Star Maps for Beginners: 50th Anniversary Edition 0671791877, 978-0671791872

Citation preview

w *-*

*'#

/ • .

•-*

50th

Anniversary Edition

ii

i

^

#*-

.1

THE EASIEST SYSTEM Qf STA^CHARTS-VEt DEVISElfFOR LOCATING, THE MAJOR CONSTELLATIONS ANP PLANETS IN THE NORTHERN jfc. HEMISPHERE^ AT. AN Y TIMEOF THE YEAR REVISED FOR THE

'90s

— WITH UPDATED PLANET CHARTS

AND A NEW SECTION ON SPOTTING METEOR SHOWERS *--*

BYL

&ROV K.MARSHALL r

Amateur astronomers —

especially beginners

— have

been frustrated and discouraged by conventional or planispheres, a circle.

While

which depict the

this

scheme

is

have complained about the

long

star charts,

constellations arranged in

scientifically correct,

difficulty of

beginners

matching up what

they see in the sky with the patterns of their planispheres.

and Marshall have solved

Drs. Levitt liantly

by dividing the sky

this

problem

into quadrants. Their charts,

look roughly like Maltese Crosses,

make

it

bril-

which

possible for the

user to orient himself quickly and easily in any compass direction simply

by turning the chart

section of sky he

is

studying.

to correspond with the

Whether one

binoculars or a telescope, the charts enable self

uses direct vision,

him

to locate

... at

any hour of every night of the

Dr. Levitt

is

The Franklin

year.

director emeritus of the Fels Planetarium at Institute in Philadelphia.

The

late Dr.

Marshall

had been director of the Morehead Planetarium and sor of Hill.

him-

almost instantly anywhere in the northern hemisphere

astronomy

at the University of

The authors were

profes-

North Carolina, Chapel

close friends for

many

years,

both have written other books on astronomy and space

and

travel.

by

I.

M. Levitt

Exploring the Secrets of Space Target for Tomorrow

A

Space Traveler's Guide

Beyond

the

Known

to

Mars

Universe

by Roy K. Marshall

The Nature of Things Sun, Moon and Planets Sundials

by Dr. Levitt and Dr. Marshall Star

Maps for Beginners

STAR MA FOR BEGINNERS newly revised and updated 50th Anniversary Edition

BY

I.

M. LEVITT

& ROY

K.

MARSHALL

F A FIRESIDE BOOK Published by Simon & Schuster New York London Toronto Sydney

CONTENTS PREFACE EXPLANATORY NOTES THE HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE CONSTELLATIONS MOTIONS IN THE SKY THE PLANETS AS BRIGHT STARS THE JANUARY SKY THE FEBRUARY SKY

5 6

7 14 16 18

20

THE MARCH SKY THE APRIL SKY THE MAY SKY THE JUNE SKY THE JULY SKY THE AUGUST SKY THE SEPTEMBER SKY THE OCTOBER SKY THE NOVEMBER SKY THE DECEMBER SKY BEYOND THE UNAIDED EYE THE SUN'S FAMILY METEORS: "HOT RODS" OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM FIRESIDE Simon

&

Schuster Building

Rockefeller Center

1230 Avenue

New

York,

Americas York 10020

of the

New

Copyright © 1942, 194.3, 1944, 1945, 1946 © 1964, 1974 by I. M. Levitt and Roy K. Marshall Copyright © 1980, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1992 by I. M. Levitt 1964 Edition copyright renewed 1992 All rights reserved

including the right of reproduction in

whole

New

any form.

or in part in

Revised Fireside Edition 1992

FIRESIDE and colophon Simon

&

are registered trademarks of

Schuster Inc.

Manufactured 17

in the

19

United States of America

20

18

16

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Levitt,

Star

I. M. maps

(Israel

Monroe).

for beginners.

"A Fireside book." 1.

Astronomy

— Observers' manuals.

Marshall, Roy Kenneth. 523.8'9 QB63.L4 1987 I.

ISBN-13: 978-0-671-79187-2 1SBN-10: 0-671-79187-7

II.

Title.

86-22899

22 24

26 28

30 32 34

36 38

40 42 48

63

This book sprang from the initiative of Dr. Levitt,

who

per-

suaded the Sunday magazine editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer to publish a series of monthly star maps from June to May 1941. Dr. Marshall designed the style of the star maps, and together the authors drew the maps and provided

1940

was printed each month

the text that

in the

newspaper.

The reaction on the part of the public was to ask why the maps could not be assembled in book form for permanent use, so a 33-page pamphlet in 8V2-by-l 1-inch format was issued on

May

1,

1942, privately published by the authors, both

then at the Fels Planetarium of The Franklin Institute Philadelphia. The text

was completely rewritten and

in

the long

introductory section on the history of the constellations was

added. To date over 460,000 copies have been sold. Senior Editor Merrill Pollack of Simon

up a copy

at

The Franklin

Institute,

h

found

Schuster picked to

it

usable set of star maps he had tried for his stargazing,

and asked

mitting his

company

pletely revised

the authors if they

be the most

own personal

would consider

to issue the book. This

per-

volume, com-

wherever necessary, and amplified with new

material such as that concerning stellar magnitudes, the use

of binoculars and other amateur optical

aids,

and

details of

the sun's family, updated with the data from the Mariner.

Voyager, and Pioneer spacecraft and information on celestial "hot rods," or meteors, in

this

is

the result.

new form and under

It is

sincerely

hoped

that

the aegis of one of the most

respected and progressive publishing houses, the work will

have another long span of usefulness and popularity with those

who

icish to take the first steps

and enjoying

toward knowing the sky

the delights of amateur astronomy. I.

M. Levitt

Philadelphia

Spring 1992

EXPLANATORY NOTES The maps

in this

book are drawn exactly

tude of 40 degrees North

— the

for a lati-

parallel for Philadel-

maps.

group straddles a division between two

If a

panels of the cross, reference to a preceding or

map

show the whole

fol-

Many star permit so much

phia, Indianapolis, Denver, Reno, northern Japan,

lowing

Korea, Peking (China), Ankara (Turkey), northern

maps designed

Greece, the "foot of the boot" of Italy and Madrid

distortion that they defeat their purpose; practically

However, they

(Spain).

will serve

amply well

for

no one who

will

is

outline.

beginner

for the

not already acquainted with the con-

can recognize them on those maps. Too

places as far as six or seven degrees north or south

stellations

of this specific latitude (or 400 to 500 miles), thus

many such

accommodating approximately 20 per cent

of the

circular form, with the pole or zenith in the center,

a position north of the fortieth parallel an

zenith at the top, have been circulated with too

observer will be able to see some stars that are beyond the northern horizon indicated on our maps, and he will be unable to see some stars that are

beginner.

represented near the southern horizon on our maps.

sentation of the heavens will

Conversely, from a position south of the fortieth

in

parallel an observer will

and a

to the south

less

Another convention of

showing the sky

is

have a more extensive view

extensive view to the north.

we have had

to

adopt

is

that

for the times given for the exact

used in your area and the longitude corre-

sponding

to

it.

of the sky in

Eastern Standard

Time

is

based on

longitude 75 degrees West; Central Standard

Time

regard for the possibility of practical use by a

little

Undoubtedly,

many

deviations from exact repre-

be spotted

charts, resulting

bers of faint

from the elimination of vast num-

stars,

there

much chance

never

is

Many

people do not

know

that red light

and maintains dark adaptation

— the

eyes to see faint objects out-of-doors after leaving a brightly lighted house. In using the

two or three

maps out

Time on longitude 105 degrees West; Pacific Standard Time on longitude 120 degrees West. Then, determine your own longitude, from an atlas. Take the difference in degrees between your own longitude and that of your appropriate Standard Time meridian; multiply it by 4 to convert the degrees

cellophane over the lens can be used, to

you are

east of the Standard

meridian, subtract the minutes from the time

given on the

map

determine the

to

the sky as pictured;

Time meridian, add

if

moment

to see

you are west of the Standard

the minutes of longitude cor-

rection to the time given.

A

glance

use them. East,"

etc.,

at the

maps

show how

to

The words "Looking North," "Looking maps to match the sky.

serve to orient the

If you look east, the words "Looking East" should be right side up, and so on.

The of

more or less in the form a Formee Cross, except that the

charts are arranged

what

is

called

sides of the panels are

that the stars on the

same time the

Some

convex instead of concave.

in

of

layers of red

make

sure

seen, while at the

sky will be plainly visible. object to the mixture of in the

Romans borrowed

myths.

We know

Greek myths, which turn the Greeks had borrowed from the Phoeni-

that the

the

who had borrowed them from

cians,

and so

on.

are,

is

it

The names

the Babylonians,

of the characters given here

believed, the

commonest ones associated

Many good

books have been devoted to

with them.

se;

they can be found on most library

shelves.

A very exhaustive book for those who wish to know the origins of the names of stars is Allen's Star Names and Their Meanings, which contains a wealth of information about the constellations;

it

long been out of print, but

available in

many

found

Basil

libraries.

Much

it

this too is libraries.

is

of the history

Brown's Astronomical Atlases,

have nearly the same shapes

and on the

may

Greek and Roman names

This largely eliminates distortion; the star groups in the sky

maps can be

stars in the

classicists

mythology per

will suffice to

promotes

ability of the

doors, a flashlight with

into minutes of time. If

for

confusion.

on longitude 90 degrees West; Mountain Standard

Time

maps

in the

book, but they are comparatively small;

this

moreover, because of the "open" appearance of the

Standard Time meridians. Determine what Standard

Time

all

or half the sky as half of a circular disk, with the

world's population.

From

showing

star charts,

is

Maps and

in

has

Charts;

out of print, but can be found in some

Those who

find their appetites

elementary book of maps

more advanced

may

whetted by

which many more

atlas, in

this

stars, as

well as the Bayer and Flamsteed designations, are

Those by Schurig-Gotze and by Norton are

given.

good

The most modern

ones.

is

Antonin Becvar's

de luxe Atlas of the Heavens, which can be purchased in a less expensive edition called Field Atlas of the Heavens. Prices of

many such

publications

can be obtained from the Sky Publishing Corporation,

Harvard Observatory, Cambridge

which

also publishes a fine

magazine, Sky and Telescope.

Many

care to go on to a

Mass.,

38,

monthly astronomical

amateurs (beginners, really) have asked the

authors to ful in

be

recommend

to consult school

selection

can

material that

pursuing the subject. The

is

profit

and public

first

would be helpthought would even

libraries;

if

the

small and poorly chosen, the beginner

by reading through

it.

Then, with

refer-

ences to newer publications in such journals as Sky

and Telescope, the better volumes being printed today can be obtained or, perhaps, recommended to the libraries. The volume of material in this Space

Age

is

enormous.

THE HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE CONSTELLATIONS Modern astronomy

has

become

a highly special-

technical knowledge, but

it

an achievement of

is

ized study, with a good knowledge of at least ele-

which one may well be proud.

mentary physics and mathematics required

appreciation of great works of music,

its

many

ramifications.

be otherwise, brace as

The

We

could hardly expect

which attempts

in a science

its field

the whole of creation

findings of

who

one can expect

grasp quite

to

to

it

to

em-

— the universe.

modern astronomy make

ing reading for one

is

to follow

fascinat-

willing to realize that no all

of

what

is

con-

tained even in a so-called "popular" book, without at

least

some measure

nected thought. This course;

— even

modern

is

Rome and will

are such

must

little

The sky

is

parceled into

named

our country

divided into

It

is

is

in just this

areas

—

and

stargazers

it

is

who

years of con-

But there

is

one part of astronomy

professional astronomer has

in

which the

little interest,

in this field that the interested

and

it

is

amateur can become

as proficient as the greatest of the ancient astrono-

mers. This sky, to the

is

the study of the apparent face of the

end

of being able to identify the star

groups or constellations, and to name stars. hills

One need

many

of the

not be a geologist to enjoy rolling

or soaring mountains, or a botanist to enjoy a

flower; to

know and

enjoy the stars requires no

way

stellation

named

named areas modern — as named

that a

quite likely that those forgotten

originally

named

tween, however, there arose a

many

areas called con-

astronomer regards the constellations

able to grasp completely in one hurried reading learn only after

Today

old stories.

thought of them

centrated study.

litera-

of the old legends of

appreciate his handicaps and must not expect to be

what other men

and

Greece, but a study of the constellations

called states.

political

art,

the sky are favorites in

prove an incentive to greater enjoyment of these

not peculiar to astronomy, of

specialized subjects that the general reader

fill

these other aesthetic endeavors of mankind.

stellations, as

science —

who

most of us read very

and con-

of concentration

physics, chemistry, geology, botany

economics and

ture, for the heroes

leads to greater

It

in the

the constellations

same way. Sometime

demand

in

be-

that a con-

Hercules, for example, should look

like Hercules, the prodigiously strong

son of Jupiter.

Suppose we were

named WashOr sup-

to insist that a state

ington should look like our

first

president!

pose the states of Georgia, North and South Carolina,

Maryland and Virginia should have

their

boundaries

changed, to force those states to be profile portraits of a King George, a King Charles, a Queen Mary, and a Queen Elizabeth (the Virgin) of England! We

should regard such a thing as at least slightly yet almost everyone

silly,

under the impression that the constellations are supposed to be pictures, because is

they bear the names

persons,

of

and

creatures,

remaining complete description of

earliest

the sky as seen from Greece was written by the poet

whom we

Aratus,

shall

He

mention again.

stated

that certain mortals, "in ages long agone," finding

that

was

it

and not particularly help-

a tedious task

ful in identification to give a

decided to name them

name

every

to

star,

as

we might

in Johnson's

meadow,"

in groups.

oak tree

refer to "that biggest

Then,

the early watchers of the sky might speak of "the brightest

star

in

the

How

Auriga."

constellation

sociated with the constellations it

must have been very

The

earliest

we do

not know,

upon the star The fifty-one plates were exquisitely engraved on copper by Alexander Mair. Here we find again a star map showing the sky as seen from the inside, as we actually see it, and practically

complete representation of the heav-

ens as they were considered at the time appears to

be the famous Farnese Globe, now

Museum. Discovered

in Italy,

it

in the

Naples

consists of white

marble, and portrays Atlas on one knee, supporting on

bowed head and

his

which he

steadies with his hands. In an excellent

state of preservation,

the

first

shoulders the celestial sphere,

it

dates from at least as early as

century before the Christian Era. Beautifully

sculptured in raised

relief, in

the correct positions on

the sphere, are the pictures of the constellations, but

images of the

stars are not

Similarly, the earliest manuscript

The

map

of the sky

so-called Planisphere of Geruvigus, in-

Roman manuscript

cluded in a

version of Aratus,

dates from the second century a.d. and

is

now

in the

Museum. It differs from the Farnese Globe and resembles modern maps in that it represents the British

actual face of the sky; that lations as seen

as

we

see

them from the

and

shows the constel-

from the inside of the

In the earliest figures

is, it

celestial sphere,

this

the constellation

also the stars tolerably well located,

showing the sky

we

as

it

appears on the surface of the sphere, as seen from the outside.

