Plate XX. Orion and his Neighbours
We see here that magnificent region of the sky which contains the brightest star of all—Sirius. Note also especially the Milky Way, the Pleiades, the Hyades, and the "Belt" and "Sword" of Orion.
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The group of the Hyades occupies the "head" of the Bull, and is much more spread out than that of the Pleiades. It is composed besides of brighter stars, the brightest being one of the first magnitude, Aldebaran. This star is of a red colour, and is sometimes known as the "Eye of the Bull."
The constellation of Orion is easily recognised as an irregular quadrilateral formed of four bright stars, two of which, Betelgeux (reddish) and Rigel (brilliant white), are of the first magnitude. In the middle of the quadrilateral is a row of three second magnitude stars, known as the "Belt" of Orion. Jutting off from this is another row of stars called the "Sword" of Orion.
The constellation of Gemini, or the Twins, contains two bright stars—Castor and Pollux—close to each other. Pollux, though marked with the Greek letter β, is the brighter of the two, and nearly of the standard first magnitude.
Just further from the Pole than Gemini, is the constellation of Canis Minor, or the Lesser Dog. Its chief star is a white first magnitude one—Procyon.
Still further again from the Pole than Canis Minor is the constellation of Canis Major, or the Greater Dog. It contains the brightest star in the whole sky, the first magnitude star Sirius, bluish-white in colour, also known as the "Dog Star." This star is almost in line with the stars forming the Belt of Orion, and is not far from that constellation.
Taken in the following order, the stars Capella, β Aurigæ, Castor, Pollux, Procyon, and Sirius, when they are all above the horizon at the same time, form a beautiful curve stretching across the heaven.