14 
THE YOUNG SCIENTIST. 
.as Ehea and near it, and Tethys will be half 
way to its W. elong., and hence Just north of 
•i^aturn and on a line between Titan and the 
planet. 
APPEAEANCE OF THE HEAVENS AT 9 P.M. FEB- 
RUABY 15, 1882. 
There is no season of the year when there is 
so grand a display of bright stars, interesting 
groups and constellations as at this time. 
Xooking southward the eye beholds the richest 
portion of the heavens spread out before us, 
dazzling us for the moment by the great pro- 
fusion of beautiful objects. No less than 30 
first and second magnitude stars are in sight, 
presenting the finest spectacle the starry firma- 
ment affords. 
ISIear the meridian and very near the southern 
horizon are the two bright stars Naos and 
Phaet, which form the southern termini of the 
legs of the " Great Egyptian X," which has Sir- 
ius for its centre and Procyon and Betelguese 
for the northern termini. The centre of the 
constellation Gemini is on the meridian, and the 
brightest stars, Castor and Pollux, are slightly 
-east. Leo, the Lion, is the next conspicuous 
constellation eastward, the Sickle and Eegulus 
marking the eastern boundary of Cancer. Virgo 
is just rising. West of the meridian the Hare, 
with the neat four-sided figure, is seen 20° south 
of the " Ell and Yard " or " The Kings," the 
three bright stars in the belt of Orion ; Eigel is 
between them, but slightly to the right. Oppo- 
site the Kings from Rigel and nearly the same 
distance from them is Betelguese; 25° further 
north is Beta Aurigae, Mie 2d mag. star in the 
end of the horn of the Bull, and still about the 
:same distance further north is Capella, 30° west 
of which is the " Segment of Perseus." Much 
nearer the western horizon are the Hyades and 
Pleiades. 
THE COMETS OF 1881. 
The astronomical discoveries of the year now 
drawing to a close have been mainly confined to 
that interesting and erratic class of heavenly 
bodies called comets. Seven of these visitors 
from afar olf in space have, in their wanderings 
through the immensities of the stellar regions, 
passed through our system, and been telescopi- 
cally visible over nearly the entire globe. Six of 
them are believed to be new comets, never be- 
fore having visited us, or at least since scientific 
observations and records of such events have 
been made. Only two have been visible to the 
naked eye, and all of them have been discovered 
since May 1. At the time of the appearance of 
Comet 5, Encke's, five comets were telescopi- 
€ally visible— a very unusual, if not unparal- 
leled event. In Feb., 1845, four were visible at 
once. Mentioned in the order of their discovery 
they are: 
Comet 1 (A).— Discovered by Director Swift at 
Eochester, Warner Observatory, May 1 ; small 
and telescopic. 
Comet 2 (B).— The Great Comet. The honor 
of first discovery in this country has, we believe, 
never yet been satisfactorily settled. Several 
hundreds have laid claim to such honor and to 
the Warner prize of $200. Probably first seen in 
the United States, June 23. This is without 
doubt the same comet that Dr. Gould observed 
at the National Observatory of the Argentine 
Eepublic, Cordova, June 1, and he suspected 
that it was the return of the comet of 1807. But 
although there were many points of coincidence 
in the elements of their orbits, later investiga- 
tion showed very conclusively that they were 
distinct, and that Comet B had never before 
been with us. Quite satisfactory spectroscopic 
and photographic results were obtained from 
this comet by Dr. Draper and others, demon- 
strating, among other things, the material 
nature of the tails of comets. 
Comet 3 (C).— Discovered by J. M.Schaeberle 
at Ann Arbor, Mich., July 13. First seen in the 
constellation Aurigae. Quite dim. 
Comet 4 (D).— Discovered by E. E. Barnard, 
Nashville, Tenn., in the constellation Virgo, 
Sept. 19 ; telescopic. 
Comet 5 (Encke's).— Director Swift, of Eoches- 
ter, was the first to " pick up " this old acquaint- 
ance. It has the shortest period of any known 
comet ; 3| years ; large telescopic. 
Comet 6 (E).— Discovered simultaneously in 
Europe and America by Mr. Denning, of Bristol, 
Eng., and Mr. Brooks, of Phelps, N. Y. First 
seen in Leo, 3J° from Eegulus. This is the only 
short-term periodical discovered this year, its 
period being 8^ years. 
Comet 7 (F).— Discovered by Director Swift, 
of Warner Observatory, Eochester, N. Y., No- 
vember 17. New and telescopic. 
We would not be surprised if one or more 
coraetary discoveries are announced before the 
close of the year. Eight were seen in 1858, the 
largest number in this country during a single 
year, we believe. 
EPHEMEKIDES OF THE PEINCIPAIi STAKS AND 
CLUSTERS, FEB. 20, 1882. 
H. 
M. 
Alpha Andromeda ( Alpheratz) sets 
9 
51 even 
Omicron Ceti (Mira) variable " 
9 
59 " 
Beta Persei (Algol) variable, in 
meridian 
5 
0 " 
Eta Tauri (Alcyone or Light of 
Pleiades) in merid. 
5 
40 " 
Alpha Tauri (Aldebaran)in merid. 
6 
28 " 
Alpha Aurigae (Capella) " " 
7 
7 " 
