CHAPTER XXIII.. How to Study the Sky.

HOW TO STUDY THE SKY.

Now I want you to get just a tiny idea of how to begin to find out for yourself a few Planets and Stars in the sky. In one way, the Planets are the easier of the two to find, in another way they are the more difficult.

They are easier because they are brighter; at least a few of them are. Also, they do not twinkle. That at once distinguishes them from the Stars.

On the other hand they are a little more difficult, because they are always changing their places in the sky. If you learn to know some particular star by sight you will always find that star in the same place among other stars. It may be more to the east or to the west, according to the time of night and of the year; but it will always be in the very same part of the very same star-group. But a planet never keeps long to any particular group of stars.

However, after the Sun and Moon, the easiest heavenly bodies of all to find are, no doubt, Venus and Jupiter.

Venus is at one time of the year a Morning Planet, and at another time of the year an Evening Planet.

You always see Venus either not very long before sunrise or not very long after sunset. Venus is so near to the Sun that you cannot possibly find her in any part of the sky very far away from the Sun.

So if, in the evening, you see a bright planet away towards the east, you may be sure you are not looking at Venus. Since the Sun has lately set in the west Venus will not be anywhere towards the east.

But if you see a very bright untwinkling planet in the west you may be pretty sure that you have found Venus. “Such a lovely star,” people often call her. Venus is no star, however.

It is the same with Mercury as with Venus, only more so; because Mercury is still closer to the Sun. So Mercury rises a shorter time before the Sun than Venus, or sets a shorter time after the Sun. This makes Mercury not so easy to see as Venus; and Mercury is never so brilliant as Venus, at his best.

Sometimes, when you have found Venus as a shining planet towards the west, you will see another bright and beautiful planet, only a little less radiant, in quite another part of the sky; and then you have most likely found Jupiter. If you look through a good opera-glass you may perhaps get a glimpse of Jupiter’s little moons.

Mars is often not at all difficult to find, because of his red color. He too, like Venus and Jupiter, does not twinkle. He is not, however, nearly so bright as Jupiter.

When you begin to learn the Star-Groups it is wisest to start with those near the north pole.

Ask somebody first to point out to you the Great Bear, with his seven chief stars, all fairly bright: four in the body, and three in the tail. Two of the body-stars are called The Pointers, because they point almost straight at the POLE-STAR.

The end star of the Little Bear’s tail is the Pole-Star; and it lies almost exactly over the north pole. As our Earth spins round and round, so that other stars in the sky seem to journey across from east to west, her north pole points always to the Pole-star, and the Pole-star remains always overhead at the north pole.

But the body of the Little Bear seems to travel round and round his own fixed tail-tip. Seems to do so: for this is part of the great seeming whirl of the whole sky at night, caused by our Earth’s real spinning movement.

In shape the Little Bear is very like the Great Bear, being made of seven stars, four in the body and three in the tail. Only its stars are a great deal more dim than the seven chief stars of the Great Bear. Two stars of the Little Bear are called “The Guardians of the Pole.”

So now you have to fix in your mind the little faint Pole-Star as a starting point in your study of the heavens.

Round about the Pole-Star are four important constellations which you ought to learn early.

One of the four you know already; and that is the Great Bear--sometimes named “The Plough,” and “Charles’ Wain.” Perhaps the seven stars are in shape at least as much like to a plough, or to a wagon or a dipper, as they are to a bear.

Away to quite the other side of the Pole-Star, and about opposite to the Great Bear, is a constellation named Cassiopeia. Here we find five bright stars shaped somewhat like an easy-chair seen sideways. There are no first-magnitude stars in either the Great Bear or Cassiopeia.

The two other important constellations are on the two other sides of the Pole-Star; making with the Great Bear and Cassiopeia a sort of rough square of four Star-Groups, having the Pole-Star in their centre.

One of the two is the Constellation Lyra; and in Lyra shines the beautiful first-magnitude star, VEGA.

Opposite to Lyra, on the other side of the Pole-Star, is the Constellation Auriga; and here we come across another first-magnitude star, the giant-sun, CAPELLA.

A certain well-known constellation, Draco, or The Dragon, winds among these stars-groups, passing between the Great Bear and the Little Bear, and so lying very near the Pole-Star.

From the above-named four principal star-groups you may work your way southward in all directions, learning one constellation after another. I can now only point out a very few more.

