Stránka:book 1912.djvu/238

2o6 The Book of Woodcraft Swan. You note it is on the opposite side of the Pole Star from the Dipper, and about one and a half Dipper lengths from the Pole. One more easily known group is now in sight, that is, Cassiopeia in her chair. It is exactly opposite the Big Dipper on the other side of the Pole ./> V/vl '*;) Star, and about as far from the latter as ■.. ■'"-.. ■';;^.:-..'/ the Big Dipper is, that is, the Big Dipper jD I •^' and Cassiopeia balance each other; as ^■, ...• —:yi-, the one goes up, the other goes down. .^.... .. .. There is yet another famous constel- »•/ '. ; V<. k--.. lation that every one should know; and "^ /-■ " ^ X " .i. that is " Orion, the great hunter, the BuU- cAssioPEiA fighter in the sky." During the summer, it goes on in day-time, but in winter it rises in the evening and passes over at the best of times to be seen. February is a particularly happy time for this wonder and splendor of the blue. If you draw a line from the inner rim of the Dipper, through the outer edge of the bottom, and continue it about two and a half total lengths of the Dipper, it will lead to the Star *'Procyon" the "Little Dogstar," the principal light of the constellation Canis minor. Below it, that is, rising later, is Sirius the "Great Dogstar," chief of the Constellation Canis major, and the most wonderful star in the sky. It is really seventy times as brilliant as the Sun, but so far away from us, that if the Sun's distance (92,000,000 miles) be represented by one inch, the distance of Sirius would be represented by eight miles; and yet it is one of the nearest of the stars in the sky. If you see a star that seems bigger or brighter than Sirius, you may know it is not a star, but a planet, either Venus, Jupiter or Mars. Having located the Dogstar, it is easy to go farther to the southward, and recognize the Great Hunter Orion. The