brightest star in the constellation1 and it1 too1 has a history4 ,lockyer and others have identified it as the orientation star of ,rameses' great temple at ,karnak1 and of the temples of ,hathor and ,mut at ,dendera and ,thebes4 ,there is something magnificent in this thought of the ancient temple-builders--to square their work by the stars1 and to construct long rows of sphinxes and majestic columns to conduct a ray from the sky to the eye of the god in his dark and hidden chamber1 where no impious foot dared follow4 ,when you are tired of tracing the windings of the ,dragon1 turn to ,ursa ,minor and ,polaris4 ,the 8,little ,bear10 it has been remarked1 has an even more preposterous tail than his greater brother4 ,polaris is at the end of the tail1 or the end of the handle of the ,little ,dipper1 and the bowl of the latter is on the bear's flank4 ,if one knows nothing else of uranography1 one should at least know ,polaris1 the 8,north ,star40 ,to recognize that star is to be able to orient yourself wherever you may be in the northern hemisphere4 ,a whole volume could be written on its connection with human affairs4 ,for at least two thousand years it has been the cynosure of sailors1 and of wanderers by land as well4 ,you cannot be lost if you have ,polaris to guide you4 ,the magnetic compass varies and misleads1 the sun and the moon change their places1 all the other stars circle through the heavens1 but ,polaris is always there1 shining over the pole of the earth1 the image of steadfastness4 ,only the slow ,precession of the ,equinoxes affects it4 ,at the present time it is within one degree and a quarter of the true pole of the heavens1 and it is drawing nearer that point1 so that in two hundred years it will be less than half a degree from it--less than the apparent diameter of the moon4 ,the little circle that it daily describes in the sky may be disregarded1 for it is hardly noticeable except with instruments2 but it is easy to fix the star's position with considerable accuracy by simple observation4 ,note that the ,great ,dipper and the 8,w0-shaped figure in ,cassiopeia are on opposite sides of the pole4 ,when one is above1 the other is below2 when one is on the east1 the other is on the west4 ,draw an imaginary line from the star ,mizar in the ,great ,dipper to the star ,delta 77 in ,cassiopeia and it will pass almost directly through the pole4 ,polaris is on that line1 a degree and a quarter from the pole in the direction of ,delta ,cassiopei4 ,if the observation is made when ,delta is above the pole and ,mizar below it1 ,polaris will be on the meridian1 or north and south line1 a degree and a quarter above the pole2 when ,delta is west of the pole and ,mizar east of it1 ,polaris will be a degree and a quarter west of the meridian2 when ,delta is below the pole and ,mizar above it1 ,polaris will be on the meridian a degree and a quarter below the pole2 and1 finally1 when ,delta is east of the pole and ,mizar west of it1 ,polaris will be a degree and a quarter east of the meridian4 ,the intermediate positions you can easily deduce for yourself4 ,but ,polaris will not continue to be the unerring guide to the north that it now is4 ,the ,precession of the ,equinoxes is carrying the pole progressively westward in right ascension1 so that ,polaris will eventually be left far behind4 ,but the motion of the pole is in a circle about twenty-three and a half degrees in radius1 and it requires about #be1hjj years to complete a revolution round this circle4 ,consequently1 at the end of that period1 ,polaris will have come back to reign again as the ,north ,star for many centuries4 ,in the interim other stars will have occupied its place4 ,about #aa1ejj years from now the brilliant ,vega1 or ,alpha ,lyr1 will be the ,north ,star1 and in about #ba1jjj years ,alpha ,draconis 7,thuban7 will once more shine down the great northward-pointing passage in the pyramid of ,cheops1 if that pyramid shall still exist4 ,polaris1 unlike some of the others stars that we have been looking at1 is running away into space instead of approaching us1 at a speed which has been estimated at about #a1chj1jjj miles per day4 ,its present distance is not less than #bjj1jjj1jjj1jjj1jjj miles4 ,it has an invisible companion with which it circles in an orbit of a few million miles diameter in a period of about four days4 ,polaris is also a celebrated visual double4 ,with a telescope of two or three inches aperture you can see close by its flaming rays a minute blue star1 a delicately beautiful sight4 ,in the older days of telescopes1 before they had attained the perfection which improvements in glass-making and lens-shaping have rendered possible1 this little companion star of ,polaris was a universal test of excellence4 ,its prestige was historical4 ,the amateur owner of a telescope who could see that star clearly felt a joy that he could hardly express4 ,the old makers of object-glasses1 by rule of thumb1 always tried them on the companion of the ,polestar as a standard test for small apertures4 ,the small star is of the ninth magnitude1 and situated about #ah4f from its primary4 ,the stars ,beta 771 or ,kochab 7the 8,star071 and ,gamma 771 in ,ursa ,minor1 are called the ,wardens1 or ,guards1 of the ,pole4 ,in low northern latitudes1 where these stars sweep the horizon at their lower culmination1 ,shakespeare's description in ,othello would be literally true during a great storm at sea3 8,the wind-shak'd surge1 with high and monstrous mane1 ,seems to cast water on the burning ,bear ,and quench the guards of th' ever-fixed pole40 ,the constellations ,cepheus1 ,cassiopeia1 and ,perseus1 now low in the northwest and north1 we leave for description to another chapter4 ,,ii ,,the ,,evening ,,sky ,,at ,,the ,,summer ,,solstice ,at #aj o'clock ,p4,m4 on the #bast of ,june1 the longest day of the northern hemisphere1 the aspect of the sky is that shown in ,chart ,,ii1 accompanying this chapter4 ,the same chart will answer for #aa ,p4,m4 on the #eth or #fth of ,june2 #i ,p4,m4 on the #gth of ,july1 and #h ,p4,m4 on the #bb;d or #bc;d of ,july4 ,in fact1 for any of the hours mentioned the date may be shifted several days forward or backward without seriously affecting the comparison of the chart with the sky1 and the same may be said of each of the other circular charts4 ,the stars simply rise about four minutes earlier each evening1 and four minutes of time correspond to one degree of space measured on the face of the sky4 ,so the whole sky shifts about one degree westward every twenty-four hours4 ,for the observation of the heavens at the epoch of the ,summer ,solstice1 observers who are situated at least as far south as #dj north latitude have an advantage over those whose place on the earth is much farther north1 because in the more northern regions sunset occurs later1 and in ,england and ,northern ,europe the day1 at this time1 may exceed sixteen hours in length1 while twilight is perceptible throughout the night4 ,this interferes with the brilliancy of the stars4 ,illustration3 ,,chart ,,ii--,,the ,,summer ,,evening ,,sky ,at no other season do the heavenly bodies seem so intimately associated with the earth as in summer4 ,all nature is now attuned1 and the stars glow softly in the tepid atmosphere1 stirred by faint breezes1 like veritable flowers of the sky4 ,the firmament becomes a vast garden lit with beautiful lamps1 which seem to have been placed there to dimly illuminate nocturnal wanderers in the transparent gloom beneath4 ,their beauty is as refreshing as the cooling breath of night itself4 ,a mystic influence steals from them over the earth4 8,if a man would be alone10 says ,emerson1 8let him look at the stars40 ,yet he cannot be alone with them2 they are too friendly2 they speak too plainly a universal language1 which1 though he cannot translate it1 he feels in every fibre4 ,there is nothing more absolutely common to all men than the influence of the stars4 ,no one ever gazed up at them without feeling a change come over his spirit4 ,truly1 8they separate between him and what he touches40 ,they free him from the bondage of time and space4 ,there is no trouble that they cannot assuage4 ,and there is no time like the summer for becoming intimate with them4 ,one who has been touched by the magic of their love could lie all the night long on a bed of pine-needles and fill his soul with their beauty4 ,the march of red ,antares and his glittering retinue across the meridian while the earth sleeps in solstitial calm--who can describe that pageant8 ,antares is the summer star1 and with it and the ,scorpion we will begin4 ,not so bright as ,arcturus or ,vega1 which are now high aloft1 it has a charm peculiar to itself1 arising partly from its fervid color1 partly from its surroundings1 and partly from its position1 not too high above the southern horizon1 which renders observation of the star comparatively easy4 ,the color is so distinctive that one might think that he could recognize ,antares chromatically if it were suddenly transported to some other region of the sky and placed amid a strange environment4 ,sometimes a flash of its fiery rays1 striking sidewise into the eye as one is looking elsewhere1 startles the observer like a red meteor4 ,it is well named ,antares--8,anti-,mars40 ,with the telescope the wonder of color is increased1 for close by the great star the glass reveals a smaller one of a vivid green1 an all but incredible combination of complementarily tinted suns4 ,and these suns are undoubtedly actually linked together into a system1 so that1 if there are planets revolving around both or either1 the inhabitants of those planets may behold the spectacle of two suns1 one crimson and the other emerald6 ,the large star is of the first magnitude1 and the small one of the seventh2 angular distance #c4g4 ,the companion of ,antares is historically associated with the most interesting of ,american astronomers1 a man whose life was a romance1 ,gen4 ,o4 ,m4 ,mitchel4 ,when his long-cherished design of setting up a great telescope in ,america was at last fulfilled1 at ,cincinnati1 in #ahde1 one of his first achievements was the discovery1 to the surprise of the astronomers of ,europe1 of the green star hiding in the rays of ,antares4 ,at times it has been seen emerging from behind the moon1 after an occultation1 ahead of its red comrade4 ,with a parallax of #j4jb1 ,newcomb estimated the luminosity of ,antares at nine hundred times that of our sun1 and yet the spectroscope indicates that it is a dying sun1 fast approaching extinction4 ,in its younger days it may have been an orb of prodigious splendor4 ,the constellation ,scorpio1 of which ,antares is the leader1 is one of the best marked in the sky4 ,the two small stars ,sigma 77 and ,tau 771 standing like attendants on either side of ,antares1 lend a singular aspect to the central part of the constellation4 ,antares is usually represented as the heart of the imaginary scorpion4 ,below ,tau a curving row of stars dips to the southern horizon1 and then rises1 farther eastward1 terminating with a conspicuous pair in the uplifted sting4 ,west of ,antares a nearly vertical row represents the head4 ,of the stars in this row1 ,beta 77 is interesting as a fine and easily seen double1 the distance being about #ac4 ,a higher magnifying power shows that the larger star has another faint companion1 distant only #j4g4 ,nu 77 is also telescopically interesting1 for it consists of two pairs of stars4 ,observe in ,chart ,,vii the strange way in which the outlines of the constellation have been swung into loops in order to include certain stars in ,scorpio1 recalling the crooked boundary between ,switzerland and ,italy1 by which each reserves particular peaks of the ,alps for itself4 ,east of ,scorpio1 where the ,milky ,way1 falling in flakes and sheets of silvery splendor upon the southeastern horizon1 spreads abroad like an overflowing river1 lies ,sagittarius1 the 8,archer10 often represented in the old pictorial charts as a centaur4 ,the stars ,lambda 771 ,delta 771 and ,epsilon 77 form the bent bow4 ,but modern eyes recognize more easily a dipper1 formed by the stars ,zeta 771 ,tau 771 ,sigma 771 ,phi 771 ,lambda 771 and ,mu 774 ,but the star-clusters in ,sagittarius are more interesting than the separate stars4 ,a little southwest of ,mu is the famous cluster #h ,m41 of which ,barnard has made a photograph that is amazing beyond all description4 ,other clusters are all about in this part of the sky4 ,a good opera-glass or field-glass is almost indispensable for one who would enjoy the glory of this wondrous region4 ,its riches are almost oppressive in their lavish abundance4 ,here one can have handfuls of stars for the picking up1 like sands of gold from the bed of ,pactolus4 ,as the glittering incrustations that cover the roofs and walls of the ,mammoth ,cave are often compared to the starry heavens1 so1 reversing the image1 ,sagittarius is like a stupendous cavern of space all ablaze and aglitter with millions of sparkling gems4 ,above ,scorpio and ,sagittarius are the intertwined constellations of ,ophiuchus and ,serpens4 ,he who may wish to disentangle them is referred to ,astronomy with the ,naked ,eye4 ,but the outlines can be traced in ,chart ,,vii4 ,the head of ,serpens1 like those of ,hydra and ,draco1 is plainly marked by a striking group of stars1 in this case resembling the figure called a 8quincunx40 ,from this point just under the 8,northern ,crown10 the serpent's stars wind downward in beautiful pairs and groups1 crossing the meridian above ,scorpio1 and rising again in the eastern part of the sky1 above the little constellation of ,sobieski's ,shield1 until they meet the borders of ,aquila4 ,ophiuchus1 with his head high up toward ,hercules1 where it is marked by the brightest star in that part of the sky1 ,alpha ,ophiuchi1 or ,ras ,alhague1 the 8,head of the ,serpent ,charmer10 stands with legs braced wide apart1 grasping the serpent at the points marked by the stars ,delta 77 and ,epsilon 771 and ,tau 77 and ,nu 774 ,it is ,esculapius with his ,serpent1 said the ,greeks2 it is ,st4 ,paul and the ,viper of ,melita1 or ,moses and the ,brazen ,serpent1 we don't know which1 said the churchmen4 ,i am not aware that in ,england they have ever been tempted to call it ,st4 ,george and the ,dragon4 ,politics and national pride have not meddled much with the stars1 although there was once an attempt to fix the name of ,napoleon upon ,orion4 ,ras ,alhague is described by ,r4 ,h4 ,allen as sapphire in hue1 while ,alpha ,serpentis is yellowish4 ,the star ,lambda 77 in ,ophiuchus1 also called ,marfik1 the 8,elbow10 is a beautiful binary1 period #bce years1 distance apart #a4b4 ,the smaller star is smalt blue1 a splendid telescopic object4 ,but1 as in the case of ,sagittarius1 the greater wonders here are in the form of star-clusters1 and particularly nebul4 ,just above ,antares1 in one of the feet of ,ophiuchus1 is a small star1 ,rho 7to find which the reader must consult a large star atlas1 like ,klein's71 around which ,barnard has discovered1 by photography1 a truly marvellous nebula1 a nebula which appears to obscure the stars like a cloud of cosmic dust4 ,great black lanes extend from and around it1 and even the luminous parts of the nebula seem to absorb the light of the stars behind1 diminishing their brightness a whole magnitude or more where they are veiled by it4 ,this entire region of sky is most strange to the photographic eye4 ,an outlier of the nebula just mentioned surrounds the star ,nu 77 in ,scorpio1 and its veiling effect upon the stars is even more evident4 ,there is a similar appearance around the star ,theta 77 ,ophiuchi1 not far away4 ,the sense of some appalling mystery in this part of the firmament is heightened by what ,barnard says of a thing which has reappeared again and again on his photographs during the past fifteen years1 at a point which he describes as lying very closely to ,r4 ,a4 xviii hours1 #be m41 #ca s42 ,decl4 ,s4 #bf1 #i 