330 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



upon all the stars in that immediate vicin- 

 ity, and you will have no trouble to see 

 the one that winks his eye at you. It has 

 been thus winkin,g- regularly through the 

 ages and will continue to do so. That 

 darker sun will continue to revolve 

 around its bright companion in an appar- 

 ent effort to extinguish its rays. It suc- 

 ceeds temporarily. We see the event only 

 when the darker sun passes between us 

 and the bright one. If you care to know 

 more about this, look up Algol in any 

 book of stars. 



A Reminder of the Southern Cross. 



Washta, Iowa. 

 To the Editor: 



Just after Sirius crosses the meridan 

 in the latter part of February and 



lation are mucli brighter, three being 

 of the second magnitude. Neither of 

 these crosses has a central star as in 

 the Northern Cross in Cygnus. 



I lived for twenty years thirteen de- 

 grees north of the equator (Barbados, 

 British West Indies) where I could 

 see the Southern Cross, about thirty 

 degrees above the horizon. And away 

 up here in the frigid northwest, at this 

 time of the year, I always hail the cross 

 that I have described as it brings up 

 strong memories of my island home in the 

 tropics. 



Fred S. Carrington. 



^; H^ ^ ^: ;|: 



This statement of Mr. Carrington is 

 entirely correct throughout. As the 

 savs, this cross is somewhat too much 



SATURN, THAT BEAUTIFUL RINGED PLANET. 

 A remarkable photograph by Mr. Barnard at the Mt. Wilson Observatory. Sent by the Yerkes Observatory. 



March, a little to the south and east of 

 that star is a cross formed by three 

 stars of Canis Major : Delta at the top 

 of the cross is a third magnitude star ; 

 Epsilon, forming the right hand arm. 

 a second magnitude ; and Eta to the 

 left, a third magnitude. The star form- 

 ing the foot of the cross is Pi of the 

 constellation Puppis, a third magnitude 

 star and a naked eye double. On a 

 clear evening these four stars, about 

 fifteen and twenty degrees above the 

 horizon, form a very conspicuous cross. 

 They have always attracted my 'atten- 

 tion, reminding me very much of the 

 Southern Cross, the four stars being 

 almost in a similar position. The 

 Southern Cross is not quite as long, 

 and of course the stars in that constel- 



elongated, and it also wants a central 

 star midway between Epsilon and Eta. 

 Our Northern Cross has such a star 

 and is in fact, a very much better pro- 

 portioned cross than the Southern 

 Cross. This region of Canis Major is 

 rich in beautiful star clusters and star 

 streams. The most beautiful and strik- 

 ing cluster is almost in a straight line 

 between Sirius and Epsilon, one-third 

 of the way down from the Dog Star. 

 It has a red star near its center and its 

 structure is most complex and inter- 

 esting, even in a small telescope. — Ed. 



Only give the time to Nature, 

 That you spend on lesser things; 



Like a miracle will seem 



The satisfaction that it brings. 



— Emma Peirce. 



