6 
THE GUIDE TO NATURE 
moved to form the balance. Before this 
was done Scorpio was one of the long- 
est constellations of the Zodiac. 
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The June Stars. 
The possessor of a small telescope 
will find much of interest in any part 
of the sky. Even the very small and 
inconspicuous group of the Balance, 
lying between Scorpio and Virgo, con- 
tains very much more than would be 
imagined from Figure i. There are 
more than fifty naked eye stars in this 
little region although, except for the 
two conspicuous ones, they are all very 
faint. 
Just to the right of the star at F, 
there is a remarkable variable star 
which grows more than a magnitude 
fainter in every two days eight hours, 
and which is now known to be partly 
eclipsed by a dark sun revolving about 
it. And north of F there is a remark- 
able spherical cluster which contains 
nearly one hundred variable stars. The 
star F itself is quite remarkable from 
having a distinctly greenish tint — a 
very unusual color among the brighter 
stars. This star is approaching our 
system at the rate of six miles a second. 
The yellow star at E is easily seen 
to be a double in a pair of opera glasses ; 
the companion, which is described as 
of a light gray color, is two hundred 
and thirty seconds away. And the pos- 
sessor of a small telescope should not 
fail to examine also the region H, where 
he will find the whole background of 
the sky covered with a delicate network 
of faint stars. The star at K, above 
this region, is a beautiful double in a 
small telescope, and nearly in a line 
from this to Arcturus, but somewhat 
nearer the latter star, there is another 
remarkable spherical cluster, nearly 
one-tenth of whose stars are variable. 
Recent researches have shown that 
these spherical clusters are not im- 
mersed in our Milky Way universe of 
stars, but are beyond its boundaries. 
They are real universes of suns, but far 
more condensed and far smaller than 
our universe is; the distances through 
them are expressed by hundreds, in- 
stead of by tens of thousands of light 
years. 
For the first time this year there are 
also to be seen in the evening sky the 
great groups of the Serpent and the 
Serpent Holder. These two intermixed 
groups now cover the whole southeast- 
ern heavens, from Bootes to the hori- 
zon. The head of the winding Serpent 
is very near Corona, while the extreme 
tip of its tail is in Aquila. The Serpent 
Holder, Ophiuchus, grasps the creature 
firmly in his two hands (at M and N), 
his head being at R, and his feet just 
above Scorpio. With a small star atlas 
the reader may find very many objects 
of interest within the borders of this 
faint constellation, especially in the 
eastern part of it, where are found the 
wonderful cloud forms of the Summer 
Branch of the Milky Way. 
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The Planets in June. 
An unusually favorable opportunity 
to observe the planet Mercury will be 
afforded toward the close of the month, 
when Mercury comes to its greatest 
Figure 2. Change in shape of the planet Mars^ 
Shows the planet when least round, and in its 
present appearance. 
eastern elongation. This will occur on 
June 29, and for a few days before and 
after this date the observer will see it 
shining far in the northwest in the twi- 
light glow for more than one and one- 
half hours after sunset. If he finds it 
when near its elongation, it will look 