7near the star ,lambda 77 in ,sagittarius74 8,it is a small1 black hole in the sky4 ,it is round and sharply defined4 ,its measured diameter on the negative is #b4f4 ,on account of its sharpness and smallness and its isolation1 this is perhaps the most remarkable of all the black holes with which ,i am acquainted4 ,it lies in an ordinary part of the ,milky ,way1 and is not due to the presence or absence of stars1 but seems really to be a marking on the sky itself0 7,astrophysical ,journal1 ,january1 #aiaj74 ,these things really transcend explanation 7see ,curiosities of the ,sky74 ,above ,ophiuchus and his ,serpent1 almost exactly overhead in the latitude of #dj ,n41 we see the quadrilateral figure marked out by four of the principal stars of the constellation ,hercules4 ,the head of ,draco1 described in ,chapter ,i1 is beyond it toward the north-northeast4 ,hercules stands feet upward in the sky1 his head1 indicated by the star ,alpha1 or ,ras ,algethi1 the 8,kneeler's ,head10 being situated a few degrees west-northwest of ,ras ,alhague4 ,thus the two giants have their heads together4 ,but while the occupation of ,ophiuchus is plain1 nobody1 not even in ancient times1 when the constellation received its name1 has ever been able to say what ,hercules is laboring at4 ,when he was on the earth everybody followed his deeds and understood1 if they could not emulate1 them4 ,he was as comprehensible as a modern pugilist4 ,now1 however1 that he has been translated to the stars1 his labors are of a more mysterious nature1 and1 judging from his attitude1 he finds them harder than any he undertook for the benefit of mankind here below4 ,one is tempted to think that the powers he offended1 when he boldly entered the land of shades and snatched the wife of his friend1 ,king ,admetus1 from the hand of ,death himself1 are now taking an ample vengeance4 ,ras ,algethi is a very beautiful double star1 one red1 the other green or blue1 and both1 strangely enough1 are variable in brightness4 ,their distance apart is #d4g4 ,their spectrum indicates that they are advanced toward extinction many stages beyond our sun4 ,the star ,zeta 771 one of those in the quadrilateral1 is a closer double1 distance about #a1 and is binary1 the period of revolution being about thirty-five years4 ,and now for a great marvel4 ,let the eye range slowly from ,eta 77 directly toward ,zeta 774 ,when one-third of the distance between the two stars has been passed1 a faint1 glimmering speck will be perceived4 ,perhaps you will need an opera-glass to make sure that you see it4 ,this is the 8,great ,cluster in ,hercules40 ,you must go to the southern hemisphere to find its match anywhere in the sky4 ,it is a ball of suns6 ,now you need a telescope4 ,you must have one4 ,you must either buy or borrow it1 or you must pay a visit to an observatory1 for this is a thing that no intelligent human being in these days can afford not to see4 ,can it be possible that any man can know that fifteen thousand suns are to be seen1 burning in a compact globular cluster1 and not long to regard them with his own eyes8 ,of what use is description in such a case8 ,the language has not yet been invented to depict such things4 ,human speech comes down to us from the times when men did not need the tongue of the gods to tell what they saw4 ,when ,galileo invented the telescope1 and ,herschel multiplied its powers a thousandfold1 they should have found a language fitted to describe their discoveries4 ,but if you cannot get a look at the ,hercules cluster through a powerful telescope1 photography comes to your aid4 ,look at one of the wonderful ,lick or ,yerkes photographs of it1 and pause long on what you see4 ,note the crowding of those suns toward the centre1 note the glittering spiral lines formed by those which seem streaming and hurrying from all sides to join the marvellous congregation--and then turn again to that faint speck in the sky1 which is all that the naked eye reveals of the wonder1 and reflect upon the meaning of space and the universe4 ,we now turn farther east1 still keeping the eyes directed high in the sky1 and just at the edge of the ,milky ,way1 with two minute stars making a little triangle with it1 we see ,vega or ,alpha ,lyr1 the astonishing brilliant that flashes on the strings of the heavenly ,lyre4 ,at the ,vernal ,equinox it was just rising far over in the northeast2 now it is the unquestioned queen of that quarter of the sky4 ,i like to think of ,emerson when looking at that star4 ,there is a sentence of his which reflects it like a mirror4 ,when he strove to rouse the 8sluggard intellect of this continent10 to 8look from under its iron lids10 he could find no stronger image than that of poetry reviving here and leading in a new age1 8as the star in the constellation ,harp1 which now flames in our zenith1 astronomers announce1 shall one day be the ,pole-star for a thousand years40 ,of the effect of the ,precession of the ,equinoxes1 to which ,emerson refers1 we have already spoken4 ,but it is a long time in the future that ,vega will begin1 or rather resume1 its reign as the ,star of the ,north4 ,and1 curiously enough1 when that time comes the northern hemisphere will have its ,summer ,solstice when the sun is just opposite to the place which it now occupies at that season1 and when ,antares will be no more a summer star1 but will flash its ruddy light upon the snows of a winter longer and colder than the winters that we know1 while ,orion will blaze above the summer landscapes4 ,this immense revolution1 some have thought1 may be the measure of the 8,great ,year0 of ,plato1 and if the chronology adopted for dating the early remains of civilization recently uncovered in ,crete is correct1 we have evidence that mankind has persisted through one of these vast periods1 and that nations flourished round the ,mediterranean when ,vega was formerly the ,pole-star4 ,the beauty of ,vega1 which has been admired and commented on from the earliest times1 is much enhanced when it is viewed with a telescope4 ,then the blueness of its light becomes evident1 and one is the more astonished at the unquestionable fact that it outshines the sun a hundred times4 ,a sapphire sun1 a hundred times more brilliant than ours6 ,the proper motion of the solar system1 which carries us through space about twelve miles per second1 is bearing us almost directly toward ,vega1 so that as future ages unroll the star should become brighter and brighter with decrease of distance1 until eventually it may outshine every other orb in the firmament1 and put ,sirius himself to shame by its overpowering splendor4 ,the little star ,epsilon 771 the northernmost one of the pair near ,vega1 is a celebrated quadruple1 easily seen as such with a telescope of moderate power4 ,a little less than half way from ,beta 77 to ,gamma 77 the telescope discovers the wonderful 8,ring ,nebula10 a delicate circle of nebulous light with a star in the centre4 ,this star is more conspicuous in photographs than in telescopic views4 ,this object has been regarded as a visual proof of the correctness of ,laplace's theory of the origin of the solar system from nebulous rings surrounding a central sun1 but the ,lick photographs show that the ring in this case is of a strangely complex constitution4 ,beta is both a binary and a variable star4 ,buried in the ,milky ,way1 east of ,lyra1 lies the great 8,northern ,cross0 in the constellation ,cygnus4 ,it is more perfect than the famous 8,southern ,cross10 and much larger4 ,the star ,alpha 771 at the head of the main beam of the cross1 is also called ,denib1 the 8,tail10 as it is situated in the tail of the 8,swan10 ,cygnus4 ,its parallax is undetermined1 and ,newcomb placed it in his 8,,xm0 class1 described under ,spica in ,chapter ,i4 ,the ,milky ,way is exceedingly beautiful in ,cygnus4 ,note particularly the broad gaps and rifts in it4 ,around and above the head of the cross there are dark spaces1 which are specially impressive when the eyes are partly averted from them4 ,downward from ,cygnus the stream of the galaxy is seen to be partially split longitudinally4 ,it resembles a broad river meandering1 in the droughts of the 8dog days10 over flats and shallows1 and interrupted with long sand-bars4 ,how can stars have been thrown together into such forms8 ,what whirls and eddies of the ether can have made these pools of shining suns8 ,the star in the foot of the cross1 ,beta 771 or ,albireo--a beautiful name without signification1 since ,allen shows that it originated in a blunder 7see his ,star ,names and ,their ,meanings7--is one of the most attractive objects in the heavens for those who are fortunate enough to possess a telescope4 ,the smallest glass easily shows it to be double1 and the combination is unrivalled for beauty1 the larger star being a pale topaz and the smaller a deep sapphire4 ,their magnitudes are three and seven1 and their distance apart about #cd4 ,i have separated them with a field-glass4 ,cygnus contains one of the nearest stars in the sky1 a twinkler not too easily seen with the naked eye--a striking proof of the fact that the mere faintness of a star is in itself no indication of excessive distance4 ,this is known as #fa ,cygni1 and will be found on ,chart ,x4 ,it is a double1 possible binary1 easily separated with a small telescope1 the distance being about #ba4 ,the distance of #fa ,cygni is about #dj1jjj1jjj1jjj1jjj miles4 ,it was long known as the second nearest star in the sky1 the nearest being ,alpha ,centauri in the southern hemisphere2 but at least one nearer one has more lately been discovered1 and it1 too1 is a very small star4 ,the combined luminosity of the two stars in #fa ,cygni is only one-tenth that of the sun4 ,amid so many giants it is reassuring to find a sun smaller than ours2 it restores our self-esteem to find that our solar hamlet is not the very least in the empire of space4 ,southeast of ,cygnus1 near the eastern shore of the starry river1 is ,aquila1 the 8,eagle40 ,its chief star1 ,altair1 8,eagle10 recalls ,antares1 not by its color1 for it is not red but white1 but by the singular arrangement of two small stars standing one on either side of it4 ,here1 too1 the ,milky ,way is very splendid1 attaining astonishing brightness lower down1 in ,scutum ,sobieskii1 8,sobieski's ,shield40 ,the naming of this constellation was a posthumous reward to the heroic king1 ,john ,sobieski1 for saving ,europe by the defeat of the ,turks under the walls of ,vienna1 after their victorious advance from ,constantinople1 emphasized in the public mind by the appearance of ,halley's ,comet1 had seemed to threaten a ,moslem conquest4 ,twice ,halley's ,comet had alarmed ,europe in connection with the ,turks1 first in #adef1 after they had taken ,constantinople1 and again in #afhb when they swept upon ,vienna1 so that it was a natural thought to associate ,sobieski's victory with some 8sign in the sky10 and a more appropriate one could hardly have been found than the 8shield10 bossed with star-clusters1 which ,hevelius selected for the purpose4 ,the southern part of the constellation ,aquila is sometimes called ,antinous4 ,for the beautiful ,oriental legend of the ,spinning ,damsel and the ,magpie ,bridge connected with ,aquila and ,lyra1 see ,astronomy with the ,naked ,eye4 ,newcomb gives ,altair ten times the luminosity of the sun4 ,the constellations ,delphinus and ,anser et ,vulpecula will be dealt with in the next chapter4 ,in the mean time let us turn to the western half of the sky4 ,just west of the meridian1 near the zenith1 gleams the glorious ,northern ,crown1 ,corona ,borealis4 ,the head of ,serpens is right underneath it4 ,it is1 perhaps1 the most charming of all asterisms4 ,it could hardly be called anything else than a crown or a wreath4 ,the perfection of the figure is surprising4 ,if its stars were larger it would be the cynosure of the sky1 but small as they are they produce an effect of ensemble that could not have been exceeded if human hands had arranged them there4 ,the superior brightness of one of them1 ,alpha 8,gemma10 or 8,the ,pearl10 adds greatly to the effectiveness of the combination4 ,it is the work of a master jeweller6 ,yet1 as ,i have elsewhere shown1 this curious assemblage of stars is but a passing phenomenon1 for they are travelling in various directions1 with various speeds1 and in the course of time the ,northern ,crown will dissolve like a figure in the clouds4 ,in ,greek mythology it was generally called the ,crown of ,ariadne4 ,just under the star ,epsilon 77 is a wonderful variable1 which in #ahff suddenly blazed up to the second magnitude1 and was for a time regarded as a new star4 ,nothing is known of its periods of change4 ,it is not now visible to the naked eye4 ,west of ,corona the most conspicuous object is ,arcturus in ,botes4 ,this entire constellation is now well placed for observation4 ,but first a few words about ,arcturus1 a star of which one can never tire1 so steeped is it in the poetry and history of the most interesting nations of the past4 ,like ,alpha ,centauri1 ,arcturus was used as a 8temple star0 in both ,egypt and ,greece1 and it was of much importance as a prognosticator of the seasons4 ,when a conspicuous star was seen rising just ahead of the sun1 it was said to rise heliacally1 and it served as a sentinel to announce the oncoming day4 ,to the priests this was important1 because it warned them of the moment when it was necessary to begin their preparations for the sunrise ceremonies in the temples4 ,to the husbandman such a herald seemed specially connected with the particular season in which it appeared4 ,in this way ,arcturus came to give its name to the ancient ,greek autumn4 ,in ,sophocles' dipus the ,king there is a passage which affords striking evidence of the popular knowledge of ,arcturus in this connection4 ,when the herdsman from ,mount ,cithron is brought to prove that he had nurtured dipus as a child1 one of his former comrades1 to recall the old man's recollections1 reminds him that they had kept their flocks together 8three whole half-years from ,spring to ,arcturus0 7meaning from ,spring to ,autumn1 since ,arcturus then rose heliacally at the beginning of ,september74 ,whatever might be the local names for ,autumn1 over all the ,greek world it was popularly known as the 8time of ,arcturus40 ,although the ,revised ,version has struck out ,arcturus and substituted 8the ,bear0 in that famous passage in which the ,almighty answers ,job 8out of the whirlwind10 yet for lovers of the ,bible this will always be 8,job's ,star10 always surrounded to the imagination with the momentous circumstances suggested by that tremendous and unanswerable demand3 8,canst thou call forth ,arcturus and his sons80 ,no scientific fact known about it--not its gigantic size1 not its inexplicable flight through space--can be so imposing as the impressions conveyed in its choice by ,jehovah to illustrate ,his illimitable power4 ,one likes to think that the ,hebrew poet really did mean to write 8,arcturus10 for there is something sublime in the idea of representing the ,great ,maker of ,all as calling one of ,his stars by name4 ,arcturus is sometimes referred to under the name of ,arctophilax1 the 8,bear-driver10 a name properly belonging to the constellation ,botes4 ,in modern astronomical history it will always be memorable for the passage over it of the celebrated ,comet of #aheh1 ,donati's ,comet4 ,at one time the star was almost involved in the head of the great comet1 and yet it shone through the obstructing vapors with virtually undiminished lustre4 ,it was a spectacle1 said ,professor ,nichol1 the like of which no one might see again though he should spend on earth fifty lives4 ,at the beginning the comet was a little plume of fire1 8shaped like a bird of paradise10 but it soon brightened into a stupendous scimetar1 brandished in the sunset1 and when it swept over ,arcturus the whole astronomical world was watching to see what would happen to the star4 ,among