his spot with a
good telescope. If we do not gaze at it long and wistfully, and return
to it many times with unflagging interest, we may be certain that there
is not the making of an astronomer in us.

Before quitting the Orion nebula do not fail to notice an
eighth-magnitude star, a short distance northeast of the Great Nebula,
and nearly opposite the broad opening in the latter that leads in toward
the gap occupied by the Trapezium. This star is plainly enveloped in
nebulosity, that is unquestionably connected with the larger mass of
which it appears to form a satellite.

At the lower end of the Sword is the star iota, somewhat under the third
magnitude. Our three-inch will show that it has a bluish companion of
seventh or eighth magnitude, at a little more than 11" distance, p.
142 deg., and the larger apertures will reveal a third star, of tenth
magnitude, and reddish in color, distance 49", p. 103 deg.. Close by iota we
find the little double star Sigma 747, whose components are of five and
a half and six and a half magnitudes respectively, and separated 36", p.
223 deg.. Above the uppermost star in the Sword is a small star cluster, No.
1184, which derives a special interest from the fact that it incloses a
delicate double star, Sigma 750, whose larger component is of the sixth
magnitude, while the smaller is of the ninth, and the distance is only
4.3", p. 59 deg.. We may try the four-inch on this object.

Having looked at alpha (Betelgeuse), the great topaz star on Orion's
right shoulder, and admired the splendor of its color, we may turn the
four-inch upon the star Sigma 795, frequently referred to by its number
as "52 Orionis." It consists of one star of the sixth and another of
sixth and a half magnitude, only 1.5" apart, p. 200 deg.. Having separated
them with a power of two hundred and fifty diameters on the four-inch,
we may try them with a high power on the three-inch. We shall only
succeed this time if our glass is of first-rate quality and the air is
perfectly steady.

The star lambda in Orion's head presents an easy conquest for the
three-inch, as it consists of a light-yellow star of magnitude three and
a half and a reddish companion of the sixth magnitude; distance 4", p.
43 deg.. There is also a twelfth-magnitude star at 27", p. 183 deg., and a tenth
or eleventh magnitude one at 149", p. 278 deg.. These are tests for the
five-inch, and we must not be disappointed if we do not succeed in
seeing th