356 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



THE HEAVENS IN APRIL. 



Two New Comets. How Comets Are 

 Captured. The April Shooting Stars. 

 Mars Still In Excellent Position for 

 Observation. 



BY PROFESSOR ERIC DOOLlTTLE OF THE 

 UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



The most striking of our evening 

 constellations is now the beautiful 

 group, Leo, which shines almost ex- 

 actly on the meridian in the south. 



stretches two-thirds of the way across 

 the southern heavens, bearing the Cup 

 and the Crow on its back. 



The observer who is familiar with 

 the brighter constellations will find it 

 most interesting to trace out the 

 Lesser Lion, which is made up of all 

 the faint stars lying between Leo and 

 the paws of the Bear, at E and F, 

 Figure i. And to the west of this he 

 will find the equally faint Lynx, a 

 quite extended group including all 

 stars from Leo Elinor to the region H. 



)RTH 



SCSUTt 



Figure I. The Constellations at 9 P. M., April 1. (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). 



Above this, we find the whole region 

 about the zenith covered by the Great 

 Bear which has now attained its high- 

 est position in the heavens, while 

 below Leo the verv long Water Snake 



Figure i. This constellation is. quite re- 

 markable for the large number of 

 double stars which it contains ; there 

 are no less than fifty of these which 

 are visible in a quite small telescope. 



