THE GUIDE TO NATURE 
156 
one in Cetus below the southwestern 
horizon. Lastly the most notable mem- 
ber of the system is the brightest of 
all the stars, Sirius at K in Canis Major. 
We thus find that all of these seven- 
teen stars but one are above our 
horizon now, but scattered over the 
whole visible hemisphere. Each of them 
is moving slowly away from the point 
in Lynx marked R. This shows that 
the stars are moving in parallel lines. 
The motions appear to radiate from a 
point because of perspective for the 
same reason that meteors of a meteoric 
shower appear to move in all directions 
from a point. 
With the spectroscope astronomers 
can determine the velocity with which 
the brighter stars are moving toward 
us or away from us. As soon as this 
velocity is known for a single member 
of the system it is a simple matter to 
compute the velocity with which the 
stars of the system are moving through 
space and the distance and brightness 
of each star. In this way the system of 
stars is found to be moving with a ve- 
locity of 1 1.4 miles per second relative 
to the sun, but really with a velocity of 
18.2 miles. The nearest star is Sirius, 8.8 
light years away. Next nearest are 
the stars of Ursa Major, which range 
from 69 to 80 light years away. The 
most remote of the group is the one in 
Cygnus, 251 light years distant. The 
brightness varies from 3.4 times that 
of the sun in the case of the star at D 
to 180 times that of the sun in the case 
of the stars at E. 
The stars form a cluster which is flat- 
tened in the direction of its motion 
through space. The distances between 
some of the stars in the cluster are 
measured in hundreds of light years. 
We are nearer to Sirius than any of the 
stars in the system. No one has been 
able to tell why these stars are asso- 
ciated in their motions through space. 
It can only be accepted as a very re- 
markable fact. The stars in the other 
moving clusters are not so widely dis- 
tributed. Many of the stars in these 
clusters are so distant that we would 
be unable to determine their distances 
accurately by the ordinary methods. 
When determined they give us a basis 
for determining or at least estimating 
the distances of the much more remote 
clusters of stars. Star clusters are found 
which are believed to be as far as 220,- 
000 light years from us. 
The Planets. 
Jupiter and Saturn are in Virgo in 
the positions marked on the map. Jupi- 
ter is easily identified by reason of the 
fact that it is very bright — much 
brighter than any other object in the 
sky except Sirius in the southwest. 
Jupiter is brighter than Sirius but not 
much brighter. Saturn is fainter but is 
a bright object not far to the west of 
Jupiter. Just east of Jupiter is the 
fixed star Spica. Mars is just below 
the horizon in the southeast. It is in 
Ophiuchus. This is not one of the 
twelve constellations of the zodiac but 
a part of it lies in the zodiac even south 
of the ecliptic. This planet can be seen 
rising about midnight in the southeast. 
During the month its brightness in- 
creases nearly a whole magnitude, from 
-0. 1 to -1 .0 by reason of the fact that 
its distance from us has decreased from 
82,000,000 miles to 59,000,000 miles. 
Venus can be seen low in the west in 
the evening twili ght. 
Art. 
BY GEORGE 0. SCHOONIIOVEN, BROOKLYN, 
NEW YORK. 
When Nature stretches a canvas 
In the glorious outdoor air, 
Then levies on mountains and hillsides 
Each to contribute a share; 
When she places the trees in their grandeur 
To soften the lines of the scene 
And calls on that master, the autumn, 
To brighten their sombre green, 
There is naught in the world that can 
touch it, 
No art in the world to compare 
With that God-given stretch of beauty 
That floats in the hazy air. 
Spring Beauty. 
BY ROBERT SPARKS WALKER, CHATTA- 
NOOGA, TENNESSEE. 
Spring Beauty 
On duty from March until May; 
From my base rake the soil away, 
A pretty round bulb you’ll expose, — - 
It's from this humble cot I ’rose! 
In Spring 
I spring six to ten inches high, 
On open woods soil I rely; 
My leaves are linear and deep green; 
Flowers palest pink you’ve ever seen, 
With tiny veins of deeper pink. 
You’ll much admire, I really think. 
My sepals two and petals five, 
Are very, very much alive, 
With buzzing bees and butterflies, 
Who nectar seek beneath my eyes! 
