A Field Book of the Stars

Part 1

Produced by Audrey Longhurst, Christine D. and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

Transcriber's note:

The transcription schemes for characters that could not be used in a plain text version of this text have been listed at the end of this file under the heading Transcriber's Notes.

A FIELD BOOK OF THE STARS

WILLIAM TYLER OLCOTT

Second Edition, revised and enlarged

WITH FIFTY DIAGRAMS

G.P. PUTNAM'S SONS NEW YORK AND LONDON The Knickerbocker Press

COPYRIGHT, 1907 BY WILLIAM TYLER OLCOTT COPYRIGHT, 1914 BY WILLIAM TYLER OLCOTT (For Second Edition)

Printed in the United States of America

INTRODUCTION.

Considering the ease with which a knowledge of the constellations can be acquired, it seems a remarkable fact that so few are conversant with these time-honored configurations of the heavens. Aside from a knowledge of "the Dipper" and "the Pleiades," the constellations to the vast majority, are utterly unknown.

To facilitate and popularize if possible this fascinating recreation of star-gazing the author has designed this field-book. It is limited in scope solely to that purpose, and all matter of a technical or theoretical nature has been omitted.

The endeavor has been to include in these pages only such matter as the reader can observe with the naked eye, or an opera-glass. Simplicity and brevity have been aimed at, the main idea being that whatever is bulky or verbose is a hindrance rather than a help when actually engaged in the observation of the heavens.

The constellations embraced in this manual are only those visible from the average latitude of the New England and Middle States, and owe their place in the particular season in which they are found to the fact that in that season they are favorably situated for observation.

With this brief explanatory note of the purpose and design of the book, the author proceeds to outline the scheme of study.

SCHEME OF STUDY.

The table of contents shows the scheme of study to be pursued, and to facilitate the work it is desirable that the student follow the therein circumscribed order.

A knowledge on the part of the reader of Ursa Major, or "the Dipper" as it is commonly called, and "the Pleiades," the well-known group in Taurus, is presupposed by the author.

With this knowledge as a basis, the student is enabled in any season to take up the study of the constellations. By following out the order dictated, he will in a few nights of observation be enabled to identify the various configurations making up the several constellations that are set apart for study in that particular season.

A large plate, showing the appearance of the heavens at a designated time on the first night of the quarter, is inserted before each season's work. This should be consulted by the student before he makes an observation, in order that he may obtain a comprehensive idea of the relative position of the constellations, and also know in what part of the heavens to locate the constellation which he wishes to identify.

A knowledge of one constellation enables the student to determine the position of the next in order. In this work, the identification of each constellation depends on a knowledge of what precedes, always bearing in mind the fact that each season starts as a new and distinct part to be taken by itself, and has no bearing on that which comes before.

CONTENTS

PAGE

INTRODUCTION iii

SCHEME OF STUDY v

The Constellations of Spring.

MAP OF THE HEAVENS 9 P.M., APRIL FIRST 3

Part 2

1. URSA MAJOR 4

2. URSA MINOR 6 Located by the pointer stars in Ursa Major.

3. GEMINI 8 Located by a line drawn through designated stars in Ursa Major.

4. AURIGA 10 Located in the same manner as Gemini.

5. CANCER 12 Located by a line drawn from Auriga to Gemini and prolonged.

6. HYDRA 14 The head of Hydra is to be seen just below Cancer.

7. LEO 16 Located by a line drawn from Gemini to Cancer and prolonged.

8. COMA BERENICES 18 Position indicated by drawing a line through designated stars in Leo.

9. CANIS MINOR 20 Located by a line drawn from Auriga to Gemini and prolonged.

10. CORVUS 22 Located by a line drawn from Ursa Minor through Ursa Major and prolonged.

11. CRATER 24 Located south of Leo and just west of Corvus.

METEORIC SHOWERS, APRIL TO JULY 26

The Constellations of Summer.

