To make at first hand the acquaintance of the celestial bodies is, in and of itself, worth the while, as leading the mind to a new sense of ultimate values. To tell the truth the modern man on the whole knows the Heavens less intimately than did his ancestors. He glances at his wrist-watch to learn the hour and at the almanac to identify the day. The rising and setting of the constellations, the wandering of the planets among the stars, the seasonal shifting of the sun’s path—all these are a sealed book to him, and the intricate mysteries that lie in the background are quite unsuspected.

The telescope is the lifter of the cosmic veil, and even for merely disclosing the spectacular is a source of far-reaching enlightenment. But for the serious student it offers opportunities for the genuine advancement of human knowledge that are hard to underestimate. It is true that the great modern observatories can gather information on a scale that staggers the private investigator. But in this matter fortune favors the pertinacious, and the observer who settles to a line of deliberate investigation and patiently follows it is likely to find his reward. There is so much within the reach of powerful instruments only, that these are in the main turned to their own particular spheres of usefulness.

For modest equipment there is still plenty of work to do. The study of variable stars offers a vast field for exploration, most fruitful perhaps with respect to the irregular and long-period changes of which our own Sun offers an example. Even in solar study there are transient phenomena of sudden eruptions and of swift changes that escape the eye of the spectro-heliograph, and admirable work can be done, and has been done, with small telescopes in studying the spectra of sun spots

Temporary stars visible to the naked eye or to the smallest instruments turn up every few years and their discovery has usually fallen to the lot of the somewhat rare astronomer, professional or amateur, who knows the field of stars as he knows the alphabet. The last three important novÆ fell to the amateurs—two to the same man. Comets are to be had for the seeking by the persistent observer with an instrument of fair light-grasp and field; one distinguished amateur found a pair within a few days, acting on the theory that small comets are really common and should be looked for—most easily by one who knows his nebulÆ, it should be added.

And within our small planetary system lies labor sufficient for generations. We know little even about the superficial characters of the planets, still less about their real physical condition. We are not even sure about the rotation periods of Venus and Neptune. The clue to many of the mysteries requires eternal vigilance rather than powerful equipment, for the appearance of temporary changes may tell the whole story. The old generation of astronomers who believed in the complete inviolability of celestial order has been for the most part gathered to its fathers, and we now realize that change is the law of the universe. Within the solar system there are planetary surfaces to be watched, asteroids to be scanned for variability or change of it, meteor swarms to be correlated with their sources, occultations to be minutely examined, and when one runs short of these, our nearest neighbor the Moon offers a wild and physically unknown country for exploration. It is suspected with good reason of dynamic changes, to say nothing of the possible last remnants of organic life.

Much of this work is well within the useful range of instruments of three to six inches aperture. The strategy of successful investigation is in turning attention upon those things which are within the scope of one’s equipment, and selecting those which give promise of yielding to a well directed attack. And to this end efforts correlated with those of others are earnestly to be advised. It is hard to say too much of the usefulness of directed energies like those of the Variable Star Association and similar bodies. They not only organize activities to an important common end, but strengthen the morale of the individual observer.