EXPLORING THE GLORIES OF THE FIRMAMENT 



179 



the 



directly south of the brightest star 

 of the group is a little patch of light 

 that can barely be seen. Whether 

 this is a nebula, or whether another 

 universe so immeasurably distant 

 that its light is only a haze, has not 

 been determined. The spectroscope 

 seems to translate its light message 

 as saying that it is composed of 

 solid or liquid material surrounded 

 by cooler gases (see picture, page 

 172). 



Down on the northeastern hori- 

 zon is the constellation Perseus, the 

 Champion. Its brightest star is the 

 center of a twinkling field regarded 

 by many as the finest spectacle in 

 the heavens when viewed through 

 field-glasses. Its second star has 

 been called Algol, the Demon. It 

 varies in magnitude, losing two- 

 thirds of its light between its bright- 

 est moments and its darkest, which 

 follow one another every sixty-odd 

 hours. 



One might pass by Pegasus, 

 Winged Horse, with its famous square, 

 in the southeastern heavens ; Delphinus, 

 the Dolphin, with its closely grouped 

 stars, lying between Pegasus and Aquila ; 

 but away down on the southern horizon, 

 on the very meridian, is a constellation, 

 Sagittarius, the Archer, which rivets the 

 beholder's attention. It lies in a region 

 full of star-clusters and nebulae of great 

 beauty. 



With the exception of a few minor 

 constellations, this completes the list of 

 the principal people of the sky visible at 

 the hour named. But those who will take 

 the trouble to watch as the months go 

 by will see many others of rare beauty 

 and striking appearance. 



Aldebaran, a star that is well past mid- 

 dle age, as disclosed by its color, and yet 

 driving toward us at the heart-breaking 

 speed of two thousand miles a minute ; 

 Capella, so distant that our sun could 

 barely be seen by us if as remote, but so 

 bright that it outshines our sun as a 

 candle outshines a fire-fly ; Rigel, so hot 

 that it would roast us alive if it were to 

 come as close to us as the sun ; Retel- 

 guese, Sirius, Procyon, Castor and Pol- 

 lux, Regulus, Spica and Fomalhaut — all 



Photograph from Yerkes Observatory 



A RIFT IN THE SKY 



This picture shows how thickly the constellation 

 of the Swan is peopled with stars. But why the ap- 

 parent abyss in the center? Astronomers are seeking 

 the answer. 



these are in the heavens of the daytime 

 in late August and therefore not visible 

 at night. 



But next March they will be in their 

 glory in the night sky, vying in beauty 

 with the Milky Way. To know them is 

 to add new joy to a walk in the open air 

 on a clear winter's night. 



One fain would pass on to ten thou- 

 sand others of the hosts of heaven and 

 to the wonderful stories they can tell 

 The variable stars, like Algol, in which 

 the brighter member of a double star is 

 eclipsed by a darker one at regular pe- 

 riods, are hard to pass by. 



THK 



SPEED MERCHANTS 

 HEAVENS 



OE THE 



So, also, are the "runaway stars'' that 

 are speeding through space at gaits that 

 astound the astronomer. In the southern 

 heavens is a runaway called ''243 in the 

 fifth hour of right ascension, in the Cor- 



doba 



Zone Catalogue." 



It is traveling 



170 miles a second — eight times as fast 

 as the average star. No. 1830, Groom- 

 bridge, in the Great Bear, has a velocit) 

 of perhaps 200 miles a second. At that 

 rate it could rly around the earth in a 

 shade more than two minutes. 



Either the universe is vastly more ex- 