MAP OF THE HEAVENS 9 P.M., JULY FIRST 31

12. DRACO 32 Lies between Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, coiling about the latter.

13. LYRA 34 Vega, its brightest star, is 12 S.W. of the Dragon's head.

14. CYGNUS 36 Deneb, its brightest star, is about 20 east of Vega.

15. AQUILA 38 Located by a line drawn from the Dragon's head through Vega and prolonged.

16. DELPHINUS 40 Located about 10 northeast of Altair in Aquila.

17. SAGITTARIUS 42 Located by a line drawn from Cygnus to Aquila and prolonged.

18. OPHIUCHUS AND SERPENS 44 Located by a line drawn from Delphinus to Aquila and prolonged.

19. SCORPIUS 46 Located just under Ophiuchus, and west of Sagittarius.

20. LIBRA 48 Located about 15 west of the head of Scorpius.

21. CORONA BOREALIS 50 Located just above the head of Serpens.

22. HERCULES 52 Located by lines drawn from either Vega or Altair to Corona.

23. BO[:O]TES 54 Located just west of the Crown. Arcturus, its brightest star, is about 30 southeast of [[^e]] Ursae Majoris.

24. VIRGO 56 Spica, its brightest star, is located by a line drawn from Antares in Scorpius through in Libra and prolonged about 20.

25. CANES VENATICI 58 Cor Caroli, its brightest star, is about 17 south of Alioth in Ursa Major.

Part 3

METEORIC SHOWERS, JULY TO OCTOBER 60

The Constellations of Autumn.

MAP OF THE HEAVENS 9 P.M., OCTOBER FIRST 65

26. CASSIOPEIA 66 Located by a line drawn from Ursa Major through the Pole star, the position of which is indicated by the pointer stars and Ursae Majoris.

27. CEPHEUS 68 Located by pointer stars in Cassiopeia.

28. PEGASUS 70 The great square of Pegasus is located by a line drawn from Polaris to Cassiopeia and prolonged.

29. ANDROMEDA 72 The star Alpheratz in Andromeda is at the northeast corner of the great square of Pegasus.

30. PERSEUS 74 Lies 9 east of Andromedae.

31. PISCES 76 The Circlet in Pisces is to be seen just below Pegasus.

32. TRIANGULUM 78 A line drawn from Pegasus to Perseus passes through in Triangulum.

33. AQUARIUS 80 The position of the water jar of Aquarius is determined by pointer stars in Pegasus.

34. CAPRICORNUS 82 The head of the Sea Goat is located by a line drawn from Pegasi through and Pegasi and prolonged about 25.

35. ARIES 84 Lies just south of Triangulum. A line drawn from Andromedae through Trianguli points out Arietis.

36. CETUS 86 The head of Cetus lies about 20 southeast of Aries.

37. MUSCA 88 Located between Triangulum and Aries.

METEORIC SHOWERS, OCTOBER TO JANUARY 90

The Constellations of Winter.

MAP OF THE HEAVENS 9 P.M., JANUARY FIRST 95

38. TAURUS 96 Contains the celebrated and unmistakable group, The Pleiades, to be seen almost overhead in the early evening during the Winter months.

39. ORION 98 The tips of the horns of the Bull are pointer stars to Betelgeuze, in Orion.

40. LEPUS 100 Located just below Orion.

41. COLUMBA 102 Located south of Lepus, close to the horizon.

42. CANIS MAJOR 104 Located by a line drawn from the stars forming Orion's girdle.

43. ARGO NAVIS 106 Located by a line drawn from Orion to Canis Major and prolonged 18.

44. MONOCEROS 108 Located just east of Orion.

45. ERIDANUS 110 Located just west of Rigel, in Orion.

METEORIC SHOWERS, JANUARY TO APRIL 112

THE PLANETS 115

Part 4

THE MILKY WAY 124

THE MOTIONS OF THE STARS 126

METEORS, OR SHOOTING STARS 130

NAMES OF THE STARS AND THEIR MEANINGS 133

INDEX 159

THE DIAGRAMS.

The diagrams, it will be observed, are grouped under the seasons, and they indicate the positions of the constellations as they appear at 9 o'clock P.M. in mid-season.

To facilitate finding and observing the constellations, the student should face in the direction indicated in the text. This applies to all constellations excepting those near the zenith.

The four large plates are so arranged that the observer is supposed to be looking at the southern skies. By turning the plate about from left to right, the eastern, northern, and western skies are shown successively.

On many of the diagrams the position of nebulae is indicated. These are designated by the initial letter of the astronomer who catalogued them, preceded by his catalogue number, as for instance 8 M. signifies nebula number 8 in Messier's catalogue.

The magnitudes assigned to the stars in the diagrams are derived from the Harvard Photometry. When a star is midway between two magnitudes the numeral is underlined, thus 2, indicates a star of magnitude 2.5.

Continue reading A Field Book of the Stars free in the Wunder reader →