ASTRONOMY
WITH AN OPERA-GLASS
A POPULAR INTRODUCTION TO THE
STUDY OF THE STARRY HEAVENS WITH THE
SIMPLEST OF OPTICAL INSTRUMENTS
WITH MAPS AND DIRECTIONS TO FACILITATE THE RECOGNITION
OF THE CONSTELLATIONS AND THE PRINCIPAL STARS
VISIBLE TO THE NAKED EYE
BY
GARRETT P. SERVISS
| "Known are their laws; in harmony unroll |
| The nineteen-orbed cycles of the Moon. |
| And all the signs through which Night whirls her car |
| From belted Orion back to Orion and his dauntless Hound, |
| And all Poseidon's, all high Zeus' stars |
| Bear on their beams true messages to man." |
| Poste's Aratus. |
THIRD EDITION
NEW YORK
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
London: Caxton House, Paternoster Square
1890
Copyright, 1888,
By D APPLETON AND COMPANY.
iii
TO THE READER
In the pages that follow, the author has endeavored toencourage the study of the heavenly bodies by pointing outsome of the interesting and marvelous phenomena of the universethat are visible with little or no assistance from opticalinstruments, and indicating means of becoming acquaintedwith the constellations and the planets. Knowing that anopera-glass is capable of revealing some of the most beautifulsights in the starry dome, and believing that many personswould be glad to learn the fact, he set to work with such aninstrument and surveyed all the constellations visible in thelatitude of New York, carefully noting everything that itseemed might interest amateur star-gazers. All the objectsthus observed have not been included in this book, lest themultiplicity of details should deter or discourage the veryreaders for whom it was specially written. On the otherhand, there is nothing described as visible with an opera-glassor a field-glass which the author has not seen with an instrumentof that description, and which any person possessing eye-sightof average quality and a competent glass should not beable to discern.
But, in order to lend due interest to the subject, and placeit before the reader in a proper light and true perspective,many facts have been stated concerning the objects described,the ascertainment of which has required the aid of powerfultelescopes, and to observers with such instruments is reservedthe noble pleasure of confirming with their own eyes thoseivwonderful discoveries which the looker with an opera-glasscan not hope to behold unless, happily, he should be spurredon to the possession of a telescope. Yet even to glimpse dimlythese distant wonders, knowing what a closer view would reveal,is a source of no mean satisfaction, while the celestialphenomena that lie easily within reach of an opera-glass aresufficient to furnish delight and instruction for many anevening.
It should be said that the division of the stars used in thisbook into the "Stars of Spring," "Stars of Summer," "Starsof Autumn," and "Stars of Winter," is purely arbitrary, andintended only to indicate the seasons when certain constellationsare best situated for observation or most conspicuous.
The greater part of the matter composing this volume appearedoriginally in a seri