Fig. 631.—Diagram of Sirius, etc.
From the pole star through Capella, passing between Betelgeux and Bellatrix, we shall describe a line leading to the three stars of Orion’s belt. Between it and the Pleiades is Aldebaran.
There are many other stars which could be indicated; but on a fine evening, if the observer will mark them upon a piece of paper, placing the pole star in the centre, he will be able to add to his star map very rapidly.
In the foregoing chapters of Astronomy we have seen how the earth and other planets move around the sun; we have glanced at the “fixed” stars and their groups, termed the constellations, and have noted the planets and their characteristics, with many other interesting facts. There is yet a great deal to be learnt, and much study will be required with daily (nightly) observations before the young reader will obtain success as a student of astronomy; but there is no study so interesting. We have seen what a very small portion of the universe is occupied by our solar system, and what a speck our earth is on the plain of creation. We find ourselves on the border-land of the incomprehensible, and we are lost in speculations upon the unseen.
CHAPTER XLII.
NEW ASTRONOMICAL APPLIANCES.
A CELESTIAL INDICATOR—ASTRONOMICAL OR COSMOGRAPHICAL CLOCK—A SIMPLE GLOBE—A SOLAR CHRONOMETER.