Sky Study 895 



A diagram of the principal stars of winter as seen in early evening late in February. 



To use the chart take it in the hands, face the Pole-star and hold the chart above the head 

 so that the side marked east will extend eastward. 



THE WINTER STARS 



Teacher's Story 



The natural time for beginning star study is in the autumn 

 when the days are shortening and the early evenings give us 

 opportunity for observation. After the polar constellations are learned, 

 we are then ready for further study in the still earlier evenings of winter, 

 when the clear atmosphere and beautiful blue of the heavens make the stars 

 seem more alive, more sparkling, and more beautiful than at any other 

 period of the year. One of the first lessons should be to instruct the pupils 

 how to draw an imaginary straight line from one star to another, and to 

 perceive the angles which such lines make when they meet at a given star. 

 A rule, or what is just as effective, a postal card or some other piece of stiff 

 paper which shows right-angled corners, is very useful in this work. It 

 should be held between the eyes and the stars which we wish to connect, and 

 thus make us certain of a straight line and a right angle. 



ORION (p-ri'on) 



During the evenings of January, February and March the splendid con- 

 stellation of Orion takes possession of the southern half of the heavens ; and 

 so striking is it that we find other stars by referring to it instead of to the 

 Pole-star. Orion is a constellation which almost everyone knows; three 

 stars in a row outline his belt, and a curving line of stars, set obliquely 

 below the belt, outline the sword. Above the belt in the evening sky we can 



