The music of the spheres : $b A nature lover's astronomyGrondal, Florence Armstrong
Science
The music of the spheres : $b A nature lover's astronomy
Grondal, Florence Armstrong
Astronomy
These brightest stars, which are called first magnitude stars, should be
among one's first star acquaintances, for they serve conveniently as
guides to locate the other stars, which are also classified according to
magnitudes. The second, third, fourth and lesser magnitudes are each
progressively two and a half times lower in the scale of brightness. The
smallest stars discernible to the unaided eye of ordinary vision are
stars of the fifth magnitude, although a sharp eye can discern those of
the sixth and even of the seventh magnitude. All below this are
telescopic stars. With a 60-inch reflector 219,000,000 stars are
visible. The Mount Wilson 101-inch telescope brings the number up to
319,000,000. Stars are most dense in the region of the heavens called
the Milky Way. Sir William Herschel observed 116,000 go past the field
of his telescope in a quarter of an hour while directed at the densest
part of the Milky Way.
This vast collection of stars differ not only in brightness but also in
color.
The colors of the stars are brought out most vividly in the telescope if
the observer knows just where to look for those which are the most
pronounced. Some of the large stars are characterized by the most
exquisite coloring,--which is sometimes further enhanced, as a glass
will reveal, by a charming companion of a flamboyant or a delicate hue.
Some of these "companions" are green, blue, orange, purple, gray, maroon
and other colors, but such gayety is the exception rather than the rule.
About three-fourths of the stars are white or bluish-white and nearly
one-fourth of them are varying shades of yellow. The star Arcturus is of
the deepest shade of yellow while the star Spica is so exceedingly white
that poets and writers from the earliest times have spoken of the
"purity" of its rays.
Although every star visible to the unaided eye may be identified by a
Greek letter or a number, most of the brightest stars have individual
names.
These individual names were given by the Arabian astronomers who
nurtured astronomy through the Dark Ages when this science was almost
forgotten by the rest of the world. These odd names have a certain
appeal and many of them possess rippling musical qualities which add to
the plain word as twinkles add to the star. It is a pleasure to say
'Capella,' or 'Antares,' when we see the gleam of the "Shepherd's Star,"
or the glow on the "Heart of the Scorpion"; or to call such jewels as
shine on "Orion's Belt," 'Mintaka,' 'Alnilam' and 'Alnitak.' After the
introduction one naturally takes a particular interest in 'Capella,' or
'Antares,' or 'Mintaka,' or 'Alnilam,' and continues to refer to it
familiarly by name.
Each star not only attains a certain charm and individuality by having
its own particular name, number, magnitude, color and pathway, but
it also forms a part of a highly interesting group called a
constellation.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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