It is

the

work

of Peter Bienewitz (Latin-

ized as Petrus Apianus), published as a single sheet, at Ingolstadt

on August

5,

1536. It

is

a woodcut,

well executed, representing forty-eight constellations.

But

it

was Johann Bayer, a lawyer and amateur

astronomer of Augsburg, star atlas

who

published (1603) the

which was the prototype

fine atlases

prepared by

way. To Bayer,

of designating of the atlas

we owe

too,

most of the naked-eye

Greek alphabet,

in

been drawn

our modern method

by

stars

letters

each constellation. His

passed through several editions.

was more than a century before the star maps Bayer were equaled, when John Flamsteed, the

It

of

Astronomer Royal, observed the positions of

the stars for a catalogue

and

atlas

(posthumously

published in 1729). The constellation figures are in

some respects superior

to those of Bayer, without,

perhaps, the same beautiful workmanship. There

were many editions tice of

of this atlas, in

numbering the

stars in

which the prac-

each constellation, in

order from west to east, was established. At a later

moment, we

shall explain

and

illustrate these desig-

nation schemes of Bayer and Flamsteed.

Later star atlases were published by Doppelmayer (1742), Bevis (1750), Burritt (1851)

and

others, but

need be mentioned here. Bode seems the

first

one to draw

month by month,

a

star charts to

to

have been

show

the skies

scheme which has been quite

popular for several generations, particularly for

maps intended

for

the beginner.

scheme which has been followed this

It

is

a

star

similar

for the charts in

book.

Besides the sculptures and pictures over the

whole

maps showing the have come down

sky, there

and fragmentary reprewhich push yet farther back our knowl-

to us descriptions of the sky

earth.

map showing

find a return to the practice of

sky (except, of course,

of the

perhaps only that of Johann Elert Bode, about 1800,

shown.

contains only the constellation figures, and not the stars.

map

every

celestial globes) has, since that time,

British

early.

accurately

quite

groups are shown the

constellation pictures.

soon after the naming process the pictures were as-

but

brightnesses

relative

their

represented, and

objects.

The

with

of a

number

of

later astronomers. Bayer's

Uranometria shows the positions of about 1250

stars,

sentations

edge of the framers of the

constellations. Originally,

modern astronomers believed

that the Greeks

had

apportioned the sky into star groups, because most of the legends

were known

connected with the figures

in the

sky

be Greek. But, with the growth

to

of

our knowledge of the civilizations of the valley of the Tigris

and Euphrates

realization that

Semitic origin.

many

rivers, there

of the

has

come

a

Greek myths had a

The Greeks simply changed

the set-

and the names, and took over the plots of the legends. Might they not similarly have taken over tings

the constellations of the Euphratean peoples?

We know that the Akkadians

and Sumerians, non-

Semitic forerunners of the Babylonians, had names for

many

words

from the were known

Thales of Miletus, about 600

is

of the stars, chosen particularly

The

in use in shepherding.

stars

was

as the "heavenly flock"; the bright star Arcturus

were

b.c.)

of Phoeni-

cian descent.

Aglaosthenes

(c.

650

b.c.)

mentioned Aquila and

Cynosura (now Ursa Minor). The early Mediterranean

sailors

had used what we

Big Dipper

call the

called Sibzianna, the "star of the shepherds of the

in

heavenly herds." The sun was called the "old sheep";

Phoenicians switched to the Little Dipper, or Ursa

the planets were the "old-sheep stars." This

was the

the northern heavens to guide them, but the

we

Minor. Today

are alluding to this

kind of astronomy inherited by the Babylonians

speak of something which

from

as a cynosure.

their predecessors in the

Euphratean

valley.

Examination of baked-clay tablets and cylinder seals

which date from 3500

500

to

few

gives a

B.C.

clues. One of the older myths describes a battle between Marduk, city-god of Babylon, and the dragon Tiamat. On a clay cylinder seal dating from at least as early as

3000

in English literature as

The Greeks

ing on a dragon. tion called

foot on the

En

Izhdubar (better known

B.C.,

Gilgamesh)

is

pictured kneel-

inherited a constella-

who has one head of a dragon. They were reminded Gonasin, the Kneeler,

(Roman Hercules) and his Dragon which guarded the Golden

Epimenides of Crete

(c.

is

when we

the center of attention

600

wrote of Capri-

b.c.)

cornus and the star Capella; Pherecydes of Athens

(500-450

b.c.)

told the legend of

tioned the fact that, as Orion

Aeschylus (526-456 (496^411

b.c.)

tell

b.c.)

Orion and menScorpius

sets,

rises;

and Hellanicus of Mytilene

the story of the seven Pleiades.

Geminus of Rhodes relates that, in the fifth century b.c, Eustemon of Athens compiled a weather almanac in which he mentioned Orion, the Hyades, the Pleiades, Lyra, Cygnus, Aquarius, Corona, Del-

of their hero Herakles

phinus, Pegasus, Aquila, and Canis Major as weather

struggle with the

portents.

Apples of the Hesperides. So Hercules and Draco are surely two very old constellations. Another

Leo, the Lion, which

shown on an ancient

is

with the star Regulus marking

tablet,

cuneiform synthesis of

all earlier

clay

his heart.

inscriptions

A

(known

Legend," compiled about 650

as the "Creation

is

B.C.,

during the reign of Assurbani-pal) indicates that there were recognized thirty-six constellations, di-

—

vided into three groups

northern, zodiacal, and

southern.

Homer

of

(Iliad

and Odyssey, dating

perhaps from the middle of the ninth century

B.C.,

according to Herodotus) contain references to the constellations, but

inasmuch

as

Homer was probably

only the collector of the tales and ballads of earlier times, these constellations

of

Hesiod

must be much

later,

Pleiades, the Hyades, Sirius

had referred

to

mention Arcturus, the

and Orion, while Homer

Ursa Major,

more than

The

older.

(Theogonia and Works and

Days), about a century

It is

(c.

403-350

appears to

b.c.)

earliest to write of constellations as

such, merely for the purpose of writing a description

this

Aratus

The

title of his work was Fhaenomcna, was preserved by the Cilician poet 270 b.c.) when, by command of the Mace-

of the sky.

and

title

(c.

donian king Antigonus Gonatas, he put the descrip-

by Eudoxus into Eudoxus has been lost.

tion of the sky

work

of

verse.

The

original

Aratus begins with an invocation to the god Zeus

The poems

writings

Eudoxus of Cnidus have been the

in addition to these.

likely that the early

Greeks

re-

and uses

in

the

phrase, "For

we

sermon

to the

first

words of the

fifth

Athenians (Acts 17:28), referring of

course to the Supreme Being, quotes Aratus and

one of

we

his contemporaries, Cleanthes:

live,

also of your

own

In the

Phaenomcna

are named, but one of

cluster

we

call the

3000

B.C.;

were Tyre and Sidon, but by 600

this

may be

them

Canis Minor as a separate star

groups are placed

zodiacal and southern.

Some

moon and

Greek astronomers (an instance

animals,"

is

the small

is

is

mentioned,

considered to be a recognition of

B.C. they had colonized North Africa and had founded the great city of Carthage, among others.

of the best

are also

Pleiades and consider a part of

and

started out north of Palestine as early as

Him

of Aratus, forty-four constel-

lations

Taurus. In addition, however. Procyon

their great cities

we

poets have said, For

in

as certain

his offspring."

ceived their astronomical lore from the Euphrateans,

who

"For

and move, and have our being;

by way

of the Phoenicians, a remarkable people

verse the

are his children." Saint Paul, in his

named

constellation.

in three regions:

The

zodiac,

that belt of the sky in

The

northern,

or "circle of

which the sun.

bright planets are alwavs to be found.

Below

the

is

Aratus.

of the constellations

list

and located

scribed

The

relatively

named, de-

enteen centuries seem to have overlooked

each other by

to

Pleiades have been omitted, and Canis

Minor has been put

in place of

Procyon. There

it.

It is

recognized today as a full-fledged constellation. Hip-

parchus added two constellations by splitting Serpentarius into Ophiuchus and Serpens and by using

re-

new

main two rather unfamiliar groups, Chelae and Serpentarius, and one whose name is not to be found in up-to-date lists: Argo Navis. We shall soon

stellation,

take care of these.

duce Equuleus and Corona Austrina, for

some

of the stars of Centaurus to form a

Hipparchus may

them

con-

Lupus, the Wolf.

work

in the

also

have been the one Ptolemy

of Claudius

to intro-

we 150

(c.

find a.d.).

This Alexandrian astronomer adopted practically

without alteration the work of Hipparchus, and thus

THE CONSTELLATIONS OF ARATUS

preserved

some

NORTHERN

now

the stars are

Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Bootes, Draco, Cepheus, Cassiopeia, Andromeda, Perseus, Triangulum, Pegasus, Delphinus, Auriga, Hercules, Lyra, Cygnus, Aquila, Sagitta, Corona, Serpentarius

But Ptolemy must have made

for us.

it

original observations, for the brightnesses of

tude, or as a

little

down

set

magni-

as of a certain

brighter than, or a

little

fainter

than, a certain magnitude.

For about seventeen centuries

was customary

it

for astronomers to use the approximate brightnesses

ZODIACAL Aries, Taurus,

by Ptolemy. Then

as given

William Herschel

Sir

(1738-1822) and, in turn, his son Sir John (1792-

Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Chelae,

1871)

Scorpius, Sagittarius, Capricornus, Aquarius, Pisces

made

extensive deep surveys of the sky, John

even taking a sizable telescope

Hope

SOUTHERN

for a

few

Cape

to the

of

Good

years, to extend to the south celestial

Orion, Canis Major, Canis Minor, Eridanus, Lepus,

pole the work his father had done from England.

Cetus, Argo Navis, Piscis Austrinus, Ara, Centaurus,

These were

statistical surveys,

of the universe.

the average,

Another

nomena

of

who wrote

a commentary on the PhaeEudoxus was Hipparchus of Bithynia,

one of the greatest

men

of antiquity

His work in original form

is

(c.

aimed

not extant, but

it

The assumption had

ferences in apparent brightnesses.

was by

rather than an arithmetical, scale.

mere description

magnitude

listed the positions

the stars.

A

century

star

catalogue,

and the earlier,

in

he

which were

two Alexandrian

1.0

number

the same

magnitude

astron-

made meas-

3.0,

physiologist

or equation for

who

gested.

carefully

Hipparchus and

his

and

in these a

2.0,

all

a star of

is,

times

as

in turn

is

of

which

of times as bright as a star of on. This

in 1834,

and

was in it

sensations, as

verified

1859 the

by the

German

into a general

law

Weber had

sug-

of

many

of the

and found that the average firstmagnitude star of Hipparchus and Ptolemy was close to one hundred times as bright as the average

who were praccontemporary with Aratus, had written de-

Coma

essential,

investigated.

That

measured the brightnesses

naked-eye

Callimachus and Eratosthenes, scriptions of the constellations,

on

In 1856, the English astronomer N. B. Pogson

"first

magnitude," the faintest visible to the naked eye being of the "sixth magnitude."

constellation,

that,

intrinsic

was

be

number

certain

psychologist G. T. Fechner put

inaugurated the classification of the stars by

tically

a

and so

Weber

urements of star positions, and their work was adopted and extended by Hipparchus. It was he "magnitudes," the brightest stars being of the

is

bright as a star of magnitude

relative brightnesses of

omers, Aristillus and Timochares, had

be

About 1830, Sir John determined that the ancient magnitudes of Ptolemy were based on a geometrical,

Claudius Ptolemy. Hipparchus went further than

first

It

therefore, that the brightness scale

later,

of the constellations in words;

to

same

the stars are of the

brightness and that their distances produce the dif-

160-125 r.c).

incorporated in a work of three centuries

compiled the

at trying to

discover the structure, dimensions and composition

Hydra, Crater, Corvus

new

stars

sixth-magnitude

had appeared, but successors for more than sev-

Berenices,

convenient

star,

ratio;

so he established this as a

astronomers

since, establishing standards

10

have

followed

and extending

it

it

to the

can be seen or photographed

faintest objects that

A

few

that the star Sirius

now

stars are

low the midpoint

considered brighter than the

magnitude, so they are called zero-magnitude

first

just

is

from the sun

of this scale

Now we Coma

Today, brightnesses are

must return

to Ptolemy,

eight constellations. But one of

although the eye can hardly distinguish differences

Aratus

magnitudes are continually being

scale

shown

is

in the

had

representation

circular

found. At

Brightness

Difference

Ratio

to

may be

it

0.2 0.3

1.318

ventional Greek figures. Aratus

is

0.4

1.445

as the claws of Scorpius, but in this "Circular Zodiac

1.585

of

0.6

1.738

0.7

1.905

0.8

2.089

0.9

2.291

1.0

2.512

3.0

15.849 39.811

5.0

100.000

space

this

we

in the table,

is

of the

word

alive.

is

to

The two

0.5,

and

ing,

difference of

their

Sirius, the brightest star in the sky,

into 5

+ 54-5 +

We

+

5

4

+

We

0.5,

removing the necessity

is

which means

and mul-

constellations could yet

below

Greeks could not see the

the partition of the whole celestial sphere. It

-26.8, almost 50

was

Uranometria (1603) that these

in Bayer's

constellations.

