LEO.-VIRGO. LEO. 66 Leo, the Lion, the fifth sign in the order of the zodiac, is one of the principal constellations which adorn the midnight sky of spring. It is bounded, generally, on the north by Leo Minor, on the west by Cancer, on the south by Sextans, and on the east by Virgo. The principal star, Regulus, is also designated Cor Leonis, or the Lion's Heart. This star was considered by the ancients as truly royal. By the Arabs it was denominated a fiery trigon," or lion's heart, as well as a kingly star. Wyllyam Salysbury, writing in 1552, tells us that "the Lyon's herte is called of some men the Royall Starre, for they that are borne under it are thought to have a royall nativitie." This royal star is very prominent in the spring diagrams, by the help of which there can be but little difficulty in finding it in the heavens. Regulus, Gamma Leonis, and a few other stars of smaller magnitude, make a group whose form gives a very fair representation of a Sickle. It is from a point near these stars that a great majority of the meteors observed during the memorable star-showers of November, 1866, 1867, and 1868, were found to radiate. The Sickle is not the only attractive group of stars in Leo. Denebola, in the extremity of the Lion's tail, and Delta Leonis, form, with Regulus and Gamma Leonis, a large trapezium. A mere glance in the direction of Leo cannot fail to identify each of these stars; but, if not, then this trapezium can be readily found by reference to the universally known pointers in the Great Bear, which serve to indicate the position of Polaris in one direction, as we have before remarked, while the same line produced in the opposite direction will pass through Leo. There are a great number of interesting telescopic objects in this constellation, visible with the aid of ordinary telescopes, especially double and variable stars. One of the latter, R Leonis, is remarkable for its blood-red appearance, which is very striking to the eye when viewed for the first time through a good telescope. Leo contains about a hundred stars visible to the unassisted eye. VIRGO. The constellation Virgo, the Virgin, which occupies a considerable portion of the sky west of the meridian at midnight in April, and east of the meridian in the earlier hours of the evening in that month, is the sixth sign of the zodiac. It was popularly considered in former times as the sign belonging to the harvest season, because when the Sun enters it the cereal crops are ripe for the sickle. In most representations of Virgo, therefore, she appears sometimes as Ceres, and sometimes as an angel, with ears of corn in her hand, defined in the heavens by the position of the bright star Spica. On this subject, Admiral Smyth has remarked that "we are told that among the Orientals she was represented as a sunburnt damsel, with an ear of corn in her hand, like a gleaner of the fields; but the Greeks, Romans, and moderns have concurred in depicting her as a winged angel, holding wheat ears, typical of the harvest, which came on in the time of the Greeks as the Sun approached Spica. She forms a conspicuous and extensive asterism, replete with astro nomical interest." Virgo is bounded on the east by Libra, on the west by Leo, on the north by Bootes and Coma Berenices, and on the south by Corvus, Crater, and Hydra. The number of stars in Virgo, contained in Ptolemy's catalogue, is thirty-two, but Flamsteed has recorded one hundred and ten, and in Bode's Celestial Atlas four hundred and eleven are inserted. The most brilliant star in Virgo is Spica, which forms, as we have previously mentioned, almost an equilateral triangle with Denebola in the tail of Leo and Arcturus in Bootes. Spica may also be found by drawing a straight line from Beta Boëtis through Arcturus, but it may also be readily distinguished by its isolated appearance. Among other star references a long line drawn from Dubhe, in Ursa Major, through Gamma in the same constellation, will reach Spica. Or a line from Polaris, through Mizar, the star in the middle of the tail of the Great Bear, will also pass through Spica. The following lines will popularly guide the observer to the positions of several bright stars above the horizon at midnight during the spring months : "From the Pole star through Mizar glide With long and rapid flight, Descend, and see the Virgin's spike And mark what glorious forms are made By the gold harvest's ears, With Deneb west, Arcturus north, A triangle appears; While to the east a larger still, Th' observant eye will start, From Virgo's spike to Gemma bright, The principal remaining stars in Virgo can be easily identified between Spica and Denebola. They are, however, generally known only by a Greek letter attached to the name of the constellation. The first of these stars from Spica is Gamma Virginis, the two nearer the zenith are Delta and Epsilon, and the two west of Gamma are Eta and Beta. The last star is below Denebola. By far the most interesting object to astronomers in Virgo is acknowledged