ASTRONOMY WITH AN OPERA-GLASS. 



525 



Look next at the little group of three stars forming the head of 

 Orion. Although there is no nebula here, yet these stars, as seen 

 with the naked eye, have a remarkably nebulous look, and Ptolemy 

 regarded the group as a nebulous star. The largest star is called 

 Lambda (A) ; the others are Phi (0) one and two. An opera-glass 

 will show another star above A, and a fifth star below <^'', which is the 

 farthest of the two Phis from Lambda. It will also reveal a faint 

 twinkling between A and ^\ A field-glass shows that this twinkling 

 is produced by a pretty little row of three stars of the eighth and ninth 

 magnitudes. 



Map 3. 



Li fact, Orion is such a striking object in the sky that more than 

 one attempt has been made to steal away its name and substitute that 

 of some modern hero. The Unirersity of Leipsic, in 1807, formally 

 resolved that the stars forming the Belt and Sword of Orion should 

 henceforth be known as the constellation of Napoleon. A more 

 ridiculous proposition was that of an Englishman, who proposed to 

 rename Orion for the British naval bull-doff Nelson. 



