A GLANCE AT THE STARS. 157 



Maclear. An observatory was also erected in 1821 at Paramatta, in New South Wales, by 

 Sir T. Brisbane, the governor of the colony, who procured the Messrs Rumker and Dunlop 

 to superintend it. Another was established by the government at St Helena in 1830, and 

 placed under the care of a scientific officer who happened to be on duty in the island, 

 Lieutenant Johnson, now director of the Radcliffe Observatory, Oxford. There is also one 

 at Madras sustained by the East India Company. In 1835 Sir John Herschel repaired to 

 the Cape, and executed an elaborate series of observations on the distribution of the stars of 

 the southern firmament. Addressing an assembly held to commemorate his return from 

 the successful enterprise in 1838, he stated: "I believe there is scarcely a corner in that 

 part of the southern sky which I have not twice searched over, with almost the power 

 of a microscope ; and it may easily be supposed, in the course of a rummage of that 

 kind, what an extraordinary turn-out there must have been, and what numerous objects 

 worthy of attention must have shewn themselves ; and often have I longed for some 

 of those keen star-gazing eyes which I see now directed upon me. I need hardly 

 say anything on the subject of the southern constellations. They are extremely superb 

 things." 



To know the heavens at night so as to recognise the principal constellations and stars 

 visible in our hemisphere the first step of the tyro seems at first a difficult undertaking. 

 But a little practice, with the aid of good celestial charts, will soon make him feel at home 

 in a cruise along the firmament. After becoming acquainted with the more remarkable 

 groups, and their chief constituents, these will serve as an index to those that are less 

 conspicuous. The maps accompanying this work, with the directions connected with them, 

 will supply every requisite help for the purpose. 



The best time for a survey of the heavens is during the long nights of winter in the 

 absence of the moon ; but in seeking to find his way among the stars by the aid of a 

 celestial chart or globe, the student must bear in mind, that while their relative positions 

 and distances are given, the constellations are continually varying their direction by 

 reason of the apparent revolution of the sphere, after the manner of Ursa Minor swinging 

 round Polaris, as represented in a previous diagram. By alignment, or drawing 

 imaginary lines from star to star, forming a variety of geometrical figures, a general 

 knowledge of them may be speedily acquired. Having become acquainted with the seven 

 stars which compose the triangle and square of Ursa Major, his circumpolar neighbours 

 are readily found by this method. Thus, while a straight line through the side of the 

 square formed by the Pointers leads to Polaris, another through the top of the square 

 inverse to the triangle leads to Capella, and from the first star of the triangle nearest the 

 square a line carried through Polaris conducts to the bright cluster of Cassiopeia. From 

 Capella a direct line through Polaris passes to the two stars Alwaid and Etaniin in the 

 head of Draco. Through the side of the square opposite the Pointers a line continued 

 southward conducts to Regulus, east of which is Denebola, the two principal stars in Leo. 

 Denebola forms an extensive square, with Cor Caroli occupying the northern point, 

 Arcturus the eastern, and Spica Virginis the southern, in the interior of which is a 

 cluster of small stars, the Coma Berenices of Tycho Brahe. The line joining Arcturus 

 and Spica Virginis is also the base of a conspicuous triangle, of which Antares in Scorpio 

 is the vertex to the east; and a large right-angled triangle is very nearly formed by 

 Arcturus, Polaris, and Vega. Another remarkable figure, called the great square of 

 Pegasus, is composed by the four leading stars in that constellation. Every one is familiar 

 with the belt of Orion. A straight line drawn through it northerly leads to Aldebaran, 

 and southerly to Sirius. The star north-east of the belt, Betelguese, forms a triangle, 

 with Pollux at the northern, and Procyon at the eastern point. By the practice of align 

 ment, guided by a good map, the leading objects of the firmament will soon be recognised, 



