The Little Dipper.—Although some of the stars which form the Little Dipper are very faint it is included in our list of 12 principal constellations for two reasons: first, because it contains the very important North Star, and second, because it is easy to find.
Fig. 14.—Cassiopeia as the Arabs Saw Her.
Fig. 15.—The Little Dipper or Little Bear.
The North Star is the last star in the handle of the Little Dipper. The two outer stars which form the bowl of the Little Dipper, and which are called the Guardians of the Pole, are quite bright, and after a few trials you can easily put in the other stars that are much fainter, and so complete in your mind’s eye the outline of the Little Dipper as you have it on your chart. [Fig. 15] shows the arrangement of the stars in the Little Dipper and the relative position of the Little Dipper to the Big Dipper.
The Little Dipper is also called the Little Bear and this latter name when done into Latin becomes Ursa Minor, which is its scientific name. How the Little Dipper was made into a Little Bear by the ancients is shown in [Fig. 16].
The Great Square of Pegasus.—Unlike the Big Dipper, the Little Dipper and Cassiopeia, which are so close to the North Star that they never set and hence can be seen at any hour of the night and at any season of the year, we now come to some constellations which are quite distant from the North Star and are for this reason to be seen only at certain times of the year. The Great Square of Pegasus can always be seen on clear, crisp nights during the autumn months.
Fig. 16.—The Little Dipper
Made into a Little Bear.