The Book of Stars: Being a Simple Explanation of the Stars and Their Uses to Boy Life

by A. Frederick Collins

α	Alpha	ν	Nu
β	Beta	ξ	Xi (Zi)
γ	Gamma	ο	Omicron
δ	Delta	π	Pi
ε	Epsilon	ρ	Rho
ζ	Zeta	σ	Sigma
η	Eta	τ	Tau
θ	Theta	υ	Upsilon
ι	Iota	φ	Phi
κ	Kappa	χ	Chi
λ	Lambda	ψ	Psi
μ	Mu	ω	Omega

APPENDIX D
STAR TESTS FOR EYESIGHT

There are a number of stars which are considered to be good tests for the seeing power of the eyes. The faint stars of the Pleiades are a fine test of this kind; but usually these tests are double stars and while one will be bright and easily seen its companion will be very faint. The test is to see the faint one, and if you can see it you may consider you have very good eyesight.

Eyesight tests are given on the following pages:

Page
11—	Mizar and Alcor
34—	Spots on the Sun
94—	Grimaldi on the Moon
119—	Nebula in Orion
150—	Epsilon in Lyra
150—	Pleiades
182—	Alpha and Beta in Capricornus

APPENDIX E
MAGNITUDES OF STARS

There are not nearly as many stars in the sky as you might at first suppose. The stars are divided into magnitudes, that is, according to their brightness. Stars of the first magnitude are the brightest stars; stars of the second magnitude are second brightest, and so on. The total number of stars which can be seen with the naked eye on any one night in the United States is probably not more than 3,000. The following table gives the number of stars of the different magnitudes up to and including the sixth:

Magnitudes	Number of Stars
1st		20
2nd	about	65
3rd	about	200
4th	about	500
5th	about	1,400
6th	about	5,000

APPENDIX F
FIRST MAGNITUDE STARS

The brightness of a star is known by its magnitude. A star of the first magnitude is one of the 20 brightest stars, and is 2½ times as bright as a star of the second magnitude; a star of the second magnitude is 2½ times as bright as a star of the third magnitude; and so on. A star of the sixth magnitude can just be seen with the naked eye on a clear night when there is no Moon.