2o6 The Book of Woodcraft 



Swan. You note it is on the opposite side of the Pole Star 

 from the Dipper, and about one and a half Dipper lengths 

 from the Pole. 



One more easUy known group is now in sight, that is, 

 Cassiopeia in her chair. It is exactly opposite the Big 



Dipper on the other side of the Pole 



/> \'.v] '% Star, and about as far from the latter as 



"■••\- 'X..'^:.-' the Big Dipper is, that is, the Big Dipper 



<• r' ■•-. \ ^^^ Cassiopeia balance each other; as 



\ ^^( ..- ""^-tj;^ the one goes up, the other goes down. 



V. *"■:•"' "' / K \ There is yet another famous constel- 



«./ : /\', '/,!! 'v^_. lation that every one should know; and 



/-'' "" i" ■" .J. that is " Orion, the great hunter, the Bull- 



CAssioPEiA fighter in the sky." During the summer, 



it goes on in day-time, but in winter it rises in the evening 



and passes over at the best of times to be seen. February 



is a particularly happy time for this wonder and splendor 



of the blue. 



If you draw a line from the inner rim of the Dipper, 

 through the outer edge of the bottom, and continue it 

 about two and a half total lengths of the Dipper, it will 

 lead to the Star ''Procyon" the "Little Dogstar," the 

 principal light of the constellation Canis minor. Below 

 it, that is, rising later, is Sirius the "Great Dogstar," chief 

 of the Constellation Canis major, and the most wonderful 

 star in the sky. It is really seventy times as brilliant as the 

 Sun, but so far away from us, that if the Sun's distance 

 (92,000,000 miles) be represented by one inch, the distance 

 of Sirius would be represented by eight miles; and yet it is 

 one of the nearest of the stars in the sky. If you see a star 

 that seems bigger or brighter than Sirius, you may know 

 it is not a star, but a planet, either Venus, Jupiter or Mars. 

 Having located the Dogstar, it is easy to go farther to 

 the southward, and recognize the Great Hunter Orion. The 



