The star α Libræ looks elongated. An opera-glass shows that it has a fifth-magnitude companion.
β is a pale green star. Its color is very unusual.
Lyra, Corona, and Hercules are almost directly overhead in the early evening, during July and August, and can best be observed in a reclining position. Thus placed, with an opera-glass to assist the vision, you may study to the best advantage the wonderful sight spread out before you, and search depths only measured by the power of your glass.
When the sun enters the sign Libra the days and nights are equal all over the world and seem to observe a certain equilibrium like a balance, hence the name of the constellation.
CORONA BOREALIS (kō-rō´nä bō-rē-a´-lis)—THE NORTHERN CROWN.
Location.—A line drawn from α Cygni, to α Lyræ, and projected a little over 40°, terminates in the Crown, which lies between Hercules and Boötes, and just above the diamond-shaped group of stars in the head of the Serpent.
The characteristic semicircle resembling a crown is easily traced out. The principal stars are of the fourth magnitude excepting Gemma, which is a second-magnitude star and known as the "Pearl of the Crown."