Mira. Mythology. Queries. Description. Pleiades and but not directly in line with them. marks the extremity of a flipper. A line from a to 7, when extended 10° further westward, nearly strikes a Piscium. It A little more than half way from 5 to 7 lies ». This star has received the proper name Mira, the Wonderful, because of the remarkable changes of its brightness. is visible to the naked eye only three months in a year; on one occasion in the eighteenth century it became as bright as a first magnitude star. is one of the most rapidly moving stars known. It is traveling across the kite toward, which it will reach in 19,000 years, if it keeps on at a uniform rate. Cetus is the sea-monster, frequently called “the Whale," that was to devour Andromeda, by order of Neptune. But Perseus intercepted and killed him. Which is the brighter, a or ß? Does the naked eye show that consists of more than one star? Less than half a degree from lies a star of the fifth magnitude; does it lie within the kite? Taurus. Taurus, the Bull, is noteworthy because it contains the Pleiades, the Hyades, and the first magnitude star Aldebaran. It resembles Pegasus, in that only its head and fore shoulders have reached the sky. Nevertheless it makes a brave show of charging at Orion, the mighty hunter, of whom we have still to learn. The Pleiades are readily recognized. They are 25° east of a Arietis. Ten degrees east of the Pleiades, and less than that distance south is a V-shaped figure, which constitutes the face of the Bull, and contains Aldebaran. The horns are between 15° and 20° long, their tips being 3 and (Fig. 21). The V-shaped group is called the Hyades. Both the Pleiades and the Hyades should be examined with an opera-glass, as they contain many stars, which are thus brought out well. Six of the Pleiades should reveal themselves to the unaided eye. On a good night, when the moon is below the horizon, a dozen stars may be seen by an acute eye. Alcyone, the brightest of the Pleiades, Alcyone. was once surmised to be the center of the universe, but the theory had no sufficient foundation and was soon abandoned. Photography has shown that shreds of B Aldebaran a FIG. 21.-TAURUS. nebulosity cling to many of the Pleiades, as if they were the remnants of an original nebula from which the cluster has been evolved. In the eye of the Bull glows a, which is usually called by its Arabic name Aldebaran. Its distance from us, measures, is about 100 according to some of the latest millions of millions of miles. Taurus, in common with the majority of the constellations of the zodiac, is one of the ancient Egyptian star Aldebaran. Mythology. Queries. Description. groups, and was associated with the bull Apis. The His What is the color of Aldebaran? What star in the V is double to the naked eye? Is any one of the Pleiades double, as seen with an opera-glass? Orion. One who can look upon this magnificent constellation without a thrill of delight has no eye for the beauties of the heavens. At 8 p. m. in the middle of February it is on the meridian in the south, half way from the horizon to the zenith. It resembles the figure of the mighty hunter, who stands facing us (Fig. 22); with his right hand he brandishes a club, with which he is about to smite charging Taurus full in the face. The top of the club is marked by two stars of the fifth magnitude, 21⁄2° apart, which point nearly at Tauri, which is 5° west of them, at the top of one of the Bull's horns. The belt of the giant is marked by the three second magnitude stars 8,, and . The length of the belt, which is often called the Ell and Yard, is 3°; it points westward toward the Pleiades, and eastward toward Sirius, the brightest of the fixed stars. On either side of the belt, at distances of about 10°, lie Betelgeuse in the right shoulder, and Rigel in the left foot. These are respectively a and ately above it; a good eye sees in the sword four faint stars, in a row. The first star above is 0, which is involved in the great nebula of Orion. It has a hazy appearance to the naked eye. The celestial " Betelgeuse 31 Rigel FIG. 22.-ORION. equator passes nearly through 8, the uppermost star in the belt. The sword. Betelgeuse and Rigel must be bodies of amazing mag- Betelgeuse nitude, for they are so far away that astronomers have and Rigel. not been able to measure their distances; yet they are among the brightest of the stars. It is safe to say that their distances exceed 200 million million miles. The great nebula, which is situated in the sword, The great is the most marvelous object of its kind in the entire nebula. Mythology. Queries. Description. sky. Even an opera-glass reveals a little of the central portion of it; in a large telescope its magnificence baffles description. In viewing it with a large telescope it is well to point the telescope just west of the nebula, and allow it to drift through the field of view. 0, which is involved in the nebula, is a sextuple star; the four brightest stars in it have received the name of the Trapezium. The Milky Way runs hard by Orion, and has apparently besprinkled it with a shower of starry spray. The entire constellation, seen through an opera-glass, is well spangled with faint stars. Orion was a handsome giant and great hunter; he led an unhappy life, on account of his beauty and accomplishments. He lost his eyesight in consequence of his first love affair; after he recovered it by looking full at the rising sun, Aurora, the goddess of the dawn, fell in love with him and carried him off. According to another account no less a personage than Diana, whose heart was supposed to be Cupid proof, became enamored of him. Her indignant brother Apollo took occasion one fine day to tease her about her skill in archery, and asserted that she could not hit a certain shining mark, which bobbed on a distant wave. hit it, and lo! it was Orion's head. She What is the color of Betelgeuse? What is the color of Rigel? Does the middle star in the belt lie above or below a line connecting the other two? Are there two stars, or three, in a line a degree south of the belt, and parallel to it, the line being as long as the belt? Auriga. A little less than half way from Bellatrix (7 Orionis) to Polaris is Capella, a first magnitude star, which is the |