Astronomy with an Opera-glass: A Popular Introduction to the Study of the Starry Heavens with the Simplest of Optical Instruments — John Shaqi
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
When near the horizon, Arcturus has a remarkably reddish color; but,
after it has attained a high elevation in the sky, it appears rather a
deep yellow than red. There is a scattered cluster of small stars
surrounding Arcturus, forming an admirable spectacle with an opera-glass
on a clear night. To see these stars well, the glass should be slowly
moved about. Many of them are hidden by the glare of Arcturus. The
little group of stars near the end of the handle of the Great Dipper,
or, what is the same thing, the tail of the Great Bear, marks the
upraised hand of Booetes. Between Berenice's Hair and the tail of the
Bear you will see a small constellation called Canes Venatici, the
Hunting-Dogs. On the old star-maps Booetes is represented as holding
these dogs with a leash, while they are straining in chase of the Bear.
You will find some pretty groupings of stars in this constellation.
And now we will turn to the east. Our next map shows Cygnus, a
constellation especially remarkable for the large and striking figure
that it contains, called the Northern Cross, Aquila the Eagle, the
Dolphin, and the little asterisms Sagitta and Vulpecula. In consulting
the map, the observer is supposed to face toward the east. In Aquila
the curious arrangement of two stars on either side of the chief star of
the constellation, called Altair, at once attracts the eye. Within a
circle including the two attendants of Altair you will probably be able
to see with the naked eye only two or three stars in addition to the
three large ones. Now turn your glass upon the same spot, and you will
see eight or ten times as many stars, and with a field-glass still more
can be seen. Watch the star marked Eta ([eta]), and you will find that
its light is variable, being sometimes more than twice as bright as at
other times. Its changes are periodical, and occupy a little over a
week.
The Eagle is fabled to have been the bird that Jupiter kept beside his
throne. A constellation called Antinous, invented by Tycho Brahe, is
represented on some maps as occupying the lower portion of the space
given to Aquila.
The Dolphin is an interesting little constellation, and the ancients
said it represented the very animal on whose back the famous musician
Arion rode through the sea after his escape from the sailors who tried
to murder him. But some modern has dubbed it with the less romantic name
of Job's Coffin, by which it is sometimes called. It presents a very
pretty sight to the opera-glass.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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