526 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY, 



The little constellations of Lepus and Coluraba, below Orion, need 

 not detain us long. You will find in them some pretty combinations 

 of stars. In Lepus is the celebrated " Crimson Star," which has been 

 described as resembling a drop of blood in color — a truly marvelous 

 hue for a sun — but, as it is never brighter than the sixth magnitude, 

 and from that varies down to the ninth, we could hardly hope to see 

 its color well with an opera-glass. Besides, the observer would have 

 difficulty in finding it. 



We will now turn to the constellation of Canis Major, represented 

 in Map No. 3. Although, as a constellation, it is not to be compared 

 with the brilliant Orion, yet, on account of the unrivaled magnifi- 

 cence of its chief star, Canis Major presents almost as attractive a 

 scene as its more extensive rival. Everybody has heard of Sirius, or 

 the Dog-Star, and everybody must have seen it flashing and scintillat- 

 ing so splendidly in the winter heavens, that to call it a first-magni- 

 tude star does it injustice, since no other star of that magnitude is at 

 all comparable with it. Sirius, in fact, stands in a class by itself as 

 the brightest star in the sky. Its light is white with a shade of green 

 which requires close watching to be detected. When it is near the 

 horizon, or when the atmosphere is very unsteady, Sirius flashes pris- 

 matic colors like a great diamond. The question has been much dis- 

 cussed as to whether Sirius was not formerly a red star. It is described 

 as red by several ancient authors, but it seems to be pretty well estab- 

 lished that these descriptions are most of them due to a blunder made 

 by Cicero in his translation of the astronomical poem of Aratus. It is 



not impossible, though it is 

 highly improbable, that Si- 

 rius has changed color. 



Your eyes will be fairly 

 dazzled when you turn your 

 glass upon this splendid star. 

 By close attention you will 

 be able to perceive a number 

 of faint stars, mere points 

 by comparison, in the imme- 

 diate neighborhood of Sirius. 

 There are many interesting 

 objects in the constellation. 

 The star marked Nu (v) in 

 the map, is really triple, as 

 the smallest glass will show. 



Delta Oiuonis k^i> its Neighbors. t i ,. ^ ^i 



Look next at the star-group 

 41 M. The cloud of minute stars of which it is composed can be very 

 well seen with a field-glass or a powerful opera-glass. The star 22 is of 

 a very ruddy color that contrasts beautifully with the light of Epsilon 

 (e), which can be seen in the same field of view with an opera-glass. 