At no great distance from the Great Bear and from Lyra is a constellation called Boötes; and in this group is found the bright first-magnitude star, ARCTURUS; that giant-sun of which you have heard before.

At no great distance from Auriga--that is, right away in the opposite direction from Boötes--you may note in winter months the gentle shining of the PLEIADES--a star-cluster in the constellation Taurus.

During the winter, as you know, certain star-groups come into view which in summer we cannot see. No doubt you will remember that Taurus is one of those star-groups against which the Sun is seen, seemingly, to pass in the course of the year. But when you can see the Pleiades you will be sure that the Sun is not then between us and Taurus. If he were, Taurus would be above the horizon at the same time as the Sun. And in that case, of course, we could not see Taurus at all, or the Pleiades.

In this same star-group Taurus, is a bright first-magnitude star named ALDEBARAN.

When you have found the Pleiades you are not far from the grandest star-group in the sky, the magnificent constellation of Orion.

In Orion there are two first-magnitude stars, named RIGEL and BETELGEUSE, and many other bright stars also.

The two feet-stars of Orion point in almost a straight line to the very brightest star in the whole sky, SIRIUS; often called “The Dog-Star,” because it is in the constellation Canis Major, or The Great Dog.

Arcturus and Capella and Vega are brightest of all stars in the northern half of the sky; for Sirius is in the southern half. But not one of them shines as Sirius shines.

Two very brilliant southern stars, CANOPUS and ALPHA CENTAURI, are never seen from far northern countries. Both of them are brighter than any other first-magnitude star except Sirius. They quite outshine Arcturus.

Alpha Centauri, as you have heard earlier, is the very nearest star to the Earth the distance of which we know.

But Canopus is one of the more distant stars. Since it is so very distant, and so very bright, we believe it to be another giant-sun.

There are many more constellations besides these with which one ought to be acquainted. It is a good plan to look out the different star-groups in a map of the heavens, and then, on a clear night, to find them in the Sky.

QUESTIONS.

1. Which is the easiest heavenly body to find in the Sky, after the Sun and Moon?

The Planet Venus.

2. Where must you look for Venus?

Always rather near the Sun.

3. At what time of day?

Sometimes in the evening, sometimes in the morning.

4. And in what direction?

The same direction as the Sun. If in the morning, Venus will be seen towards the east, before sunrise. If in the evening, towards the west after sunset.

5. Why is Venus the easiest to find?

Because she is brightest of all; brighter than all stars and all other planets.

6. Where is Mercury to be found?

Always near the Sun, like Venus; but Mercury is nearer still, and so is above the horizon a shorter time before or after the Sun.

7. Which is the next brightest world in the sky after Venus?

The planet Jupiter.

8. Where is Jupiter to be found?

In different parts of the sky at different times. He may be known by his brightness, second only to that of Venus.

9. What is Mars like?

Reddish in color; and of course Mars, like other planets, does not twinkle.

10. Which Star remains always in one spot, as seen from Earth?

The Pole-Star, over our North Pole.

11. What constellation does the Pole-star belong to?

The constellation of the Little Bear.

12. Tell me four chief constellations grouped round the Pole-star.

The Great Bear, and Cassiopeia; Lyra and Auriga.

13. Are any first magnitude stars in these four groups?

The bright star Vega, in Lyra; and the bright star Capella, in Auriga.

14. Tell me of another constellation near the Pole-star.

Draco, or the Dragon.

15. Where is the bright star Arcturus?

Arcturus is in the constellation Boötes.

16. Where is the Pleiades cluster?

The Pleiades cluster is in the constellation Taurus.

17. Is there any first-magnitude star in Taurus?

Yes, the bright star Aldebaran.

18. Tell me of a grand star-group near the Pleiades.

The constellation Orion.

19. How many stars of the first magnitude are in Orion?

Two; Rigel and Betelgeuse.

20. Where is the brightest of stars, Sirius?

In the constellation Canis Major, or The Great Dog.

21. How can you find Sirius when you know Orion?

The two feet-stars of Orion point towards Sirius.

22. Tell me of two very brilliant southern stars.

Canopus and Alpha Centauri.

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Transcriber's Notes:

Italics are shown thus: sloping.

Bold is shown as: =strong=.

Variations in spelling and hyphenation are retained.

Perceived typographical errors have been changed.