TO KNOW THE STARRY HEAVENS 



155 



the Twin Stars, Castor and Pollux. It 

 now rises before midnio^ht. and by sun- 

 rise is near the meridian in the south, 

 at which time it is very high in the 

 heavens in very good position for ob- 

 servation. Saturn is in quadrature 

 with the sun on October 24 at i A. M., 

 exactly one hour before Jupiter reaches 

 opposition. 



Mysteries. 



The moon threw a l)ri(l<ie of silver 



Across the tranquil sea, 

 As if beckoning us to come and learn 



What manner of moon she he. 



— Emma Peirce. 



The Real and the Fictitious. 



\\'e congratulate Middletown. Con- 

 necticut, and in fact the entire state on 

 its interest in astronomy and in its 

 possession of a new astronomical ob- 

 servatory. At the dedication in June. 

 Professor Frederick Slocum delivered 

 an interesting address, in which he 

 related some curious facts or points of 

 view, and at the same time pointed out 

 what should be the real interest in as- 

 tronomy. We quote from his address 

 as published in "Popular Astronomy." 



"There is evidently much doubt in 

 the minds of some people as to just 

 what an observatory is, and what it is 

 for. 



"A teamster came up here some time 

 ago with a load of window frames for 

 the new dormitory. When told that 

 he had come to the wrong place, that 

 this was the observatory not the dor- 

 mitory, he paused a moment and then 

 asked, 'Well, what's the difiference any- 

 way?' 



"An expressman one day enquired 

 about the significance of the building, 

 and when informed that it was for the 

 study of the heavens, remarked that 

 he hoped it would do some good. 



"A neighbor reports a conversation 

 with her maid, who asked about 'that 

 queer building up on the hill.' AAHien 

 she was told that it was an observatory 

 and contained telescopes through 

 which the students looked at the sun, 

 moon and stars, she replied : 'They'd 

 much better look into their own hearts. 

 That's what I think.' 



"The building has been likened to a 

 fort, and the dome to a bee-hive, and 

 even to a sore thumb. The most en- 



couraging comment on the exterior ap- 

 pearance of the structure is one by a 

 member of the Wesleyan Faculty, 

 which I take the liberty of quoting: 



'Little bits of plaster. 

 Little blocks of stone, 

 Make a handsome building, 

 When the ivy's grown.' 

 "In some cases the visitors have come 

 apparently out of mere curiosity rather 

 than through any interest in the subject 

 of astronomy. However, such curios- 

 ity is, no doubt, perfectly legitimate, 

 and I believe that the observatory 

 ought to make some provision to sat- 

 isfy it. It may be possible next year 

 to set apart certain days and perhaps 

 one or two evenings per month for vis- 

 itors. 



"As to the research program of the 

 observatory, from some of the replies 

 to the invitations to the dedication, I 

 have been able to learn, to some extent, 

 what is expected. For exatnple one 

 alumnus writes, 'We expect great re- 

 sults from you in the future. If you 

 do not discover a tenth moon of Jupi- 

 ter, we fully expect you to do some 

 other work which the alumni will rec- 

 ognize and appreciate.' 



"Now I have not the slightest idea 

 of hunting for a tenth moon of Jupiter, 

 and if I ever should find one, it would 

 be purely by accident. In this connect- 

 tion I am reminded of a story which 

 appears in the biography of Galileo. In 

 the vear 1604, wdiile Galileo was a pro- 

 fessor at Padua, a new star blazed out 

 in the constellation of the Serpent and 

 attracted great attention, chiefly, per- 

 haps, because it apparently contradic- 

 ted the teachings of Aristotle and the 

 church, that the heavens were un- 

 changeable, perfect, subject neither to 

 growth nor to decay. Galileo was in- 

 vited to give a course of three lectures 

 on the new star. At the first lecture 

 there were over 1000 people, and the 

 second lecture had to be given in the 

 open air because there was no hall in 

 the city large enough to hold the audi- 

 ence. 



"In opening his first lecture he took 

 occasion to rebuke his hearers for 

 thronging to learn about that transient 

 phenomenon, while showing absolutely 

 no interest in the far more wonderful 

 truths about the permanent stars." 



