y name. A little
_viva voce_ help to begin with, supplemented by patient night
scrutiny with a celestial globe or star maps under a tent or shed,
is perhaps the easiest way: a very convenient instrument for the
purpose of learning the constellations is the form of map called a
"planisphere," because it can be made to show all the
constellations visible at a given time at a given date, and no
others. The Greek alphabet also is a thing that should be learnt by
everybody. The increased difficulty in teaching science owing to
the modern ignorance of even a smattering of Greek is becoming
grotesque. The stars are named from their ancient grouping into
constellations, and by the prefix of a Greek letter to the larger
ones, and of numerals to the smaller ones. The biggest of all have
special Arabic names as well. The brightest stars are called of
"the first magnitude," the next are of "the second magnitude," and
so on. But this arrangement into magnitudes has become technical
and precise, and intermediate or fractional magnitudes are
inserted. Those brighter than the ordinary first magnitude are
therefore now spoken of as of magnitude 1/2, for instance, or .6,
which is rather confusing. Small telescopic stars are often only
named by their numbers in some specified catalogue--a dull but
sufficient method.

Here is a list of the stars visible from these latitudes, which are
popularly considered as of the first magnitude. All of them should
be familiarly recognized in the heavens, whenever seen.

Star. Constellation.

Sirius Canis major
Procyon Canis minor
Rigel Orion
Betelgeux Orion
Castor Gemini
Pollux Gemini
Aldebaran Taurus
Arcturus Booetes
Vega Lyra
Capella Auriga
Regulus Leo
Altair Aquila
Fomalhaut Southern Fish
Spica Virgo

[alpha] Cygni is a little below the first magnitude. So,
perhaps, is Castor. In the southern heavens, Canopus and [alpha]
Centauri rank next after Sirius in brightness.

[Illustration: FIG. 91.--Diagram illustrating Parallax.]

The distances of the fixed stars had, we know, been a perennial problem,
and many had been the attempts