to be that extraordinary binary system known as Gamma Virginis. Its position can be identified in the heavens from the preceding explanation. This class of stars, above all others, exhibits to us the proof of the law of gravitation being as applicable in remote regions of the universe as in the comparatively smaller interval of space occupied by the members of our own solar system. It will not be out of place to remark here that double stars are very common in all directions of the heavens, that there is scarcely a constellation in which several are not to be found, and that the number of these objects catalogued by different observers amounts to several thousands. But ordinary double stars must not be confounded with those which have been proved by observation to belong to a common system, for many of the former are known to be only optically double. For example, two stars appearing to the naked eye as one object, but through a telescope as two, may be separated from each other by a distance as great as between any two stars in the heavens, though by accident they are viewed from the Earth in the same line of direction. These apparently double stars are consequently always observed in the same relative order, so that their telescopic measures of distance and angular position remain for ages without sensible alteration. But in the double stars known to be physically connected-hence their name of binary starsthese measures of distance and angular position are always changing more or less, and when observations are made at different epochs, the movements of the stars with respect to each other are very evident indeed. Sir John Herschel remarks that Iwe have the same evidence of their rotations about each other that we have of those of Uranus and Neptune about the Sun; and the correspondence between their calculated and observed places in such very elongated ellipses, must be admitted to carry with it proof of the prevalence of the Newtonian law of gravity in their systems, of the very same nature and cogency as that of the calculated and observed places of comets round the central body of our own." 66 As an example of a binary star, we could not select a more appropriate one for our purpose than Gamma Virginis, because it is one which has received constant attention since the beginning of the eighteenth century. When Mayer observed it in 1756, the distance between the two stars was found to be six and a half seconds of arc. Sir William Herschel, in 1780, observed this space to be one second smaller. From recorded observations since that time, the stars have been seen to approach each other gradually, till at length, in 1836, they were so close that the highest magnifying power, applied to the most celebrated telescopes, was unable to separate the two components. After this the star gradually opened, and in 1837 was again seen double when viewed through a good telescope. In 1840 the distance between the components was observed by the Rev. W. R. Dawes, who found it nearly a second and a half; in 1852, from observations made at the Royal Observatory, this distance had increased to upwards of three seconds; and from some excellent measures made by the Rev. R. Main, at Oxford, in 1864, the space between the two stars was equal to four seconds and a quarter. At the present time it slightly exceeds this quantity. In all probability in a few years hence the relative appearance of the stars in Gamma Virginis will be similar to that first recorded by Bradley in 1718, since which time one complete revolution will then have been made. This period, computed from the observations, is about 180 years. In the small diagram of Gamma Virginis we have given a selected number of the telescopic appearances of this beautiful star, which will possibly give a better idea of the relative movements of the components than by any further detailed description. LIBRA. Libra, the Balance, is the first autumnal sign, and the seventh in order of the twelve signs of the zodiac. This constellation is bounded on the east by Scorpio, on the south by Centaurus and Lupus, on the west by Virgo, and on the north principally by Serpens. According to Ptolemy, it contained only seventeen stars visible to the naked eye; but in the atlas of Bode, 180 are inserted. The position of the two scales is pointed out by the two principal stars, Alpha and Beta, the former being exactly midway between Spica and Antares. Alpha Libræ is of the third magnitude, and of a pale yellow colour, preceded by a star of the sixth magnitude. Beta Libræ, a pale emerald-coloured star, is of the second magnitude, situated a short distance to the north-east of Alpha. The Balance was considered of old to typify the equality of the autumnal days and nights, as well as the general uniformity of temperature at that season of the year. The sign of Libra has been the subject of a difference of opinion among astrologers, some of whom have placed it among their lucky signs, while others have classed it, owing to its proximity to