LOOKING BEYOND THE WORLD. 
143 
most of tlie stars into constellations and give them 
names of our own. Some of these names would, 
naturally enough, be like those that have become his¬ 
torical. 
Students of the stars speak of Alpha Orionis or 
Gamma Ur see Majoris, which in plain English means 
the first or brightest star in the constellation Orion, 
or the third star in brilliance of Ursa Major (the Great 
Bear). Or the astronomer says, “ The comet is now 
in Libra or in the right foot of Cancer.” These and 
other like expressions can not be appreciated unless 
we are familiar with the leading constellations both 
by name and position. 
First, then, the polar constellations may be famil¬ 
iarized. The two Bears are already known. It is 
convenient to have a measuring rod for the apparent 
distance between stars. For instance, the two stars 
that make the bottom of the Dipper are eight de¬ 
grees apart; those forming the side opposite the han¬ 
dle, known as the pointers, have five degrees between 
them. The two end stars of the three that form 
Orion’s belt are three degrees from each other. 
