Aries is best seen in the autumn when the sun is in the opposite side
of the heavens. It is marked by a small acute-angled triangle, with
the apex toward the north and the brightest star of the three at the
apex. This star is called Hamal, and, while not a first-magnitude star,
is a rather bright one of the second magnitude; and the triangle itself
is very distinctly marked. It is the only group of stars by which
to distinguish Aries, and it is sometimes confused with the little
constellation called Triangulum, which lies just west of it, or above
it, as it rises. With this in mind, Triangulum may be made to serve as
an identifying mark. They both rise just a trifle north of the exact
east early in the evenings of late September and October. Triangulum
rises first, with its apex toward the south. In less than an hour the
triangle of Aries arrives with its apex pointed north. The ecliptic
runs about five degrees below this triangle, and its path across Aries
is about twenty-eight degrees long. When one sees any very bright star
in Aries, one may be sure it is a planet. The sun is in Aries from
April 16th to May 13th.
During the summer this constellation is not visible in the early
evening; but it may be seen every evening from September to April,
drawing all the time nearer to the sun, and setting earlier each
evening until the sun blots it out. From this constellation the
ecliptic runs into Taurus, the third zodiacal constellation.