the other stars of ,botes1 ,epsilon 77 is specially worthy of notice1 being a remarkable binary of finely contrasted colors1 orange and sea-green4 ,the distance is #b4be1 and the period of revolution long but undetermined4 ,struve called this star 8,pulcherrima10 on account of its exceeding beauty4 ,although ,arcturus by its splendor belittles the rest of the constellation1 yet it requires no difficult exercise of the imagination to see a giant form there1 towering behind the ,bear1 and urging on his dogs in the chase4 ,the dogs are represented by ,canes ,venatici1 of the beauty of whose chief star1 ,cor ,caroli1 ,i have spoken in the preceding chapter4 ,in the upper part of ,canes ,venatici1 about #c southwest of ,benetnasch1 is the celebrated 8,whirlpool ,nebula0 of ,lord ,rosse1 which modern photographs show in a form so suggestive of tremendous disruptive forces that cosmogonists are at a loss to explain it4 ,we now drop down to ,libra1 the 8,balance10 which lies just west of ,scorpio and east of ,virgo4 ,there is evidence that this constellation originally represented the outstretched claws of the ,scorpion4 ,yet as an independent constellation it is very ancient4 ,it has only two stars of any considerable magnitude1 ,alpha 77 and ,beta 774 ,the former must have faded1 for it is now the fainter4 ,it lies almost on the ecliptic4 ,these stars are interesting on account of their curious names1 which themselves tend to prove that ,libra once formed a part of ,scorpio4 ,alpha is ,zubenelgenubi1 the 8,southern ,claw10 and ,beta ,zubeneschemali1 the 8,northern ,claw40 ,these titles1 as ,allen shows1 have been derived through the ,arabic from the ,greek names current in the time of ,ptolemy4 ,the first is yellowish-white1 and the second pale green4 ,any good eye detects the difference of color at a glance1 although the stars are about ten degrees apart4 ,zubenelgenubi is widely double1 separable with an opera-glass4 ,along the western horizon we recognize our old friends ,virgo1 ,corvus1 and ,leo1 while high in the northwest is ,ursa ,major1 head downward1 and directly in the north ,ursa ,minor1 standing on the end of his tail1 poised like an acrobat on ,polaris4 ,the head of ,draco shows finely east of the meridian1 and low down in the northeast is the 8,laconian ,key0 of ,cassiopeia4 ,but that is for another evening4 ,,iii ,,the ,,evening ,,sky ,,at ,,the ,,autumnal ,,equinox 8,when descends on the ,atlantic ,the gigantic ,storm-wind of the ,equinox1 ,landward in his wrath he scourges ,the toiling surges1 ,laden with sea-weed from the rocks40 ,longfellow's vivid lines reproduce the popular impression of the character of the season when the descending sun again touches the equator1 giving the whole world once more days and nights of equal length1 before he dips to the south and leaves the northern hemisphere to face the oncoming blasts of winter4 ,there is no superstition more deeply planted than that of the 8equinoctial storms40 ,there are such storms1 it is true1 but they by no means always burst at the epoch of the ,equinox4 ,the readjustment of atmospheric conditions goes on gradually1 and there is often1 just at the equinoctial moment1 a spell of serene weather that can hardly be matched at any other season of the year4 ,the atmosphere1 recovered from the excessive heats of summer1 possesses a quality of softness and 8misty fruitfulness0 that tranquillizes the spirit and makes nature doubly charming4 ,it is the late afternoon of the year1 when life1 refreshed by the siestas of summer1 resumes its activity1 and the heavens no less than the face of the earth greet the eye with a smile of divine beauty4 ,to every season its flowers--and to every season its stars4 ,the gardens of the sky are not the same in autumn as in summer1 either in their arrangement or in the peculiarities of their bloom4 ,there is less parade of flaming beauty1 but the richness of the coup d'il is not inferior4 ,and just as in our ,september parterres some of the summer beauties remain1 though a little faded1 to support with their charms their stately successors1 so in the skies of autumn a few of the summer stars are yet seen1 though somewhat robbed of their pristine splendor as they sink toward the sunset4 ,the garland of the ,milky ,way has now been flung all across the firmament1 from northeast to southwest1 and while ,vega and ,altair hang half-way down the curtain of the west1 recalling the glories of the solstice1 ,capella appears rising in the northeast1 and ,cassiopeia1 not less beautiful in the sky than when she awoke the jealousy of the sea-nymphs1 is seen seated in her 8shiny chair0 east of the meridian in the north4 ,between ,cassiopeia and ,capella flashes ,perseus1 with his uplifted sword marked by a curve of stars embedded in the ,milky ,way1 and above ,perseus stands ,andromeda1 upright1 with her feet toward her rescuer and her head touching the 8,great ,square of ,pegasus10 near the middle of the sky1 east of the meridian4 ,cepheus1 the ,king1 is on the meridian above the pole4 ,cassiopeia1 ,cepheus1 ,andromeda1 and ,perseus constitute the 8,royal ,family0 of the sky1 more enduring than the proud dynasties that by turns have ruled terrestrial affairs4 ,illustration3 ,,chart ,,iii--,,the ,,autumn ,,evening ,,sky ,low down in the south1 east of the meridian1 glows ,fomalhaut1 the 8,fish's ,mouth10 the leading and the only bright star of ,piscis ,austrinus1 the 8,southern ,fish40 ,with this singular star we may begin our description of the beauties of the autumn sky4 ,fomalhaut well deserves the epithet singular1 if for nothing else than on account of its loneliness4 ,in this respect it is more remarkable than ,cor ,hydr1 which it resembles in its ruddy color4 ,fomalhaut is the characteristic star of autumn in our latitudes1 for the same reasons that cause ,antares to represent the summer4 ,like ,antares1 it startles the wandering eye and fixes the attention1 although1 unlike the great star of ,scorpio1 it has no brilliant entourage to emphasize its supremacy over the quarter of the sky where it shines4 ,it is one of the sailors' stars4 ,to me ,fomalhaut is full of boyhood memories and impressions gained when ,i learned the stars in the country1 among the hills that shut in the ,schoharie before it pours out into the valley of the ,mohawk4 ,fortunately1 ,thomas ,dick's works and ,burritt's ,geography of the ,heavens had a place in our house1 and neither ,the ,arabian ,nights nor ,the ,swiss ,family ,robinson was able to dull my appetite for them4 ,in the course of time ,i knew all the great stars by name1 and found a wonderful pleasure in their acquaintance1 although at times they daunted me with their imposing associations with ,egypt1 the ,nile1 ,babylonia1 and everything that is most ancient4 ,i shall never forget ,fomalhaut flashing along in the south1 just skipping the hilltops on an autumn night4 ,a great star is never so imposing nor so mysterious as when it thus appears to be watching the earth4 ,how immensely would the interest of many travellers' tales be heightened if only they had known the names of the stars whose appearance they have recorded4 ,when you have the name of the star that was seen1 the season and the hour of the night are fixed at once1 and the whole scene is filled with new life4 ,when an ,alpine climber1 waiting in his lonely camp high on the mountain-side for the coming of day1 tells me1 8,i saw ,sirius glancing at us over a lofty peak far in the east10 ,i know immediately the approximate time of night and the aspect of the heavens1 and the narrative gains in vividness2 but if he says merely that he saw 8a star0 his stroke of description misses4 ,and1 then1 the names of many of the stars1 by their oddity and beauty1 enrich the page and awake the imagination4 ,they are1 in themselves1 an incantation4 ,the lover of the stars is grateful for any reference to them by a great writer1 and yet he is often disappointed by the inadequacy of descriptions that might easily have been made memorable if only their authors had known the starry heavens a little better4 ,how disappointing1 for instance1 is this passage in ,r4 ,h4 ,dana's ,two ,years before the ,mast3 8,wednesday1 ,november #eth--,the weather was fine during the previous night1 and we had a clear view of the ,magellan ,clouds and of the ,southern ,cross4 ,the ,magellan ,clouds consist of three small nebul in the southern part of the heavens--two bright1 like the ,milky ,way1 and one dark4 ,they are first seen just above the horizon after crossing the southern tropic4 ,when off ,cape ,horn they are nearly overhead4 ,the ,cross is composed of four stars in that form1 and it is said to be the brightest constellation in the heavens40 ,that is all1 and the reader's dissatisfaction is not confined to the evidence of the writer's lack of familiarity with the stars1 but becomes yet keener when he reflects upon the brilliant picture which ,mr4 ,dana's powers of description should have enabled him to make of those strange sights of the southern sky1 which1 in his day1 were so rarely seen by northern eyes4 ,on the equator above ,fomalhaut1 and close to the meridian1 appears a curious group of stars in the form of a letter ,y4 ,they mark the hand and urn of ,aquarius1 the 8,waterman40 ,a few degrees westward from this figure shines the ,alpha 77 of the constellation1 bearing the strange name ,sadalmelik1 the 8,king's ,luck10 or 8,lucky ,one40 ,it is situated in the ,waterman's right shoulder1 while ,beta 771 some twelve degrees farther west1 marks the left shoulder4 ,beta's distinctive name is ,sadalsuud1 the 8,luckiest of the ,lucky40 ,several other stars in this constellation have names implying good-fortune4 ,the ,arabs saw the ,y-shaped figure1 already referred to1 as a tent1 and the star ,gamma 77 in this group is called ,sadachbiah1 from an ,arabic phrase which ,professor ,whitney translates 8,felicity of ,tents40 ,upon this ,r4 ,h4 ,allen remarks that the star probably got its name from the fact that it rose with its companions in the morning twilight of spring1 8when1 after the winter's want and suffering1 the nomads' tents were raised on the freshening pastures1 and the pleasant weather set in40 ,the star ,zeta 771 in this same figure1 is a long-period binary1 probably #gej years1 and a beautiful telescopic object1 the distance being a little more than #c1 while the two stars are nearly equal1 and very white1 although one of them seems whiter than the other4 ,it will be observed that the outline of the constellation ,aquarius is very curious1 somewhat resembling that of the ,state of ,louisiana tipped on its side4 ,the broader part of it runs down toward ,fomalhaut1 and the northern part extends westward1 like an ,l added to a house1 between ,equuleus and ,capricornus4 ,the latter1 the constellation of the 8,goat10 is relatively small and compact4 ,its two most interesting stars are ,alpha 771 or ,algedi1 the 8,goat10 and ,beta 771 or ,dabih 7signification uncertain71 both in one of the horns of the imaginary animal4 ,each of these stars is a wide double4 ,the distance between the ,alphas is #cgc1 and that between the ,betas #bje1 the latter being more than a tenth of the apparent diameter of the moon4 ,a good eye sees at once that ,alpha is double2 but the two stars in ,beta cannot be seen without a glass1 because one of them is below the sixth magnitude1 the minimum visible for the naked eye4 ,each of the stars in ,beta is a telescopic double4 ,the ,goat heads westward1 and the stars ,delta 77 and ,gamma 77 are in his tail4 ,this constellation has given us our ,tropic of ,capricorn1 because the place of the winter solstice was once within its boundaries1 although now we find it far west1 in ,sagittarius4 ,above the head of ,capricornus we recognize our old acquaintance ,altair1 in the ,eagle1 and east of this the singular little constellation of ,delphinus1 the 8,dolphin10 often called 8,job's ,coffin10 a name for which ,i have never been able to find any explanation4 ,like all small constellations whose stars are comparatively close together1 it immediately attracts the eye4 ,none of its stars exceeds the fourth magnitude2 but three of them1 ,alpha1 ,beta1 and ,gamma1 are telescopic doubles1 the last named being particularly beautiful on account of the contrast of colors1 gold and green2 distance #aa4 ,directly north of ,altair is the very small constellation of ,sagitta1 the 8,arrow10 interesting when viewed with an opera-glass for its row of little stars from which1 as from a maypole lying horizontally1 depend loops of still smaller stars looking like garlands4 ,in ancient times this was sometimes called 8,cupid's ,arrow10 but they did not venture to represent the little god himself4 ,above ,sagitta are the small stars constituting the double constellation of ,vulpecula et ,anser1 the 8,little ,fox and the ,goose40 ,simply pausing to recognize the presence of the ,northern ,cross1 we turn to the eastern side of the meridian1 where we find ,pegasus1 with his ,great ,square4 ,this is one of the most conspicuous figures in the sky4 ,the star at the northeastern corner of the square is ,alpheratz1 of which ,i have spoken in the ,introduction1 as belonging in common to ,andromeda and ,pegasus4 ,when we come to ,cassiopeia ,i shall point out a remarkable fact relating to ,alpheratz and its twin1 ,gamma ,pegasi1 about #ae degrees directly south4 ,every lover of the 8classics0 of course feels a thrill of pleasure in seeing ,pegasus in the sky1 8in wild flight and free40 ,one can spare many of the heroes for the sake of giving him room4 ,shakespeare's references to the constellations are much less frequent and definite than one could wish1 but he has clearly mentioned one or two1 and it may be that he had the starry eidolon of the ,winged ,horse in his eye when he wrote1 in ,troilus and ,cressida3 8,but let the ruffian ,boreas once enrage ,the gentle ,thetis1 and anon behold ,the strong-ribbed bark through liquid mountains cut1 ,bounding between the two moist elements ,like ,perseus' horse40 ,the constellation extends far westward from the ,square1 and in the imaginative sky pictures that illustrate old charts of the heavens the star ,epsilon 77 is in the nose of ,pegasus1 as he stretches out his neck to reach his foal1 ,equuleus4 ,but the horse1 with his feet toward the north1 is shown upside down1 unless you turn your back to the south when looking at him4 ,the star ,beta 77 is attractive on account of its neighbors forming a striking triangle with it2 but the space within the ,square is relatively vacant4 ,alpha 77 and ,beta 77 are respectively ,markab1 the 8,saddle10 and ,scheat 7signification uncertain74 ,south of the ,square of ,pegasus we see the western part of the constellation of ,pisces1 whose small stars run in streams toward the eastern horizon4 ,pisces furnishes one of the most remarkable examples of this phenomenon1 in which the stars are seen arrayed in long1 winding lines1 like buttercups following a brook4 ,cetus is also seen rising south of ,pisces2 but we shall deal with these constellations later4 ,meanwhile we return to ,alpheratz1 at the northeast corner of the ,square of ,pegasus4 ,the name is derived from an ,arabic phrase meaning the 8,horse's ,navel02 but the star is now generally associated with ,andromeda1 and is1 indeed1 the ,alpha of that constellation1 and shines on the maiden's head4 ,the star ,delta 771 in ,andromeda1 marks her breast1 and her extended arms and chained hands are shown by rows and groups of small stars on the north and south4 ,beta 771 or ,mirach1 is in her girdle1 and the two small stars northwest of it lead the eye to one of the most wonderful objects in the sky--the ,great ,andromeda ,nebula4 ,you may detect it as a misty speck with the naked eye2 an opera-glass will show you plainly that it is a little luminous cloud4 ,in ,chart ,x its position is indicated by a little circle near the star ,nu 774 ,in a telescope it appears of a spindle shape1 with a bright axis1 but the