EXPLORING THE GLORIES OF THE FIRMAMENT 



171 



Drawn by Albert H. Bumstead, © National Geographic Society 



a picture: map op the; heavens, corresponding to the: chart op the stars 



printfjd on the; opposite; page; 



The center of this map, with the bright star Vega outstanding, represents the part of the 

 sky directly overhead, and the circumference represents the horizon. On account of the 

 absorption of light by the atmosphere, the stars near the horizon are rarely visible, and then 

 only the brightest ones. The map, however, is complete down to the horizon. The map is 

 made for latitude 40, but is approximately correct in other latitudes within the United States 

 and southern Canada. 



To locate a star or a constellation in the heavens, first find it by name on the chart on 

 the opposite page. You can then easily transfer your eye to the same spot on this page. 



After forming a mental picture, face that section of the horizon which is nearest the 

 object and hold the map, so that the corresponding section of it is at the bottom. Then run 

 your eye up from the horizon until you find the star or group that corresponds to the picture. 



Vega will interest you greatly. Old Sol is carrying us, and indeed his whole family, in 

 a headlong flight toward her, at a gait of more than 700 miles a minute (see page 172). 



The stars that mark the handle of the Great Dipper will take you on their sweeping 

 curve to Arcturus, a sun so bright that it outshines ours, as a flashlight outshines a lightning- 

 bug, yet so distant that it seems only a point of light to us. From constellation to constella- 

 tion you can go, making acquaintances that will give you the friendship of the royal hosts of 

 heaven all through the years (see page 176). 



