One point with regard to the Novæ in Auriga and Perseus deserves notice. These discoveries, so remarkable in themselves, and so fruitful in the extension of our knowledge, were made by an amateur observer with no greater equipment than a small pocket telescope and a Klein's Star-Atlas. The thorough knowledge of the face of the heavens which enabled Dr. Anderson to pick out the faint glimmer of Nova Aurigæ and to be certain that the star was a new one is not in the least unattainable by anyone who cares to give time and patience to its acquisition; and even should the study never be rewarded by a capture so dramatic as that of Nova Persei, the familiarity gained in its course with the beauty and wonder of the star-sphere will in itself be an ample reward.
CHAPTER XV
CLUSTERS AND NEBULÆ
Even the most casual observer of the heavens cannot have failed to notice that in certain instances the stars are grouped so closely together as to form well-marked clusters. The most familiar example is the well-known group of the Pleiades, in the constellation Taurus, while quite close is the more scattered group of the Hyades. Another somewhat coarsely scattered group is that known as Coma Berenices, the Hair of Berenice, which lies beneath the handle of the Plough; and a fainter group is the cluster Præsepe, which lies in the inconspicuous constellation Cancer, between Gemini and Leo, appearing to the naked eye like a fairly bright, hazy patch, which the smallest telescope resolves into a cloud of faint stars.
1.
