TO KNOW THE STARRY HEAVENS 



191 



As seen from the earth, it will, from June 

 to September, follow the path RS, Figure 

 I. At present this comet is so very dis- 

 tant that it still appears very faint, but it 

 is hoped that durmg" the coming sunniier 

 and autumn it will become easily visible, 

 and perhaps even strikingly conspicuous 

 to the naked eye. 



Observation of an Aurora. 



Washta, Iowa. 

 To the Editor : 



I am writing you a description of an 

 auroral display which took place here on 

 the evening of the 26th of August. At 

 about 8:50, it hegan low down in the 

 northern horizon ; but soon spread to the 

 northwest and especially to the north- 

 east. Great, shivering, dancing stream- 

 ers of grayish white light shot up toward 

 the zenith and passed ten or fifteen de- 

 grees beyond, toward the south. There 

 were two features about this display that 

 to me were remarkable. Rising about 

 fifteen degrees south of the east point was 

 a huge banner, tapering at first but gradu- 

 ally widening as it approached the zenith. 

 It passed over Delphinus, between Vega 

 and Altair, over part of Hercules and on 

 towards the northwestern horizon. I 

 particularly noticed that high up, where 

 the streamer was near the meridian, the 

 stars in the Galaxy, Albireo of the Cross 

 and some of the stars in Hercules were 

 blotted out by the light. 



I especially noticed this because some 

 writers say that the stars can always be 

 seen through the light. This streamer 

 did not appear to be at any great distance 

 overhead. The stars could be plainly seen 

 through those that came from the north, 

 northwest and northeast. About 9 :30 I 

 observed one shooting up about ten de- 

 grees from the southeast point; Fomal- 

 haut was just above the horizon. It 

 passed over Aquarius, Capricornus, and 

 was lost over Uphiuchus and Serpens, 

 but the stars were not hidden by its light. 

 What seemed exceptional was the tact 

 that the streamers came trom the south- 

 eastern horizon. The display lasted until 

 twelve o'clock, the light during most of 

 the time being like that of the moon at her 

 third quarter. The northeastern sky had 

 the appearance of daybreak, but with a 

 kind of weird lieht. There was a marked 



counter glow in the southern horizon, ex- 

 tending lor about thirty degrees. 



For several evenings I had been trying 

 to catch Mercury soon after sunset and, 

 much later on, I feasted my eyes on the 

 beautiful starry vault of the summer sky. 

 At about 9 :30, Capella emerges from the 

 northern horizon; next comes Fomalhaut 

 almost on the southeast point; soon after, 

 Jupiter blazes but a little north of the east 

 point. Starting in the northeast and ex- 

 tending overhead and downward to the 

 southwest, is the glorious stream of the 

 Galaxy, now at its best. Perseus in the 

 northeast; the beautiful northern cross 

 overhead, Sagittarius and Scorpio in the 

 south and southwest, eight stars of the 

 first magnitude in full view : — Spica low 

 down in the southwest; Antares, Fomal- 

 haut, Altair, Deneb, Vega, Arcturus and 

 Capella. No moon all night. If the 

 grandeur does not equal that of the winter 

 sky, the comfort of the observer at this 

 season more than makes up for the de- 

 ficiency. I observed Saturn emerge from 

 behind the moon at about 3:15 in the 

 morning of the twenty-fifth. The planet 

 was behind the moon when she rose. Our 

 latitude here is 42^2 degrees north. 



Fred S. Carrington. 



I have had several letters about the 

 aurora of that evening. It was an inter- 

 esting display, but we must expect this as 

 we are now near a sunspot maximum. 

 Doubtless the aurora was still finer far- 

 ther north, for it was evidently wide- 

 spread. Notwithstanding the thousands 

 of observations of auroras there is much 

 that we do not yet know about them. 

 Northern observers sometimes report 

 them as actually on the ground and tell 

 of electrical cracklings which accompany 

 them. Here, however, they are certainly 

 high above us and too far away for us to 

 hear any sounds. They are undoubtedly 

 electrical; their spectrum shows krypton, 

 argon and other elements of the atmos- 

 phere. — Eric Doolittle. 



High altars unto Heaven, 

 The mountains in our sight; 



Their shining altar vestments, 

 The snow that fell o'er night. 



— Emma Peirce. 



