MEN AGAINST THE SEA 
25 
If you could face south and watch Orion’s Belt climb up from 
the eastern horizon, reach its highest point, and drop down to- 
ward the western horizon, it would occupy the positions shown 
in figure 4. (Face south and hold this overhead to read.) 
Now turn the page upside down. 
Held above your head this way the figure shows the way 
Orion would move across the sky if you faced north to see it. 
The Dipper 
The Dipper is a distinctive constellation containing seven stars. 
If you are in northern latitudes it will be the most important 
constellation in the heaven for you to identify. 
The reason for its name is clearly shown in figure 5. The two 
stars indicated are called pointers. In a moment we shall see 
their use. 
Polaris— The North Star 
As the Dipper is the most important constellation in northern 
latitudes, Polaris is the most important star. Since it is almost 
directly over the North Pole it can for practical purposes be 
considered to be due north of you wherever you may be. It can 
also help you to estimate your latitude as we shall explain in a 
moment. 
The unfortunate thing about Polaris is that it is not very 
bright and is sometimes hard to locate if the sky is hazy. With- 
out the Dipper it would be very hard to find. But the two 
“pointers” of the Dipper, whatever its position, invariably 
“point” to Polaris. 