Keyser

Latinized),

observable

we

had never been defined; the areas contained a few

their southern horizon, surround-

stars

new

faintest

surpris-

many

huge

that the brightest object

were added.

may seem

too, the

Dirchsz

magnitudes brighter than the

at all

be formed. Then,

for using such

is

constellations

named from which new

southern stars were

magnitude

southern

must be understood that the boundaries

it

boon

is

— the

exploration

numbers. sun's apparent

new

a great

scale

affiliation.

and the great age of had to come before these stars could be observed and grouped in constellations, to complete

break

get about 6,309,500,000, the ratio

The magnitude

former

ing the south celestial pole,

of the brightness of Sirius to that of the faintest obstar!

seem names They are it

fourteen centuries passed, after Ptol-

spaces between the

has an

make

of the Scorpion.

of the constellations

apparent visual magnitude of -1.42, or almost 24.5

tiply the ratios.

but

faint stars

faintest.

meaning

not a living thing, however

is

That any more were added

observed today are of magni-

magnitudes brighter than the

has remained as the

brightest stars of Libra bear

remind us of

More than

a ratio of 100 x 100, or 10,000

faintest stars

it

delicate trembling might

its

emy, before any

two are then multiplied: 2.512

A

occupied by a pair of

Zubenelgenubi and Zubeneschamali

and

1.0

is

so

zodiac, the "circle of animals," has been

violated, for a balance

much

multiply the ap-

broken down into

and

constellation Libra. In this transaction, the

6.310

4.0

Denderah"

scales, or a balance,

times in brightness.

stars,

and conhad described Chelae

0.5

10 magnitudes

The

al-

a strange mixture of independ-

earlier plaque. It

times 1.585 equals 3.98, very nearly.

to us,

it is

a "corrupted" restoration of an

ently conceived Egyptian constellations

the ratios for these

servable

Denderah, a

1.202

magnitudes

down

at

heavens has been

1.096

For values not

this

Isis

the

of

Christian Era, in the reign of Caesar Augustus,

though

propriate factors given. For example, a difference of

tude 23;

changed.

date only from the beginning of the

and northern claws

The

them included by

significance

0.1

2.0

1.5

omitted the

believed to be of great antiquity,

first

now known Magnitude

name and

its

In the Egyptian temple of

table of brightness

given here.

ratios

who

Chelae had become Libra.

re-

measured and refined with better equipment.

The

to the

Berenices group and listed a total of forty-

expressed even to the hundredth of a magnitude,

of a tenth;

of interest to note

about one magnitude be-

faintest observable star.

three are even brighter, so they have minus,

stars;

or negative, magnitudes.

might be

as the faintest one. It

through the largest telescopes.

who

(or

most of

almost 100,000,000,000,000,000,000 times as bright

this

which enabled him

to

fill

southern part of the sphere with

constellations,

11

the

died in 1596. Bayer obtained a de-

scription of the sky

see

shown and grouped into Dutch navigator Pieter Petrus Theodori, as it was

first

From

some

of

which

in

new

at least partiallv snillp^

known

over into the part of the sky

Leo Minor (the Lion Cub) Lynx (the Lynx) Sextans Uraniae (the Sextant

to the ancients

but as yet unclaimed by any of the old classical con-

The new groups

stellations.

are listed in the tables

Scutum

simply

Sobieskii (the Shield of John Sobieski, a

Polish hero-king;

NEW SOUTHERN CONSTELLATIONS

BAYER'S

Vulpecula et Anser Apis (the Bee;

now Musca,

the Fly)

Avis Indica (Bird of Paradise;

Then

of the

list

below.

Argo Navis,

one of the ancient constellations, and tried further to introduce a

new

Argo Navis), but

constellation

this

Malus

(the Mast, of

did not survive. But because

of the great size of the old constellation of Argo,

modern astronomers have partitioned it into three new groups whose names are Carina (the Keel), Puppis (the Stern), and Vela (the is

Urano-

astronomers included

Argo Navis

NEW SOUTHERN CONSTELLATIONS

Apparatus sculptoris

With Ptolemy's forty-eight constellations, Coma Berenices and the eleven new ones introduced by Bayer, the total became sixty.

it.

Sail).

no more. LACAILLE'S

all later

constellations in the

Lacaille took the stars of Pyxis from

revived by the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe only

metria, but practically

new

southern heavens; these are given in the

Berenices, which had been

few years before the publication

Nicolas Louis de Lacaille (posthumously,

1769) introduced thirteen

Swordfish)

Tucana (the bird with the strange beak, the Toucan) Triangulum Australe (the Southern Triangle)

Coma

simply Scutum)

Fox and Goose; now sim-

ply Vulpecula)

Grus (the long-necked bird, the Crane) Hydrus (the Water Snake, not to be confused with the classical Hydra, the Water Serpent) Indus (the American Indian) Phoenix (the mythical bird, the Phoenix) Piscis Volans (the Flying Fish; now simply Volans)

Bayer omitted

now (the

now Apus)

Chamaeleon (the Chameleon) Dorado (commonly known as the

a

now

of Urania;

Sextans)

below.

now

(the

Sculptor's

Workshop;

simply Sculptor)

Fornax chemica

(the Chemist's Furnace;

now

sim-

now

sim-

ply Fornax)

Jacob Bartsch the great

(c.

1599-1633), the son-in-law of

Horologium (the Clock) Caela sculptoris (the Sculptor's

German astronomer Johann Kepler (Tycho

Brahe's greatest pupil and colleague), created three

new by

constellations in areas in the north not claimed

others.

They were Camelopardus

(originally

Equuleus pictoris

and

Monoceros

(the Unicorn)

(the Painter's Easel;

Antlia pneumatica

and Columba

(the

Noachi (the Dove of Noah; now simply Columba).

Octans

Hadley) Circinus (the Compasses)

burg, had created another constellation in the south

Norma

was Bhombus (lengthened by Lacaille to Beticulum Rhomboidalis, and now shortened to Reticulum, the Net). In 1679, Augustine Royer created Crux Australis (the Southern Cross; now Crux), which had been figured on earlier maps as a Cross, but had not yet been detached from Centaurus, whose hind legs it had formed. Our total, it

with these additions, stands at

They

Quadra Euclidis

(the Carpenter's Square;

simply Norma)

Pyxis)

eight,

Polish astronomer Hevelius of the city of

the north.

or

by John

sixty-five constella-

The

all in

pump; now simply

Telescopium (the Telescope) Microscopium (the Microscope) Mons Mensae (the Table Mountain at Cape Town; now simply Mensa) Pyxis nautica (the Mariner's Compass; now simply

total

number

and so

it is

of constellations

tion boundaries

are as follows:

is

now

likely to remain, for there

no room for any more. In old

Danzig published (posthumously, 1690) seven new groups,

Air

(the navigation instrument invented

now

tions.

The

simply

Antlia)

Bartsch also stated that Isaak Habrecht, of Strass-

polar cap;

now

Pictor)

sometimes today Camelopardalis, the Camelopard or Giraffe),

Chisels;

ply Caelum)

eightyis

now

atlases the constella-

were drawn with an exceedingly

great degree of freedom; from one author to another

there were large differences. In 1928 a commission

Canes Venatici (the Hunting Dogs) Lacerta (the Lizard)

of the International Astronomical

12

Union decided on

definite

boundaries for

lations,

and astronomers

these from

now

on.

all

the eighty-eight constel-

the constellations are considered to be quite arbi-

certainly adhere to

trary areas of the sky, for the purpose of convenience

will

The complete modern

list

As we can locate a city fairly accurately by naming the state in which it is found and describing only.

is

given in the table.

Today

the ancient figures are almost forgotten;

THE [as

andromeda

The

auriga hootes

"caelum camelopardus cancer canes venatici canis major canis minor capricornus

King

"circinus

columra Berenices

corvus crater "crux cycnus delphinus "dorado draco equuleus eridanus "

fornax gemini grus hercules

"horologium hydra "hydrus "indus

lepus

The Beam Balance The Wolf lynx The Lynx lyra The Lyre "mensa The Table Mountain microscopium The Microscope monoceros The Unicorn "musca The Fly "norma The Carpenter's Square "octans The Octant ophiuchus The Serpent Holder orion The Great Hunter "pavo The Peacock pegasus The Winged Horse perseus The Hero "phoenix The Phoenix "pictor The Painter's Easel pisces The Fishes piscis austrinus The Southern Fish puppis The Stern (of Argo Navis) pyxis The Compass Box (of Argo) "reticulum The Net sagitta The Arrow Sagittarius The Archer scorpius The Scorpion "sculptor The Sculptor's Workshop scutum The Shield (of John Sobieski) serpens The Serpent sextans The Sextant taurus The Bull "telescopium The Telescope Triangulum The Triangle "Triangulum australe The Southern Triangle "tucana The Toucan ursa major The Greater Bear vrsa minor The Lesser Bear "vela The Sail (of Argo Navis) virgo The Maiden "volans The Flying Fish vulpecula The Fox libra

lupus

of Ethiopia

The Sea Monster The Chameleon The Compasses The Dove (of Noah)

"chamaeleon

coma

designate a

The Lizard The Lion The Lion Cub The Hare

lacerta leo leo minor

Pump

The Keel (of Argo Navis) Queen of Ethiopia The Centaur

cetus

"corona austrina corona borealis

Air

The Bird of Paradise The Water Bearer The Eagle The Altar The Ram The Charioteer The Bear Driver The Sculptor's Chisel The Giraffe The Crab The Hunting Dogs The Greater Dog The Lesser Dog The Sea Goat

aries

"centaurus cepheus

we can

OF CONSTELLATIONS

Princess of Ethiopia

"aba

Cassiopeia

LIST

location within the state, so

standardized by the International Astronomical Union in 1928]

"antlia "apus aquarius aquila

"carina

MODERN

its

Berenice's Hair

.... ....

The Southern Crown The Northern Crown The Crow (or Raven) The Cup The Southern Cross The Swan The Dolphin The Swordfish The Dragon The Foal The River The Laboratory Furnace The Twins The Crane

.

Hercules

The Clock The Water Serpent The Water Snake The American Indian 'Seen cither poorly or not at

13

all

.

.

from the United

States.

star

nated by numbers.

A

star

or

given constellation

is

designated

by describing its position within a constellation, by adding something descriptive of its color or

which

brightness.

In Bayer's Uranometria Greek letters were used to

next most westerly

is

is

westernmost

is

number number 2;

1;

in a

the one

finally the

easternmost star in the constellation bears the high-

designate the individual stars in each constellation.

est

For example, the

Orionis, because

which the Arabs had indicated the "Armpit of the Central One," and

as Ibt-al-Jauza,

which

star

number. For example, the it lies

star Betelgeuse

58

is

well toward the east in the

constellation, while Rigel, near the western

edge of

whose name had later been corrupted to Betelgeuse, was designated as a Orionis, or "alpha of Orion."

Bayer, finds general acceptance and use today; in

The

addition,

bright star Rigel, in the

called

Orionis

/3

same

constellation,

beta of Orion ) In

(

.

Orion,

was

The gap

Latin genitive, or possessive, form of the constellation

name might be considered

the

star,

and

a particular

the "family

Greek

name." In general, the Greek

name"

a

constellation:

the third,

is

and

There

is

Ptolemy. In the

more

class.

naming

Arabic origin, usually very bad corruptions of the

can be seen

it

Only scholars

may be

each

that

due

that the earth rotates

to this spinning

we

able to decide on the pronunciations of

Even

IN

move

on

are carried

in circles

center.

The

four hours.

However,

arch across

an observer were located precisely

— would

celestial is

pole as a

quite close to the

we may

regard

this star

about which the sky turns each twenty-

on

in addition to the rotation

its

axis,

the earth has another very important motion; each

appear to stand

year the earth makes one complete trip about the

at the earth's

north pole, the point exactly overhead celestial pole

North Star

north pole of the sky, and

the sky, and set in the west. If

as to pronunciation. In

about the north

so-called

produce the same kind of apparent motion for any to rise,

for the purely Latin constellation

no agreement

is

THE SKY

as the center

appear

variations.

of Arabic can advise us concerning the

the others.

eastward beneath the sun, thus causing the apparent motion of the sun across the sky each day. This must object, so the stars also

good example.

body of the text describing each map, many star names are given, in addition to several included in the maps themselves.

In Flamsteed's atlas of 1729, the stars are desig-

and

of

the

actual changes in brightness since his day.

its axis,

a

is

names are

we may be

names, there

the result of

MOTIONS

of the

pronunciations of the uncorrupted names; someday

In Bayer's designations, a few exceptions to

the current conventional order

Most

original descriptions. Betelgeuse

stars

in

of individual stars.

For most of these names there are several

or less

no particular arrangement

Almost everyone knows

to the progress of

little

particularly active in the

second brightest,

each constellation are grouped into classes of

brightnesses, with

between

activity in

however, a num-

from the work of Hipparchus and others, the in

They were

the subject.

little

Europe, but the Arabs preserved

in

Ptolemy's work and added a

random listing of catalogue compiled by that writer the

centuries

/?

ber of exceptions. In some of these that the order

more than fourteen

are,

the brightest,

so on.

of

astronomy

were assigned

in the order of the brightnesses of the stars in the

y

use some of the Arabic proper

still

Ptolemy and Bayer was marked by

of

"given

letter the

letters

we

names.

scheme, the

this

19 Orionis. This scheme, as well as that of

is

— the still,

north

and

sun, in a path called

the stars would appear to describe circles about that

different direction

each twenty-four hours. But we are about halfway from the north pole to the equator, so the

might think of

north celestial pole stands about halfway

the earth.

point,

up

the sun

in the

northern sky, instead of overhead. As the earth turns

appear

once each twenty-four hours, the

will

stars all

appear to

14

is

it

in line

On

its

little

We

see the sun in a

we

stand in a

from the sun each day. Or

in this

we

way: Suppose on one day

with a certain

this day,

to rise together.

be a

orbit.

each day, because

different direction

all

star, as

seen from

the sun and the star will

On

the next day, the earth

farther along in

its

orbit,

and the sun

will

appear to be a

star will rise

first,

little

to the east of the star.

and the sun

On

almost four minutes.

will lag

and so

rising earlier

each day, and slipping westward

most four minutes each day. In a month, amounts

same

hours

to

same places

in the sky

away

and so on. The small be completely above the horizon; stars

circles will

close to the North Star never set, while those far

from

al-

rise

it

and

horizon, stars

A

for

two

study of

been given

There

set.

are,

below our southern

which never rise for us. the maps, in conjunction with what has

in this section,

may

help the student to

understand the behavior of the sky through the

earlier.

The North

mentioned

from the North

Star will trace out a small circle, one farther

this

two hours, so each month we look

stars in the

stars describe the circles

star only a short distance

will trace out a larger one,

we use is based upon the sun, and we usually think of the stars as

stars,

A

above.

on.

not upon the

the

about which the

the next day, the sun will

lag almost eight minutes behind the star,

Because the time

The

behind by

Star

may be

hours of the night and the days of the year.

considered the center

THE SYNOPTIC TABLE While each chart is marked for particular months and certain times, each chart can be used in another month at another time. Herewith is given a table to

chart

is

No.

chart No. is

8.

on the same night from 10

7;

When

ample, for July 16, from 8 to 10 p.m., the proper

on either side of

a blank space

Jan.