best views of it are afforded by photography4 ,on the photographic plate1 exposed continuously for hours to its rays1 it gradually builds up its marvellous form--the great central condensation1 with the encircling spirals1 emerging in all their strange splendor4 ,it resembles a whirlwind of snow1 and the appearance of swift motion and terrific force is startling4 ,its spectrum1 instead of being that characteristic of gases1 indicates that it consists principally of matter in a star-like state of condensation1 and some have imagined that it is an outside universe1 composed of stars too distant to be separately distinguished1 and arrayed in mighty spirals1 which recall the form of the ,milky ,way4 ,the latest investigations show evidence1 however1 that it is partly nebular in constitution4 ,these things once known1 the contemplative eye is drawn to that misty speck as to a magnet4 ,the star ,gamma 771 or ,almaack1 the 8,badger10 is in ,andromeda's foot4 ,it is a wonderful triple star1 whose largest member is orange in color1 the second emerald-green1 and the third blue4 ,the two larger stars are easily seen with an ordinary telescope1 the distance between them being about #aj1 but the third is difficult1 the distance from the second being1 in #aijh1 only #j4de4 ,the last two form a binary1 with a period of about fifty-four years4 ,when they are nearest to each other no telescope can separate them4 ,the colors of the two largest stars are very striking1 and yet some eyes seem incapable of appreciating them4 ,this is also true of many separate stars in the sky which possess distinctive tints4 ,it is a fine test of the chromatic capacity of the eye to be able to enjoy the differences among the hues of the stars4 ,color-blindness is far more common than is usually suspected1 and is apt to manifest itself in this way when not otherwise noticed4 ,from theoretical considerations ,holmgren has shown that three varieties of color-blindness may exist3 first1 where the sense is defective for only one color1 either red1 green1 or violet2 second1 where two colors1 either red and green or red and violet1 are not perceived2 and third1 where the defect extends to three colors1 including red1 green1 and violet4 ,a person suffering from either of these forms of blindness would lose much of the peculiar beauty exhibited by certain stars and combinations of stars4 ,to the right of ,almaack1 as one faces north1 is the little constellation of ,triangulum1 and beyond that1 in the same direction1 ,aries1 the 8,ram10 clearly marked by three stars1 the two smaller of which are quite close together4 ,the largest star1 ,alpha 771 is called ,hamal1 the 8,ram10 or 8,sheep02 and the next largest1 ,beta 771 ,sheratan1 the 8,sign10 this name being due to the fact that in the days of ,hipparchus ,sheratan marked the place of the ,vernal ,equinox1 and consequently the point of beginning of the year1 of which it was the sign4 ,gamma 771 the companion of ,sheratan1 sometimes called ,mesarthim 7signification uncertain71 is a beautiful telescopic double whose components are #h4h apart4 ,the smaller one has a curious tint which ,webb and others have described as 8gray40 ,aries was originally the leader of the zodiac1 but the ,precession of the ,equinoxes has now thrown it into second place1 and brought ,pisces to the front1 the twelve signs of the zodiac being like a fixed circular framework through which the constellations drift toward the east4 ,the sign ,aries remains the first of the zodiac1 but is occupied by the constellation ,pisces4 ,is there in any language a word more mysteriously impressive than 8zodiac08 ,astrological superstition1 perhaps1 partly accounts for this4 ,the word comes from the ,greek for 8animal10 because nearly all the constellations of the zodiacal circle are representations of animals4 ,it surrounds the sky with a great menagerie of starry phantasms1 through the midst of which the sun pursues his annual round4 ,when he enters the sign of ,aries spring commences2 when he enters ,cancer summer reigns2 when he reaches ,libra it is the beginning of autumn1 and when he is in ,capricorn winter is at hand4 ,we have nothing quite equal to the old ,greek story of ,phaeton begging from his father1 ,phbus ,apollo1 the privilege of driving the ,chariot of the ,sun1 and losing his way through terror of the threatening forms amid which lay his course--the 8,scorpion10 with his fiery sting uplifted to strike2 the huge 8,crab10 sprawling across the way2 the fierce 8,ram10 with lowered head2 the great 8,bull10 charging headlong upon him2 the terrible 8,lion10 with bristling mane2 the 8,archer10 with bow bent and arrow aimed2 the 8,goat10 with crooked1 threatening horns2 the sturdy 8,waterman10 emptying his vast urn in a raging flood2 the balance of 8,libra0 extended as if to weigh his fate--even the benign aspect of the 8,twins0 and the gentle look of the sedate 8,virgin0 could not restore his equanimity4 ,it was the wildest of all wild rides1 and ,phaeton was the precursor of the modern chauffeur gone mad with the speed of his flight1 and crazed by the pursuit of phantoms which rise remorselessly in his path4 ,it was probably in ,aries that the inventors of the story imagined the beginning of the adventure4 ,below the feet of ,andromeda1 in the northeast1 appears ,perseus1 her rescuer1 hurrying to the combat with the oncoming ,sea ,monster1 and carrying the blood-freezing head of ,medusa in one hand and his diamond-hilted sword in the other4 ,he wraps the glory of the ,milky ,way around him like a flying mantle1 and brandished in the direction of ,cassiopeia1 the maiden's mother1 and of ,king ,cepheus1 her father1 is seen his magic blade1 made splendid in the sky by one of the finest assemblages of small stars that can anywhere be seen4 ,this beautiful star-swarm1 visible to the naked eye as a glowing patch in the ,milky ,way1 is indicated in ,chart ,x by a double cluster of dots above the star ,eta 774 ,seen with a powerful opera-glass1 or better with a small telescope1 it is an object that one can never cease to admire and wonder at4 ,it is so bright that the unassisted eye sees it as soon as it is directed toward that part of the sky4 ,it seems to throw a halo over the surrounding sky1 as if at that point the galaxy had been tied into a gleaming knot4 ,it is popularly called the 8,sword ,hand of ,perseus40 ,but how inadequate seems such terrestrial imagery when we reflect that here a vast chaotic nebula has been1 through ons of evolution1 transformed into a kingdom of starry beauty4 ,the star ,alpha 77 ,persei1 also known as ,algenib 7,arabic ,al ,janib1 the 8,side071 is the centre of a bending row following the curve of the ,milky ,way4 ,the appearance of this curve of stars is very attractive to the eye4 ,algenib is a beautiful star1 allied to our sun in spectroscopic character1 and approaching us at the rate of about #efj1jjj miles per day4 ,but the greatest marvel of ,perseus is the 8,demon ,star10 ,algol1 in the head of ,medusa1 which is represented depending from the hero's right hand4 ,algol bears the ,greek letter ,beta 774 ,it is the most wonderful of variables1 and its variations can be watched without any instrumental assistance4 ,for the greater part of the time it is of nearly the second magnitude2 but once every two days1 twenty hours1 and forty-nine seconds it begins suddenly to lose light1 and in about four hours or less it fades to nearly the fourth magnitude1 being then no brighter than some of the faint stars around it4 ,almost immediately it begins to brighten again1 and in the course of about three hours is seen shining with its pristine splendor4 ,the cause of these singular variations is believed to be the existence of a dark star1 or a mass of meteors1 revolving round ,algol at such close quarters that a distance of only #c1jjj1jjj miles separates the centres of the two4 ,algol itself is demonstrably considerably larger than our sun1 but of less density4 ,the ,arabic name for this star was ,al ,ghul1 the 8,demon10 or 8,fiend of the ,woods10 and our word ghoul comes from it4 ,the imagination of a ,poe could not have represented a more startling thing--a sun that winks like a gloating demon6 ,one may easily cultivate an uncanny feeling while watching it4 ,no one need be surprised that the astrologers make much of the malign influence of ,algol4 ,if one had faith in them1 one might as well be born with the millstone of fate tied to his neck as to have ,algol in his nativity4 ,below ,perseus1 and not very high above the horizon1 sparkles the brilliant ,capella1 but that is for the next chapter4 ,we turn to ,cassiopeia4 ,her 8,w10 or 8,laconian ,key10 is a familiar asterism to all who know anything at all of the starry heavens4 ,the five stars forming this figure are also represented as marking the ,chair in which the unfortunate though beautiful queen sits4 ,there is a delightful reference to this 8,chair0 in ,xavier de ,maistre's ,expdition ,nocturne autour de ma ,chambre4 ,when the hero discovers the slipper of his fair neighbor of the upper flat visible on the balcony above1 he wishes 8to compare the pleasure that a modest man may feel in contemplating a lady's slipper with that imparted by the contemplation of the stars40 ,accordingly1 he chooses the first constellation that he can see4 8,it was1 if ,i mistake not1 ,cassiopeia's ,chair which ,i saw over my head1 and ,i looked by turns at the constellation and the slipper1 the slipper and the constellation4 ,i perceived then that these two sensations were of a totally different nature2 the one was in my head1 while the other seemed to me to have its seat in the region of the heart40 ,the names of three of the five stars forming the 8,chair0 are3 ,alpha 77 ,schedar 7from ,al ,sadr1 the 8,breast072 ,beta 77 ,caph 7,arabic ,kaff1 8,hand072 and ,delta 77 ,ruchbah or ,rucbar1 the 8,knee40 ,caph and ,ruchbar are of particular interest1 the first because1 together with ,alpheratz and ,gamma ,pegasi 7often called ,algenib1 although that name belongs to ,alpha ,persei71 it lies almost exactly on the ,equinoctial ,colure1 or ,first ,meridian of the ,heavens2 and ,ruchbah1 because1 as explained in ,chapter ,i1 it lies in a line with ,polaris and the true pole1 thus serving to indicate the position of ,polaris with regard to the pole at any time4 ,caph1 ,alpheratz1 and ,gamma ,pegasi are often called the 8,three ,guides10 because1 as just explained1 they graphically show the line of the ,equinoctial ,colure1 which is a great circle passing through the pole and cutting the equator at the ,vernal and ,autumnal ,equinoxes4 ,on the opposite side of the pole this line passes between the stars ,gamma 77 and ,delta 77 in ,ursa ,major4 ,the star ,eta 77 is an extremely beautiful binary1 period about two hundred years1 distance at present more than #f4 ,the combination of colors is especially remarkable1 the larger component being orange1 and the smaller purple4 ,piazzi ,smyth saw the color of the smaller star as 8,indian red10 and others have variously called it 8garnet10 8violet10 and1 curiously enough1 considering the general opinion to the contrary1 8green40 ,there is no doubt1 whatever the exact hue may be1 that this star wears a livery distinguishing it from any other in the sky4 ,it is hardly an exaggeration to say that there is as great a variety of color tones among stars as among flowers4 ,although the great majority of stars approximate to white1 there are1 nevertheless1 red stars1 green stars1 blue stars1 lilac stars1 yellow stars1 orange stars1 indigo stars1 and violet stars1 and stars of other tints and shades4 ,all of those which are deeply colored are linked together in close pairs1 but the colors they exhibit are not an effect of contrast4 ,it is wonderful to think of suns of such hues1 but there they are6 ,and1 after all1 it would be no more difficult to account for the colors of stars than for those of flowers4 ,but to live under a purple or an emerald sun might not be as agreeable as life in the rays of our white orb1 whose light splits into rainbows1 as light of a single primary color could not do4 ,a flower-garden under a green sun would not be the marvel of prismatic hues that it is in our world4#a ,cassiopeia is memorable for being the scene of one of the greatest astronomical occurrences on record4 ,near the star ,kappa 771 in #aegb1 appeared the most splendid new star that has ever been seen4 ,it is known as 8,tycho's ,star10 the ,danish astronomer ,tycho ,brahe having been an assiduous student of the wonderful phenomenon during the sixteen months that it remained visible4 ,there is a red variable star of less than the tenth magnitude quite close to the spot where ,tycho recorded the appearance of his nova1 and it has been thought that this may be the mysterious object itself4 ,in #aija a new star1 almost equal in brilliance to ,tycho's1 suddenly burst out in ,perseus1 between ,algol and ,algenib1 and these two so similar phenomena occurring in the same quarter of the heavens are usually linked together in the discussion of new stars4 ,the reader who wishes more particulars about these stars may consult ,curiosities of the ,sky4 ,the background of the sky around ,cassiopeia is a magnificent field for the opera-glass and the telescope4 ,in sweeping over it one is reminded of ,jean ,paul ,richter's ,dream of the ,universe3 8,thus we flew on through the starry wildernesses2 one heaven after another unfurled its immeasurable banners before us and then rolled up behind us2 galaxy behind galaxy towered up into solemn altitudes before which the spirit shuddered2 and they stood in long array1 through which the ,infinite ,beings might pass in progress4 ,sometimes the ,form that lightened would outfly my weary thoughts1 and then it would be seen far off before me like a coruscation among the stars1 till suddenly ,i thought to myself the thought of #8,there1' and then ,i was at its side4 ,but as we were thus swallowed up by one abyss of stars after another1 and the heavens above our eyes were not emptier1 neither were the heavens below them fuller2 and as suns without intermission fell into the solar ocean like waterspouts of a storm which fall into the ocean of waters1 then at length the human heart within me was overburdened and weary1 and yearned after some narrow cell or quiet oratory in this metropolitan cathedral of the universe4 ,and ,i said to the ,form at my side3 #8,o ,spirit6 has then this universe no end8' ,and the ,form answered and said1 #8,lo6 it has no beginning6'0 ,westward from ,cassiopeia1 directly over the pole1 and lying athwart the meridian1 is the constellation of ,cepheus1 the ,king1 less conspicuous than that of his queen1 ,cassiopeia1 but equally ancient4 ,its leading star1 ,alpha 771 also called ,alderamin1 the 8,right ,arm10 is a candidate for the great office of ,pole-star1 which it will occupy in about #eejj years4 ,beta 771 the second in rank1 is named ,alfirk1 the 8,flock0 or 8,herd40 ,if you are sweeping here with an opera-glass you will perceive1 about half-way between ,alpha 77 and ,zeta 771 a small star which will at once arrest your attention by its color4 ,it is the celebrated 8,garnet ,star0 of ,sir ,william ,herschel1 who was greatly impressed by its brilliant hue1 declaring it to be the most deeply colored star that the naked eye can find in the sky4 ,but its color is not so striking unless a glass be used4 ,low down in the north-northwest we see the ,great ,dipper1 above it the coiling form and diamond head of ,draco1 and then1 still higher1 the ,northern ,cross and ,vega1 bright as a jewel4 ,hercules and the ,northern ,crown are near setting in the northwest4 ,,footnotes3 #a ,the reader who is curious concerning such matters is advised to consult a paper by ,dr4 ,louis ,bell on 8,star ,colors10 in the ,astrophysical ,journal 7vol4 xxi1 ,no4 #c1 ,april1 #aiaj74 ,dr4 ,bell's experiments with artificial stars seem to show that physiological effects play a great part in producing the pronounced colors