Sky Study 



887 



"Though I know not what you are, twinkle, twinkle little star." 



THE STORY OF THE STARS 

 Teacher's Story 



"Why did not somebody teach me the constellations and make me at home in the starry 

 heavens, which are always overhead, and which I don't half know to this day." 



— Thomas Carlyle. 



For many reasons aside from the mere knowledge acquired, children 

 should be taught to know something of the stars. It is an investment for 

 future years; the stars are a constant reminder to us of the thousands of 

 worlds outside our own, and looking at them intelligently, lifts us out of 

 ourselves in wonder and admiration for the infinity of the universe, and 

 serves to make our own cares and trials seem trivial. The author has not a 

 wide knowledge of the stars ; a dozen constellations were taught to her as a 

 little child by her mother, who loved the sky as well as the earth; but 

 perhaps nothing she has ever leanned has been to her such a constant source 

 of satisfaction and pleasure as this ability to call a few stars by the names 

 they have borne since the men of ancient times first mapped the heavens. 

 It has given her a sense of friendliness with the night sky, that can only be 

 understood by those who have had a similar experience. 



There are three ways in which the mysteries of the skies are made plain 

 to us: First, by the telescope; second, by geometry, trigonometry and 

 calculations — a proof that mathematics is even more of a heavenly than an 

 earthly science; and third, by the use of the spectroscope, which can only 

 be understood after we study physics. It is an instrument which tells us, 

 by analyzing the light of the stars, what chemical elements compose them ; 

 and also, by the means of the light, it estimates the rate at which the stars 

 are moving and the direction of their motion. 



Thus, we have learned many things about the stars ; we know that every 

 shining star is a great blazing sun, and there is no reason to doubt that 

 many of these suns have worlds, like the earth, spinning around them 

 although, of course, so far away as to be invisible to us ; for our world could 

 not be seen at all from even the nearest star. We also know that many of 