Scorpio, among those least beneficial to human interests. An illustration of the latter has been gathered from an old illuminated almanack bearing the date of 1386, in which it is calmly stated that "whoso es born in yat syne sal be an ille doar and a traytor." Libra contains several interesting double and triple stars, and two clusters. One of the clusters, No. 5, Messier Libræ, is a beautiful object over the beam of the Balance. Through telescopes fitted with a low magnifying power, this superb cluster has the appearance of a round nebula. When Messier observed it first in 1764, he described it as such, adding the remark, "I am certain that it contains no star." But when Sir William Herschel, in May, 1791, directed his great forty-foot reflecting telescope to it, he found it resolved into separate stars, of which he counted no fewer than 200. At the same time, the central mass was so compressed, that he was not able to resolve that part of the cluster, so as to distinguish the different components. SCORPIO. Scorpio, the Scorpion, is the eighth sign in order of the zodiac. Of its reputed origin we have been informed by the ancient poets of Greece, that the Scorpion was sent by Diana to destroy Orion for interfering with the duties of her office. Ovid, however, tells us "that this Scorpion was produced by the Earth, to punish Orion's vanity for having boasted that there was not on the terraqueous globe any animal which he could not conquer." The autumnal season of the year has also been fitly represented by the Scorpion; for whereas the former produces in abundance all kinds of fruits which are frequently the parents of many diseases, so the latter, as he recedes on his path, is supposed to inflict all manner of wounds with his tail. Scorpio is bounded on the east by Sagitta SCORPIO.-SAGITTARIUS. rius, on the south by Lupus, Norma, and Ara, on the west by Libra, and on the north by Ophiuchus and Serpens. Antares, called also Cor Scorpii (the heart of the scorpion), is the chief star in this constellation, and is a small first-magnitude star, preceded by a very close companion of a bluish colour. Antares shines with a Antares shines with a deep red light, and may be found readily by drawing a line from Vega, through Ras Alague. "Through Ras Alague, Vega's beams direct th' inquiring eye, Where Scorpio's heart, Antares, decks the southern summer sky." Antares, with Aldebaran in Taurus, Regulus in Leo, and Fomalhaut in Piscis Australis, were looked upon by the ancient Persians as the guardian stars of the heavens, dividing the celestial sphere into four equal parts. When Aldebaran was in the vernal equinox, and the guardian of the eastern sky, Antares was in the autumnal equinox, with a like charge of the western sky. Regulus being near the summer, and Fomalhaut the winter solstice, these two stars overlooked the northern and southern portions of the heavens respectively. At the present date, these four stars no longer hold these prominent offices, as the equinoxes and solstices are now in very different parts of the heavens, on account of their retrogression, produced by what is technically called "the precession of the equinoxes." Scorpio is not a large, but it is a very brilliant constellation, especially when viewed from places south of the equator. Besides Antares, it contains Beta Scorpii, or Iklil, a star of the second magnitude, with an interesting close companion of the sixth magnitude. Scorpio also includes a great number of stars from the third to the fifth magnitudes. This general brilliancy was certain to attract the attention of the astrologers and soothsayers of the early and middle ages. On this subject, the late Admiral Smyth remarks, in his Celestial Cycle, that Scorpio was always looked at as a group of stars portending universal evil. He says "Scorpio attracted much notice from the corps of astrologers, with whom it was the accursed constellation,' and the baleful source of war and discord; for, besides its being accompanied by tempests when setting, it was of the watery triplicity, and the stinging symbol of autumnal diseases, as it winds along with its receding tail. But though stigmatised as 'the false sign' by seers of every degree, the redoubtable Gadbury, at whose birth it ascended, broke many a lance in its defence, and stoutly contended for its beneficial influences; and the alchymists were well assured that the transmutation of iron into gold could only be performed when the Sun was in that sign." SAGITTARIUS. Sagittarius, the Archer, is the third of the southern signs, and the ninth in the order of the zodiac. It can be recognised by eight stars forming two similar quadrangles, one of which is in the Milky Way. From their low altitude, however, they can only be seen distinctly on very clear nights, when near the meridian. In the middle ages, when the influence of astrologers was so great, and when no important undertaking was commenced without a previous consultation with the aspect of the stars, Sagittarius was generally |