of the small stars in many telescopic doubles4 ,the paper is very interesting1 especially in its description of a startling imitation of the singular cluster1 ,kappa 77 ,crucis1 which ,sir ,john ,herschel described as resembling a gorgeous piece of colored jewelry4 ,but1 whatever part physiological optics may play in the phenomena of colored doubles1 it is certain that many single stars1 including some of great magnitude1 possess distinctive tints4 ,compare1 for instance1 ,castor and ,pollux or ,rigel and ,betelgeuse4 ,aldebaran and ,betelgeuse are both reddish1 yet the color tones that they exhibit are clearly different4 ,,iv ,,the ,,evening ,,sky ,,at ,,the ,,winter ,,solstice ,the magic of the starry heavens does not fail with the decline of the sun in winter1 but1 on the contrary1 increases in power when the curtains of the night begin to close so early that by six o'clock the twilight is gone and the firmament has become a dome of jet ablaze with clusters of living gems4 ,and when the snows arrive1 mantling the hills with glistening ermine1 the coruscating splendor of the sky seems to be redoubled4 ,if ,i were to choose a time most suitable for interesting a novice in the beauties and wonders of uranography1 ,i would select the winter1 and ,i would lead my acolyte1 on a clear1 frosty night1 when the landscape was glittering with crusted snow1 upon some eminence where the curve of the horizon was broken only by the leafless tops of a few trees1 through which the rising stars would flash like electric lamps4 ,the accord between the stars and the seasons is never more evident than at such a time and in such a place1 and the psychology of the stars is then most strongly felt4 ,when the earth is locked fast in the bonds of winter the sparkling heavens seem most alive4 ,i would have1 if it were possible1 a clump of dark pines or hemlocks near the place of observation1 throwing their shadows on the snow1 while ,sirius in all its wild beauty blazed above them1 and ,aldebaran1 ,rigel1 and ,betelgeuse filled the vibrant air about them with jewelled lances of prismatic light4 ,then the sound of sleigh-bells in the resonant atmosphere would seem an aerial music shaken from the scintillant sky1 and a lurking fox1 stealing from his den in the edge of the shadows1 would appear timorously conscious of the splendor over his head4 ,the nocturnal animals know a day more glorious than ours1 but it is never so glorious as when its multi-colored rays splinter upon crystalled hills at the winter solstice4 ,now the greatest of the constellations reign in the sky4 ,orion is high up in the southeast1 and around him are arrayed his brilliant attendants and companions--toward the west ,taurus1 with ,aldebaran and the glittering ,pleiades2 above1 ,auriga and ,gemini dipping their feet in the ,milky ,way2 in the east1 ,canis ,minor1 with great1 steady ,procyon1 and ,canis ,major proclaiming his precedence with flaming ,sirius1 the ,king of the ,stars4 ,we cannot do better than begin with this starry monarch and his constellation4 ,illustration3 ,,chart ,,iv--,,the ,,winter ,,evening ,,sky ,to me ,sirius will always remain associated with the memory of ,christmas sleigh-bells and the thrilling creak of runners on crisp1 hard snow1 for it was during a drive home from a 8,christmas-tree0 in a country church that ,i first made the acquaintance of that imperial star4 ,it seemed to me more brilliantly beautiful than any of the dazzling gifts that had hung so magically on the illuminated tree4 ,its splendor is unearthly1 putting diamonds and sapphires to shame4 ,how people can live and be happy without ever gazing at such an object surpasses the understanding of any one who has once beheld and yielded to its charm4 ,the splendors of ,aladdin's ,cave are for children1 and fade in the light of advancing life1 but these glories of the universe are for men and women1 and grow brighter with the years4 ,the renown of ,sirius is as ancient as the human race4 ,there has never been a time or a people in which or by whom it was not worshipped1 reverenced1 and admired4 ,to the builders of the ,egyptian temples and pyramids it was an object as familiar as the sun itself4 ,its name is usually regarded as being derived from the ,greek 1 the 8,bright or ,shining ,one10 but it is also thought that it may be connected with ,osiris4 ,the familiar title of the 8,dog ,star0 comes from its association with the dies caniculari of the ,romans4 8,as the movable ,egyptian year10 says ,george ,cornewell ,lewis1 8was held to have originally begun at the heliacal rising of the ,dog ,star1 which was contemporary with the ordinary commencement of the inundation of the ,nile1 this period was1 by late writers1 entitled the ,canicular1 or ,sothiac1 period1 ,sothis being the ,egyptian name for the ,dog ,star40 ,norman ,lockyer identifies ,sirius with the goddess ,isis1 or ,hathor1 who was personified by that star1 and the temple of ,isis at ,dendera was1 he avers1 built to watch it4 8,it has been pointed out1 times without number10 he adds1 8that the inscriptions indicate that by far the most important astronomical event in ,egyptian history was the rising of the star ,sirius at this precise time40 ,sirius has sometimes been identified with the 8,mazzaroth0 of the ,book of ,job4 ,the great star is worthy of all its fame1 not only by its magnificent beauty1 but by the revelations which modern science has afforded us concerning it4 ,while not comparable in actual luminosity with ,rigel1 ,canopus1 or even ,arcturus1 it immensely outshines the best of them to our eyes because of its relative nearness4 ,its distance is only about #ej1jjj1jjj1jjj1jjj miles 7parallax #j4cg71 so that it is really one of the nearest stars in the sky4 ,light requires about nine years to come to us from ,sirius4 ,outshining the sun at least thirty times1 it is so bright1 even at that distance1 that a special rank has been given to it in stellar photometry4 ,formerly all very bright stars were ranked as of the first magnitude1 but greater exactness is now employed1 the naked-eye stars being divided among eight magnitudes1 running from #f up to -#a4 ,thus the faintest star visible to the naked eye is of magnitude #f2 a star #b4ea times brighter is of magnitude #e2 a star #b4ea times brighter than that is of magnitude #d1 and so on up to magnitude #a4 ,a star #b4ea times brighter than magnitude #a is of magnitude #j2 and one #b4ea times brighter than the #j magnitude is of magnitude -#a1 a degree of brilliance which is attained by ,sirius alone4 ,in fact1 ,sirius exceeds magnitude -#a1 its real rank being -#a4f4 ,on the same scale the magnitude of the sun would be -#bf4c4 ,the standard first magnitude s usually taken as being represented by the star ,altair1 although that star is not exactly of that magnitude4 ,as a ready rule it may be said that each magnitude is two and a half times brighter than the next below it1 and a difference of six magnitudes corresponds to an increase of one hundred times in brilliance4 ,sirius is about ten times as bright as ,altair4 ,while1 if seen from the same distance1 ,sirius would appear at least thirty times as bright as the sun1 at our actual distance from both the light received from the sun is to that received from ,sirius in the ratio of about #g1jjj1jjj1jjj to #a4 ,while by no means the largest sun in the universe1 ,sirius is the largest sun in our part of space1 and some indications have been detected that it may1 to a certain extent1 control the motion of the solar system4 ,in other words1 our sun and some of the nearer stars appear to form a group1 or family1 of which ,sirius is probably the chief4 ,sirius is an intensely white star1 but its whiteness is shot with a tint of blue or green4 ,it has not the purity of light of ,spica4 ,owing also to its great brilliance1 it twinkles incessantly1 darting1 in an unsteady atmosphere1 rays of all the colors of the rainbow4 ,the spectroscope shows that it is a sun at an earlier stage of development than ours4 ,it is also a binary4 ,a very massive companion1 singularly faint for its size1 revolves round it in a period of about fifty-three years4 ,at present the distance between these stars is more than #f4 ,the small star is more than half as massive as ,sirius1 but ten thousand times less brilliant--one would say a dying sun linked by gravitation with another in the heyday of its life and splendor4 ,the constellation ,canis ,major1 of which ,sirius is the leader1 is very striking in outline when well above the horizon4 ,some six degrees west of ,sirius is seen the second star of the constellation1 ,beta 771 or ,murzim 7,arabic ,al ,murzim1 the 8,announcer071 a name which ,ideler says originated in the fact that this star rises ahead of ,sirius1 and thus appears to announce its coming4 ,the remainder of the constellation should be viewed an hour or two later than that for which ,chart ,,iv is drawn1 or a month later in the season1 when it is farther from the horizon4 ,it represents the hind-quarters of the imaginary dog4 ,the star ,epsilon 771 or ,adhara1 perhaps the brightest in the group1 is a double2 colors orange and violet2 distance #g4e4 ,the smaller star is of only the ninth magnitude4 ,delta 77 is called ,wezen1 the 8,weight10 because 8the star seems to rise with difficulty from the horizon10 an excellent instance of the fanciful titles which the ,arabs and others often gave to stars4 ,zeta 77 is ,furud1 and ,eta 77 ,aludra4 ,the meaning of these names is uncertain4 ,allen says that the ,arabs called ,epsilon1 ,delta1 ,eta1 and ,omicron 77 8,the ,virgins40 ,but they had other names for them suggested by fancied resemblances as they rose sparkling from the desert4 ,from ,canis ,major the eye rises to ,orion1 the most glorious of all constellations3 8,whoso kens not him in cloudless night ,gleaming aloft1 shall cast his eyes in vain ,to find a brighter sign in all the heaven40 ,brown1 in his ,primitive ,constellations1 undertakes to derive the name from the ,akkadian ,uru-anna1 the 8,light of ,heaven40 ,whatever its origin1 it is certainly very ancient4 ,for some thousands of years it has been associated with a traditional giant who looms in the background of ,greek mythology4 ,in the classical atlases of the heavens ,orion is represented as standing in an attitude of defiance1 facing westward1 brandishing a huge club above his head1 and lifting his left arm1 covered with a lion's hide1 to meet the charge of ,taurus1 the 8,bull40 ,and under some such guise all mankind has seen him for untold ages--always a gigantic figure1 always heroic in character1 always defying or pursuing--the symbol of strength1 courage1 conquest1 and victory4 ,the same idea underlies every representation of this constellation2 whether it be the mythical 8,giant0 of the ,east1 or 8,nimrod0 or 8,joshua0 or the 8,armed ,king0 or the 8,warrior0 or the 8,hunter10 it is invariably the figure of a doer of great deeds which is presented to the imagination4 ,and it must be said that the aspect of the constellation is in accord with such thoughts4 ,no one can look at it without a stirring of the blood4 ,it has something of the effect of a great battle-piece1 and it is not surprising that they once endeavored in ,france to connect it with the name of ,napoleon4 ,although its two chief stars are separated some eighteen degrees1 and the central 8,belt0 forms a striking figure by itself1 yet there is an unmistakable unity about the constellation1 and one would hardly think of dividing it into separate groups4 ,singularly enough1 this sense of oneness is borne out by the photographic discovery that a vast swirl of nebulous matter surrounds the entire constellation1 and by the spectroscopic proof that nearly all of its stars belong to one type1 which has become known as the 8,orion type40 ,perhaps the first feature of ,orion that strikes the eye is the arrangement of the three nearly equal bright stars which form the ,belt4 ,their ,greek-letter names are ,delta1 ,epsilon1 and ,zeta1 and by these they are usually designated1 but there is a great charm in their ,arabic titles1 which1 in the same order1 are ,mintaka1 8,belt02 ,alnilam 7from 8,string of ,pearls072 and ,alnitah1 8,girdle40 ,it will be observed that all of these names have a similar signification1 and probably each of them was originally employed to designate the whole row4#b ,the ,belt is remarkable in another way--it points very nearly toward ,sirius2 it is like a glittering signboard indicating the position of the brightest star in the sky4 ,to hasty observation the row seems to be perfectly straight1 although there is in reality a slight bend1 and the distances separating the three stars appear to be exactly equal4 ,the effect is as beautiful as it is surprising4 ,below the ,belt hangs a fainter row of stars constituting the 8,sword40 ,the central star of this row1 ,theta 771 arrests the attention at once by a curious appearance of nebulosity1 especially if it is examined with an opera-glass4 ,a telescope shows it to be enveloped in one of the grandest nebul in the sky1 the celebrated 8,great ,nebula of ,orion40 ,with a large glass its appearance is astonishing in the highest degree4 ,instead of being elongated like the great nebula in ,andromeda1 it is about as broad as long1 with no single centre of condensation1 but many curdled accumulations1 interspersed with partial gaps1 and a great variety of curved lines of brighter nebulosity1 suggesting the misty skeleton of some nondescript monster impact of phosphorescent clouds4 ,a large number of stars are scattered over or through it1 and some of them seem clearly to be connected with it1 as if created out of its substance4 ,unlike the ,andromeda nebula1 this shows only the spectrum of glowing gas1 so that no such supposition as has been made in the other case--viz41 that it may be an outside universe--is admissible here4 ,it is rather a chaos1 rich with the elements from whose combinations spring suns and planets1 and where the effects of organizing forces are just beginning to become manifest4 ,it resembles a vast everglade filled with tangled vegetation and uncouth growths1 but where the fertile soil1 once cleared and drained1 is capable of producing an enormous harvest4 ,on either side of the ,belt1 but far removed from it1 shine the two great stars of ,orion1 ,alpha 771 or ,betelgeuse 7from an ,arabic phrase meaning the 8,armpit of the ,central ,one071 and ,beta 771 or ,rigel 7from an ,arabic phrase meaning the 8,leg of the ,giant074 ,these stars differ remarkably in color1 ,betelgeuse being orange-hued1 and ,rigel white4 ,although ,betelgeuse takes precedence in the ,greek-letter ranking1 it is variable in brightness1 sometimes exceeding ,rigel in brilliance1 and sometimes falling below it4 ,the changes are uncertain in a long and as yet unascertained period4 ,there is here an opportunity for an amateur to make valuable observations4 ,but such observations must be continued over a considerable period of years4 ,both stars are of immense actual magnitude4 ,their distance is so great that no trustworthy estimate of their parallax has yet been made4 ,rigel was put by ,newcomb in his 8,,xm0 class1 to which we have several times referred4 ,it is without doubt one of the mightiest suns in the universe4 ,it is also a double1 and one of the finest in the sky4 ,close to its flaming rays the telescope reveals a small1 intensely blue star4 ,the distance is about #i4e4 ,in its general aspect ,rigel resembles ,vega1 but the latter has a more decided blue tint4 ,scientific photometry gives the precedence in brightness to ,vega1 which is ranked as of magnitude #j4a1 while ,rigel is #j4c1 which means that the first is one-tenth1 and the second three-tenths of a magnitude below the #j rank4 ,it is very interesting to bring ,rigel and ,betelgeuse close together with a good sextant and then note the difference in their color4 ,the star ,gamma 771 or ,bellatrix1 the 8,amazon0 or 8,female ,warrior10 marks the left shoulder of the