THE STARRY HEAVENS FOR FEBRUARY 



303 



a small telescope that it is, of course 

 quite impossible to mention everything 

 We select a few objects in the Greater 

 Dog, but Lepus, Columba, Eridanus, Ar- 

 go and Hydra would all have equally 

 well repaid our examinations. 



star 11 is a pale red, and at M, nearly 

 in a line between B and F, but nearer the 

 latter star, there is a faint star which is 

 of deep red color, though neither of these 

 is of so intense a red as the celebrated 

 "Red Star of Lepus," which will be 



Figure 2 — The Zodiacal Light 



Interesting Objects in Canis Major. 



The white star at A, Figure 1, was 

 known to the Arabs as the "Announcer," 

 because it preceded by a few steps the 

 great Sirius in its passage across the sky ; 

 the yellow star at B was the 'Heavy One,' 

 because this star rises but slowly and 

 with difficulty from the ground, while 

 the orange star at C, with several faint- 

 er stars near it, was known by the less 

 poetic title of the "Apes." 



The star at F is an interesting double 

 in a moderately large telescope ; those at 

 B and C can be seen to be double, and 

 that at E can be seen to be triple with a 

 pair of opera glasses and even with so 

 small an instrument as this many other 

 beautiful objects can be found in this 

 constellation, which is a very rich one 

 for such study. 



Thus, extending upward to the left of 

 B, between and to the right of K, there 

 is a remarkable succession of faint stars ; 

 just below Sirius and to the left of E 

 there is a wonderful star cluster, and 

 there is also a far looser, but still an in- 

 teresting group of stars directly below H. 

 The stars at D and A are irregularly var- 

 iable ; the latter is said to have totally 

 disappeared in the year 1670, not again 

 being seen for 23 years. It is now fainter 

 than either K or F, though in earlier 

 times it was brighter than these. The 



found at N. 



None of these deep red stars are 

 bright. They are believed to be suns, 

 which are in almost the last stages of con- 

 densation and are hence surrounded by 

 such a dense cloud of vapors that their 

 light is largely hidden from us. Only 

 the red rays can struggle through the 

 heavy enveloping atmosphere. 



The winter branch of the Milky Way, 

 which last month passed exactly through 

 the zenith, has now begun its slow de- 

 clension toward the west, and by the end 

 of April will be seen bordering the en- 

 tire horizon from the southwest to the 

 north. 



Figure 3 — Showing why the present elongation of 

 Mercury is an unfavorable one. (Not drawn to 

 fcale.) 



