Page:The Music of the Spheres.djvu/88

 appears as a small mass of faint light and inexperienced observers often mistake it for a comet. Although this mass of light may be considered as being comparatively close compared to other spiral nebula, it is scarcely like sighting a ship at sea, for so far away does the spiral of Andromeda lie, that a ray of light must travel at least 36,000 years in order to reach the earth—36,000 years with light traveling 186,000 miles a second!



The constellation of Pegasus, the Winged Horse of the Muses, is marked by a great square formed by four bright stars. This "square" lies against the horse's neck and wings, while his head, adorned by the star Enif, hangs downward from one corner and stretches toward the west. Enif lies about 10 degrees west of a small but conspicuous diamond-shaped constellation called The Dolphin, or Job's Coffin.

Although Pegasus is close to Perseus in the sky, this winged horse was not with the hero either at the time he met Andromeda or at any other period of his life. Since only half of his body is