imaginary giant4 ,astrological superstition connects this star with the fortunes of women4 ,kappa 771 or ,saiph1 8,sword0 7although it is far from the ,sword71 is in the right knee of the figure4 ,the head is marked by a little triangular group of stars1 the chief of which is ,lambda 771 a fine double1 yellow and purplish2 distance #d4e4 ,the 8lion's hide0 which ,orion is represented as carrying on his left arm like a shield is shown by a bending row of small stars1 beginning with ,pi 77 and running upward between ,bellatrix and ,aldebaran in ,taurus4 ,the reader who is not provided with a telescope is advised1 at least1 to employ an opera-glass in sweeping over the whole space included in ,orion4 ,it is a region superb in its beauty and grandeur4 ,around the ,belt1 particularly1 the sky is filled with sparkling multitudes infinitely varied in size1 color1 and grouping4 ,as already said1 this part of the firmament contains an enormous spiral nebula1 which1 although it can only be seen in photographs1 seems to manifest its presence to the eye by the significant arrangement of small stars in curving lines4 ,a word should be added about the star ,zeta1 or ,alnitah1 at the southeastern end of the ,belt4 ,it is a triple1 very remarkable for the indescribable color of its second largest component4 ,the ,russian astronomer ,struve could find nothing exactly resembling it in tone in the whole gamut of spectral colors1 and he invented a special name to describe it--olivacea-sub-rubicunda1 which may be translated 8ruddy-olive40 ,it is #b4e from its larger companion4 ,the third star is very faint1 and distant #ef4 ,when the telescope is directed to the star ,sigma 77 there comes into view an astonishing double group of stars1 among which such colors as pale blue1 8grape-red10 ruddy1 and 8gray0 have been detected4 ,the effect upon the mind of seeing such combinations of tinted suns transcends all power of description4 ,with the feeling of pleasure that they give goes a sense of staggering wonder4 ,west of ,orion1 beginning near ,rigel1 is seen the constellation ,eridanus1 the ,river ,po4 ,its stars are interesting for their plainly streaming tendency rather than for their individual peculiarities4 ,rising slightly from the neighborhood of ,rigel1 the stream runs in a graceful curve under ,taurus1 and continues westward until it meets ,cetus1 where it turns downward toward the horizon1 and then sweeps back eastward again1 disappearing behind the southern horizon below ,orion and ,lepus4 ,it has no large star visible in northern latitudes1 but in the southern hemisphere it contains one of the brightest stars in the sky1 ,achernar1 the 8,end of the ,river40 ,all of the ancients saw a river in this part of the sky1 a fact which does not surprise the observer when he has once noted the arrangement of the stars of ,eridanus4 ,its stars are so numerous that the old uranographers seem to have grown weary of attaching letters to them2 or rather1 perhaps1 the alphabet was too short to answer the demand1 for no less than nine of them1 beginning from the one thus lettered in ,chart ,v1 are called ,tau 771 as 1 1 1 etc4 7,for the origin of the association of ,eridanus with the ,river ,po1 and with the story of ,phaeton1 see ,astronomy with the ,naked ,eye74 ,the constellation ,lepus1 the ,hare1 below ,orion1 and marking the place where ,eridanus turns finally to flow into the far south1 is noteworthy only for its groupings of stars4 ,it contains one star too faint to be seen with the naked eye near the western border of the constellation1 below and to the right of the little group under ,rigel1 in ,chart ,v1 which is so intensely crimson that ,hind likened its appearance to a blood drop4 ,we turn next to ,taurus4 ,on account of the beauty of ,aldebaran and the ,pleiades1 this constellation hardly falls behind ,orion in attractiveness4 ,aldebaran 7,arabic ,al ,dabaran1 the 8,follower07 is the chief star of the constellation and the leader of the group called the ,hyades1 a name which ,lewis derives from the ,greek word 1 to rain1 because their rising was connected with the beginning of the rainy season4 ,popularly the group is known as the 8,letter ,a10 whose form it imitates1 although it is usually seen nearly upside down4 ,the letter ,v would perhaps better represent our view of it4 ,it is a glorious sight with an opera-glass4 ,aldebaran is distinctly red1 but of a peculiar tone1 which has frequently been called rose-red4 ,its redness is certainly unlike the orange tone of ,betelgeuse4 ,when gazing at it in a fanciful mood1 ,i have often likened it imaginatively to an apple-blossom in color4 ,flammarion has translated the ,hebrew name of this star1 ,aleph1 as 8,god's ,eye40 ,taurus1 he says1 is the most ancient of the signs of the zodiac1 the first that the ,precession of the ,equinoxes placed at the head of the signs1 and he adds that observational astronomy appears to have been founded at the epoch when the ,vernal ,equinox lay close to ,aldebaran--i4 e41 about three thousand years before the commencement of our era4 ,the beauty of ,aldebaran1 the singularity of the figure shaped by its attendants1 the charming effect produced by the flocks of little stars1 the ,deltas and the ,thetas1 in the middle of the arms of the letter1 and the richness of the stellar groundwork of the cluster1 all combine to make the ,hyades one of the most memorable objects in the sky2 but no one can describe it1 because the starry heavens cannot be put into words4 ,terrestrial analogies1 and phrases applied to things seen on the earth1 utterly fail to convey the impressions made by such spectacles4 ,i can only again urge the reader to examine the ,hyades with a good opera-glass on a clear night when there is no moonlight to interfere4 ,some one once said1 8,if you would test your appreciation of poetry1 read ,milton's ,lycidas02 so ,i would say1 ,if you would know how you are affected by nature's masterpieces in the sky1 look at the ,hyades4 ,the stars ,theta 77 and ,sigma 77 are both naked-eye doubles for sharp eyes4 ,try if you can see both of the pairs4 ,the ,hyades represent the head of the imaginary bull1 ,aldebaran standing for the eye1 while rows of stars running up toward ,zeta 77 and ,beta 77 figure the 8golden horns40 ,the ,pleiades1 the 8,atlantid ,nymphs10 hang on the shoulder4 ,they form a much more compact group than the ,hyades1 and possess no large star1 their chief brilliant1 ,alcyone--,eta77--being only of the third magnitude4 ,but the effect of their combination is very striking and beautiful4 ,in looking at them one can never refrain from quoting ,tennyson's famous lines in which they are described as glittering 8like a swarm of fireflies tangled in a silver braid40 ,the adjective silvery exactly describes them4 ,if you happen to glance at the sky at a point many degrees away from the place where they shine1 your eye will inevitably be drawn to them4 ,they have greater attractive power than a single large star1 and the effect of their intermingled rays is truly fascinating4 ,with an opera-glass they look like the glimmering candles on a ,christmas-tree4 ,their mythological history and the many strange traditions pertaining to them ,i have described elsewhere1 and shall not repeat here2 but it should be said that there is not in all the sky any object comparable with the ,pleiades in influence over the human imagination4 ,the fancy of ,maedler that ,alcyone was the central sun of the universe1 and the inference1 so popular at one time1 that it might be the very seat of the ,almighty1 have vanished in the limbo of baseless traditions2 but the mystic charm of the ,pleiades has been increased by the photographic discovery that they are involved in a wonderful mass of tangled nebul4 ,their distance is unknown1 but evidently very great1 some having put it at #bej light-years1 corresponding to about #a1dej1jjj1jjj1jjj1jjj miles6 ,if this is correct1 ,alcyone may be really one of the most gigantic suns in the universe4 ,they appear to be travelling together like a flock of birds4 ,it is always an interesting question how many stars in the cluster can be seen with the naked eye4 ,many persons can detect only six1 but better1 or more trained1 eyes see seven1 or even nine4 ,the telescope and photography reveal thousands thickly sprinkled over the space of sky that they occupy1 or immediately around them4 ,how many of these are actually connected with the group is unknown4 ,one of the most persistent legends of antiquity is that of the 8,lost ,pleiad40 ,says ,miss ,clerke1 in her ,system of the ,stars3 8,that they #8were seven who now are six' is asserted by almost all the nations of the earth from ,japan to ,nigritia1 and variants of the classical story of the #8,lost ,pleiad' are still repeated by sable legend-mongers in ,victoria1 by headhunters in ,borneo1 by fetish worshippers amid the mangrove swamps of the ,gold ,coast4 ,an impression thus widely diffused must either have spread from a common source or originated in an obvious fact2 and it is at least possible that the veiled face of the seventh ,atlantid may typify a real loss of light in a prehistorically conspicuous star40 ,the name ,pleiades is derived from the ,greek 1 to sail1 because their heliacal rising occurred at the time when navigation opened in the seas of ,greece1 and their heliacal setting at the time of its close4 8444 ,rude winter comes ,just when the ,pleiades begin to set40 ,but their religious significance seems always to have exceeded their practical importance as a sign of the seasons1 and from the temples on the ,acropolis of ,athens to the sanctuaries of ,mexico1 ,yucatan1 and ,peru they were regarded with reverence and awe4 ,modern popular fancies have been less reverential1 and ,alcyone and her attendants have been degraded to the figure of a 8hen and her chickens40 ,our red-skinned predecessors on this continent were more poetical1 for they saw in the ,pleiades a group of lost children1 and in old ,china they were starry sisters busy with their needlework4 ,high overhead1 above ,orion and ,taurus1 gleams ,capella1 the chief star of the constellation ,auriga1 the 8,charioteer40 ,this is also a white star1 but no correct eye would confuse it with ,rigel or ,vega4 ,it has none of the sapphire tint that is mingled in their rays1 but is rather of the whiteness of cream4 ,it is a very great star1 not only in its apparent brilliance1 but in actual luminosity4 ,with a parallax of #j4ji1 ,newcomb calculated its luminosity at one hundred and twenty times that of the sun4 ,it is a spectroscopic binary1 the invisible companion revolving round it in a period of one hundred and four days4 ,in spectroscopic character it closely resembles the sun1 being in the same stage of development4 ,vogel's observations indicate that it is flying away from us at a speed of more than a million and a quarter miles per day2 but1 in contradiction to this1 some have thought that it is increasing in brightness4 ,a little elongated triangle of stars below and somewhat to the west of ,capella serves to render its recognition certain to the beginner in star-gazing4 ,in the evenings of early ,november1 when one is in the northeast and the other in the northwest1 it is interesting to compare ,capella with ,vega1 both in brightness and in color4 ,in late ,january evenings ,capella is near the zenith for the middle latitudes of the ,united ,states1 and at such times is a superb object4 ,the ,milky ,way pouring through ,auriga increases the beauty of the spectacle4 ,the second star of ,auriga1 ,beta 771 or ,menkalina1 the 8,shoulder10 is also a spectroscopic binary with a period of only four days4 ,it was the first binary of this class to be discovered4 ,in #ahhi ,pickering found that its spectral lines were doubled every two days1 from which he inferred the duplicate character of the star and calculated the period of revolution of its components4 ,farther east we see ,gemini1 the 8,twins40 ,it is a very beautiful constellation1 independently of the brightness of its leaders1 ,castor and ,pollux1 or ,alpha 77 and ,beta 774 ,the feet of the imaginary twins are dipped in the ,milky ,way nearly above the uplifted club of the giant ,orion1 and close to the summer solstice4 ,the successive belts of stars crossing the figures of the ,twins present an attractive appearance4 ,castor1 although the literal leader of the constellation1 is not now as bright as its neighbor1 ,pollux4 ,a change of brightness must have taken place4 ,castor is a celebrated binary with a period of about one thousand years4 ,the distance between the two stars composing it is about #e4e1 and1 both being bright1 they can be separated with small telescopes4 ,pollux is very near the standard first magnitude in brightness4 ,it has a slightly orange tint in contrast with the whiteness of ,castor4 ,like ,orion1 ,taurus1 and ,auriga1 ,gemini offers splendid fields of stars for the opera-glass4 ,a cluster1 ,m#ce1 not far above the place of the summer solstice1 is an object of rare beauty when seen with a low telescopic power4 ,south of ,gemini shines the bright star ,procyon in ,canis ,minor1 the ,lesser ,dog4 ,this star1 whose name implies the 8,preceder1 or ,announcer1 of the ,dog10 because it rises a little ahead of ,sirius1 is the only bright star of its constellation4 ,it is interesting for having a dusky companion whose existence was detected by the effects of its attraction before any telescope had revealed it4 ,with this companion ,procyon forms a binary system with a period of revolution of about forty years4 ,the star ,beta 77 is named ,gomeisa1 from an ,arabic word meaning the 8,dim ,one40 ,procyon1 ,sirius1 and ,betelgeuse form a magnificent triangle1 through which flows the ,milky ,way4 ,we now return to the western part of the sky1 where we see1 beyond ,eridanus1 the vast expanse covered by the constellation ,cetus1 the 8,whale40 ,the head lies on and over the equator above the western bend of ,eridanus4 ,it is marked by a striking group of stars1 of which ,alpha 771 or ,menkar1 the 8,nose10 is the chief4 ,the star ,gamma 77 is a fine double2 colors yellow and blue2 distance #b4e4 ,below and toward the west will be found ,omicron 771 better known by its popular title of ,mira1 the 8,wonderful40 ,in some respects this is the most extraordinary of all variable stars4 ,it excited great astonishment when its variations were first recorded in the seventeenth century4 ,most of the time it is entirely invisible to the naked eye2 but once in about ten months it begins to brighten1 and in a few weeks becomes conspicuous1 sometimes equalling the second magnitude in brightness4 ,then it fades again1 and in about three months disappears from naked-eye vision1 although it is never lost to the telescope1 which follows it down to the ninth magnitude1 at which it remains1 glowing redly1 for several successive months4 ,its variations are more or less irregular both in period and in brightness4 ,the causes are only conjectural4 ,about all that we can say is that here is a sun which once every ten months blazes up to a thousand or fifteen hundred times its ordinary brilliancy4 ,the imagination can work its will with such a star as that4 ,the western part of ,cetus is marked by a striking group of stars shaped something like the bowl of an upturned dipper and by a lone1 bright star still farther west1 ,beta 771 or ,deneb ,kaitos1 the 8,tail of the ,whale40 ,above ,cetus runs the long line of stars composing the constellation ,pisces1 now the leader of the zodiac1 since it contains the ,vernal ,equinox4 ,alpha 771 or ,al ,rischa1 the 8,cord10 because it marks the ribbon imagined to bind two fishes together by their tails1 is directly under the stars marking the head of ,aries1 to which we have already referred4 ,it is a double of very singular colors--green and blue4 ,the distance is about #c4f4 ,from ,al ,rischa the stars of the constellation stream northward to the figure of the ,northern ,fish1 whose nose touches ,andromeda1 