Part 4 (1/2)

ANTINOS]

DELPHINUS (del-fi-nus)--THE DOLPHIN, OR JOB'S COFFIN. (Face Southeast.)

LOCATION.--The little cl.u.s.ter of five stars forming Delphinus is to be seen about 10 northeast of Altair, and, though there are no bright stars in the group, it can hardly escape notice. A line drawn from Vega to Albireo, and prolonged about 20, strikes the star e in the tail of the Dolphin. The four other stars of prominence in the constellation are a little above e, and form a diamond-shaped figure.

The little asterisms Sagitta, the Arrow, and Vulpecula and Anser, the Fox and Goose, are shown just above Delphinus.

Delphinus is also called Job's Coffin. The origin of this appellation is unknown.

In Greece, Delphinus was the Sacred Fish, the sky emblem of philanthropy. The Arabs called it the ”Riding Camel.”

The star ? Delphini is a fine double for a small telescope with a marked and beautiful contrast of colors.

The names for a and reversed spell ”Nicolaus Venator,” the Latinized name of the a.s.sistant to the astronomer Piazzi.

[Ill.u.s.tration: DELPHINUS]

SAGITTARIUS (saj-i-ta-ri-us)--THE ARCHER. (Face South.)

LOCATION.--A line drawn from Deneb, in Cygnus, to Altair, in Aquila, and prolonged an equal distance, terminates in Sagittarius about 10 east of its distinguis.h.i.+ng characteristic, the Milk Dipper.

Sagittarius is one of the signs of the zodiac, and lies between Capricornus, on the east, and Scorpius, on the west.

The bow is easily traced out. ? marks the arrow's tip.

Note the star , which serves to point out the Winter Solstice, where the solst.i.tial colure intersects the ecliptic.

On a clear night, the pretty cl.u.s.ter known as Corona Australis, the Southern Crown, can be seen about 10 below the bowl of the Milk Dipper. Its lucida, the fourth-magnitude star Alfecca Meridiana culminates at 9 P.M., August 13th.

Sagittarius is about due south, in a splendid position for observation, during the month of July, between the hours of nine-thirty and eleven o'clock P.M.

Observe with an opera-gla.s.s the fine cl.u.s.ters 20 M. and 8 M., also an almost circular black void near the stars ? and d, and to the east of this spot another of narrow crescent form.

The stars f and ? in the Milk Dipper are moving in opposite directions. Future generations therefore will not have this time-honored figure to guide them in locating the Archer in their summer night skies.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SAGITTARIUS]

OPHIUCHUS (of-i-u-kus)--THE SERPENT BEARER, AND SERPENS. (Face Southwest.)

LOCATION.--A line drawn from e Delphini to ? Aquil, prolonged about 30, strikes the star Ras Alhague, the brightest star in the constellation and the head of Ophiuchus. It is at one angle of an isosceles triangle, of which Altair is at the apex, and Vega the third angle.

Two constellations are here combined. Ophiuchus is represented as an old man, holding in his hands a writhing serpent.