24'' 



Till*. (HI 1)1*. TO X \Tl RK 



clearly why the moons near the full 



in September and October rise at 

 nearly the same time, and why each 

 nighl they rise farther and farther 

 north. The northward risings ma\ be 

 seen by referring to the Sky Map which 

 is merely the projection cm a plane ol 

 the celestial sphere. The equator 

 cuts the horizon at the east and west 

 points. By looking at the maps of 

 August, September and Octoher it will 

 he seen that the ecliptic cuts the east- 

 ern horizon at very different points, in 

 the latter months, far north of east. 



TITK CONSTELLATIONS. 



The average astronomer in the sum- 

 mer looks forward to the clear, crisp 

 evenings of early fall when the absence 

 of summer haze makes each star stand 

 out "like a diamond in the sky." The 

 Pleiades and Hyades and later in the 

 night Orion give sure evidence that 

 winter is approaching. These clear 

 nights we are now getting make a 

 splendid opportunity to study the con- 

 stellation before the cold nights of 

 the winter come along. Our old friend 

 the "Dipper" is low down on the 

 horizon. Everyone knows the two 

 "pointers" in the bowl of the "Dipper" 

 which indicate the position of Polaris, 

 the Pole Star. On the other side of 

 the pole from Ursa Major is Cassi- 

 opeia, the "W" or the Key in the sky. 

 These two constellations found, we 

 have the means of tracing an interest- 

 ing line of stars. The star where the 

 bowd of the Dipper joins the handle is 

 Delta Ursae Majoris, the faintest star 

 of the seven. A great circle through 

 this and the Pole Star passes 32° away, 

 close to T>eta Cassiopeiae at the west- 

 ern end of the constellation. Follow- 

 ing this line farther along we come to 

 two stars in the Square of Pegasus, the 

 first of these 30° away from Beta 

 Cassiopeiae is known under the several 

 names of Alpheratz, Alpha Androme- 

 dae and Delta Pegasi. From Alpheratz 

 to the second star in the Square, 

 Gamma Pegasi or Algenib, the distance 

 is 14°. The same great circle which 

 has passed near the above bright stars, 

 and continued south for another 14° 



passes through the "First of Aries," 



the important point in the "Greenwich 

 of the sky." the intersection of the 

 equator and ecliptic, the Vernal Equi- 

 nox. No bright stars are near to mark 

 this fundamental point, and though 

 called the first in the sign of Aries, it 

 is situated in the constellation of 

 Pisces. 



West of the Square of Pegasus we 

 see a small diamond-shaped constella- 

 tion in Delphinus known as Job's 

 Coffin. The great winged horse Pe- 

 gasus has close to it the Foal or 

 Equuleus, a small and insignificant 

 constellation. Half way between Del- 

 phinus and Lyra we come to Albireo 

 or Beta Cygni in the Northern Cross 

 or Swan. This is one of the most beau- 

 tiful doubles known, and is a splendid 

 object for small telescopes, which split 

 it up into a third and a seventh magni- 

 tude star, 34" apart, the former light 

 yellow, the latter deep blue. The con- 

 trast of color is beautiful. 



Another famous star in this same 

 constellation is 61 Cygni, a double star 

 with components of the sixth magni- 

 tude 20" apart, easily separated by a 

 small telescope. It has a large par- 

 allax of about 0.4", and is one of the 

 nearest stars in the northern heavens. 



THE PLANETS. 

 Few of the planets can be seen this 

 month, Venus, Mars and Jupiter all be- 

 ing too close to the sun, and Mercury 

 reaches an unfavorable opposition on 

 the eleventh. 



Saturn, however, is in a splendid 

 position to be seen. Tt is in opposition, 

 or tSo° away from the sun on the 

 twenty-sixth of the month. A pos- 

 sessor of a four-inch telescope writes 

 that he can see the division between 

 the rings. On the fifteenth of the 

 month it is on the meridian at 12.36. 

 It can easily be located, the brightest 

 star east of the meridian in the even- 

 ing. 



Uranus, though low down towards 

 the southern horizon, can be located 

 from its position given on the Sky 

 Map. It is at quadrature or 90° from 

 the sun on the fifteenth of the month. 



