COMSTOCK] THE BEGINNING OF STAR STUDY II S3 



Is the Little Dog Star nearer to the Pole Star than Sirius? 

 Which is brighter, the Great Dog Star or the Little Dog Star? 

 Why is Procyon called the Little Dog Star? 



Sirius is the most beautiful of all the stars in our skies, for it 

 shines with ever changing colors, blue, rosy or white. Sirius is 

 a comparatively young star and has a diameter about 14 times as 

 great as that of our own sun. It is eight and one-half light years 

 away from us. Perhaps no star of our skies is so celebrated in 

 ancient and modern literature as Sirius. Homer mentions it and 

 it has had a place in the poetry of the ages. 



Procyon, the Little Dog Star, probably earned its name because 

 it trots up the eastern skies just a little ahead of the Great Dog 

 Star, quite like a little dog in habits. It gives out eight times as 

 much light as our sun and is only ten light years away from us. 

 Its companion or twin star, Capella, is not so brilliant. 



Ask the pupils to join a line m, drawn through the pointers of 

 the Dipper to the Pole Star and another line m, at right angles 

 to this extending from the Pole Star to Rigel. About half way 

 between the Pole Star and Orion this line will pass through a 

 brilliant star which is called Capella. The following questions may 

 be asked: 



What color is Capella ? How does this show that it is the same 

 age as our sun? Is Capella as near the Pole Star as the Big Dipper? 

 Is it near enough so that it never sets? Can you see the shield- 

 shaped constellation of five stars of which Capella is a part ? What 

 is the name of this constellation ? 



Capella comes very near belonging to the Polar constellations 

 since it is below the horizon only about four hours out of the 

 twenty-four. It is bright yellow which shows that it is about the 

 same composition and age as our own sun. However, it gives off 

 120 times as much light as our sun. It is 40 light years away from 

 us. During the evenings of March and April, Capella in its shield- 

 shaped constellation, which is called Auriga is a very noticeable 

 feature high up in the western sky. 



The Heavenly Twins 



, Above the Little Dog Star with its twin and in a region of the 

 sky where there are very few bright stars are a pair of twin stars 

 which are very noticeable. These stars will naturally be discovered 

 when finding Capella. To this brilliant pair of stars the ancients 