and westward to the ,western ,fish1 which is situated under the ,great ,square of ,pegasus4 ,the extraordinary tendency of the stars of ,pisces to run in streaming lines has been spoken of in ,chapter ,,iii4 ,the other stars and constellations now visible are already familiar to us4 ,but we turn again for a moment to ,polaris1 which1 being practically fixed in the sky1 can be seen at any season4 ,i have referred to the fact that this star for a long series of centuries has been a universal guide to all the inhabitants of the northern hemisphere4 ,in that character its history is no less romantic than practically important4 ,one of the deepest impressions of my childhood was produced by an acquaintance with a remarkable man who at that time seemed to me to be a most wonderful traveller1 since he had seen the ,gulf of ,mexico1 the ,everglades of ,florida1 the ,dismal ,swamp of ,virginia1 and1 according to his story 7which no boy would doubt71 had battled with alligators and tasted the delights of vagabond life on the great cotton plantations of the ,south4 ,i think he was the first who ever pointed out the ,north ,star to me1 and he fired my imagination by tales of its connection with the escape of negro slaves--escapes in which he professed to have played a part4 ,many long winter evenings he sat by my father's fireside and fascinated his hearers with narratives of his adventures4 ,but nothing interested me more than what he said of the slaves following the lead of the ,north ,star1 through the darkness of tangled swamps1 among deadly moccasins and lurking alligators1 always fixing their eyes upon 8the star10 falling on their knees to it as their only friend and guide4 ,trembling at the bay of pursuing bloodhounds1 they would lie in concealment during the daylight hours1 and as soon as night came on would look for their celestial sentinel1 and follow unquestioningly its indication of the way to freedom4 ,however apocryphal these stories may have been1 they certainly had a basis of truth1 and the impressions then produced upon my mind concerning the character of ,polaris as the sure friend of those who are lost and in trouble have remained undimmed in my memory4 ,what a triumph will be that of the man who first visits the north pole by night1 and sees that star gleaming directly over his head1 while all the constellations solemnly circle about it1 unresting and unsetting6 ,,footnotes3 #b ,it should be said that throughout this book ,i am indebted for many of the translations of star names to ,richard ,hinckley ,allen's ,star ,names and ,their ,meanings1 the most complete work of its kind in existence4 ,v ,,the ,,planets ,the beginner will often be troubled in his observations by the presence in some constellation of a brilliant object which outshines all of the stars shown in his charts1 and is plainly an interloper among them4 ,he may at once set the stranger down for one of the planets--it may be ,jupiter1 ,saturn1 ,mars1 or ,venus1 or possibly1 if close to the horizon1 ,mercury4 ,uranus and ,neptune will not disturb his equanimity1 for the latter is never1 and the former seldom1 visible to the naked eye4 ,practice will quickly enable him to distinguish a planet from the true stars1 both by its greater apparent size and by the quality of its light4 ,the planets do not twinkle as do the stars4 ,this arises from the fact that they present measurable disks which reflect the sunlight1 but do not shine with a light of their own4 ,no star shows a real disk1 even when viewed with a powerful telescope4 ,the stars are mere points1 and the larger and better the telescope the smaller they appear4 ,this is not to say that they do not look brighter in a telescope1 for the larger stars are dazzling when viewed with a glass of large aperture2 but they are so distant that the mightiest of telescopes cannot reveal their real surfaces in the form of disks4 ,the apparent disks which they present are due entirely to irradiation1 and the higher the power the smaller these spurious disks appear4 ,another way in which the beginner may identify a planet is by observing its motion4 ,no planet remains long in the same position with regard to neighboring stars4 ,they all travel1 at varying rates1 from west to east through the sky4 ,but this motion is not constant1 and at times it is reversed4 ,in the cases of ,mars1 ,jupiter1 and ,saturn the reversal is due to the fact that when they are in opposition to the sun the earth1 being nearer the sun than they are1 outfoots them in eastward motion1 so that they appear for a time to move backward on their orbits4 ,it is like a fast train passing a slow one on a parallel track2 to an observer on the fast train the slow one seems to be either standing still or moving backward4 ,but ,mercury and ,venus1 being nearer the sun than the earth is1 have at times a backward motion which is real4 ,let us consider them only when they appear as 8evening stars40 ,from 8superior conjunction0 7i4 e41 the point occupied by the planet when it is on the opposite side of the sun from the earth7 to 8greatest eastern elongation0 7greatest apparent distance from the sun in the evening sky7 both ,mercury and ,venus move eastward among the stars2 from 8greatest eastern elongation0 to 8inferior conjunction0 7i4 e41 the point occupied by the planet when it is between the earth and the sun7 they move westward among the stars1 or1 in other words1 approach the sun4 ,the motions of ,mercury and ,venus are comparatively swift1 particularly that of the former4 ,few persons have ever seen ,mercury1 because of its nearness to the sun4 ,when well seen it is brighter than any first-magnitude star4 ,as an 8evening star0 it appears in the west immediately after sunset about once every four months 7more precisely once every #aaf days74 ,it remains within view about twenty days1 but can be easily distinguished only for a week or so when it is nearest eastern elongation4 ,every almanac gives the dates of its appearances4 ,venus1 being farther from the sun1 travels less rapidly4 ,it reappears in the evening sky once in every #ehd days1 gradually withdrawing from the sun1 and growing brighter until it reaches greatest eastern elongation1 which may be as much as forty-seven degrees from the sun1 after which it approaches the sun1 still becoming brighter for several weeks1 until at last it is lost in the glare of the sunlight4 ,during its excursions in the evening sky 7and the same is true of its morning apparitions71 ,venus becomes the most brilliant object in the starry heavens1 so brilliant1 in fact1 that many persons can hardly be persuaded that it is not an artificial light1 or some extraordinary phenomenon in space4 ,in the telescope it shows 7as does ,mercury1 also7 phases like those of the moon1 and when it is seen in the form of a narrow crescent it becomes one of the most charming objects imaginable4 ,for more details about ,mercury1 ,venus1 and the other planets1 the reader may consult ,astronomy with the ,naked ,eye4 ,mars1 ,jupiter1 and ,saturn are more likely to cause confusion to the beginner by getting 8mixed up0 with the stars of the constellations he is studying1 because they travel all round the sky1 and may appear in turn in each of the zodiacal constellations at any hour of the night4 ,the zodiacal constellations are twelve in number--,aries1 ,taurus1 ,gemini1 ,cancer1 ,leo1 ,virgo1 ,libra1 ,scorpio1 ,sagittarius1 ,capricornus1 ,aquarius1 and ,pisces--and they lie in succession along the course of the ecliptic4 ,mars is not remarkably brilliant except when it is in opposition to the sun1 which happens once every #ghj days2 but some of the oppositions are much more important than the average1 because they occur when ,mars is relatively near the earth4 ,this planet is always distinguishable by its ruddy color4 ,in case it is mistaken for a star1 the error can be corrected by watching it for a few successive nights1 when its motion will become clearly apparent4 ,on the average it moves eastward about half a degree per day4 ,jupiter1 always very conspicuous when in view1 outshines even ,sirius1 though lacking the scintillation characteristic of that great star4 ,its light has a slightly yellowish tint1 and is remarkably steady4 ,since it requires nearly twelve years to make a revolution round the sky1 ,jupiter's motion is not immediately apparent4 ,it remains for a long time in any constellation in which it may be found1 travelling eastward1 on the average1 about #e of arc1 or one-sixth of the apparent diameter of the moon1 per day4 ,in a month it moves about two and a half degrees4 ,saturn is yet more deliberate in its movements4 ,requiring almost thirty years for a revolution1 it may remain more than two years in the same constellation1 and its real motion will only become evident upon careful observation continued for several weeks4 ,the best way to recognize the planets with certainty is to look up their positions with the aid of the ,american ,ephemeris and ,nautical ,almanac1 published annually by the ,government at ,washington4 ,there the right ascensions and declinations of all the planets are given for any time of the year4 ,having these1 you may find on the large-scale charts the approximate place of the planet sought1 and1 if you choose1 indicate its position with a pencil-mark4 ,the study of the planets1 even without telescopic aid1 has a charm hardly less potent than that of the stars4 ,mercury is fascinating because of the difficulty of seeing him in the light of twilight or dawn4 ,the ancients were greatly puzzled by his dodges1 and some of them thought that he was a double personality1 and gave him two names1 one for his morning and the other for his evening apparitions4 ,with the ,egyptians he was respectively ,set and ,horus1 and with the ,greeks ,apollo and ,hermes4 ,the same was true of ,venus1 who was ,phosphorus in the morning and ,hesperus in the evening4 ,venus1 after she passes the half-moon phase1 becomes so bright that she simply overpowers all stars in her neighborhood4 ,her splendor seems almost supernatural1 and she has frequently been seen at high noon1 a point of intense light burning in the blue sky4 ,jupiter's entrance into any constellation immediately alters its familiar aspect1 and he becomes its unquestioned leader1 and remains such until his slow eastward motion carries him on to reign in another quarter of the firmament4 ,he is never more impressive than when1 in consequence of the annual revolution of the heavens1 he rises late some night and takes the lingering star-gazer by surprise4 ,then all the stellar hosts that for hours have held the watcher spellbound cease their incantation in the presence of this great counter-charmer1 to whose power they1 too1 seem to bow4 ,although ,venus at her brightest outshines ,jupiter1 she lacks a certain majesty which he alone possesses4 ,his light is calm1 steady1 insistent1 commanding4 ,he does not look like a star1 but rather a superstar4 ,if he beams at all1 it is not the hurried scintillation of the twinkling multitude around him4 ,rising through a moisture-laden and wind-swept sky1 where the stars are like pulsating atoms1 shaken apart and scattered in tinsel showers of rainbow sparks1 he glows unflickering1 recognizing the aerial tumult only by a deepening of color which makes him the more imposing4 ,as he mounts the heights of the sky he gleams ever brighter and ever steadier1 and1 casting off the tarnish of the horizon1 his supereminent light glows with a splendor that is amazing4 ,if you have an eye that can detect one or two of ,jupiter's moons hiding close in his rays1 you may boast of your powers of vision1 for that feat has been accomplished by very few human beings4 ,humboldt heard of a ,german 8master tailor0 who could do it4 ,there are a few other cases on record4 ,most persons cannot see them even with the aid of a strong opera-glass4 ,there is a superstition that they can be seen with a looking-glass1 but it is only ghostly reflections that are thus perceived--perhaps as real as any other ghosts4 ,saturn1 although as bright as a first-magnitude star1 is somewhat disappointing as a naked-eye object1 owing to the relative dulness of its light4 ,like ,jupiter1 it shines with great steadiness1 and a practised eye could not mistake it for a fixed star4 ,but its appearance without a telescope gives no hint of the unearthly beauty with which it astonishes the beholder when its rings are rendered visible4 ,not to have seen those rings at least once in a lifetime1 as they appear in a powerful telescope1 is to have missed one of the supreme spectacles of creation4 ,mars is never very brilliant except during favorable oppositions1 when1 approaching within less than #dj1jjj1jjj miles of the earth1 it hangs in the midnight sky1 gleaming red like a portent of disaster4 ,the aspect of ,mars at such times is truly alarming4 ,it is surprising to see what a quantity of stained sunlight a world only about four thousand miles in diameter is able to reflect across so vast a gap of space4 ,the reason why the ancients connected ,mars with the god of war is plain enough when he puts on his color4 ,close conjunctions of the bright planets are exceedingly interesting phenomena4 ,mars and ,jupiter seen together when the former is near one of its favorable oppositions make a scene of strange beauty4 ,after long intervals of time several of these great planets sometimes assemble in the same quarter1 and such conjunctions are always memorable occurrences4 ,the stars are forgotten in the presence of this new constellation1 and yet the tiniest of the sparks that seems to hide its light in the depths beyond would master these great planets and make gravitational slaves of them1 as the sun does4 ,the planets are so conspicuous to our eyes1 because of their relative nearness1 that it is not easy for the beginner in such studies to realize how insignificant they actually are4 ,but suppose that one could fly like a spirit away from the earth and the neighborhood of the sun1 out into the deeps of interstellar space4 ,as he moved away the planets would seem to be swallowed up1 one after the other1 in the solar rays4 ,first ,mercury would disappear1 as if it had fallen into the sun4 ,it would be just like two neighboring lights which appear to draw together and blend into one as the observer travels away from them1 the greater swallowing the less4 ,then brilliant ,venus would go1 plunging into the great solar furnace1 to be seen no more4 ,next the earth would follow in the perspective holocaust4 ,mars would seem to draw nearer until he1 too1 disappeared2 ,jupiter would follow2 then ,saturn2 then ,uranus1 and finally ,neptune4 ,when the last planet was gone the sun would be seen shining alone1 unattended1 as if he had never had any planets4 ,thus it may be with the stars2 most of them may have systems of planets circling round them1 but at our distance these planets are concealed in the rays of their primaries4 ,one would not need to go so far away as the stars in order to see the sun apparently swallow his planets1 as ,saturn was fabled to have swallowed his children4 ,but as one approached the stellar region1 the sun itself would become a mere star4 ,fainter and fainter it appears1 glimmering and twinkling1 deprived of its dominance1 stripped of its splendor1 a pitiful spark now instead of an all-ruling and blinding maker of daylight1 until at last the far voyager from the earth1 gazing with his soul in his eyes1 straining his vision to the utmost to hold that glinting point clear of its fellows1 for it is his sun1 suddenly1 as a momentary film blurs his sight1 loses it1 and henceforth seek as he may among the countless hosts that spangle the firmament1 he will never again find the day-star under whose cheery beams he was born6 ,hidden in the ,milky ,way1 one would have no more chance of recognizing the sun than of finding a particular grain of sand on the sea-shore4 ,man physical is as insignificant as the rock he dwells on and as the