TO KNOW THE STARRY HEAVENS 



133 



The Starry Heavens in September. 



BY PROF. ERIC DOOLITTLE, OF THE L XI- 

 VERSITV OF PEXXSYLVAXIA. 



THOUGH the most brilHant con- 

 stellations of the heavens have all 

 now left ns. the evening skies of 

 September are wonderfully beautiful. 

 The ]\Iilky Way now passes through 

 the very zenith, its golden arch extend- 

 ing from the northeast to the south- 

 west, its succession of most interestiner 



which was to the Persians one of the 

 four Guardians of Heaven ; and in the 

 northeast we again welcome the group 

 Perseus, with its wonderful variable 

 star, and the bright Capella, that sun 

 so like our own but so very much larger 

 and brighter. 



\'ega, the autumn star, has now just 

 passed the highest point of the heavens ; 

 Arcturus, whose red color contrasts 

 strongly with Vega's brilliant blue, is 

 still high up from the ground in the 



FiR. 1. The Constellations on September 1 9 P. M. 

 (If facing south, hold the map upright. If facing east, hold East below. If facing west, hold 

 West below. If facing north, hold the map inverted.) 



Star groups, no less than its own won- 

 derful and intricate structure, forming 

 an object of endless interest for explora- 

 tion and study. 



The September Stars. 

 The remarkable and striking summer 

 group, Scorpio, is just sinking from the 

 evening skies, while appearing in the 

 east to take the place of those constel- 

 lations which have withdrawn since 

 last month, we see only the very faint 

 Aries, Pisces and Cetus. But just be- 

 low these there has appeared the bril- 

 liant Formalhaut, the solitarv star. 



west, w'hile, most conspicuous of all, we 

 seethe brilliant Jupiter shining out with 

 its golden radiance in the south. The 

 four best-known objects for a very 

 small telescope — the Nebula of Androm- 

 eda (at A, Figure i), the Cluster in 

 Hercules (at B), the double cluster in 

 Perseus (at C) and the remarkable 

 "Demon Star" (at D)— are all in favor- 

 able position for examination. The 

 eclipses of Algol can only be observed 

 toward the end of the present month, 

 since the earlier ones will occur during 

 the daytime. The times of the star's 



