Part 17

It would require a good telescope to see that faint-looking Microscope.

You will see seven stars in a line, left of the Peacock, dipping down toward the Pole--these form the Crane.

And a long-necked fellow it is, too.”

* * * * *

Another rest was necessary here, to enable James to connect in his mind the last collection of constellations with his circumpolar ones. His father then took him to those about the equator and north of it, and thus introduced him to the twelve signs of the Zodiac.

“You have learned, my dear boy, the names of these signs; I want now to teach you their positions.

Yes; I would like to know how big the Bull is. Do his horns poke the polar star, while he hangs his tail over the equator?

Our Bull is a funny one, for he has no tail, because he has no hind quarters. If he reached from the pole to the equator, a few Bulls would fill up the sky, and leave no room for Bears, Swans, Hunters, and other creatures up there. Now look at the Orion’s Belt, and run down the line of the three stars as you did to Sirius, but in the opposite direction, as far north as the other is south.

I have it--a beautiful star between the Belt and the pretty Pleiades.

That is Aldebaran, the Bull’s eye. Your Pleiades are in the Bull’s neck. The Hyades are the cluster near the eye.

What is the great star, a little out of the road, between Aldebaran and the Belt?

That is Betelgeux, in the shoulder of Orion, who is looking up to the Bull. Betelgeux is on the north side of the Belt; and Rigel, of Orion’s heel, is at the same distance to the south of the Belt. Aldebaran, Rigel, and Menkar, of the Whale’s nose, form an equilateral triangle.

Aries the Ram is to the right of the Bull, near where his tail should be, and Orion is to the left or east, but a little southerly. But now for the Twins.

Are they the two right north of Procyon, and forming the corner of a right-angled triangle with Betelgeux and Procyon?

They are the Twins, Castor and Pollux, though the latter is the larger. Cancer the Crab is to the left of the Twins.

I cannot see so much as the claw of him. But I see a splendid star further to the left, with Procyon between it and the Belt.

That is Regulus in Leo the Lion. It is one of his forepaws, and beyond to the left is Deneb, of the Lion’s tail. The little lion is north of Leo, and between it and the Great Bear, the favourite constellation of England.

Virgo the Virgin should come next. I can see Spica, which is twice as far from the Cross northward as the Cross is from the Pole.

Spica is in the ear of corn held in the Virgin’s hand. The Virgin’s head touches the Lion’s tail at Deneb.

What a tall lady she must be! But what is that staring star forming the head of a triangle with Deneb and Spica?

The Arcturus of Job, in the knee of Bootes the Husbandman, standing on Mount Moenalus. The small stars between Arcturus and Deneb are in the hair of Berenice. The Northern Crown, between Hercules and Bootes, is seen nearly overhead in England.

You have got a long way from us now, father. Please come back to the Virgin.

Well, then, you know the Southern Crown, at any rate. Sagittarius is right over it northward, while Antares of Scorpio is to the right a little.

The stars of Libra the Balance must be somewhere between Spica and Antares, I suppose.

The two stars together in the equator, just north of Scorpio, are in the old man Ophiuchus, who is south of Hercules. There is a serpent on each side of him.

What nice company!

Yes, with the club of Hercules shaking over his head, and Poniatowski’s Bull ready to toss his shoulder. But he has the shield of the Polish hero Sobieski behind him, which hangs, too, over the head of Sagittarius.

How shall I find Aquarius?