Part 16

To the Centaur’s two fore feet. The last of my circumpolar stars are those of the Altar, lying north of the Triangle, a little to the left of the Pointers. You may see them on the edge of the Milky Way--two stars close together, and four others to the right further apart. The Compasses, hardly to be noticed, are between the Altar and the Pointers.”

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This was a long lesson, requiring much study afterwards. When Mr. Marple thought the lad knew the southern stars near the pole, he was ready to advance with the constellations again, and proposed to take a fresh round.

“We will,” said he, “take another sweep round the heavens, embracing the space between our old circle of the Cross and that over the equator, though I will not take equatorial stars now.

May we begin at the Crown, father?

Between the Cross and Crown is the Altar. North of and near the Crown is Sagittarius the Archer, beside which is the Scorpion.

How can I tell that?

The Scorpion has a line of bright stars coming down south to the Altar, with a twist like a curl in its tail.

What is that bright red star at the upper end of it?

Antares of the Scorpion. The bright star near it further north is in the Libra or Scales. The fine star as far from the Pointers as they are from the Pole is in the shoulder of the Centaur, half horse and half man.

Is he fighting anything?

Yes; he is running his spear through the mouth of the Wolf, which is stretched between Antares and the Pointers. The Centaur comes down to the Cross, and goes up north to the great Hydra, on which the Crow is perched.

What a beautiful star that is over Centaur, about twice as far from the Cross as that from the Pole!

That is Spica in the Virgin, close to the Crow. That makes up one quarter of our second circle. Looking still to the right, and north of the Cross, do you see any good-sized stars?

No, father, there is nothing worth looking at for the next quarter beyond the Cross and Ship till we get to Sirius.

Yet there are the Pneumatic Pump and the Mariner’s Compass. The great Hydra stretches itself all from the Scorpion, under the Crow, the Cup, and the Sextant, from near Antares to Canis Minor, the Little Dog.

Where is the Little Dog?

To understand that we must go on to our third quarter of the circle. You know Sirius and the three starred belt of Orion. The Belt is exactly over the equator. The three stars lead you down south to Sirius, and a line at right angles brings you to Procyon of the Little Dog, which thus forms a triangle with Sirius and the Belt. Get the Pole, Canopus, and Sirius in a line, and a little further to the north, on the one side you have the Belt, and on the other Procyon.

Though I see no stars of any consequence between the Great and Little Dogs, is there any constellation there?

Monoceros, the Unicorn, keeps them apart. The Hare and Noah’s Dove are on the other side of Canis Major. They are both south of Orion. In the Dove, a little out of the line half-way from Canopus to Sirius, is the pretty Phact. The five stars in a line between Canopus and Sirius are in Canis Major, the Great Dog Constellation.

What a gay show of stars between the Pole and Orion! But what a blank beyond to the right. I see one, however, opposite to Sirius, forming a parallelogram with it, the Belt, and Phact.

That is Zaurack, in the River Po; and the great space beyond that, to the right, far north of Achernar, is Cetus the Whale. The star Menkar or Menhab, a little north of Zaurack, is in the Whale’s head, while Diphda is in its tail. Achernar is about half-way from Diphda to the Pole. Between the two are the Chemical Furnace, the Sculptor, and the Phoenix.

I don’t care about these. Have you not nearly got round, father?

The last quarter of our circle lies between the Southern Crown and the Whale’s tail.

That will be north of the Peacock and Indian. What is the bright star between the Whale’s tail and Achernar?

The head of the Phoenix. And forming a triangle with it and the tail is the noble Fomalhaut of the Southern Fish, under the sign Pisces and near the toe of Aquarius. The Goat Capricornus is to the right of Fomalhaut.

Why, there is nothing hardly between Fomalhaut and the Crown.

Between the Peacock and the Crown are the two stars close together, forming the foot of Sagittarius, whose body stretches from the Crown to Capricornus; while the Crane and the Microscope lie between the Peacock and Fomalhaut.