904 



Handbook of Nature-Study 



A ntares, a brilliant 

 star in the south- 

 ern skies. 



Antares (an-ta'-rees) 



Add to the last diagram on the blackboard the line E, 

 Arcturus, the line B and Antares. To find this star, 

 draw a line half way between Arcturus and Vega from 

 the Pole-star straight across the sky to the south, and 

 just above the southern horizon it will point to the glow- 

 ing star, Antares, in the constellation of the Scorpion. 

 Also a line drawn at right angles to the line connecting 

 Altair with its companions and extending toward the 

 south will reach Antares. Late June and July about 

 ten o'clock in the evening is the best for viewing this 

 beautiful star. An interesting thing about Antares is that, although it 

 is red, it has, whirling around it, a companion star which is bright green. 



Deneb, or Arided (den'-eb, a'-ri-ded) 

 Erase from the last diagram Antares and the 

 line B. Add to it the lines C and D making a right 

 angle at Deneb ; and the Gross the head of which 

 is Deneb, the foot ending near the letter on line L. 

 This star is at the head of the Northern Cross, 

 which is a very shaky looking cross and appears 

 upside down in the eastern skies during the evenings 

 of June and July. Deneb is white in color and 

 is a very large sun, because it seems to us a bright 

 star although it is so far away from us that the 

 distance has never been surely measured; but it 

 has been estimated that a ray of light would need 

 at least three hundred and twenty-five years to 

 reach us from Deneb. It and the cross are a part 

 of the constellation of Cygnus, or the Swan. 



The Northern Cross, in 



the constellation of the 



Swan. 



Altair 



Altair in the con- 

 stellation of the 

 Eagle. 



Add to the last diagram on the board the lines L, K, 

 Altair and its two attendant stars and the Dolphin. Em- 

 phasize the fact that Altair marks the constellation of 

 Aquila, or the Eagle. This beautiful star is easily distin- 

 guished because of its small companions, one on each side, 

 all three in a line. The three belong to a constellation 

 called the Eagle, and may be seen in early evening from June 

 to December. Altair, Deneb and Vega form a triangle with 

 the most acute angle at Altair. (See chart L, K.) Just 



northeast of Altair is a little diamond-shaped 



cluster of stars called the Dolphin, which 



is a good name for it, since it looks like a 



Dolphin, the fifth star forming the tail. It is 



also called Job's Coffin, but the reason for this is 



uncertain, unless Job's trials extended to a 



coffin which could not possibly fit him. If the 



line C on the chart drawn from the Pole-star to The Dolphin or Job's Coffin. 



Deneb be extended, it will touch the Dolphin. Altair is always low in 



the sky ; it is a great sun giving off nearly ten times as much light as our 



own sun ; light reaches us from it in fifteen years. 



