THE GUIDE TO NATURE 
3 s 
formed a beautiful pair with the bluish 
Spica (at B) ; during the first days of 
August it will form an even more strik- 
ing pair with the widely double, golden 
star at C, but it will not remain near 
this star nearly so long as it remained 
in the vicinity of Spica, for the east- 
ward motion of Mars is now very rapid. 
The planet Venus is also now in the 
evening sky, but it will not withdraw 
far from the sun’s rays during the pres- 
ent month. 
ful object in a small telescope, its com- 
ponents being golden and bluish-green, 
and eleven seconds apart. 
The band of faint stars above Del- 
phinus and Sagitta is Vulpecula, the 
Fox, while those between Delphinus 
and Aquarius make up Equuleus, the 
Tittle Horse. Both of these constella- 
tions contain many double and triple 
stars, whose positions may be found 
from any star atlas, but they contain 
no star clusters or nebulae bright 
Figure 2. A typical meteoric stone showing hollows burnt out by friction with the air. 
The August Stars. 
The reader who is already familiar 
with the larger constellations will find 
it of much interest to gradually extend 
his knowledge by learning the fainter 
ones also. But few of these are named 
on Figure I, though their brighter stars 
are shown. For example, just north of 
Aquila is the stream of faint stars 
known as Sagitta, the Arrow, shot by 
Hercules toward Aquila and Cygnus 
and flying between them. Its most re- 
markable object is a faint star just 
north of the star at E, which is a rapid 
triple star, whose three suns are respec- 
tively of colors green, white and blue. 
To the east of Sagitta is the striking 
little group Delphinus, often called 
“fob’s Coffin.” This constellation is of 
great antiquity. Even to the Hindus, 
from whom the Greeks borrowed it, it 
was known as the Porpoise, but to the 
Greeks it became the Dolphin which 
rescued Arion on his voyage to Corinth. 
Though so small a constellation, it 
contains many objects of interest. Its 
brightest star at F is a variable, while 
each star marked H is a double or triple 
sun ; the northernmost one is a beauti- 
enough to be seen in a very small tele- 
scope, with the single exception of the 
remarkable object known as the Dumb- 
bell nebula. This is in the position of 
M, almost exactly in line with the two 
stars K and L. Though visible in a 
two-inch glass, it requires a much 
larger aperture to show its complicated 
spiral structure. In a moderately large 
glass it appears only as two misty 
clouds, with many stars around and be- 
tween them. 
* * * * 'Jf. 
The August Shooting Stars. 
During the second week in August 
we have the nights of the August 
shooting stars, or Perseids. so called 
because these little bodies dart outward 
in every direction from a radiating 
point in the constellation Perseus, in 
the position S of Figure i. Unfortu- 
nately, this constellation is below the 
Pole and very near the northeastern 
horizon in the early evening, but by 
midnight it has risen much higher in 
the sky, so that from midnight until 
dawn is the best time to watch this in- 
teresting display. 
The number of shooting stars soort 
