TO KNOW THE STARRY HEAVENS 



153 



per-shaped group of the Pleiades is a 

 striking- and interesting object, but it 

 will be found that the smallest tele- 

 scope greatly increases its beauty. On 

 an ordinarily clear night six stars can 

 be seen with the naked eye (though 

 some observers detect several more), 

 but a telescope of but one-inch aper- 

 ture will show at least as many as are 

 indicated in Figure 2, while no less than 



Figure 2. The passage of the moon over the Pleiades 

 on the morning of October 14. 



2000 are revealed on the delicate pho- 

 tographic plate. 



The names of the brighter stars are 

 given in Figure 2. Alcyone, a greenish 

 star, is the brightest of all, and the deli- 

 cate little triangle of three faint stars 

 near it makes this a very attractive 

 field in the telescope. Near the upper 

 edge of the bowl of the little dipper is 

 Maia, the first born and the most beau- 

 tiful of the Pleiad Sisters ; above this 

 are the twin stars (usually just visible 

 to the naked eye as one very faint star) 

 called Asterope, while Pleione and At- 

 las mark the end of the handle ci the 

 dipper toward the east. 



An immense amount of legendary 

 reference to these stars, both as an en- 

 tire cluster and also singly, has accu- 

 mulated during the ages. With some 

 nations their changing positions have 

 been employed to mark the seasons and 

 the beginnings of the years, while to 

 very many they serve to indicate the 

 times at which various agricultural 

 labors are best undertaken or discon- 

 tinued. Thus Virgil states the time 

 of honey harvest to be when "Taygeta 

 displays her comely face toward the 

 earth," while seeding time should not 

 be considered to have arrived until the 

 "Fall of the Pleiades" from the evening 

 sky. 



The faint lines of Figure 2 show the 

 location of a part of the extraordinary, 

 faintly glowing nebulous matter which 

 extends throughout the cluster and is 

 especially associated with its brighter 

 stars. Recent observations indicate 

 that these inconceivably extended 

 wisps and streams shine, at least part- 

 ly, by light which is reflected from the 

 stars of the cluster, and that thus they 

 may be made up of dustlike or other 

 opaque material. Altogether, the more 

 it is studied the more remarkable and 

 interesting the little cluster of the Plei- 

 ades is found to be. 



The Occultation of the Pleiades. 



This very beautiful and unusual 

 phemonenon will occur during the early 

 morning of Saturday, October 14; the 

 hour is thus, unfortunately, somewhat 

 inconvenient, but otherwise the entire 

 phenomenon could hardly occur more 

 favorably for observation. The ama- 

 teur astronomer who is willing to un- 

 dergo a little discomfort will be well 

 repaid for foregoing a part of his usual 

 sleep. 



As seen from Washington, the ad- 

 vancing (east) edge of the moon will 

 touch the first bright star, Electra, at 

 about 3 hours 30 minutes A. M. (East- 

 ern standard time). At this time the 

 Pleiades will be high in the heavens in 

 the west ; Capella, the Hyades and 

 Orion will be seen shining his^h in the 

 south, the two Dog Stars, Sirius and 

 Procyon, will have almost reached the 

 meridian, while the bright Saturn will 

 shine high in the east. As the occulta- 

 tion proceeds the observer will lastly 

 see the very brilliant Venus rising a 

 little to the north of the east point of 

 the horizon, and by the time the entire 

 phenomenon is concluded it will have 

 climbed high up into the morning sky. 

 Altogether the entire heavens on this 

 morning will present a most beautiful 

 sight. 



On October 14 the moon will be three 

 days past the full and will hence pre- 

 sent approximately the appearance 

 shown in Figure 2. As it is moving 

 eastward over the heavens the stars 

 will disappear at its bright edge, to re- 

 appear later at its dark (invisible) edge, 



