ASTRONOMICAL NOTES FOR FEBRUARY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15520, 30 January 1914, Page 5

ASTRONOMICAL NOTES FOR FEBRUARY.

BT S. STUART, BRITISH ASTRONOMICAL 1 ASSOCIATION. We are so used to, the names of, our months that it hardly ever strikes us what these actually represent, or how they have come down to us, or from what sources. So of the second month of our year, of which the name is derived from the Roman goddess Febria or Februa, whose office it was to preside over all sorts of purifications short -of those belonging to Cloacina. Among the .Romans the month had originally 29 days; but when it was decreed that their seventh month should bear a name derived from the Emperor Augustus, a day was taken from February and added to August to make it equal to July. It was in our February that the Romans held a feast called Februalia or Lupercalia, lasting from the 18th to the 28th; in which purifications were practised by the living, and a sort of expiatory sacrifices offered on behalf of the dead. Constellation Gemini. At 9 p.m. on the 15th there may be seen somewhat low down in the northern part of our skies, an irregular group of stars marked by two bright ones, and known as Gemini, or the Twins. Their heads are marked by two fine stars of the second magnitude, situated a little below a star of the first magnitude, which is known as Procyon, or the Little Dog. The two stars are known as Castor and Pollux; and it is probably because they are nearly equal in brilliancy that they have been called twins. Pollux is slightly the brighter of the two; but instead of being one star, the telescope shows it is made up of four. In the same way Castor is not one, but two; and is one of the finest double stars. But there is no real relation between the stars Castor and Pollux, which many ages ago must have occupied very different positions towards each other; since Castor is receding from our solar system at the rate of 28 miles per second, while Pollux approaches it at 40 miles in the same time. Story of Castor and Pollux. Of course this is a piece of Greek mythology, wherein Pollux was sometimes called Polydeuces; and the twins were the reputed sons of Tyndareus, king of Lacei daemon, and of Leda; or according to some, of Jupiter and Leda. The story has it that Leda brought forth two eggs; one of which contained Pollux and Helen, and the other Castor and Clytemnestra. Pollux and Helen were understood to be the children of Zeus or Jupiter, and therefore/immortal; while Castor and Clytemnestra were the children of Tyndareus, and accordingly mortal. With the usual dif--1 ference according to different writers, ' Homer's account is that both Castor and Pollux were the sons of Tyndareus, and i that Helen was the daughter of Zeus. i Probably these differences originated in i the esoteric meaning of the story, whati ever that may have been. | Adventures of this Twins. The two brothers were inseparable comr panions. attached to each other by the fondest affection, and both equally brave f and spirited. Castor was particularly i skilled in the art of breaking horses, anc ■ Pollux in boxing and wrestling. The] - were among the heroes of the Argonauts 1 expedition, in which they acquired diving i honours; for as a terrible tempest hat a arisen on the voyage, wherein all with i - loud voice called upon the gods to sav i- them, there suddenly appeared over th » heads of Castor and Pollux two brillian 0 lights or star-like meteors; and the tern ® pest subsided. From this ti «r they be J came the patron deities of mariners, an< received the name of Dioscuri (that is '* " Sons of Zeus "J. t ! r ' 1 Modernised Version of the Lights. s The persistence of traditional things i i- well known; and it is from these tw e gods that the name of Castor and Pollu e was given to the fires which are 6fte r seen on a vessel's masts and yards i: y storms, and which are electrics i- phenomena. ... But the story has bee s modernised and another name has bee a given to the lights; now called in Cathc e lie countries St- Elmo's Fire. Who: n there are two of these flames, the name g of Castor and Pollux are still given t it them; but if only one is seen, it is calle 5- Helena. The first is a good omen accorc « ing to orthodox shellbacks of the ol a school; the last is unfortunate. This coi >f tradicts the idea, that even numbers ai is unlucky, and odd ones the opposite. a further Adventures. i- After their return from the Argonaut: d Expedition, the twins found their siste 9- Helen had for some time been held i bondage by Theseus; and they according! j. released her. They were among m i- heroes of the Ctlvdonian hunt. The 3- wooed the daughters of 'Leucippui Phoebe and Hilaeira, or Elaeira, whoi 3 f thev carried off and married. Havin ie become involved in a quarrel with Ids :o and Lynceus, the sons of Alphareu id Castor killed Lynceus, and was in tin i- slain by Idas. Thereupon Pollux avenge ie his brother's death by killing Idas; bi ie filled with grief for the loss of Casto is he besought either to take away h ie life or to grant that his brother migl le share has immortality. So Zeus listene r, to this request, and in consequence Po a lux and his brother alternately reside ill one day on earth and the next in tl ie abode of the gods. gie Ancient Veneration for Twins. 5 ° It is doubtful whether the ancien Jn understood that Castor and Pollux we: z . together or separate in their alternate pa 5 (. sage between the upper and lower .world ■" n The latter was the first version, probab ] Q dating from a time when both stars pass* [, a below the Horizon together and the oth e version was later, when possibly only o: [jg at a time was seen to set, the other d not do so with it. Temples and alia ra were consecrated to Castor and Pollu: , w and in great perils, such as battles, t; ancients believed that these two frequent appeared to mortals as two youths on whi steeds, in shining garments, with metec over their heads. They were also repi Rented side by side, either riding or stan ing, each holding a horse by the rein, wi spears in their hands and stars on th< heads; but in the heavens simply as t 1 infant boys. How History Repeats Itself. It is related that during the crusac '®d a great battle occurred between the Eu: is pean forces encamped at Antioch, a >us those of the Sultan, Kerbogha; who hi ien the Christian army in contempt a i thought it to be an easy thing to def< . it; Eut he did not reckon on the fo: 18 j of a religious enthusiasm. Having ion tanked the crusaders and found they w< ich not so easily beaten, he arranged an ias tack in front and a surprise in the re! 3at and this nearly succeeded. 'But in 1 ich middle of the battle an imaginative zea sh, called out to his fellows to look at 1 on- saints, clad all in white, and riding md white horses, who were coming over i ale hills to the rescue. Immediately the c hat " Gods wills it," was raised from ev. ich part of the field, and every soldier fouj with redoubled energy; so that a pa seized the 'Turks, and they were drr off and defeated. The Planet Mars. The flaming star now seen towards c lr 3 north in the early evenings is the pla "ft Mars: and all who have telescopes sho l i turn them upon him and make what ™" servations they can of his appearance, de- view of the very conflicting reports wh P a ' emanate from our great observers, and )ro " theories which are put forward to acco of for them. Anyone who is in- doubt as be the location of the planet may find 1 >with ease on the evening of the 7th, as

that time he will be seen a short distance to the south-east of the moon, which.per-, haps by her radiance may deprive toe planet of some of its red colour. The evenings are now fairly - favourable to telescopic observation, though not amte free from that haze which always attends heat, and from smoke as well. Observers of Saturn. These have also now their opportunity, as the father of the gods will be found some little distance (about 25 degrees) to the west of Mars; and higher up in the sky, or nearer our meridian. 'Hie rings are now fairly wide . open, and if the _ instrumental power is sufficient, distinctions between them may be seen which should be noted. For it is supposed that the rings of Saturn are undergoing changes which are of great interest; and ever since their first discovery by Huygens and Galileo in the seventeenth century they have been carefully watched to determine this point as well as their general nature, which last is not yet agreed on among astronomers. In fact the ring or rings of this planet are among the standing problems of astronomy.