§4 The West Avierican Scitntisi. 



royal Sirius, undisputed king ot all the fixed stars. The western 

 Zodiacal region was faintly luminous with that great cone of light 

 so plainly seen at this season of the year, extending past the 

 three stars of The Ram, almost up to the twinkling Pleiades. The 

 other parts of the constellation, Taurus, were high up near the 

 zenith, the most conspicuous star being the red Aldebaran. The 

 Twins followed closely, and near the faint cluster of stars which 

 mark the place of Cancer was seen the bright planet Saturn. To 

 the east of this was the great sickle of Lc-o, and the last star of 

 that constellation, Denebohi, had just showed itself abo\'e the 

 eastern hills. On the north were the e\er-present attendants of 

 the pole, Ursa Major, Cassioi)eia and the minor constellations, 

 while very near the zenith shone the circle of Auriga, with its star 

 of the hrst magnitude, the. bright Ca])ella. 



Having taken this general survey, a sight which is open to the 

 observation of every one who is blessed with sight and who can 

 view the oi)en sky, we unco\ered the great eye of the telescope 

 and pointed the instrument toward the well-known nebula in 

 Orion . We applied a low power, to gi\'e a broad field and plenty 

 of light, and then we looked in silent admiration. Filling the 

 whole circle of vision was a misty, luminous cloud, Ijrighter near 

 its center, and extending on either hand into fading wisps of light, 

 which seemed to lie upon the dark sky like scatterings of white 

 down. On the right side was a wide gap in the nebula, and the 

 striking contrast between light and darkness made the sky behind 

 this gap look like an inky space, deep and desolate. Several 

 bright stars shone out in the midst of the nebula; one group of 

 four, which seem \ery close together, is called the Trapezium. 

 Under favorable circumstances two others are seen in this group, 

 and lately, by the aid of the great telescope on Mt. Hamilton, a 

 seventh has been observed. 



From this, the most beautiful of nebula:-, it was easy to turn to 

 Sirius, the grandest of the stars. As the tube came nearly into 

 line with the beams of light which have for many months been 

 hastening hither from that tremendous sun, lo, a bright dawn fill- 

 ed the field of the telescope! And then the orb itself shone out — 

 brighter, keener, infinitely more full of white, hot energy than 

 the electric light, Flashing, various and changing colors, splendid 

 with the sharpest light conceivable, brilliant and lustrous as a 

 diamond of the purest water, this magnificent star is doubtless 

 the chiefest gem of all the sky. 



The planet Saturn next claimed our attention, and in it we 

 found a less brilliant, but equally beautiful object for observation. 

 To the naked eye it appeared as a bright yellow star, but in the 

 telescope we saw a luminous globe, surrounded by a shining ring 

 a little inclined to our line ot vision, so that it looked like a narrow 

 ellipse. Steady and quiet, without the flashing splendor of Siri- 

 us, it shone in tranquil beauty, a mighty planet, surrounded by a 