1

1

1

12

16

Aug.

7

1

7

1

16

Nov.

1

1

16

10

10 11

12

12

11

12

15

12

2

2 3

2

1

2

2 2

1 1

1

1

1 1

12

12 12

12

11

10

12

11

11

11

11 11

11

11

11

10

9

10

10 10

9 9

16 Dec.

9

8

8

10

10 10

10

9

9

9

9

8

9

9

9

9

8

8

8

8 8

8

8

8

8

1

16 Oct.

7 7

6

16 Sep.

7

6 6

1

7

7

7

6

5

7 7

7

7

6

5

4

1

6 6

6

6 6

6

5

6 5

5 5

6

5

5

4

5

5

4 4

4

4

5

3

3 4

3

3

4

observation.

map

it.

3

4

5

2

3

4 4

4

1

16 July

3

4

1

3 3

3 3

12 2

2 2

3

16

June

of

found, use the

MORNING HOURS

11

2

1

2

1

10 1

2

1

16

May

9

1

1

16 Apr.

8

12

12

16 Mar.

7

11

16 Feb.

by the time is

TO CHOOSE THE PROPER MAP FOR USE AT ANY TIME EVENING HOURS

6

use

nearest the exact date of observation; then look in

the column headed

guide an observer in a selection of the correct chart for a given hour at a given time of year. For ex-

HOW

to 12,

In the date column find the date which

indicated

THE PLANETS AS BRIGHT STARS In addition to the so-called "fixed stars" shown on

which look

him

positions in the constellations of the zodiac in a

way

earth

is

we watch

WHERE TO FIND THE PLANETS

those moving

bodies from the moving earth, they appear to fast,

astronomy.

the day-to-day configurations of the planets and the

one of the planets, revolving about

the sun as do the others. As

sometimes

to other fields of

moon.

that baffled the ancients.

The

help him in his

Almanacs are available which give information on

but change their

like bright stars,

to

naked-eye study of the sky but also to introduce

These are the planets, or "wandering

in the sky. stars,"

can make a selection not only

be found

the maps, there are other starlike objects to

move

sometimes slowly, sometimes back-

1992

ward and sometimes forward.

The

naked eye are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Of these, only the last four need be considered, for it is very difficult to find Mercury without very specific information. These four are quite bright and look like stars. But Mars is of a red hue, Venus is seen only five planets visible to the

Aug. Sept.

Oct.

16 1

Mars

Jupiter

Saturn

Leo Leo

Taurus Taurus Taurus

Leo Leo Leo

Virgo

Capricomus Capricomus Capricomus Capricomus Capricomus Capricomus Capricomus Capricomus Capricomus Capricomus

Jupiter

Saturn

Virgo Virgo

Capricomus Capricomus Capricomus Capricomus Capricomus Capricomus Capricomus

Virgo Virgo Libra Li lira

Scorpius

16

Sagittarius

1

Sagittarius

Dec.

16

acquainted with the constellations he can hardly to recognize

1

Nov.

while after sunset or before sunrise, and Jupiter and Saturn move so slowly that if one is at all

for the years

1

16

for a

fail

1

16

Venus

Capricomus

Gemini Gemini Gemini Gemini Cancer Cancer Gemini

Virgo Virgo Virgo Virgo Virgo

Virgo

them. Their approximate positions

1992

1997 are given in the tables on

to

the following page.

The way

to use these tables

fairly simple. In

is

the appropriate table find the date that

on that

to that of the observation;

is

1993

nearest

Venus

under the

line,

proper heading, appears the name of the constella-

which the planet

tion in

Jan.

Feb.

constellation appears on the

be

it

map, the planet should

will

the

be about

Mars,

map.

If

the planet

be brighter than any

will

it

will

is

Mar.

If

it

is

Saturn,

as bright as the brightest stars. If

be very bright when

sunset, but only moderately bright

rises at

it

when

it

May

it is

The blank spaces

in the

columns

rises sev-

Venus

too near the sun to be seen.

in their

Sept.

Oct.

columns.

many

of

1

16

Nov.

these

institutions

a

great

1

16

Dec.

sented in compressed time. Also, at the book countof

1

16

no blank spaces

Many cities today have planetarium installations, where the motions of the planets are visually repreers

1

16

This happens to the other planets too, but only for relatively brief periods, so there are

1

16

indi-

Aug. is

1

16

July for

1

16

about

eral hours before or after sunset.

cate that the planet

1

16

June it

1

16

Jupiter or Venus, Apr.

star.

1

16

easily recognizable as a bright starlike object not

shown on

1

16

in question appears. If the

1

16

many

publications are available from which the amateur

16

Mars

Capricomus Gemini Aquarius Gemini Pisces Gemini Pisces Gemini Pisces Gemini Pisces Gemini Pisces Gemini Pisces Gemini Pisces Cancer Pisces Cancer Pisces Leo Aries Leo Taurus Leo Taurus Leo Taurus Leo Gemini Virgo Cancer Virgo Virgo Leo Leo Virgo Virgo Virgo Libra Libra Scorpius

Virgo Virgo Virgo Virgo Virgo Virgo Virgo Virgo Virgo Virgo

Virgo Virgo Virgo Virgo Virgo Virgo

Libra

Virgo Virgo

Libra Scorpius Scorpius

Virgo Virgo Virgo

Sagittarius

Virgo

Aquarius Aquarius Aquarius Aquarius Aquarius Aquarius Aquarius Aquarius Aquarius

Capricomus Capricomus Capricomus Capricomus Capricomus Capricomus Capricomus Capricomus

WHERE TO FIND THE PLANETS

1995

1994

Jan.

Feb.

Mar. Apr.

Venus

Mars

Jupiter Saturn

Sagittarius

Sagittarius

Libra

16 Sagittarius

Sagittarius

Libra

1

Capricornus Capricornus Capicornus 16 Aquarius Capricornus 1 Aquarius Aquarius 16 Pisces Aquarius 1 Aries 1

16 Aries

May June July

Aug.

Pisces

Libra

Libra

Pisces

Libra

Gemini 16 Cancer 1 Leo 16 Leo

Aries

Virgo Virgo

1

1

1

1

1

16

Dec.

Libra

Pisces

16

Nov.

Libra

Taurus

1

16 Oct.

Libra Libra

16 Taurus

16 Sept.

Libra

1

Virgo Virgo Virgo Libra Libra Libra Libra Virgo Virgo

16 Libra

Aries

Taurus Taurus Taurus

Gemini Gemini Gemini Gemini Cancer Cancer Leo Leo Leo

Virgo Virgo

Virgo Virgo Libra Libra Libra Libra Libra Libra Libra Scorpius

Capricornus Aquarius Aquarius Aquarius Aquarius Aquarius Aquarius Aquarius Aquarius Aquarius Aquarius Aquarius Aquarius Aquarius Aquarius Aquarius Aquarius Aquarius Aquarius Aquarius Aquarius Aquarius Aquarius Aquarius

Jan.

1

16

Feb.

Mar.

June

1

1

Oct.

Nov.

1

Scorpius Scorpius

Leo Leo Leo Leo Leo

Scorpius

Pisces

Scorpius Scorpius

Pisces

Scorpius

Pisces

Scorpius

Pisces

Scorpius Scorpius

Pisces

Scorpius

Pisces

Scorpius Scorpius

Aquarius Aquarius Aquarius Aquarius Aquarius Aquarius

Pisces

Pisces Aries

1

Aries

1

Taurus Taurus

Gemini Cancer Leo Leo

1

16

Feb.

Mar. Apr.

Capricornus Aquarius Aquarius

Sagittarius

Sagittarius

Sagittarius

Sagittarius Sagittarius

Aquarius Aquarius Aquarius

Sagittarius

Pisces

Sagittarius

Pisces

Aries

Pisces

Sagittarius

Pisces

Taurus Taurus Taurus Taurus Taurus Taurus Taurus Taurus Taurus

Pisces

Sagittarius

Pisces

Pisces

Sagittarius

Pisces

1

1

1

1

16

Aug.

Saturn

Pisces

16

July

Jupiter

1

16

June

Mars

Pisces

16

May

Venus

16 16

1

Gemini Gemini 16 Cancer 1 Leo 16 Leo

16 Sept.

Oct.

Nov. Dec.

1

Virgo 16 Virgo 1 Libra 16 Libra 1

Scorpius

Virgo

1

Virgo

Libra

16

Libra Libra

Libra Scorpius

Scorpius

Scorpius

Scorpius Scorpius

1

Sagittarius

Sagittarius

Scorpius

16

Sagittarius

Sagittariu s

Scorpius

1

1

Scorpius Scorpius

Pisces

Pisces Pisces

Pisces

1997

Capricornus Aquarius Aquarius

1

Scorpius Scorpius

16

1

1996

Jan.

Scorpius

Virgo Virgo Virgo Virgo Virgo

16

Dec.

Scorpius

Capricornus Capricornus Aquarius

16

16 Sept.

Cancer Cancer Cancer Cancer

Aquarius Aquarius Aquarius Aquarius Aquarius Aquarius Aquarius Aquarius

Sagittarius

16

Aug.

Saturn

Scorpius

16

16

July

Jupiter

Leo Leo Leo Leo

Sagittarius

16

May

Mars

Libra Scorpius

1

16

Apr.

Venus

Aries

Sagittarius

Pisces

Aries

Sagittarius

Pisces

Aries

Sagittarius

Pisces

Taurus Taurus Taurus

Sagittarius

Pisces

Sagittarius

Pisces

Sagittarius

Pistes

Gemini Gemini Gemini Cancer Cancer Leo Leo Leo Leo Leo

Sagittarius

Pisces

Sagittarius

Pisces

Sagittarius

Pisces

Sagittarius

Pisces

Sagittarius

Pisces

Sagittarius

Pisces

Sagittarius

Pisces

Sagittarius

Pistes

Sagittarius

Pisces

Sagittarius

Pisces

Jan.

Feb

Apr.

Sept.

Oct.

Nov, Dec.

Pisces Pisces

Capricornus Capricornus Capricornus Capricornus Capricornus Capricornus Capricornus Capricornus Capricornus Capricornus Capricornus Capricornus Capricornus Capricornus Capricornus Capricornus Capricornus Capricornus Capricornus Capricornus Capricornus Capricornus

Pisces

Virgo

Capricornus Aquarius

16

Pisces

Virgo Virgo Virgo

1

Pistes

Let)

Aries

Leo Leo Leo

1

1

1

Aries

Taurus Taurus

Virgo

Gemini Cancer Leo Leo

Virgo

16

Virgo

1

Virgo

16

Virgo Libra

1

1

Virgo Virgo Virgo

16

Scorpius

Virgo Libra Libra Scorpius Scorpius

1

Scorpius

Scorpius

16

Sagittarius

Sagittarius

1

Sagittarius

Sagittarius

Capricornus

Sagittarius

1

16

17

Sagittarius

Sagittarius

Sagittarius

16

Aug.

Scorpius

1

16

July

Saturn

Virgo Virgo

16

June

Jupiter

Sagittarius

1

16

May

Mars

16 16

Mar.

Venus

Pisces

Pisces Pisces Pisces

Pisces Pisces

Pisces Pisces Pistes

Pisces Pisces

Pisces Pisces

Pisces Pistes Pisces Pisces Pisces Pisces Pisces Pistes

THE JANUARY SKY The year opens

well, with the finest

Many

display of

we

find Orion, the best of all star groups,

saw the Pleiads, mellow shade, a swarm of fire-flies

a night

I

rising thro' the

bright stars to be seen at any time. Almost due south

marked by

Glitter like

tangled

the unmistakable line of three stars, so evenly matched and so nicely spaced, forming the belt of

in a silver braid.

the Great Hunter. Orion faces us so the red star

Most

Betelgeuse marks his right shoulder and Rigel his upraised

The

left foot.

right of Betelgeuse,

Orion's left shoulder,

is

— "a

bright star Bellatrix, to the

star to the left of Rigel

is

and the same

Most

Saiph, which at the

The

of faint stars

the sword

hilt of

below the middle

right of Bellatrix there

is

is

the

little

of the belt.

group of club.

the

a curving line of faint

Orion's upraised left arm; above Betelgeuse stars to

The

mark

involve stars. In

his

is

But the

a

arm and above Betel-

V

is

of the type

it,

many

and reradiates

the right eye of Taurus,

ing several faint

Returning

Only the head, shoulders, and forelegs of Taurus appear in the sky, for the story is that this is the white bull into which Jupiter transformed himself when he swam away from Phoenicia to Crete with

revealed, involv-

all

we

of them.

find in our winter sky

Sinus,

It is

down

to the

Orion, in the lower corner of an almost equi-

lateral triangle

which has

as

its

other two corners

the stars Betelgeuse in Orion and Procyon in Canis

Minor. This large triangle

is

shown

tage on the next map. Sirius, the

Europa on his back. As he swam, his hind quarters were beneath the waves, so they are

because

not shown in the sky!

because

the princess

of Diana's train. Orion

is

stars.

to the stars,

the brightest of

in the shoulder of Taurus.

but Jupiter came

stel-

another

bright nebulae of both types,

left of

the tip of his nose,

Pleiades were daughters of Atlas, and

in

this finest

Pleiades

The

it

example of the "fluorescent" type is also in our January sky, in the sword hilt of Orion, beneath the belt. On moonless nights it is easy to see that this is a hazy region, and with a telescope but

at the

is

it can be which shines

nebulae, so bright that

lar radiation, digests

form. There are

re-

with the Pleiades.

is

by a fluorescent process: the gas absorbs the

head; the Arabs called this

is

finest of all

it

the magnificent greenish nebula

is

fun-

some instances the gas simply

and the star end of the upper arm of the V is his left eye. His head is lowered, and the tips of his horns are the two stars above Orion. The cluster called the the vertex of the

organized

Today we recognize two

seen with the naked eye,

Al Hakah, the White Spot. Orion's gaze is directed to the right and upward, where we find the V-shaped group called the Hyades, marking the face of Taurus, the Bull. The orange star Aldebaran

is

however, there are clouds

there,

the starlight, and so

flects

his upraised right

small triangle of faint stars

geuse and Bellatrix

is

Here and

of gas called nebulae.

indicating the shield of the lion's hide, on

stars

involved in a nebula

damental kinds of nebulae — bright and dark. We know that the bright nebulae shine because they

group

To

is

of the material of the universe

into stars.

time marks the Hunter's right knee and the blade of his sword.

of the Pleiades cluster silver braid."

it

is

in

to better

Dog

advan-

Star (so called

Canis Major, the Greater Dog),

really twenty-seven times as bright as our sun,

nymphs

it

as the sun

saw them and pursued them, by transforming them

The

to the rescue

five

into pigeons, then into the stars we see in the sky in such position that Orion still pursues them. There were seven daughters, but one of them, Elec-

is it

more than 500,000 times appears to be

star Capella,

much

away

fainter.

almost overhead,

times as bright as Sirius, but

as far

is

but

it is

is

intrinsically

also five times

away and so appears fainter. The name of this means "little she-goat," and the triangle of stars nearby marks the Kids, or baby goats. They are pictured on the left arm of Auriga, the Charioteer. He was more than a chariot driver; this figure is

first

as far star

tra, is said to have left her place so she might not have to see the destruction of Troy, which was founded by her son Dardanus. We see only six, unless we have exceptionally good eyes, and the conditions are far above average. Then as many as nine or eleven may be seen. Even a small telescope will show scores of stars, and long-exposure photographs reveal that Tennyson was relaying scientific information when he wrote in "Locksley Hall"

believed to memorialize the inventor of the chariot.

