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[Northern Portion of the Moon at Last Quarter]Frontispiece
[The Great Hercules Cluster—A Universe of Suns]facing page 56
[A Dark Nebula: The Dark Bay or Dark Horse Nebula in Orion]facing page 110
[A. Venus. B. Mars. C. Jupiter. D. Saturn]facing page 122
[Spiral Nebula in Canes Venatici]facing page 216
[Spiral Nebula in Andromeda Viewed Edgewise]facing page 222

LIST OF TABLES

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I.[The Principal Elements of the Solar System]261
II.[The Satellites of the Solar System]262
III.[The Twenty Brightest Stars in the Heavens]263
IV.[A List of the Principal Constellations]264-265
V.[Pronunciations and Meanings of Names of Stars and Constellations]266-267

[PREFACE]

Astronomy, it has been said, is the oldest and the noblest of the sciences. Yet it is one of the few sciences for which most present-day educators seem to find little, if any, room in their curriculum of study for the young, in spite of its high cultural value. It is, we are told, too abstruse a subject for the youthful student. This is doubtless true of theoretical or mathematical astronomy and the practical astronomy of the navigator, surveyor and engineer, but it is not true of general, descriptive astronomy. There are many different aspects of this many-sided science, and some of the simplest and grandest truths of astronomy can be grasped by the intelligent child of twelve or fourteen years of age.

Merely as a branch of nature study the child should have some knowledge of the sun, moon, stars and planets, their motions and their physical features, for they are as truly a part of nature as are the birds, trees and flowers, and the man, woman or child who goes forth beneath the star-lit heavens at night absolutely blind to the wonders and beauties of the universe of which he is a part, loses as much as the one who walks through field or forest with no thought of the beauties of nature that surround him.