Astronomy with an Opera-glass: A Popular Introduction to the Study of the Starry Heavens with the Simplest of Optical InstrumentsServiss, Garrett Putman
Science
Astronomy with an Opera-glass: A Popular Introduction to the Study of the Starry Heavens with the Simplest of Optical Instruments
Serviss, Garrett Putman
Astronomy
By consulting map No. 2 you will next be able to find the celebrated
star bearing the name of the Greek letter Gamma ([gamma]). If you had a
telescope, you would see this star as a close and beautiful double, of
contrasted colors. But it is optically double, even with an opera-glass.
You can not fail to see a small star near it, looking quite close if the
magnifying power of your glass is less than three times. You will be
struck by the surprising change of color in turning from Regulus to
Gamma--the former is white and the latter deep yellow. It will be well
to look first at one and then at the other, several times, for this is a
good instance of what you will meet with many times in your future
surveys of the heavens--a striking contrast of color in neighboring
stars. One can thus comprehend that there is more than one sense in
which to understand the Scriptural declaration that "one star differeth
from another in glory." The radiant point of the famous November
meteors, which, in 1833 and 1866, filled the sky with fiery showers, is
near Gamma. Turn next to the star in Leo marked Zeta ([zeta]). If your
glass is a pretty large and good one, and your eye keen, you will easily
see three minute companion stars keeping company with Zeta, two on the
southeast, and one, much closer, toward the north. The nearest of the
two on the south is faint, being only between the eighth and ninth
magnitude, and will probably severely test your powers of vision. Next
look at Epsilon ([epsilon]), and you will find near it two
seventh-magnitude companions, making a beautiful little triangle.
[Illustration: MAP 2.]
Away at the eastern end of the constellation, in the tail of the
imaginary Lion, upon whose breast shines Regulus, is the star Beta
([beta]) Leonis, also called Denebola. It is almost as bright as its
leader, Regulus, and you will probably be able to catch a tinge of blue
in its rays. South of Denebola, at a distance of nineteen minutes of
arc, or somewhat more than half the apparent diameter of the moon, you
will see a little star of the sixth magnitude, which is one of the
several "companions" for which Denebola is celebrated. There is another
star of the eighth magnitude in the same direction from Denebola, but at
a distance of less than five minutes, and this you may be able to
glimpse with a powerful field-glass, under favorable conditions. I have
seen it well with a field-glass of 1.6-inch aperture, and a magnifying
power of seven times. But it requires an experienced eye and steady
vision to catch this shy twinkler.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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