LIBRA (lī'-bra)-THE SCALES. (Face Southwest.) LOCATION.-Libra is one of the signs of the Zodiac, and lies between Virgo and Scorpio. Its two chief stars, (a) and (ß), may be readily recognized west of and above the head of the Scorpion. The star (1) Libræ is about 20 degrees northwest of Antares in the Scorpion. Spica in Virgo, a star of the first magnitude, is a little over 20 degrees northwest of (a) Libræ. A quadrilateral is formed by the stars a, ẞ, y, z, which charac、 terizes the constellation. The star (a) Libræ looks elongated. An opera-glass shows that it has a fifth-magnitude companion. (B) is a pale green star. Its color is very unusual. Lyra, Corona, and Hercules are almost directly overhead in the early evening, during July and August, and can best be observed in a reclining position. Thus placed, with an opera-glass to assist the vision, you may study to the best advantage the wonderful sight spread out before you, and search depths only measured by the power of your glass. CORONA BOREALIS (kō-rō'nä bō-rē-a'-lis)-THE NORTHERN CROWN. LOCATION.-A line drawn from Deneb, in Cygnus, to Vega, in Lyra, and projected a little over 40 degrees, terminates in the Crown, which lies between Hercules and Boötes, and just above the diamond-shaped group of stars in the head of the Serpent. The characteristic semicircle resembling a crown is easily traced out. The principal stars are of the fourth magnitude excepting Gemma, which is a second-magnitude star. Gemma, sometimes called Alphacca, forms with the stars Seginus and Arcturus, in Boötes, an isosceles triangle, the vertex of which is at Arcturus. A line drawn from Vega in Lyra to Arcturus in Boötes passes through Corona. The star letters in Corona spell "Bagdei." Note "r" Coronæ, a star that appeared suddenly May 12, 1866, as a second-magnitude star. It was known as the "Blaze Star" and was visible to the naked eye only eight days, fading at that time to a tenth-magnitude star, and then rising to an eighth-magnitude, where it still remains. HERCULES (her'-kū-lēz)—THE KNEELER. LOCATION.-A line drawn from either Vega, in Lyra, or Altair, in Aquila, to Gemma, in Corona Borealis, passes through this constellation. The left foot of Hercules rests on the head of Draco, on the north, and his head nearly touches the head of Ophiuchus on the south. The star in the head of Hercules, Ras Algethi, is about 25 degrees southeast of Corona Borealis. Ras Alhague, the head of Ophiuchus, and Ras Algethi are only about 5 degrees apart. The cluster 13 M, the Halley Nebula, can be easily seen in an opera-glass. It contains fourteen thousand stars, according to Herschel. Hercules occupies the part of the heavens toward which the sun is bearing the earth and planets at the rate of one hundred and sixty million miles a year. On a clear night the asterism Cerberus, the three-headed dog, which Hercules holds in his hand, can be seen. The belt of Hercules lies just east of the Crown. This constellation is said to have been an object of worship in Phoenicia. The principal stars in the constellation form a rude letter "H" the short cross-stroke being the imaginary line drawn from ε to S. |