414 ] Recognizing the Stars 



pending on your location). One less bright star is sometimes in- 

 cluded in the group, and when it is, the constellation may be 

 fancied as a broken-backed chair, sometimes called Cassiopeia's 

 chair. 



In Greek mythology Cassiopeia was a queen, and Cepheus was 

 her king. In the heavens, Cepheus is located next to Cassiopeia. 

 Cepheus contains no very bright stars, but you can locate it by 

 looking along an imaginary line from the pointers of the Big 

 Dipper through the North Star, and then continuing on for about 

 the same distance again. Some of its stars form a crude square and 

 others make a triangle resting on the square. The Milky Way 

 runs through Cepheus. 



CAMELOPARDALIS 



When you go sky-exploring in quest of Camelopardalis 

 you will want to choose a clear moonless night; this constellation 

 is made up of nothing but faint stars. Though its name suggests 

 a camel, the constellation is actually supposed to represent a 

 giraffe. It lies quite close to the North Star. Astronomers worked 

 out Camelopardalis to fill in a large area of the sky that the 

 ancient constellations did not include. 



STARS OF THE SUMMER NIGHT 



Just as we can learn to tell time by the position of the Big 

 Dipper constellation, we can follow the seasons by tracing certain 

 stars. In the summertime, if you look to the east and slightly 

 north, you will see three exceptionally bright stars, located so as 

 to form a gigantic triangle. The Milky Way, passing through it, 

 may help you to discover this triangle. The stars that form it are 

 Vega, Altair, and Deneb. 



Vega, a brilliant bluish-white, is the brightest star in the summer 

 sky. Arcturus, orange in tone, is second brightest. You may notice 

 these two stars as darkness falls (Arcturus to the southwest) , for 

 they are the first to appear. The three "summer triangle" stars 

 are not a constellation; in fact each belongs to a different star 

 group. Vega is in a constellation known as the Lyre. Altair is part 

 of Aquila the Eagle, and Deneb belongs to Cygnus the Swan. 



