ASTRONOMY WITH AN OPERA-GLASS. 511 



ASTEONOMY WITH AN OPEEA-GLASS. 



THE STARS OF WINTER. 

 Bt GAEEETT p. SEEVISS. 



I HAVE never beheld the first indications of the rising of Orion 

 without a peculiar feeling of aAvakened expectation, like that of 

 one who sees the curtain rise upon a drama of absorbing interest. And 

 certainly the magnificent company of the winter constellations, of which 

 Orion is the chief, make their entrance upon the scene in a manner that 

 may be almost described as dramatic. First in the east come the world- 

 renowned Pleiades. At about the same time Capella, one of the most 

 beautiful of stars, is seen flashing above the northeastern horizon. 

 These are the sparkling ushers to the coming spectacle. In an hour 

 the fiery gleam of Aldebaran appears at the edge of the dome below 

 the Pleiades, a star noticeable among a thousand for its color alone, be- 

 sides being one of the brightest of the heavenly host. The observer 

 familiar with the constellations knows, when he sees this red star 

 which marks the eye of the angry bull, Taurus, that just behind the 

 horizon stands Orion with starry shield and upraised club to meet 

 the charge of his gigantic enemy. With Aldebaran rises the beautiful 

 V-shaped group of the Hyades. Presently the star-streams of Ei'ida- 

 nus begin to appear in the east and southeast, the immediate precur- 

 sors of the rising of Orion : 



*' And now the river-flood's first winding reach 

 Tlie becalmed mariner may see in heaven, 

 As he watches for Orion to espy if he hath aught to say 

 Of the night's measure or the slumbering winds." 



The first glimpse we get of the hero of the sky is the long bending 

 row of little stars that glitter in the lion's skin which, according to 

 mythology, serves him for a shield. The great constellation then ad- 

 vances majestically into sight. First of its principal stars appears 

 Bellatrix in the left shoulder ; then the little group forming the head, 

 followed closely by the splendid Betelgeuse, " the martial star," flash- 

 ing like a decoration upon the hero's right shoulder. Then come into 

 view the equally beautiful Rigel in the left foot, and the striking row 

 of three bright stars forming the Belt. Below these hangs another 

 starry pendant marking the famous sword of Orion, and last of all 

 appears Saiph in the right knee. There is no other constellation con- 

 taining so many bright stars. It has two of the first magnitude, Betel- 

 geuse and Rigel ; the three stars in the Belt, and Bellatrix in the left 

 shoulder, are all of the second magnitude ; and besides these Orion 

 contains three stars of the third magnitude, and more than a dozen 

 of the fourth, besides innumerable twinklers of smaller magnitudes, 



