-26 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



known as the Eagle. All of these stars 

 sank from our evening sky last De- 

 cember, but throughout the entire sum- 

 mer and fall they will remain with us, 

 becoming very striking groups when 

 with the advancing seasons they mount 

 higher in the heavens. 



But the most striking and interest- 

 ing object of all is doubtless the beau- 

 tiful Jupiter which has now well en- 

 tered the evening sky and pours out 

 its steady, golden radiance in the 

 southeast. Even without a telescope 

 this is a beautiful object, for it is by far 

 the brightest heavenly body now in the 

 sky, and its deep golden color can 

 easily be recognized, especially if the 

 observer compares it with the white 

 or blue stars Spica, Vega and Regulus. 

 It is now retrograding, or moving 

 westward among the stars, and during 

 the month will pass to the west of 

 Antares. This slow, westward move- 

 ment will continue until August 3 by 

 which time it will have almost reached 



the heavens is a most interesting one. 

 The bright Antares itself, one of the 

 most interesting of the stars, is men- 

 tioned in the very earliest records 



r 1 I V^Sfc 



WEST 



South 



Figure '2. Passage of the moon over the bright star 

 Antares, on June 29. 



which we possess. To the Persians of 

 3000 B. C. it was one of the four Royal 

 Stars, while in Egyptian astronomy, 

 seven centuries earlier, it is a goddess 

 heralding sunrise at the time of the au- 



Figure 3. The occultation of Antares. Within the cylinder M, N, a, b, the star is invisible. 



the stars at A. Figure i ; it will then 

 turn eastward and again take up its 

 twelve-year journey around the Celes- 

 tial Sphere. 



THF JUNF STARS. 



This whole southeastern region of 



tumnal equinox, for, 56 centuries ago, 

 the autumnal equinox was near this 

 star. The oldest of the Grecian tem- 

 ples — beside many later ones — are ori- 

 entated to Antares. 



Antares, which is believed to be a 