Through Auriga runs the thin winter Milky Way. Southward it flows through the triangle ProcyonBetelgeuse-Sirius; northward of Capella the Milky

Way

can be traced more easily through Perseus and

Cassiopeia to the northwestern horizon.

From 18

Pisces high in the west, through Aries, Tau-

HldON 9NINOO!

MAP

NO.

LOOKING SOUTH JANUARY JANUARY FEBRUARY

map

represents the sky at the following standard times This

rus,

Gemini, Cancer, and Leo

in the east,

moon and

we can

follow the apparent path of the sun across the sky.

These are

six of

of the sky

the twelve constellations of the

known

as the zodiac, in

star

is

1

at 10 p.m.

16 at

9 p.m.

at

8 p.m.

1

planets are to be found. If an interloper

found

in

one of these constellations, the table

of the planet positions given elsewhere in this

band

should be consulted, so

which the sun, 19

it

can be identified.

book

1

THE FEBRUARY SKY The

brilliant winter

stars are

Low

the south and overhead.

now

We look out into a clear night

at their best, in

scopes, millions of other stars

which can be seen better from the southernmost parts of the United States, but Eridanus, sometimes associated with the River Po, appears as a string of moderate stars beginning near constellations

Rigel in Orion, and as

New

is

ters

far north,

and hundreds

of clus-

visible. All these objects are in

long to our galaxy, or stellar aggregation. think of

which

how-

it

We

might

ocean of emptiness

as our "island" in the

the whole universe. There are millions of

is

other "islands" known, and undoubtedly countless

ever, the brightest star of the constellation, Achernar, is

and nebulae are

our neighborhood, as cosmic distances go, and be-

well marked, even as far north

York or Chicago. From that

sky to see stars and

a few nebulae and star clusters; with powerful tele-

in the south are the

millions of others not yet seen.

about ten degrees below the horizon. to the left of Betelgeuse (or Betelgeux, as is alternatively written) are the feet of Gemini,

Each galaxy and each

of thousands of millions of stars,

Above

consists

some

is

guise of a swan.

one or two million light-years from its neighbors. We live in one such galaxy, the Milky Way system; the spiral in Andromeda is another, about 2,200,000

Helen

light-years distant.

it

whom Jupiter wooed in the They were the half brothers of Troy; their names were Castor and Pollux.

the twin sons of Leda,

of

They were

A

particularly regarded as the patron dei-

and many

light-year

is

vessels

distance a

186,380 miles per second.

A

light-year

is

the equiva-

distance of the sun from the earth

is

The

about 500

light-seconds, or 500 times 186,380 miles; the dis-

In the northeast the Big Dipper hangs with

tance of Sirius, one of the nearest

its

The

handle down. The two stars in the front of the cup of the dipper are known as The Pointers, because they point very nearly to the North Star, at the end of the handle of the Little Dipper. A line drawn

years.

through the North Star, from the handle of the Big Dipper, will pass through the zigzag line of stars of

"the demon." It

queen

Cassiopeia, a

of Ethiopia about

In Perseus

watching.

changes

Andromeda and Cetus legend

at this point,

their

it

not too early to pick out some rather special ob-

among

these constellations.

Between the

at

is

an interesting

name is

is

star for

occasional

Algol, a corruption of al-ghul,

a "variable star," or one which

apparent brightness. Thousands of vari-

some

of

them we know

are intrinsically variable. But Algol belongs to the class

are

Algol

shall not tell the

stars, is 8.7 light-

photograph galaxies

are actually changing in size and temperature, hence

included in the legend.

While we

in

Its

able stars are known, and

whose vanity

with the December map. The constellations Cepheus, Perseus, Pegasus,

largest telescopes

distances of 6,000,000,000 light-years!

a very interesting legend will be told in connection

is

— the

lent of approximately 6,000,000,000,000 miles!

the Twins."

jects

a unit of distance

ray of light can span in a year, at the speed of

have borne their names, either separately or paired. They were highly regarded also by Roman horse soldiers, who swore by them; our expression "By Jiminy" is an oath, "By ties of sailors,

which we might is

common

system.

much

prin-

call

"accidental" variables.

in reality a pair of stars revolving

about

center of gravity, like the earth-moon

The two

stars are

much

too far from us

and

too close to each other to be separately seen

and Cassiopeia is a star cluster, appearing as a bright spot in the Milky Way.

even with a powerful telescope, so we see the blended light of the two as a single star.

Through binoculars

Because the plane of the motion of the stars is edge-on to us, the two stars alternately eclipse each

cipal stars of Perseus

or a

low-power telescope this is two swarms of stars

a pleasing object, consisting of practically in contact.

Another aggregation of

other.

When

the bright star hides the faint star,

stars of quite different na-

casual observation does not reveal any diminution

and significance is in Andromeda. It is faintly naked eye as a hazy spot; the world's largest telescopes show it as a spiral formation of stars, but only by means of photographic film which

But when the fainter star stands between us and the bright one, the result is a loss of three quarters of the combined light of the pair. Because of the reason for this change, such objects are called eclipsing variables. Observe Algol each clear night, and eventually it will be caught faint. It requires about nine hours to go through its dimming and subsequent brightening. Its period or interval be-

ture

in the light.

visible to the

can accumulate light over a long time exposure. There are millions of these great "galaxies" of stars within reach of large telescopes, and today

them

to

universe

we know

be the units into which the matter of the is

arranged.

tween fadings is about two days and twenty-one hours.

20

HJLHON 9NINOOH

MAP

NO. 2

LOOKING SOUTH This

map

represents the sky

at the following

standard times

FEBRUARY FEBRUARY

MARCH Two

other such bright eclipsing variables are in

near Capella,

our February sky, but their changes are not likely to

be noticed, in the

for their periods are quite long.

north corner of the

little

The

is

1

of the triangle

9 p.m.

at

8 p.m.

1

Epsilon Aurigae, with a period of is

in the southwest corner Zeta Aurigae. with a period of

about two and a half years.

triangle in Auriga,

21

10 p.m.

15 at

twenty-seven years; the star

star

at

THE MARCH SKY Early

in

March we

be prominent

will

winter stars are the year

is

begin

in the

be seen

to

still

to see the stars

which

too far advanced,

attention to the winter Milky

thin layer of this interstellar "fog"; in these direc-

we can photograph with large telescopes about many galaxies as stars of our own stellar system. As a matter of fact, our own galaxy thins out so

Way, which now

tions as

ex-

quickly in the direction of Coma Berenices that, with an inexpensive telescope, faint stars on the out-

west.

Way has been purposely left off the an observer looks at the sky from a city he will not be able to see it, while if he does his stargazing in a place far removed from city lights he The Milky

ermost fringe can be seen.

High

If

as

it

need

that

we

which

system of

stars

somewhat

like a

are

interesting one. In

is

meaning

imbedded

the great

in

called our galaxy.

pocket watch, the galaxy

of the

ly the latter

about

is

ern Ass

100,000,-

one of these stars, located about 30,000 light-years from the center. It is, so to speak, inside the face of the watch, a

little

name

more than and

same point. When we look out toward the nearedge of the "watch," we are looking toward Auriga and Perseus; toward the center of the watch to 9). If

we would

Scorpion (see

look up, on a line

perpendicular to the face of the watch,

Coma

look toward well

the

up

map

Berenices, which in

in the eastern sky at the is

we would March

is

hours for which

look

by

irregular.

The clouds

the

two

faint stars

which and

—

the Northern Ass and the South-

and surely

asses are not so foolish as to

is

"stable," or,

The literal meaning of the more specifically, "manger."

map, where

it is

easy to pick

out Spica in Virgo by extending this curve an equal distance beyond Arcturus. These two bright stars of spring

of "dark nebulae" hide

and summer are very

different in color.

Differences in color indicate differences in temperature.

A

hotter star

cool star

is

only "red hot"; a

much

"white hot." Yellow stars like the sun or Capella are moderately hot. The word "cool" is

other galaxies in or very near the directions in which

own

—

better seen on the next

from us many of the stars, and prevent our seeing out into the rest of the universe, in the direction of the Milky Way, so we find practically none of the the stars of our

it

The star Arcturus can be found in the heavens by extending the curve of the handle of the Big Dipper outward, toward the south. This can perhaps be

a long path through the watch-

shaped mass, we see a great many stars. This produces the appearance of the Milky Way. But because the stars are unevenly distributed, and because mingled with the stars are great clouds of obscuring dust and gases, the Milky Way is ragged

and

call

of this small constellation.

drawn.

Where we

Some

the "Manger." Sure-

centuries ago the sun stood in the direction Cancer when summer began. Now, due to a slow "wobbling" of the earth as it spins, when summer begins on June 22 the sun is in the direction of the feet of Gemini. This date marks the time when the sun, which has apparently been traveling northward for six months, turns and begins to go the other way. This used to occur when the sun stood in Cancer, and we know the crab can travel equally well one way or another. This may account for the name

est

in the direction of the tail of the

it is

of

the earth and the rest of the planets are naturally at

is

of this cluster.

Many

to the rim;

the

Maps No. 6

an

feed from a beehive!

is

halfway from the center of the watch

is

find the cluster Praesepe,

correct, for the

Asellus australis

The sun

a

is

it

it

flank Praesepe are respectively Asellus borealis

100,000 light-years in diameter, perhaps 15,000 light-

stars.

we

it

name

years thick, and contains approximately

000,000

Cancer, the Crab;

"Beehive," while others say

Shaped is

is

mentioned by Aratus as a weather portent. When the eye can scarcely see the cluster, while faint isolated stars nearby can be seen, there is a possibility of rain, for even a very small amount of excess water vapor in the air is enough to obscure Praesepe. There has been some disagreement concerning the

to

continues southward.

Remember

the south

in

small and inconspicuous constellation, but

have the Milky Way traced on a map. It passes through Cepheus, Cassiopeia, Perseus, Auriga, the feet of Gemini, then between Procyon and Sirius, and below the horizon after passing through Puppis. In Cassiopeia, Perseus and Auriga, it is moderately strong, but it grows weaker will not

Berenices,

look through a relatively

Before

tends almost precisely from the north to the south, and arches somewhat more than halfway up in the

maps.

we

should pay some

in the west.

we

Coma

In the directions of Ursa Major, Bootes, Virgo and Leo,

skies of spring, yet the

is

only relative, however; the red star Betelgeuse has an effective temperature of approximately 5500° Fahrenheit. Capella and the sun are at about 10,000°,

galaxy are most densely dis-

tributed.

22

HldON 9NIXOCTI TT

— T -i

^

MAP

NO. 3

SH3Hd33

VHdOISStfh-

dONIlAI

•*^s«i«w

VSdfl

snadvdoi3wvo

O O z Q m > en H

CO UJ

CD

Z

\ CANCER i

o o

'^^H

s

^CANIS MINOR

/CANIS

/

MAJOR

1

*

V

PUPPIS>

.

COLUMBAX^.

*^.4A -t

LOOKING SOUTH This

map

represents the sky

at the following

standard times

MARCH MARCH

at

10 p.m.

16 at

9 p.m.

at

8 p.m.

1

APRIL Arcturus and Aldebaran are about 8000°, Sirius and Rigel between 10,000° and 25,000°, and Spica is close to 35,000°.

These are surface temperatures;

their centers, the

temperatures of the

stars are

1

millions of degrees. In terrestrial laboratories,

man

can surpass the temperature of the sun's surface; in a hydrogen bomb explosion, the temperature of the

in

many

centers of stars

23

is

equaled.

THE APRIL SKY Stretching across the southern sky from high the southwest to low in the southeast

is

May

in

Water Serpent. Its head lies below Cancer, and its body, with some bends in it, is easily traced by a line of faint stars below Leo and Virgo. The back of Hydra has been of all constellations: Hydra, the

a favorite place to put other constellations.

once stood there, but

— Crater,

gone.

Two

of Charles. It

tween

A and was

make

sure that they were faithful to

On

one occasion, the

him

into

a rage, cursing the bird

of

Hydra, where the

seamen

The

we

find

stars

it

in his

corruption

dhanab

it

it

form what

constellation in

pleased with the queen's gift that they had placed her tresses in the sky. This is perhaps a true story and this may account for the fact that Coma Berenices, the Hair of Berenice, was not generally accepted as a constellation when it was first suggested. We can always say, of course, that in every myth at least a small grain of truth, if

weights of the bears the

we can

tails

stretched!

Intimately connected with the bears, Bootes was

but find

it. There are several very real persons represented in the heavens, however, one of them being a Stuart king, Charles II; the court physician said

originally

known

as

Arctophylax and

called the "Bear Driver."

He

is

sometimes

holds in leash the

Hunting Dogs, and as the rotation of the earth carUrsa Major around the North Star Bootes seems to be pursuing the bear. When Carlyle wrote, "Over-

had shone with especial brightness the return of the king to London on

that a certain star

on the eve of

al-

With Arcturus and

was a beautiful girl who aroused the jealousy of Juno and was punished by being transformed into a bear. She lived a miserable existence, afraid of the other animals and pursued by hunters. One day a young hunter, Areas, was about to transfix her with his spear, for Callisto had recognized him as her son and had rushed toward him to embrace him. To prevent the matricide, Jupiter changed Areas too into a bear; then, to protect them from further harm, he put them both among the stars. But Juno had the last word, for she went to Oceanus and Tethys, the rulers of the seas, and asked that Callisto and her son be forbidden to enter the waters. As a consequence, Ursa Major and Ursa Minor are in the northern heavens, where they circle endlessly about the North Star and never set. The handle of each dipper marks the tail of one of the bears, and their unusual lengths are explained this way: in hoisting the bears into the sky, Jupiter grasped them by their tails, and because of the great distance and the

the shimmering patch of stars between Leo and Bootes, telling them that the gods had been so well

is

an original Arabic expression,

portion of Ursa Major, the Greater Bear. Callisto

is

vented a great uproar over the loss. He took the royal couple out of doors one night, and pointed to

there

of

al-asad, the "lion's tail."

