404 OUTDOOR RECREATION 



Other star groups. Polaris is the end star in the 

 handle of the Little Dipper, or Small Bear. This can 

 easily be found. Except in the region very near the 

 North Star, some stars will be visible at certain hours 

 of the night and not visible at others. It is an excel- 

 lent plan to get some older person to show you how to 

 use a star map, and then try to see how many new con- 

 stellations you can identify. The " Guide to Nature " 

 and the " Scientific American " have a star map each 

 month, which will show you the tune of evening to look 

 for certain constellations. No more fascinating study can 

 be found than that of elementary astronomy, and learn- 

 ing to know the constellations will give you a start in 

 astronomy. 



Our relation to the stars. You have obtained in your 

 geography some knowledge of the relation of our earth 

 to the other heavenly bodies. You remember that there 

 are eight of these bodies which travel around the sun, 

 the earth being one of the eight. These bodies are called 

 planets. They do not give out light of their own, but 

 they do reflect sunlight, and appear as brilliant stars. 

 They are never visible except in morning or evening, and 

 are therefore called morning stars and evening stars. As 

 we have just learned, they are not true stars, because 

 true stars shine by their own light. The names of these 

 planets, in order according to their nearness to the sun, 

 and the length of their year (or the time to go around the 

 sun) , are shown in the following table : 



Mercury 88 days Jupiter ...... 12 years 



Venus *. 225 " , Saturn 29 " 



Earth 365 ' Uranus 84 



Mars 687 " Neptune 165 " 



