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Page 57
[Illustration: Fig. 67.--Circumpolar Constellations. Always visible.
In this position.--January 20th, at 10 o'clock; February 4th, at
9 o'clock; and February 19th, at 8 o'clock.]
The human mind has always been ready to deify and throne in the
skies the heroes that labor for others. Both Perseus and Hercules
are divine by one parent, and human by the other. They go up and
down the earth, giving deliverance to captives, and breaking every
yoke. They also seek to purge away all evil; they slay dragons,
gorgons, devouring monsters, cleanse the foul places of earth,
and one of them so wrestles with death as to win a victim from his
grasp. Finally, by [Page 201] an ascension in light, they go up to
be in light forever. They are not ideally perfect. They right wrong
by slaying wrong-doers, rather than by being crucified themselves;
they are just murderers; but that only plucks the fruit from the
tree of evil. They never attempted to infuse a holy life. They
punished rather than regenerated. It must be confessed, also, that
they were not sinless. But they were the best saviors the race could
imagine, and are examples of that perpetual effort of the human mind
to incarnate a Divine Helper who shall labor and die for the good of
men.
[Page 202]
[Illustration: Fig. 68.--Algol is on the Meridian, 51� South of
Pole.--At 10 o'clock, December 7th; 9 o'clock, December 22d; 8
o'clock, January 5th.]
_Equatorial Constellations._
If we turn our backs on Polaris on the 10th of November, at 10
o'clock in the evening, and look directly overhead, we shall see
the beautiful constellation of Andromeda. Together with the square
of Pegasus, it makes another enormous dipper. The star a Alpheratz
is in her face, the three at the left cross her breast. b and the
two above mark the girdle of her loins, and g is in the foot. Perseus
is near enough for help; and Cetus, the sea-monster, is far enough
away to do no harm. Below, and east of Andromeda, is the Ram of
the golden fleece, recognizable by the three stars in an acute
triangle. The brightest is called Arietis, or Hamel. East of this
are the Pleiades, and the V-shaped Hyades in Taurus, or the Bull.
The Pleiades rise about 9 o'clock on the evening of the 10th of
September, and at 3 o'clock A.M. on June 10th.
[Page 203]
[Illustration: Fig. 69.--Capella (45� from the Pole) and Rigel
(100�) are on the Meridian at 8 o'clock February 7th, 9 o'clock
January 22d, and at 10 o'clock January 7th.]
Fig. 69 extends east and south of our last map. It is the most
gorgeous section of our heavens. (See the Notes to the Frontispiece.)
Note the triangle, 26� on a side, made by Betelguese, Sirius, and
Procyon. A line from Procyon to Pollux leads quite near to Polaris.
Orion is the mighty hunter. Under his feet is a hare, behind him
are two dogs, and before him is the rushing bull. The curve of
stars to the right of Bellatrix, g, represents his shield of the
Nemean lion's hide. The three stars of his belt make a measure
3� long; the upper one, Mintaker, is less than 30' south of the
equinoctial. The ecliptic passes between Aldebaran and the Pleiades.
Sirius rises about 9 o'clock P.M. on the 1st of December, and about
4 o'clock A.M. on the 16th of August. Procyon rises about half an
hour earlier.
[Page 204]
[Illustration: Fig. 70--Regulus comes on the Meridian, 79� south
from the Pole, at 10 o'clock March 23d, 9 o'clock April 8th, and
at 8 o'clock April 23d.]
Fig. 70 continues eastward. Note the sickle in the head and neck
of the Lion. The star b is Denebola, in his tail. Arcturus appears
by the word Bootes, at the edge of the map. These two stars make
a triangle with Spica, about 35� on a side. The geometric head of
Hydra is easily discernible east of Procyon: The star g in the
Virgin is double, with a period of 145 years. z is just above the
equinoctial. There is a fine nebula two-thirds of the way from d to
ae, and a little above the line connecting the two. Coma Berenices
is a beautiful cluster of faint stars. Spica rises at 9 o'clock on
the 10th of February, at 5 o'clock A.M. on the 6th of November.
[Page 205]
[Illustration: Fig. 7l.--Arcturus comes to the Meridian, 70� from
the Pole, at 10 o'clock May 25th, 9 o'clock June 9th, and at 8
o'clock June 25th.]
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