Denebola forms an equilateral triangle. in England is called the Plough or, sometimes, Charles's Wain. This latter is a corruption, however; it does not refer to a King Charles and his wain, or wagon; instead, it was originally the Peasant's, or Churl's, Wain. It is the conspicuous

call "the Mainsail."

Way

in the

The Big Dipper

which the north pole of the found is now high in the east. Coma Berenices is at once a tribute to the loving sacrifice of a queen and the cleverness of a court astronomer. When Berenice was queen of Egypt and wife of Ptolemy Euergetes, she made a vow to cut off her beautiful hair and place it in the temple of Venus, if her husband should return safely from his military ventures. She kept her pledge, but shortly after she made the sacrifice the tresses disappeared from the altar and could not be found. It was only the quick thinking of Conon, the court astronomer, that preMilky

extended

Spica,

perched on the back

which mark

stars,

of the lion are marked by the which has a bright star, Regulus, at the end of the handle. The star Denebola is in the tuft at the end of Leo's tail, and it is a good example of the

forevermore to be black instead of white. And since that day ravens have been black. Relenting somewhat, Apollo must have ordered the bird to be placed in the sky, for

through the same two

Sickle,

tale

and condemning

line

The head and mane

brought back by the bird was not a pleasing one, and Apollo flew absence.

Berenices and the handle of the Big

opposite direction, will encounter Leo, the Lion.

a

scout and gossip for Apollo. He would send the raven to spy on those whose affections he enjoyed, to

Coma

To find the North Star, remember, we draw a line through the two stars in the front of the cup of the Big Dipper and extend it beyond the top of the cup.

An Owl

groups remain

originally a white bird

the brightest star in the inconspicu-

Dipper.

or Raven.

The raven was

is

ous group Canes Venatici, the Hunting Dogs, be-

the two-handled Grecian Cup, and Cor-

Crow

vus, the

it is

Whether true or not, this suggestion naming of the star Cor Caroli, the Heart

29, 1660.

led to the

the longest

ries

24

H1HON 9NIX001

MAP

NO. 4

LOOKING SOUTH This

map

(for daylight

APRIL 1 APRIL 16

represents the sky

at the following

standard times

MAY

saving time, add one hour):

head, as always, the Great Bear

is

Major, as

turning so quiet

around Bootes," he was contributing to the confusion which sometimes identifies Bootes as Areas, who became Ursa Minor. The "Arcturus" in Job 38:32 of the King James Version should be Ursa

in

Amos

it is

in the

1

at

10 p.m.

at

9 p.m.

at

8 p.m.

Bevised Version; and the "Orion"

5:8 should be Bootes. This constellation has

been confused even with Erichthonius, the inventor of the chariot, but certainly Auriga must be the memorial to that benefactor of mankind. 25

THE MAY SKY Low in the west the last stars

way

had not been cleansed, until Hercules diverted and Peneus, to make them flow through the stables and purify them in one day. On another occasion he had to bring back to Admeta,

far

the daughter of Eurystheus, the jeweled belt of

a lovely circlet

bring back the three-bodied oxen of Geryon, and on

of the winter are with

us early in the evening, while at the same time the east

is

the Milky

filling

Way

up with the lies

stars of

around, and can be seen only

from the

lights of

Somewhat

if

all

the

the observer

the rivers Alpheus

Now

summer.

along the horizon,

bles

all

is

Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons.

any of man's settlements.

to the left of

Arcturus

is

of stars marking Ariadne's crown, Corona Borealis. Ariadne was the daughter of Minos, king of Crete, who kept in a labyrinth built by Daedalus a dread monster, half man and half bull, known as the Minotaur. Each year seven youths and seven maidens of Athens were exacted as a tribute by Minos, and were thrown into the labyrinth to be devoured by the Minotaur. The victims were always chosen by lot,

but

at last

this

tains

When

rest.

The legend

seen

how even

were

to

of Hercules

is

very old;

we have

before the days of Greek story there

tales of a prodigiously strong giant

who

on one knee, with

his other foot

strug-

shown on the head of a

gled with a dragon. In the sky, Hercules

is

dragon.

the

By referring to Map No. 6, we see the diamondshaped head of Draco, the Dragon, whose body turns first toward Cepheus, then doubles back to wind between the two dippers. The tip of the tail lies almost on the line from the Pointers to the North Star. The stars are all only moderately bright, but

its cargo of sacrifices, Ariadne saw Theseus and fell in love with him. She gave him a sword; more important, however, she gave him a skein of thread, which he was to unwind

he entered the labyrinth, then follow Of course, Theseus slew the Minotaur and escaped with his companions, taking Ariadne with him. They stopped at the island of Naxos, where Theseus abandoned Ariadne as she slept. On waking, Ariadne abandoned herself to grief, but Venus consoled her with the promise that she should have an immortal lover, in place of mortal Theseus. Naxos was the favorite retreat of Bacchus, who found her there and made her his wife. He gave her a golden crown, set with gems, and when she died he placed the crown in the heavens, where we find it in these evenings, between Bootes and the kneeling Hercules. Even as an infant, Hercules strangled two serpents sent by Juno to destroy him. As a further mark of Juno's hostility, he was bound to serve Eurystheus, who gave him twelve dangerous labors to perform. The first was to bring back the skin of the terrible lion which roamed the valley of Nemea. When all his weapons failed, Hercules strangled the lion with his bare hands. Incidentally, it is probably the Nemean lion which is immortalized in the constellaas

again in order to escape.

the line

is

easily traced.

In the western edge of Hercules (on our

the area

is

labeled "cluster")

there

is

maps

an object

which is faintly visible to the naked eye and is a most magnificent spectacle when photographed with a great telescope. We have earlier noted the Pleiades, Praesepe, and the patch of stars in Coma Berenices; these are of the so-called "galactic" type

most of the 300-odd known obfound in or very near the stream of the Milky Way. We know more than a hundred so-called "globular" clusters, in addition to the open or galactic objects; the object in Hercules is one of the fine examples. Whereas in a galactic cluster we find from perhaps twenty to a few thousand stars, a globular cluster will contain many thousands to several hundreds of thousands. A galactic cluster is referred to as "open," or "loose," because the stars in it seem not to be arranged in any particular way. But in a globular cluster the stars form a nearly spheroidal mass in which practically no dark sky can be seen, especially toward the middle, where the stars are apparently so close together as to be separable only with great telescopes, and even then there is a haze or fog from the combined light of the thousands of stars too faint to be individually distinguished, even with long exposures. of cluster, because

jects

tion Leo.

The second labor of Hercules was the slaughter of the many-headed Hydra, which guarded the well of

Amymone. Another was

of

hold up the heavens, giving poor tired Atlas a brief

black-sailed ship arrived with

behind him

The purloining of the golden apples was the occasion for Hercules

the Hesperides

Theseus, the son of King Aegeus of

of being able to slay the monster.

to

adventure he gave his name to the two mounforming the Straits of Gibraltar: the Pillars of

Hercules.

Athens, volunteered to go as one of them, in the

hope

Then he had

the cleansing of the stables

King Augeas of Elis; in them, three thousand oxen had been housed, yet for thirty years the sta-

of

26

of this class are

HJLHON ONIHOOI Tf

MAP

/"

Sfl3SH3d

NO. 5

SDN9A0 V91df V

"

VIBddlSSV^

l

J

•^TI3Hd33 snad\/dOi3iAivo

/yoNiw

WSHfl

LOOKING SOUTH This

map

(for daylight

These globular in

clusters

our galaxy as to outline

seem its

MAY 1 MAY 16

represents the sky

at the following

standard times

JUNE

saving time, add one hour): to

be so distributed

this half

central bulge. Because

about

is

now

1

at

10 p.m.

at

9 p.m.

at

8 p.m.

rising in the southeast;

it

is

just

where the modern boundaries of the constellations Ophiuchus, Sagittarius and Scorpius meet, above the sting of the Scorpion, where

we

are not in the center, but more than halfway from the center toward one edge, we see most of these clusters in one half of the skv. The center of

at the point

rich star clouds are found.

27

THE JUNE SKY now

Brilliant Arcturus

stands high in the south,

while Vega, yet brighter, pulls the eyes to the

Low

Scorpion stands, with

in the south the

its

diameter,

in part are,

from west

to east,

On

June

22,

when summer

23, the

sun

is

pheid

now below

range

is

the

begins, September

Virgo

the only inanimate object in

have seen

earlier that these stars

were once known as Chelae, the Claws (of Scorpius); the two brightest stars of Libra yet bear the names Zubenelgenubi, the Southern Claw, and Zubeneschamali, the Northern Claw! Libra may be linked with the neighboring con-

Virgo

and the

violent

is

star

and

brutal.

Another identification

with Ceres, the goddess of the harvest, Spica represents a stalk of grain which

she holds in her hand. In the west the stars of early spring are leaving us; is

Hydra's head

is

due south! In the

setting while the

north, the

end

is

Dipper starts downward. The large vacant area between Ursa Major and Perseus is occupied by the constellation Camelopardus, the Giraffe. It now it

Cepheids. These

of

variable

stars,

stars

marked by

known

as

is

have been determined with com-

rate of generation of energy

unlike the eclipsing variables,

is

too great for the outer

layers of the star to permit to pass, the star will swell

A Cepheid is a single expanding and contracting, in a definite pattern or rhythm, repeated exactly each time; we call such action "pulsation." When a Cepheid is contracting, and is about at its average (that is, halfway between maximum and minimum) which

is

ty of the overlaying layers in order to escape. If the

the

are intrinsically changeable. star

twice

Another type of variable star is the so-called nova, "new star." Not really new, such a star represents an extreme instance of cataclysmic expansion: the star literally swells up and bursts! We must think of stars as being in rather delicate balance: radiation from a star's interior must struggle against the opaci-

a small triangle; the star at the sharpest corner of this triangle is the prototype of an interesting and

important class

is

or

in this area. is

the star

paratively small uncertainties.

be possible to pick with so few faint stars

In Cepheus, one corner of the figure

A

maximum as it is at minimum. This exceeded by many Cepheids, however.

lions of light-years

will hardly

out the figure of the creature,

brightest.

can be obtained; when these are compared with the apparent brightnesses, the distances can be derived. By this means, distances of thousands or even mil-

now

right side up, while high in the northwest the Big

stands upright, but

is,

its

period-luminosity relation, the intrinsic brightnesses

of the tail

W of Cassiopeia

about 100 per cent; that

at

This "period-luminosity relation" for Cepheids is one of the most powerful tools we possess for determining great distances. Suppose we find in a globular star cluster or remote galaxy some Cepheid variables. We shall be able to recognize them as has been explained, and after some time we shall have accurate determinations of their periods and apparent brightnesses. Then, using the periods with the

one legend has it that she represents Astraea, the goddess of justice, the last to leave the earth after the golden and silver ages, as man

grew more

it is

intermediate luminosities.

stellation Virgo, for

for

is

average diameter,

Because of the regularity of the variations of a Cepheid and the particular pattern of its changes, such a star can be recognized, no matter where it may be located. Some of them are near enough to us to have their distances measured, and as soon as we know a star's distance and its apparent brightness we can determine its real brightness as compared, say, with the sun. When this is done for Cepheid variables, it is found that the average intrinsic brightness of one with a period of one day or less is about fifty times the sun's luminosity; one with a period of two days is about six hundred times the sun's brightness; a period of fifty days indicates a luminosity of fifteen thousand times that of the sun. Of course, those with intermediate periods have

Scorpius.

We

at its

as bright at

At the beginning of winter, December 22, the sun stands in Sagittarius above the tip of the tail of Libra, the Balance,

expanding

average amount of increase of light for a Ce-

almost halfway from Spica toward Regulus in Leo.

the zodiac.

is

fair

Gemini,

in the direction of a point in

it

heart

begins, the sun stands in

When autumn

western horizon.

when

is

Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpius and Sagittarius. the direction of the feet of Gemini,

at its faintest;

and

marked by red Antares ("anti-Ares" — the rival of Ares, or Mars ) The zodiacal constellations now above the horizon wholly or

is

it

east.

up, at

alternately

first

and perhaps

slowly,

cess energy escape.

The

star

this will let the ex-

then

may

collapse, then

expand again, and thus become something Cepheid. But when the release of energy star will explode,

28

and

is

like a

too violent, the

for a brief while will shine

HldON ONINOOl

MAP

NO. 6

LOOKING SOUTH This

map

represents the sky

at the following (for daylight

standard times

saving time, add one hour):

many thousand times its original brightSuch a star appeared closely northwest of Vega at the end of January 1963; by April it had faded to invisibility to the naked eye. At maximum it was

JUNE JUNE JULY

1

at 10 p.m.

16 at

9 p.m.

at

8 p.m.

1

about half as bright as the North Star. Several fainter novae are discovered each year. The amateur who takes a careful look at the Milky Way each clear

with a luster ness.

night

29

may be

the fortunate discoverer of a nova.

THE JULY SKY For those who

live in the

United States, Scorpius tage. Antares

and the

tail

is

in the

up

in the string

is

body

northern latitudes of the

Serpens,

now

Borealis

seen to best advan-

of the Scorpion curves

horizon, then back up, to

end

in

shortened claws,

down toward

two

stars

the

marking

the sting. For observers in southern latitudes, this constellation

is

one of the most magnificent

in all

the heavens.

An amusing turn is given one of the old star we make a very fine teapot of some of the stars of Sagittarius, the Archer, who is tradibody

of the

Noted arts,

of a

man

affixed to the

body

upper part of a horse.

talized.

