How shall I find Aquarius?
He has his foot on Fomalhaut, he leans back on Capricornus, and has
Pisces, the Fishes, on the other side.
What is the great star north of Capricornus?
That is Altair, in Aquila the Eagle, whose wings are spread over the
equator. Aquila is between Ophiuchus and Aquarius.
As we have got over Aquarius, and come to Pisces, which are over Cetus
the Whale, I suppose we are at Aries again.
We are. But I should like you to know that Pegasus, the Flying Horse,
is over Aquarius, and that the Swan and Lyre are between that and
Hercules, and north of the Eagle. Taking a line from the south pole
through the Whale’s tail, we have a bright star in the back of Pegasus,
called Algenib, not far from the junction of the equator and ecliptic
in Pisces.
The star beyond Algenib, further north, is larger, though.
Alpherat is its name, and it is one of the eyes of Andromeda, the lady
with the chains on her hands.
O, I know all about that story, father. The ancients said she was
fastened to a rock in the sea, and a monster was gnawing at her. But a
warrior, called Perseus, came with his sword and delivered her.
Then, as you have Andromeda’s eye, you can fancy the Zodiacal Fish
biting her, and Perseus with his sword to the left. There is a triangle
between Aries and Andromeda.
What a dazzling star that is, forming the north corner of a triangle
with Aldebaran and the Twins.
Yes, Capella, or the Little Kid, in the arms of Auriga, is certainly
very fine. Auriga’s foot is on the Bull’s head. Half-way from Alpherat
of Andromeda to Capella, is Medusa’s Head, just over the Pleiades.
We have gone round, I think, father, but I do wish I could see the old
Bear again.
You have only to imagine yourself following out a line from the Belt
through Castor and Pollux.
Yes, but I should have to dive down into the ocean to reach his claws.”
DOUBLE STARS.
“That wonderful tell-tale, the ‘telescope,’ reveals the double
character of some stars,” said Mr. Marple. “There are six thousand
stars which are thus double.
That is singular.
There are some in the Pleiades, in the Dog, in Orion, and in the
Southern Cross and Crown. But the most wonderful part of my story is
yet to come. Some of these double stars revolve round each other.
What! Great suns at a tremendous distance from one another, walk
round one another? Why, if they have planets round them, like our sun
has, these must have a fine double journey to make. How many of these
strange stars are there?
About 650 of them are Binary or revolving.
But which stands still to have the other revolving round it?
They both move, each one round the other.
A regular polka in the heavens, father. And yet I suppose they are not
just like a gentleman and his lady partner.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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