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Handbook of Nature-Study 



Capella in the constel- 

 lation Auriga. 



CAPELLA AND THE HEAVENLY TWINS 

 Teacher's Story 



Capella is nearer to the North Star than any other 

 of the bright stars and it comes very near belonging 

 to the strictly polar constellations, since it falls below 

 the horizon only four hours out of twenty-four. In 

 composition it much resembles our sun, as do all the 

 bright yellow stars ; but it is much larger; it gives off 

 one hundred and twenty times as much light as our 

 sun, and it is forty light-years away from us. Capella 

 is always a beautiful feature of the northern skies, 

 being almost in the zenith during the evenings of 

 January and February. It is in a brilliant shield- 

 shaped constellation known as Auriga. 



During the winter evenings we see two stars set like glowing eyes almost 

 in the zenith, and in a region of the sky where there are no other bright stars. 

 These twin stars are set just a little closer together than are the pointers of 

 the Big Dipper. To this brilliant pair the ancients gave the names of 

 Castor and Pollux. Pollux is the brighter of the two and is the more south- 

 ward in situation. Pollux and Castor were two beauti- 

 ful twin boys who loved each other so much that, after 

 they were dead, they were placed in the skies where 

 they could always be near each other. The twin stars 

 are supposed to exert a benign influence on oceans and 

 seas and are, therefore, beloved by sailors. Although 

 they seem to us so near together, they are separated by 

 a space so great that we cannot conceive of it and they 

 are going in opposite directions. 



Pollux is a yellow star, and supposed to be in the same 

 stage of development as our sun, while Castor is white 

 and according to star ages is young. When a boy says "By Jimminy," 

 he does not realize that he is using an ancient expletive "By Gemini," 

 which is the Latin name of these twin stars and was a favorite ancient oath, 

 especially of sailors. 



LESSON CCXXX 

 CAPELLA AND THE HEAVENLY TWINS 



Leading thought There are, during the evenings of January and Febru- 

 ary, three brilliant stars almost directly overhead. One of these is Capella, 

 the other two are the Heavenly Twins. 



Method Place on the board the part of the chart (p. 895) showing the 

 Big Dipper, Pole-star, Capella and the Twins. Draw a line, L, from the 

 pointers of the Big Dipper, and extend it to the Pole-star. Draw another 

 line, K, from the Pole-star at right angles to the line L, and on the side 

 away from the Big Dipper's handle, and it will pass through a large, bril- 

 liant, yellow star which is Capella. Ask the puplis to imagine similar 

 lines drawn across the sky, when they are making their observations and 

 thus find these stars, and to place them on their charts, making the 

 following observations : 



i. What color is Capella, and how does its color compare with that of 

 our sun ? 



Gemini, the heavenly 

 twins, the larger 

 one is Pollux and 

 the other is Castor. 