To

their half-mortal offspring.

an array of constellations constituting what must be an enormous allegory. Hercules is crushing the life out of Draco, above and in the north; in the south, another great figure of a

man

north

Corona

Hebe had been the cup-bearer to the and upon her retirement Jupiter disguised himself as an eagle and swooped down to earth, seizing the Trojan youth Ganymede and carrying him to Olympus to be the new cup-bearer. In the constellation Aquila, this eagle of Jupiter is immor-

cunning and wisdom, and learned in the the centaurs were the mentors of the gods and to

stars south of

near Aquila, the Eagle.

gods,

for

Spreading across the sky from south

an X of

marriage.

groups when

tionally pictured as a centaur, with the

is

tail is

Because this long constellation is interrupted by Ophiuchus, it is sometimes (as in the excellent Becvar atlas mentioned earlier) divided into Serpens Caput (head) and Serpens Cauda (tail). When Hercules at last died and went to dwell with the gods, Juno's wrath toward him was softened, and she gave him her own daughter Hebe in

of the arachnid, the stars

to the right are the

whose head and whose

the

left of

ern Cross

is

lies

Aquila, in the eastern sky, the North-

on

its

side. It

is

the conspicuous por-

of the constellation Cygnus, the

tion

story of

Cygnus

the sun-god Helios and the

know who

Swan. The

the story of Phaethon, the son of

is

nymph Clymene. He

was until one day his mother told him, to console him for the taunts of his companions. He went to seek Helios, and when he found him he was welcomed and promised any boon he might ask. Quickly he demanded to be per-

holds a serpent in his

didn't

hands and treads on the Scorpion. Certainly here attempt to portray the triumph of good over evil; Hercules and Ophiuchus were good men and Draco and Scorpius are loathsome creatures. The brightest star in Ophiuchus, at the top of the triangle, marks his head; the head of Hercules is

we have some

his father

mitted to drive the chariot of the sun for one jourHelios tried to dissuade him, but Phaethon

ney.

and

he started out along the danger-

the star nearby.

insisted,

Ophiuchus we have ample evidence. He was Aesculapius, son of Apollo, and a

ous course no one but Helios had ever followed.

pupil of Chiron, the centaur represented in Sagit-

realized an inexperienced hand held the and they ran wild. Plunging too close to the earth in some parts of the path, there were great fires started, and great parched deserts were formed; the world was threatened with destruction until Jupiter launched a thunderbolt which struck Phaethon and hurled him from the chariot. He fell into the river Eridanus, and his friend Cycnus tried to find his body. Cycnus dived into the river and swam to and fro, sometimes with his head beneath the water, until at last the gods took pity on him and changed him into a swan. Even today, we see swans frequently putting their heads below the surface of

Of

the goodness of

He became

tarius.

way

had to slay him, to put grumbling of Pluto, the ruler of Hades, because the flow of souls to the underworld was dwindling. But after his death he was received

Aesculapius, because of

by periodic shedding lapius

is

serpent

of

its its

skin. In classic art,

pictured with a heavy

is

twined.

It

was

sacred to

apparent renewal of staff,

his official

life

Aescu-

about which a

badge, and so

it

emblem of medicine even today. But in some regrettable way this symbol is often confused with the caduceus of Hermes or Mercury, a thin wand is

The

so difficult, but soon the spirited

reins,

to the

among the company of the gods. The snake as an emblem of health was

was not

steeds

a great physician, so successful

in saving lives that Jupiter

an end

at first

at last

the

the water, perhaps

still

looking for Phaethon. Later,

Cycnus was transported to the heavens, where we find him as the constellation Cygnus, the Swan. Many feel that the legends are nature myths in which little-understood phenomena have been inter-

with a pair of wings

at the top, and two thin snakes draped gracefully and symmetrically about it. This latter emblem has nothing to do with medicine; it is properly the symbol of messengers, not medical men. The serpent that Ophiuchus grasps in his hands is

preted as the doings of the gods.

Phaethon

30

is

supposed

to

The legend

of

period

of

"explain"

a

HidON qnmooi

MAP

NO.

LOOKING SOUTH This

map

JULY JULY

represents the sky standard times

at the following (for daylight

drought. There are others

who

saving time,

AUGUST

add one hour):

at

10 p.m.

16 at

9 p.m.

at

8 p.m.

1

1

he was punished by Jupiter.

believe the myths are

The

intended as parables, to teach moral values. In this view, Phaethon would be a youth whose overconfi-

star

Deneb marks

the

tail of

the Swan, while

the star Albireo, at the foot of the Northern Cross,

dence should have yielded to better judgment; when it did not, he caused great hardship to others before

marks the beak

Way. 31

of the bird as

it flies

along the Milky

7

THE AUGUST SKY August

the

is

shine

stars

month when the overhead

directly

Brightest of

Vega

all,

hours for which

is

Map

summer Milky Way

brightest

the

in

summer

night

length one day as he was pouring out his grief in

song by the bank of a little brook, he heard a voice murmuring to him; it was the voice of the stream itself, and it told him that for a part of its course it had flowed through the underworld, and there it had seen Eurydice, and she too had been weeping. Emboldened by this, Orpheus resolved to seek entrance to the underworld. He charmed his way along the dank and dismal passages, past Cerberus, the horrible three-headed dog, and at last into the audience chamber of dread Pluto himself. There he sang

sky.

almost in the zenith at the

No. 8

is

drawn. The bright

arches high, from Perseus in the

northeast through Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Lacerta (not

shown on

the map), Cygnus, Aquila, Sagittarius,

and

Scorpius. But at Deneb, in the head of the Northern Cross, the Milky

Way

splits,

and

a fainter

branch

runs through the head of Ophiuchus.

When we ter of

gaze toward Sagittarius and the sting of

we

Scorpius,

are looking in the direction of the cen-

his

be seen, and undoubtedly equally large numbers are hidden by obscuring clouds of interstellar gases and dust. In fact, the bifid character of the Milky Way between Cygnus and Scorpius is due to dark nebulae and not to an absence of stars. The size and shape of the stellar aggregation we know as our galaxy have been described earlier. But is

galaxy

is

rotating in

its

almost kept his promise; but only a step before the

was still followand she was instantly snatched from him and taken back to death, this time forever. Once more Orpheus wandered about the world unhappily, and in Thrace there were maidens who tried to woo him from his grief, but he spurned them. At last one day, excited by the rites of Bacchus, the maidens hurled javelins and stones at him, but so great was the power of his music that the missiles stopped in mid-flight and fell harmless to the ground. But finally the maidens screamed so loudly that the music was drowned out, and then the stones took effect, and Orpheus was slain. His body was torn to pieces and thrown into the river Hebrus, but the Muses gathered the fragments and buried them at Libethra; and even today, it is said, the nightingale sings most sweetly in Thrace, over the grave of Orpheus. His soul went to join Eurydice in Tartarus, and the gods put the lyre into the sky, as a symbol of his sweet music and his great ing,

is

and its attendant family of planets make a complete swing around the distant center once each 225,000,000 years. This may seem to be a very

that the sun

long period of time, but geologists put the age of the earth at about 5,000,000,000 years, so

about twenty

trips since the earth

The sun and

its

this rotation of the

we have made

was born!

neighboring stars all partake of galaxy at about the same speed,

approximately 175 miles per second. Meanwhile, however, each star is moving somewhat with respect to the others, as each gnat in a swarm moves with respect to the others while the whole

By

swarm moves

motion the sun is traveling at a rate of about 12 miles per second toward a point between Vega and some of the faint nearby stars of as a unit.

this

Hercules.

Vega

is

such strains that even

outer portal he turned to be sure she

motion in it. The own plane, in such a way

not a static system; there

in

Pluto's heart

of stars can

this

love for Eurydice

was melted, and he gave permission for Orpheus to lead Eurydice back to light and life again, but only on one condition: Orpheus should not look back at her until once more they had gained the outer world and were in the sunlight again. To this Orpheus eagerly assented, and he

our galaxy. There the greatest concentration

the brightest star in Lyra, the Lyre of

Orpheus, upon which that singer of sweet song played such magic music that even the birds and

love for Eurydice.

beasts yielded to

of the heavens, for the last

In August

we have

almost completed the circuit

charm, and waterfalls ceased splashing while the music played. Orpheus loved and was beloved by Eurydice, and they were wed.

tions

One

almost due south. This figure

its

Capricornus

day, while playing with her companions in a

meadow, Eurydice stepped on a small serpent and was bitten in the foot and died. Her soul went to the underworld, and Orpheus wandered flowery

two zodiacal

are above the horizon. is

better seen on

ever that might be.

The

goat are affixed to the

of

Map is

No. 9, where it is a "Sea Goat," what-

front legs

tail

constella-

The sprawling V

and head of the

of a fish.

Some

believe

be an outright error, for no such figure appears in ancient mythology. It may represent Pan, who once jumped in a river and assumed the form this to

through the earth disconsolate, playing such sad music that all who heard it were moved to tears. At

32

HidON QNIHOOI

MAP

NO. 8

Sn3SH3cT snadVdoiBiAivo

LOOKING SOUTH This

map

represents the sky

at the following (for daylight

of a fish, to escape the

pranks

in

standard times

saving time, add one hour):

consequences of one of the

the

lies

Water Bearer. He

is

usually represented as an

old man, pouring water out of a jar and into the

which he was always engaged.

Between Capricornus and Pisces

AUGUST 1 at 10 p.m. AUGUST 16 at 9 p.m. SEPTEMBER 1 at 8 p.m.

mouth

Aquarius,

33

of Piscis Austrinus, the Southern Fish.

THE SEPTEMBER SKY Now

a goat and a lion, and

the Northern Cross is in the zenith, Arcturus and the Pleiades are rising is north of east. There will be many who wonder about the

flashing

Capella is

rising

star

rises

it

sparkles

the

in

disturbed by the tremulous

zon. It

is

is

north that

air

will

air close to

its

light

the hori-

true for any star, of course, but for Capella

the effect

enough

when

northeast;

and burns, because

to

exaggerated, because that star

it

takes a long time for

shake

itself clear of

it

so far

is

to rise

high

the dense and dirty

near the horizon. In December the same thing be true in reverse for Vega as it sets far north find flat contradictions

who advised him to use Pegasus and suggested that he spend a night in the temple of Minerva. He did so, and Minerva gave

among

him

the classic myths. For example, one story of the

death of Orion

is

that

horse

an arrow of Diana. Apollo, her brother, suspected

wading

in the sea

with only his head above water

Iobates,

was able to overcome any whereupon a scorpion came out of the ground and stung him, with fatal effect. This that he boasted that he

or beast,

is

other

sets.

cited to justify the placement of the

and Scorpius;

The Scorpion now

southwest, while in a

little

is

as

one

the

rises,

almost down, in the

time Orion will

rise,

last

still

willingly. Bellerophon

No. 9

is

in the south

Pot, pours a stream of

mark the legs, with the hoofs pounding on the Milky Way. One star of the Great Square belongs not to Pegasus, but to Andromeda, according to the modern constellation boundaries. The origin of Pegasus, the Winged Horse, is con-

ter of fact, there is

is

so close to the

water into the mouth of Piscis is

located; as a mat-

hardly any more to the constella-

One

fish is

due east; their tails are tied together with a long ribbon which forms a V-shaped group of faint stars well shown on the map. South of Pisces is the Sea Monster, Cetus. All these groups have some connection with the water, and they lie close together in the sky because

provided inspi-

known compounded

it,

the constellation of Pisces, the Fishes.

due south

artists.

In Lycia there raged a fearful monster

find the

tion than that one bright star; it is so isolated that it always attracts attention. Below and east of Pegasus

neck of Medusa drops of blood fell to the earth, and from them sprang the wondrous horse. He was caught and tamed by the goddess Minerva, and was

the Chimera. Its forequarters were

we

it

the very bright star Fomalhaut

nected with the adventures of Perseus to be related in connection with Map No. 12. From the severed

who

east,

Austrinus, the Southern Fish. In this latter group,

of faint stars

and other

and

strange Sea Goat has

can not be seen well from the northern United States, is the wading bird Grus, the Crane. Aquarius, the Old Man with the Water southern horizon that

form a very fine horse. At least, the head, shoulder and forelegs are shown; a triangle marks the head, the Great Square marks the shoulder, and two lines

ration for poets

The

already been mentioned, and below

held so the words "The Northern

Cross" are right side up, Pegasus will be seen to

presented by her to the Muses,

set

died miserably.

"watery" constellations.

Map

mounted

anxious to get rid of Bellerophon,

Below Pegasus,

due

east. If

him

him other dangerous tasks, but with the help of Pegasus the young warrior was successful in all of his ventures, except his last one. He grew vain and arrogant, and mounted on Pegasus he even tried to ride up to heaven, but Jupiter sent a gadfly to sting Pegasus, and Bellerophon was thrown to the ground and became lame and blind. He wandered in loneliness, avoiding all his former companions, and at

to send an arrow through it. Her aim was true; the dead body of Orion washed ashore. Still another story of the death of Orion relates

ancient story

to

the monster.

Diana

constellations Orion

came

and showed him where to find he found Pegasus, the

When

Pegasus, soon found the Chimera, and destroyed

was

Apollo pointed out the dark object and challenged

man

a golden bridle

the winged horse.

he was shot inadvertently by

the two were in love, and one day as Orion

fire, it

the soothsayer Polyidus,

of west.

Here and there we

hindquarters were those of

its

wrought much woe, and King Iobates sought a hero who would destroy it. There came to him the brave youth Bellerophon, who brought with him a letter of recommendation which had a postscript to the effect that Proteus, the son-in-law of Iobates, would consider it a great favor if Bellerophon should be put to death! To get rid of the Chimera, and perhaps at the same time to get rid of Bellerophon, Iobates set him the task, and the warrior accepted the challenge. First he consulted a dragon. Breathing

setting north of west,

of this

as

of the Great Square, the other

common

Beturning

of

34

connection, in

all

to the southern sky,

is

likelihood.

we

see high

up the

HldON 9i\imocn

MAP

NO. 9

dOfVIM VSdfl

;

/\; d3dctia 018 3H1

SD3SH3d

WM ,\

HA10N

HONIW VSiJfl

•

/ .VIBdOISSVO

OOVHQ

..

Sf)3Hd30

o o z

(/>

LU OVERHEAD POINT

G)

z

m > H

O O

c/>

SAGITTA

DELPHINUS

*

•

!A«

/ AQUILA

./AQUARIUS CAPRICORNUS

PISCIS

AUSTRINUS SAGITTARIUS

LOOKING SOUTH This

map

represents the sky

at the following (for daylight

standard times

saving time, add one hour):

constellation of Delphinus, the Dolphin. According to one legend, the dolphin persuaded Am-

wooing

of

1

at 10 p.m.

16 at

9 p.m.

at

8 p.m.

1

in the sky by the grateful ruler of the seas. Another myth makes the dolphin the rescuer of the

placed

little

phitrite to yield to the

SEPTEMBER SEPTEMBER OCTOBER

Neptune and was

poet-musician Arion.