eye-searing orb that lights him at his daily work2 but man spiritual is as great as the universe--and greater6 ,,appendix ,,uranography ,,or ,,heavenly ,,description ,,of ,,the ,,churchmen ,many readers may be interested in seeing a list of the names given to the constellations when1 as mentioned in the ,introduction1 the starry sky was 8,christianized40 ,in the seventeenth century ,julius ,schillerius put forth his ,clum ,stellatum ,christianum1 and ,jacobus ,bartschius a celestial globe1 in which all of the well-known constellations received new and strictly orthodox names4 ,unfortunately the sponsors for these names did not always agree in their choice1 and a certain ,harsdorfius 7who may have been the poet ,philip ,harsdoerfer1 born at ,nuremberg in #afjg7 added to the confusion by further varying the selection4 ,wilhelm ,schickard also introduced variations4 ,in the following list the first of the 8,christian0 names given is that chosen by ,schillerius1 while their variants are due to either ,harsdorfius1 ,schickard1 or ,bartschius3 ,,aries--,st4 ,peter--,abraham's ,ram4 ,,taurus--,st4 ,andrew--,the ,burnt ,sacrifice4 ,,gemini--,st4 ,james the ,elder--,jacob and ,esau4 ,,cancer--,st4 ,john the ,evangelist4 ,,leo--,st4 ,thomas--,the ,lion of ,judah4 7,observe that the variants are generally more imaginative47 ,,virgo--,st4 ,james the ,younger--,the ,virgin ,mary4 ,,libra--,st4 ,philip--,belshazzar's ,balances4 ,,scorpio--,st4 ,bartholomew4 ,,sagittarius--,st4 ,matthew--,ishmael4 ,,capricornus--,st4 ,simon4 ,,aquarius--,st4 ,jude--,naaman4 ,,pisces--,st4 ,mathias--,the ,gospel ,fishes4 ,,ursa ,,minor--,st4 ,michael--,one of ,elisha's ,bears--,the ,wagon of ,joseph4 ,,ursa ,,major--,st4 ,peter's ,fishing-boat--,elisha's other ,bear--,the ,chariot of ,elias4 ,,draco--,the ,innocents--,the ,dragon ,infernal4 7,quite a difference of opinion47 ,,bo,,tes--,st4 ,sylvester--,nimrod4 ,,coma ,,berenices--,the ,scourge of ,christ--,absalom's ,hair--,samson's ,hair4 ,,corona ,,borealis--,the ,crown of ,thorns--,queen ,esther's ,crown4 ,,hercules--,the ,three ,wise ,men of the ,east--,samson4 ,,lyra--,the ,saviour's ,manger--,david's ,harp4 ,,cygnus--,the ,cross of ,calvary4 ,,cassiopeia--,st4 ,mary ,magdalen--,bathsheba4 ,,cepheus--,st4 ,stephen--,solomon4 7,solomon seems a better choice47 ,,perseus ,,with ,,medusa',s ,,head--,david with the ,head of ,goliath--,st4 ,paul4 ,,andromeda--,the ,holy ,sepulchre--,abigail4 7,the last reverses ,andromeda's romance with a vengeance47 ,,auriga--,jacob--,st4 ,jerome4 ,,ophiuchus ,,et ,,serpens--,st4 ,benedict--,st4 ,paul and the ,viper4 7,the latter very pat47 ,,sagitta--,the ,lance of ,calvary--,jonathan's ,arrow4 ,,aquila--,st4 ,katharine--,the ,standard of ,rome4 ,,delphinus--,the ,canaanitish ,woman's ,pitcher--,leviathan4 ,,equuleus--,the ,mystic ,rose4 ,,pegasus--,st4 ,gabriel--,jeremiah's ,king of ,babylon4 ,,triangulum--,st4 ,peter's ,mitre--,emblem of the ,trinity4 ,,cetus--,sts4 ,joachim and ,anna--,jonah's ,whale4 ,,eridanus--,the ,red ,sea with ,moses ,crossing ,it--,the ,brook of ,cedron4 ,,orion--,st4 ,joseph--,joshua4 7,the last a good choice47 ,,lepus--,gideon's ,fleece4 ,,canis ,,major--,tobias's ,dog--,st4 ,david4 ,,canis ,,minor--,the ,paschal ,lamb4 ,,argo ,,navis--,noah's ,ark4 7,inevitable67 ,,hydra--,the ,river ,jordan4 ,,crater 7together with ,corvus7--,the ,ark of the ,covenant4 ,,corvus 7according to ,schickard7--,elias's ,crow4 ,,centaurus--,abraham and ,isaac4 ,,lupus--,jacob4 ,,ara--,the ,altar of ,incense4 ,,corona ,,australis--,david's ,crown--,solomon's ,crown4 ,,piscis ,,austrinus--,the ,widow's ,meal ,barrel--,st4 ,peter's ,fish with ,money in ,its ,mouth4 ,,grus --,aaron4 ,,ph,,nix ,,indus --,job4 ,,pavo ,,apus ,,chameleon --,eve4 ,,piscis ,,volans ,,triangulum ,,australe--,the ,cross of ,christ4 7,at that time the ,southern ,cross seems not to have been known47 ,,dorado ,,toucan --,st4 ,raphael4 ,,hydrus ,the southern constellations1 ,grus1 ,phnix1 ,indus1 ,pavo1 ,apus1 ,chameleon1 ,piscis ,volans1 ,triangulum ,australe1 ,dorado1 ,toucan1 and ,hydrus1 were all named by ,bayer at the beginning of the seventeenth century1 so that the revisers were not upsetting any antique legends in giving them more sacred names4 ,,letters ,,of ,,the ,,greek ,,alphabet ,,employed ,,in ,,uranography --,alpha --,beta --,gamma --,delta --,epsilon --,zeta --,eta --,theta --,iota --,kappa --,lambda --,mu --,nu --,xi --,omicron --,pi --,rho --,sigma --,tau --,upsilon --,phi --,chi --,psi --,omega ,illustration3 ,,chart ,v--,,the ,,first ,,six ,,hours ,,from ,,the ,,vernal ,,equinox ,illustration3 ,,chart ,,vi--,,from ,,vi ,h4 ,,to ,,xii ,h4 ,,from ,,the ,,vernal ,,equinox ,illustration3 ,,chart ,,vii--,,from ,,xii ,h4 ,,to ,,xviii ,h4 ,,from ,,the ,,vernal ,,equinox ,illustration3 ,,chart ,,viii--,,from ,,xviii ,h4 ,,to ,,xxiv ,h4 ,,from ,,the ,,vernal ,,equinox ,illustration3 ,,chart ,,ix--,,polar ,,constellations ,,from ,,vi ,h4 ,,to ,,xviii ,h4 ,illustration3 ,,chart ,x--,,polar ,,constellations ,,from ,,xviii ,h4 ,,to ,,vi ,h4 ,,pronunciation ,,of ,,star ,,and ,,constellation ,,names ,achernar 7-kr-nr7 ,albireo 7l-b-r-7 ,alcyone 7l-s--n7 ,aldebaran 7l-db-r-n7 ,algenib 7l-n-ib7 ,algenubi 7l-en--b7 ,algieba 7l-j-b7 ,algol 7l-gol7 ,algorab 7l-go-rb7 ,alioth 7l--th7 ,alkalurops 7l-k-l-rps7 ,alnilam 7l-n-lm7 ,alnitah 7l-n-th7 ,almaack 7l-m-ck7 ,alphacca 7l-fk-k7 ,alphard 7l-frd7 ,alpheratz 7l-f-rtz7 ,alrischa 7l-r-sh7 ,alrucaba 7l-r-c-b7 ,altair 7l-tr or l--r7 ,aludra 7-l-dr7 ,andromeda 7n-dm--d7 ,antares 7n-t-rz7 ,antinous 7n-tn--s7 ,aquarius 7-k-r-s7 ,aquila 7k-w-l7 ,arcturus 7rk-t-rs7 ,argo ,navis 7r-g -vs7 ,aries 7-rz or -r-s7 ,auriga 7w-r-7 ,baten ,kaitos 7b-tn kts7 ,bellatrix 7bl-l-trx7 ,benetnasch 7b-nt-nsch7 ,betelgeuse 7bt-l-ooz or bt-l-gz7 ,botes 7bb--tz7 ,camelopardalis 7cm---pr-d-ls7 ,canes ,venatici 7c-nz vn-t--s7 ,canis ,major 7c-ns mjor7 ,canis ,minor 7c-ns mor7 ,canopus 7cn--pus7 ,capella 7c-pl-l7 ,caph 7kff7 ,capricornus 7cp-r-kr-nus7 ,cassiopeia 7cs-s--p-y7 ,centaurus 7cn-tw-rus7 ,cepheus 7-f-us or -fs7 ,cetus 7-ts7 ,coma ,berenices 7cm br--n-ss7 ,corona ,borealis 7c-r-n b-r--lis7 ,corvus 7c-vus7 ,crater 7cr-ter7 ,cygnus 7s-nus7 ,delphinus 7del-f-nus7 ,deneb 7d-eb7 ,denebola 7d-nb--l7 ,draco 7d-co7 ,dubhe 7db-h7 ,eltanin 7-t-nn7 ,equuleus 7-kwo-l-s7 ,eridanus 7-rd--nus7 ,fomalhaut 7f-ml-ht7 ,fornax 7f-naks7 ,gemini 7jm--n7 ,giedi 7j-d7 ,gienah 7j-nah7 ,gomelza 7g-ml-z7 ,hamal 7hm-al7 ,hercules 7hr-k-lz7 ,hyades 7h--dz7 ,hydra 7h-dr7 ,lacerta 7l-sr-ta7 ,leo 7l-7 ,lepus 7l-pus7 ,libra 7l-br7 ,lyra 7l-r7 ,maia 7m-y7 ,marfak 7mr-fk7 ,markab 7mr-kb7 ,megrez 7m-grz7 ,menkab 7mn-kb7 ,menkalina 7mn-k-l-nh7 ,merope 7mr--p7 ,mesarthim 7m-sr-thm7 ,mintaka 7m-t-k7 ,mira 7m-r7 ,mirach 7m-rak7 ,mizar 7m-zr7 ,monoceros 7m-n-r-s7 ,murzim 7mr-zm7 ,ophiuchus 7-f--kus7 ,orion 7-r-n7 ,pegasus 7p--ss7 ,perseus 7pr-s-s or pr-ss7 ,pisces 7p-sz7 ,piscis ,austrinus 7pis-ss aus-t-nus7 ,pleiades 7p-d-z or pl-d-z7 ,polaris 7p-l-s7 ,pollux 7pl-lux7 ,porrima 7pr-r-m7 ,prsepe 7pr-s-p7 ,procyon 7pr-s-n7 ,ras ,algethi 7rs -g-th7 ,rastaban 7rs-t-b7 ,regulus 7r--ls7 ,rigel 7r-l or r-jl7 ,sagitta 7s-jt-t7 ,sagittarius 7s-jt-t-r-s7 ,scheat 7she-t7 ,schedar 7shd-dr7 ,scorpio 7skr-p-7 ,scutum ,sobieskii 7s-tm s-b--k-7 ,serpens 7sr-pens7 ,sirius 7s--s7 ,spica 7sp-k7 ,taurus 7t-rs7 ,thuban 7thu-b7 ,triangulum 7tr---lm7 ,ursa ,major 7-s m-jor7 ,ursa ,minor 7-s m-nor7 ,vega 7v-7 ,vindemiatrix 7vn-d-m--trx7 ,virgo 7v-go7 ,vulpecula 7vl-p--l7 ,wesen 7w-zn7 ,zavijava 7z-v-j-vh7 ,zubenelgenubi 7z-bn-l-jen--b7 ,zubeneschemali 7z-bn-s-she--l7 ,,index 8,a10 the letter1 #ajh4 ,achernar1 #ajg4 ,adhara1 #ajj4 ,afternoon of the year1 #gb4 ,albireo1 #fd4 ,al ,chiba1 #cc4 ,alcor1 #da4 ,alcyone1 #aaj4 ,aldebaran1 #ajg et seq4 ,alderamin1 #ia4 ,aleph1 #ajh4 ,alfirk1 #ib4 ,algedi1 #gh4 ,algenib1 #hf4 ,algieba1 #cf4 ,algol1 #hf4 ,algorab1 #cc4 ,al ,hiba1 #cc4 ,alioth1 #da4 ,allen1 ,r4 ,h41 quoted1 #da1 #eg1 #fd1 #gj1 #gh1 #aja1 #ajb4 ,almaack1 #hb4 ,alnilam1 #ajb4 ,alnitah1 #ajb4 ,alpha ,andromed1 #ab1 #ha4 ,aquarii1 #gg4 ,aquil1 #fe4 ,arietis1 #hc4 ,aurig1 #aaa4 ,botes1 #fg4 ,canis ,majoris1 #id4 ,canis ,minoris1 #aac4 ,capricorni1 #gh4 ,cassiopei1 #hh4 ,centauri1 #fe4 ,cephei1 #ia4 ,ceti1 #aad4 ,corvi1 #cc4 ,cygni1 #fc4 ,draconis1 #de1 #dh4 ,geminorum1 #aac4 ,herculis1 #ei4 ,hydr1 #ce4 ,leonis1 #ce4 ,libr1 #gj4 ,lyr1 #dh1 #fa4 ,orionis1 #ajd4 ,pegasi1 #ha4 ,piscis ,austrinus1 #ge4 ,piscium1 #aae4 ,scorpii1 #ed4 ,serpentis1 #eg4 ,tauri1 #ajg4 ,urs ,majoris1 #dj4 ,urs ,minoris1 #df4 ,virginis1 #bi4 ,alphard1 #cd4 ,alpheratz1 #ab1 #ha4 ,al ,rischa1 #aae4 ,altair1 #fe4 ,aludra1 #ajj4 ,american ,ephemeris1 #abb4 ,andromed1 #ab1 #ha4 ,antares1 #ed4 ,antinous1 #ff4 ,aonian ,dragon1 #cd4 ,aquarius1 #gg et seq4 ,aquila1 #fe4 ,aratus1 quoted1 #cj4 ,arctophilax1 #fh4 ,arcturus1 #dc1 #fg et seq4 ,argonautic ,expedition1 #cd4 ,aries1 #hc1 #hd4 ,auriga1 #aaa4 ,autumnal ,equinox1 #ga4 ,barnard1 ,e4 ,e41 quoted1 #ei4 ,beehive1 the1 #ch4 ,bell1 ,dr4 ,louis1 quoted1 #ij4 ,bellatrix1 #aje4 ,belt of ,orion1 #ajb1 #aje4 ,beta ,andromed1 #ha4 ,aquarii1 #gh4 ,arietis1 #hd4 ,aurig1 #aab4 ,canis ,majoris1 #ajj4 ,canis ,minoris1 #aac4 ,capricorni1 #gh4 ,cassiopei1 #hh4 ,cephei1 #ib4 ,ceti1 #aae4 ,corvi1 #cc4 ,cygni1 #fd4 ,geminorum1 #aac4 ,leonis1 #cg4 ,libr1 #gj4 ,lyr1 #fc4 ,orionis1 #ajd4 ,pegasi1 #ha4 ,scorpii1 #ee4 ,tauri1 #aji4 ,urs ,majoris1 #dj4 ,urs ,minoris1 #df4 ,virginis1 #cb4 ,betelgeuse1 #ajd4 ,botes1 #dc1 #fi4 ,cancer1 #ch4 ,canes ,venatici1 #db1 #fi4 ,canis ,major1 #ajj4 ,canis ,minor1 #aac4 ,capella1 #dc1 #aaa4 ,caph1 #hh4 ,capricornus1 #gh4 ,carman1 ,bliss1 quoted1 #bb4 ,cassiopeia1 #dg1 #hh4 ,castor1 #aac4 ,cepheus1 #ia4 ,cetus1 #aad4 ,chair1 ,cassiopeia's1 #hg4 ,cheops1 pyramid of1 #de4 ,christianization of sky1 #ab4 ,clerke1 ,agnes ,m41 quoted1 #aaa4 ,coma ,berenices1 #ch4 ,constellations1 their uses1 #ab1 #ac4 ,cor ,caroli1 #db4 ,cor ,hydr1 #cd4 ,corona ,borealis1 #ff4 ,corvus1 #cb4 ,crater1 #cc4 ,crete1 discoveries in1 #fb4 ,cupid's ,arrow1 #hj4 ,cygnus1 #fc4 #fa ,cygni1 #fd4 ,dabih1 #gh4 ,dana1 ,r4 ,h41 quoted1 #gg4 ,delphinus1 #gi4 ,delta ,andromed1 #ha4 ,canis ,majoris1 #ajj4 ,cassiopei1 #dg1 #hh4 ,corvi1 #cc4 ,orionis1 #ajb4 ,sagittarii1 #ef4 ,serpentis1 #eg4 ,urs ,majoris1 #dj4 ,virginis1 #cb4 ,demon star1 #hf4 ,deneb1 #fc4 ,deneb ,kaitos1 #aae4 ,denebola1 #cg et seq4 ,dipper in ,sagittarius1 #ef4 ,dippers1 the1 #bi4 ,discipline in the sky1 #i4 ,donati's comet1 #fi4 ,draco1 #dd et seq4 ,dream of the universe1 #ia4 ,dubhe1 #da4 ,durchmusterungs1 #ab4 ,eltanin1 #df4 ,emerson1 ,r4 ,w41 quoted1 #bb1 #ec1 #fa4 ,epsilon ,canis ,majoris1 #ajj4 ,botes1 #fi4 ,lyr1 #fc4 ,orionis1 #ajb4 ,pegasi1 #ha4 ,serpentis1 #eg4 ,urs ,majoris1 #dj4 ,virginis1 #cb4 ,equator1 #ac4 ,equinoctial colure1 #hh4 ,equinoctial storms1 #ga4 ,equinoxes1 #ac4 ,eridanus1 #ajf4 ,esculapius1 #eg4 ,eta ,cassiopei1 #hi4 ,canis ,majoris1 #ajj4 ,eta ,tauri1 #ajg4 ,expectancy of astronomers1 #bg4 ,feet of ,ursa ,major1 #db4 ,field of the nebul1 #cb4 ,flammarion1 quoted1 #ajh4 ,fomalhaut1 #ge4 ,furud1 #ajj4 ,galileo1 #ch4 ,gamma ,andromed1 #hb4 ,aquarii1 #gh4 ,arietis1 #hd4 ,capricorni1 #gi4 ,ceti1 #aad4 ,corvi1 #cc4 ,draconis1 #df4 ,leonis1 #cf4 ,lyr1 #fc4 ,orionis1 #aje4 ,pegasi1 #hj4 ,virginis1 #cb4 ,gardens of the sky1 #gb4 ,garnet star1 #ib4 ,gateway of souls1 #ci4 ,gemini1 #aac4 ,gemma1 #ff4 ,gienah1 #cc4 8,god's ,eye10 #ajh4 ,gomeisa1 #aad4 ,great ,bear1 #dj4 ,great ,dipper1 #dj4 ,great ,square of ,pegasus1 #hj4 ,great ,year1 ,plato's1 #fb4 ,greenwich of the sky1 #ad4 ,halley's comet1 #fe4 ,hamal1 #hc4 ,hathor1 temple of1 #df4 ,hercules1 #ei4 ,hesperus1 #abc4 ,hexagon of ,orion1 #bh4 ,hole in the sky1 #ei4 ,horus1 #abb4 ,hyades1 #ajh4 ,hydra1 #cd4 ,influence of the stars1 #aj1 #ah1 #bb1 #bg1 #bi1 #ce1 #ci1 #dd1 #ec1 #fh1 #ge1 #ic1 #ajb1 #aaj1 #aaf4 ,isis1 #ig4 ,jason1 #cd4 ,job's ,coffin1 #gi4 ,job's ,star1 #fh4 ,jupiter1 #aba1 #abc4 ,kappa ,cassiopei1 #ij4 ,orionis1 #aje4 ,karnak1 #df4 ,kochab1 #di4 ,laconian ,key1 #hg4 ,lambda ,ophiuchi1 #eg4 ,orionis1 #aje4 ,language for celestial marvels1 #fa4 ,learning the stars1 ease of1 #ag2 best season for1 #ic4 ,leo1 #ce4 ,lepus1 #ajg4 ,lewis1 ,g4 ,c41 quoted1 #be1 #ig4 ,libra1 #gj4 ,lockyer1 ,norman1 quoted1 #ig4 ,longfellow1 ,h4 ,w41 quoted1 #ga4 ,lucky stars1 #gg1 #gh4 ,lyra1 #fa4 ,magellan ,clouds1 ,r4 ,h4 ,dana on1 #gg4 ,marfik1 #eh4 ,markab1 #ha4 ,mars1 #aba1 #abd4 ,mazzaroth1 #ih4 ,medusa1 head of1 #hf4 ,megrez1 #da4 ,menkalina1 #aab4 ,menkar1 #aad4 ,merak1 #da4 ,mercury1 #abb4 ,meridian1 #ac4 ,mesarthim1 #hd4 ,milky ,way1 #ag1 #ah1 #bg1 #ef1 #fd1 #gb4 ,mintaka1 #ajb4 ,mira1 #aad4 ,mirach1 #ha4 ,mirrors1 sky views by1 #ai4 ,mitchel1 ,gen4 ,o4 ,m41 #ee4 ,mizar1 #da1 #dg4 ,morning of the year1 #ba4 ,moses and the ,brazen ,serpent1 #eg4 ,mukdim-al ,kitaf1 #ca4 ,murzim1 #ajj4 ,mut1 temple of1 #df4 ,mystery in the sky1 #eh4 #h ,m41 #ef4 ,names of stars and travellers1 #gf4 ,nautical ,almanac1 #abb4 ,nebul1 in ,andromeda1 #hb4 in ,canes ,venatici1 #fi4 in ,lyra1 #fc4 in ,ophiuchus1 #eh4 in ,orion1 #ajc4 in ,sagittarius1 #ef4 in ,virgo1 #cb4 ,new star of #aija1 #ij4 ,northern ,cross1 #fc4 ,northern ,crown1 #ff4 ,north star1 #df1 #aaf4 ,november meteors1 #cg4 ,nu ,scorpii1 #ee4 ,omicron ,ceti1 #aad4 ,ophiuchus1 #eg4 ,orion1 #aja et seq4 ,orion group of constellations1 #dj4 ,pearl1 the1 #ff4 ,pegasus1 #hj4 ,perseus1 #he4 ,phd1 #da4 ,phton1 #hd4 ,phosphorus1 #abc4 ,pi ,orionis1 #aje4 ,pisces1 #he1 #aae4 ,piscis ,austrinus1 #ge4 ,planets1 the1 #aah2 apparent swallowing by sun1 #abe4 ,plato1 quoted1 #ci4 ,pleiades1 #aji et seq4 ,pointers1 the1 #db4 ,polaris1 #df1 #aaf4 ,pole-stars1 succession of1 #dh4 ,pollux1 #aac4 ,porrima1 #cb4 ,prsepe1 #ch4 ,precession of equinoxes1 #dg1 #hd4 ,procyon1 #aac et seq4 ,pulcherrima1 #fi4 ,ras ,algethi1 #ei et seq4 ,ras ,alhague1 #eg4 ,reflection1 sky seen by1 #ai2 supposed visibility of ,jupiter's moons by1 #abd4 ,regulus1 #ce et seq4 ,revelation of the stars1 #aj4 ,revolution of the pole1 #dh4 ,revolutions of the heavens1 #af4 ,rho ,ophiuchi1 #eh4 ,richter1 ,jean ,paul1 quoted1 #ia4 ,rigel1 #ajd4 ,right ,ascension1 #ac4 ,rising stars1 attraction of1 #bi4 ,royal family of sky1 #ge4 ,royal stars1 #ce4 ,ruchbah1 #hh4 ,sadachbia1 #gh4 ,sadalmelik1 #gg4 ,sadalsuud1 #gh4 ,sagitta1 #gi4 ,sagittarius1 #ef4 ,st4 ,paul and the viper1 #eg4 ,saiph1 #aje4 ,saturn1 #abb1 #abd4 ,scheat1 #ha4 ,schedar1 #hh4 ,scorpio1 #ee4 ,serpens1 #eg4 ,set1 #abb4 ,shakespeare1 quoted1 #di1 #hj4 ,sheratan1 #hd4 ,shield of ,orion1 #aje4 ,sickle1 the1 #cg4 ,sigma ,tauri1 #aji4 ,sirius1 #id et seq4 ,smyth1 ,admiral1 quoted1 #cb4 ,sobieski's ,shield1 #eg1 #fe4 ,solstices1 #ac4 ,sophocles1 quoted1 #fg4 ,southern ,cross1 ,r4 ,h4 ,dana on1 #gg4 ,southern ,fish1 #ge4 ,spica1 #bi et seq4 ,star colors1 #dd1 #hc1 #hi1 #ij4 ,star magnitudes1 #ih4 ,streaming of stars1 #ha1 #ajf4 ,struve invents star color1 #ajf4 ,summer ,solstice1 #ej4 ,sword-hand of ,perseus1 #hf4 ,sword of ,orion1 #ajc4 ,tent1 the1 #cc4 ,theta ,orionis1 #ajc4 ,theta ,tauri1 #aji4 ,three ,guides1 the1 #hh4 ,thuban1 #de1 #dh4 ,toorus1 #ajg4 ,tropic of ,capricorn1 #gi2 of ,cancer1 #dj4 ,tycho's star1 #ij4 ,ursa ,major1 #dj4 ,ursa ,minor1 #df4 ,uru-anna1 #aja4 ,vega1 #dc1 #fa et seq4 ,venus1 #abj1 #abc4 ,vernal ,equinox1 #ba4 ,vindemiatrix1 #ca4 ,virgin1 origin of name1 #cj4 ,virgo1 #bi et seq4 ,vulpecula et ,anser1 #hj4 8,w10 the letter1 #hg4 ,wesen1 #ajj4 ,whirlpool nebula1 #fi4 ,whitney1 ,prof41 quoted1 #gh4 ,winter heavens1 glories of1 #ic4 ,winter ,solstice1 #ic4 8,,xm0 class of stars1 #ca1 #fd1 #ajd4 ,xavier de ,maistre1 quoted1 #hi4 ,year1 various beginnings of1 #be et seq4 ,zeta ,urs ,majoris1 #dj4 ,aquarii1 #gh4 ,canis ,majoris1 #ajj4 ,herculis1 #fj4 ,orionis1 #ajb1 #ajf4 ,zodiac1 #hd4 ,zubeneschemali1 #gj4 ,zubenelgenubi1 #gj4 ,,the ,,end ,transcriber's ,notes ,a few minor errors in punctuation have been fixed4 ,in the section on pronunciation of star and constellation names1 combining diacritics may display following the letter they modify in certain fonts4 ,page #gi3 8minimum visibile0 changed to 8minimum visible0