LOCATION.--Musca lies between Triangulum and Aries, the diagram
clearly defining its position.

The four stars composing it form a group shaped like the letter "Y."

There is nothing of particular interest to be noted in this asterism.
It does not appear on modern star charts and is considered obsolete.

So great is the distance that separates us from the stars that as for
the great majority had they been blotted out of existence before the
Christian era, we of to-day should still receive their light and seem
to see them just as we do. When we scan the nocturnal skies we study
ancient history. We do not see the stars as they are but as they were
centuries on centuries ago.

[Illustration: MUSCA]

METEORIC SHOWERS.

OCTOBER TO JANUARY.

+-----------------+-------+-----------------+---------------+--------------+--------+
| | | | | Other Dates | |
| Name of Shower | Date | Radiant Point |Characteristics| of |Location|
| | | | | Observation | |
+-----------------+-------+-----------------+---------------+--------------+--------+
| | | Between Great | | | |
| Ursids |Oct. 4 | Bear's head and | Sw. Sk. | Aug. 20-24 | N. |
| | | Polaris | | | |
+-----------------+-------+-----------------+---------------+--------------+--------+
|Epsilon Arietids | | East of Hamal, | | Oct. 11-24, | |
| Rich shower |Oct. 14| near Musca | M. Sw. | Oct. 30- | E. |
| 1877 | | | | Nov. 4 | |
+-----------------+-------+-----------------+---------------+--------------+--------+
| Orionids |Oct. 18| Near Alhena in | After 11 P.M. | Oct. 16-22 | E. |
| Fine shower | | Gemini | Sw. Sk. | | |
+-----------------+-------+-----------------+---------------+--------------+--------+
| | | Near Castor and | After 10 P.M. | Nov. 7, | |
| Delta Geminids |Oct. 29| Pollux | v. Sw. Sk. | Dec. 4, | N.E. |
| | | | | Oct. 16-22 | |
+-----------------+-------