35

THE OCTOBER SKY Again

we have

west the the east

fine

be seeing

all

winter.

up with the

fill

stars

There are a great many

ing objects in this sky, however, and

we

well

described

clusters are faint,

and most

of

of the most extravagant novae appeared about nine hundred years ago and seems to have been recorded only by the Chinese; at about this time, Europe was intellectually dormant. Today we see with telescopes an interesting nebula near the tip of the lower horn of Taurus; it is shown best in photographs and was named by Lord Rosse the "Crab" nebula. By means of photographs made at long intervals of time, it has been found that the nebula is slowly expanding, and if we carry back

Many

them are concentrated

strongly toward the center of the galaxy; in one

photograph made at the Southern Station of the Harvard College Observatory, with the sting of the Scorpion approximately in the center of the field, there are thirty-four globular clusters shown, a third of all that are known!

The

now

is

one corner of the figure of Cepheus,

star, too, is

it

is

attain

is

1054

and

changes

it

as well as in size. Incidentally,

known

stars;

its

diameter

it is

in temperature one of the larg-

is

of the order of

300,000,000 miles, a figure which

Mira

is

is

period

The

typical eclipsing variable is

in

places of several

not as

is also above the good position for

stars, or

in

connection

which were

seen to be them and the

later

of size

find other nebulae

so-called "Ring" nebula in Lyra, visible only in tele-

scopes,

new

the year

and not of kind. which we have become convinced originated from novae explosions; because of their small, compact appearances we call them "planetary nebulae." Some of them take the forms of annuli, or rings, much like doughnuts in appearance; the best example of this type is the

We

observation.

The

shells

Crab nebula being one

high as that of the Cepheids. horizon. Algol, in Perseus,

in

to

to

in

small nebulae, the difference between

is

is

Now,

by what has been observed

panding gaseous

864,000 miles.

regular, but their precision of repetition

for

moment

found the nebula it is

modern times. Both Nova Aquilae 1918 and Nova Persei 1901 threw off ex-

about 330 days, although it may be a little more or a little less, for any particular cycle. Long-period variables are considered to be its

one point,

the Chinese observed a very brilliant nova

with certain novae

the type-star for the so-called long-period

variables;

all at

present dimensions.

its

a.d.

this belief

we might compare

with the diameter of the sun, which

was

in or very near this same spot, and we are firmly convinced that the Crab nebula represents the remains of that stellar explosion. We are confirmed in

invisible except in telescopes. This

pulsating,

the nebula

have taken almost nine centuries

Mira Ceti, is also well up. At its maximum, sometimes as bright as the North Star; at

minimum,

est

when

almost overhead; another interesting intrinsic

variable,

Mira

with the average rate of expansion to the

interesting variable star Delta Cephei, in the

triangle at

earlier.

What must have been one

approximately one hundred globular star

of the

was

broad daylight. In Perseus, in 1901, there appeared a nova which at its maximum rivaled the most brilliant stars, and one only somewhat fainter appeared in Aquila in 1918. In Hercules in 1934, and in Lacerta (not shown on the map), between Cepheus and Cygnus, in 1936, there were novae which were easily visible to the unaided eye. The one near Vega in 1963 was

spend our time now in reviewing them. The two typical star clusters are now simultaneously visible; in the east we see the Pleiades, an open star cluster, while in the west, in Hercules, there is the typical globular star cluster. There are other representatives of each type in the October heavens, however; another fine open cluster is in Scutum (not shown on the map), between Aquila and Sagittarius, and another fine globular cluster is in Pegasus, just off the tip of the horse's nose.

in the it

easily visible to the casual eye in

shall

interest-

we can

any other object

brilliantly than

heavens, excepting the sun and the moon;

have almost gone, while

stars

beginning to

is

shone more

the sky in a transition stage. In the

summer

The

novae, are in

Most spectacular was the one seen by Tycho Brahe, the great Danish astronomer, the sky at this time.

where

it

spiral in

resembles a smoke

Andromeda

is

ring.

again well up, and

should be looked for on moonless nights. In

neighboring galaxy there appeared

on November 11, 1572; others had seen it a few days earlier, but Tycho studied it carefully. For example, he determined by observation that this star was definitely not a phenomenon of the earth's atmosphere but was instead a prodigy among the fixed stars. It appeared in Cassiopeia and for a while

which was

in

this

1885 a nova

easily visible in a small telescope. Be-

enormous distance as compared with the distance of even the most remote novae in our own galaxy, in order to be even so bright it must have had an amazingly high intrinsic luminosity, and this and other such objects we now call "supernovae." cause of

36

its

HJLUON 9NIXOOH

mm

vsan

/

_~-X»» *"

dJdd/O 311111

snaiJVdoi3iAiv3

MAP NO. 10

dJddia

\

dorviAi/

*

4SSf*-

I

I

\\

yoNIW

on^^oovaa

Sfl3Hd33 \

L

H

o o z

CO LU 'OVERHEAD

+POINT

CD

Z

ft

m >

o o

CO

PEGASUS

PISCES

7' \—

I

AQUARIUS

CAPRICORNUS

/

GRUS

^**^. LOOKING SOUTH This map represents the sky OCTOBER at the following standard times OCTOBER (for daylight saving time, add one hour): NOVEMBER

37

1

at 10 p.m.

16 at

9 p.m.

at

8 p.m.

1

THE NOVEMBER SKY Now

the Northern Cross stands upright

in

the

it.

Between the

latter star

the foot of the cross, Sagitta, the

know;

if it

Archer,

it

lies

and Albireo, the

great

the small constellation of

Above

Altair

is

diamond-shaped portion of

this

the

solitary splendor, while higher

the east Cetus

Driven

is

now

in as a

almost

and farther toward

well displayed.

wedge between Andromeda and

Pisces on the one side

and Aries on the other is the Triangulum, the Triangle. Why the ancient namers of the constellations should have become suddenly so literal is somewhat puzzling; perhaps the Greek letter delta, which in upper case looks like a triangle, had something to do with it. Very early maps and descriptions speak of this small

constellation

of

the

Bam

Map

No. 2 will reveal a por-

and there the bow was crushed. Whatever became of the golden fleece we do not know, but most scholars believe this story to be the legendary rea very early maritime expedition, perhaps of

cital of

a piratical nature, in which rich spoils were obtained. Again,

it

is

logical veil there

likely that is

Some

beneath each mytho-

some natural

a true story of

occurrence or occasion,

if

we

could but discover

it.

suggestions are rather far-fetched; for exam-

ple, there are a

few who believe the

story of the

Argonauts to be a pagan corruption of the story of Noah and the Great Flood.

Most but the

of the interesting

myths have now been

told,

December the "Boyal Family" will be put spotlight. Hold the map on the opposite page in

in in

the proper position for "Looking South"; let an imag-

Phrixus, continued to Colchis,

drawn from the North

on the eastern shore of the Black Sea, where the

inary line be

welcomed the boy. The ram was sacrificed to Jupiter, but the golden fleece was placed in a sacred grove, guarded by a watchful dragon.

the right-hand star in the

king, Aeetes,

tinued downward.

hand

In another part of Thessaly another king, Aeson,

surrendered his throne to his brother Pelias,

to Colchis,

dentally, in the sky the ship Argo has no bow, because very early in their adventure the Argonauts sailed between the Symplegades, or Clashing Islands,

of the

The ram, carrying

but reference to

States,

Golden Fleece which was the object of great search and high adventure. King Athamas in Thessaly grew tired of his wife Nephele and put her aside in favor of another. The queen was afraid that the king would harm her children, a girl named Helle and a boy named Phrixus, and wished to send them far away. Mercury assisted her, by giving her a ram with golden fleece, on which she set the two children, trusting the ram to carry them to a safe place. The ram leaped into the air, and all went well until they were crossing the narrow strait which divides Europe from Asia, when Helle fell off into the sea. Since that day the strait has been called the Hellespont. is

came

tion of Puppis, the stern, or "poop," of the ship. Inci-

constellation as "Deltoton."

Aries

name as the

After several adventures, they

Fomalhaut in

its

became known

called the Argo; from

of the expedition

their

built

and there the king was agreeable to the idea of letting the golden fleece go back to Thessaly, but Jason must perform certain dangerous tasks before the fleece could be obtained. We do not need to explain that he and his companions, by means of certain miraculous interventions and charms, succeeded in carrying the golden fleece back home, where the good ship Argo was dedicated to Neptune, who placed it in the sky. Most of this constellation lies below the horizon for most of us in the United

but "Job's Coffin." In the north the Big Dipper is in its most unfavorable position, with Benetnasch at the end of the hanSouthern Fish, rides

members

become known for was

ship for the expedition

Argonauts.

constellation

dle scraping the horizon. In the south,

destined to

The

by Argos, and was

Del-

as anything

in Piscis Austrinus, the

who were

others

later exploits.

phinus, but no old farmer or sailor thinks of the little

of noted warriors. Among them were Orpheus, Nestor, Theseus, and many

company

Hercules,

star at

Arrow. Whose arrow it is we do not came from the bow of Sagittarius, the

has gone far astray!

with the idea and gathered about himself a

fell in

western sky, and bright Vega and Altair are below

or eastern

who

edge

continued

if it is

It

W

Star through

of Cassiopeia

and con-

will pass just inside the left-

of the Great

downward

Square of Pegasus;

a distance equal to the

it will mark which the sun stands on March 21, the the beginning of spring. On this day the sun

length of this side of the Great Square,

was to rule as regent until the majority of Jason, who was Aeson's son. When Jason became a grown man and demanded his crown of Pelias, his uncle thought

the spot in

date of

passes north of the celestial equator, after having

he might manage to get rid of his unwanted nephew by sending him on a quest to return the golden fleece to Thessaly, where it had originated. Jason

spent

six

months on the south side

called the vernal equinox, Pisces, the Fishes.

38

is

in

of

it.

This point,

the constellation

H1UON DNIHOOl

MAP

LOOKING SOUTH This map represents the sky NOVEMBER NOVEMBER at the following standard times DECEMBER

39

at

10 p.m.

16 at

9 p.m.

at

8 p.m.

1

1

NO.

11

THE DECEMBER SKY Again the Northern Cross stands erect in the west, almost on the horizon. A little way to the north, Vega is setting. In the south, the large comparatively vacant area between Eridanus and the bright solitary star Fomalhaut precedes the brilliant Orion region in the southeast. Perhaps it may be well to point out that the word Fomalhaut is not French and should not be pronounced fo-mal-hoe; instead,

from her, changing her lovely teeth to brutish fangs and her lustrous hair to writhing serpents. So frightful was her new appearance that all who gazed at her countenance were changed to stone. Her cavern was filled with stone figures which had once been

now

it is

When

The

triangle

was aided by Minerva, who lent him a must not look directly at Medusa; he must see only her reflection in the mirrorlike surface of the shield, lest he be

brightly burnished shield. Perseus

stands on

Auriga

formed by Betelgeuse

in

Orion,

Canis Minor, and Sirius in Canis Major

in

its

turned to stone.

base, in the east, while Capella in

came from

high up, approaching the zenith. In the

is

Dipper

north, the Big

is

almost on the end of

with handle bent backward,

the Little Dipper, looking like an is

M

we who

to

had them the way.

On

the conditions had

way home, he stopped

ens rest on them.

He

Perseus was the son of Jupiter and Danae. Acrigrandfather, was alarmed by the prediction

next

of an oracle that his daughter's son

When

who

slew

took them to Poly-

who

them manhood, he Medusa, a horrible creature which beautiful maiden who had dared to

Perseus had

come

the scene where the hapless

lay chained to the rocks and, as every

it, and claimed Andromeda as his reward. The family prepared a great banquet, and were about to eat it, when a spurned suitor of Andromeda, Phineus by name, came uninvited with his companions to the banquet hall and made a disturbance.

would be the instrument of his death, and he had them both locked in a chest and thrown into the sea. They were Seriphus,

came on

proper hero should do, he was able to estimate the situation at a quick glance. He fought the monster,

sius, his

warmly.

his

Andromeda

in

poor crea-

for food and rest in was not very warmly welcomed, because Atlas too had been warned that a son of Jupiter would cause his loss of the Golden Apples which hung in his garden. Perseus lifted the head of Medusa from the bag in which he carried it, and let Atlas gaze on it; the monarch was changed into stone, and the heavens rested on him, as they do to this day. You may see this giant king in the Atlas Mountains, which seem to be so high that the heav-

the story.

king

to the

the realm of Atlas. There he

grown somewhat subdued king, went to an oracle, who told him that he could rid his country of the horrid pest only by exposing his daughter Andromeda to be devoured by the monster. Tearfully he ordered Andromeda to be chained to the rocks, and there we must leave her, in imminent danger of being killed by the scourge of the country, while we pick up another thread of

a

Minerva, he severed her

ture as hateful to herself as to the rest of the world.

quite intolerable, Cepheus, the

dectes,

mercy and forced them to tell him sleeping, and with one his weapon, while gazing at her

He found Medusa

reflection in the shield of

the coast of the country in order to punish Cassi-

rescued by a fisherman,

winged

set out to find

head from her body and put an end

such a degree that they persuaded the ruler of

When

pair of

intercepting the eye in transit, Perseus

at his

quick stroke of

the waters to send a horrible sea monster to ravage

opeia for her vanity.

By

another.

was beautiful and was too vain about it. She would sit by the hour, combing her lovely hair and gazing at herself in a mirror. One day she boasted that even the sea nymphs were not as beautiful as she, and the word got to these maidens, who were provoked by it

was a

Medusa. He had who had only one eye among them which they passed from one to

as

Cassiopeia, a queen of Ethiopia

it

to ask the Graeae, three ugly sisters

the North Star.

Above

second loan of great importance

Thus equipped, he

hanging down from

is

A

the god Mercury;

sandals, to speed Perseus on his journey.

its

handle, beginning another round; the Little Dipper,

gaze north,

Perseus set out to destroy this wretched

creature, he

fo-mal-hawt.

Procyon

now

living things.

received

Perseus told his friends to turn their heads; he then

to

was sent to slay had once been a compare features with those of the goddess Minerva. The jealous goddess had taken Medusa's charms

Medusa from the bag, exposed it unwelcome guests, and thereby changed

pulled the head of to

the

them

all to statues.

Perseus gave the head of

40

Medusa

to Minerva,

who

HldON 9NIHOOT

MAP

NO. 12

.-7 MOfVW vsun

\00VdQ/

V,/ •

5£8!Wm\; Hiaoti

•