82 



KNOWLEDGE 



[April 2, 1900. 



The chief constellation of this region is the Great 

 Bear, the leading stars of which are the Seven, which have 

 won the attention of all races of men in all ages. The 

 seven stai'S of the Plough or Charles' Wain (the waggon, 

 that is to say, of the churl or peasant) are known to 

 everyone, and form the inevitable starting point for the 

 study of the constellations. Of these seven stars, — which, 

 at midnight on the fii'st of April are practically over- 

 head, the greater pai't of the constellation being already 

 on the downward path towards the west, — the two first 

 are Alpha and Beta, the second pair Gamma and D^lta, 

 the foiu- making up the body of the plough, whilst 

 Ep.silon, Zeta, and Eta form the handle. Delta is dis- 

 tinguished as being much the faintest of the seven. 

 Zeta by its close companion Alcor visible to any ordi- 

 narily good sight. 



Alpha are commonly known as the " Pointers," for as 

 the " poet " sings : 



" Wliere yonder radiant hosts ndorn 



The northern evening sky. 

 Seven shirs :i splendid glorious train 



First fix the wandering eye. 

 To deck great Ursa's shaggy form 



Those brilliant orbs combine, 

 And where the first and second point 



There see Polaris shine." 



A straight line from Beta through Alpha jjoints very 

 nearly up to the pole of the sky, the distance being 

 just a little greater from Alpha to the pole than from 

 Alpha to Eta, and close to the pole shines the Pole 

 star, a brilliant of the second magnitude, and placed 

 at the end of the tail of the Lesser Bear as Eta is at 

 the tip of that of the Greater. 



The Chief Circumiiolar Stars, midninht, A]iril 1st, I'JUU. 



Regarding the constellation as the " Great Bear," the 

 four stars in the body of the Plough make the Innd- 

 cjuarters of the animal, whilst the handle becomes the 

 bear's tail. The feet of the bear are clearly pointed out 

 by a curious set of three pairs. Iota and Kappa make 

 the first, Lambda and Mu the second, Nu and Xi the 

 third. These form the great jjlantigrado feet of the 

 animal, and are " the does' leaps " of the Arabs. 



A line drawn from Zeta through Alpha and carried 

 forward the same distance the other side brings us to 

 the fourth magnitude star Theta at the point of the 

 creatui'o's snout. These stars enable the boundaries 

 of the constellation and the figure which it is supposed 

 to represent to be easily detected in the sky. Beta and 



The chief stars of the Little Bear, like those of the 

 Greater, are seven in number, and in arrangement form 

 p rough and fainter copy of the Plough. Between the 

 two bears it is easy to trace out an irregular winding 

 line of fairly bright stars. This is the Dragon th? 

 Serpent of the following lines from " Aratus " : 

 " Between tliese two, like to a river's branch, 

 A niiglity prodigy, the Serpent twines 

 Its bendings vast around; on either side 

 His coil they move and shun the dark blue sea. 

 But o'er the one his lengthy tail is stretched, 

 The other's wrapped in coil."* 



Alpha Draconis, sometimes called Thuban or Rssta- 

 * Brown's " Aratus," p. 16, 



