to their apparent
brightness, and since the dimensions of these distant suns are almost
wholly unknown to us, the most luminous stars were naturally denoted as
of first magnitude, those which were a little less bright of the second,
and so on. But in reality this word "magnitude" is quite erroneous, for
it bears no relation to the mass of the stars, divided thus at an epoch
when it was supposed that the most brilliant must be the largest. It
simply indicates the apparent brightness of a star, the real brilliancy
depending on its dimensions, its intrinsic light, and its distance from
our planet.

And now to make some comparison between the different orders. Throughout
the entire firmament, only nineteen stars of first magnitude are
discoverable. And, strictly speaking, the last of this series might just
as well be noted of "second magnitude," while the first of the second
series might be added to the list of stars of the "first order." But in
order to form classes distinct from one another, some limit has to be
adopted, and it was determined that the first series should include only
the following stars, the most luminous in the Heavens, which are
subjoined in order of decreasing brilliancy.

STARS OF THE FIRST MAGNITUDE

1. Sirius, or [alpha] of the Great Dog.
2. Canopus, or [alpha] of the Ship.
3. Capella, or [alpha] of the Charioteer.
4. Arcturus, or [alpha] of the Herdsman.
5. Vega, or [alpha] of the Lyre.
6. Proxima, or [alpha] of the Centaur.
7. Rigel, or [beta] of Orion.
8. Achernar, or [alpha] of Eridanus.
9. Procyon, or [alpha] of the Little Dog.
10. [beta] of the Centaur.
11. Betelgeuse, or [alpha] of Orion.
12. Altair, or [alpha] of the Eagle.
13. [alpha] of the Southern Cross.
14. Aldebaran, or [alpha] of the Bull.
15. Spica, or [alpha] of the Virgin.
16. Antares, or [alpha] of the Scorpion.
17. Pollux, or [beta] of the Twins.
18. Regulus, or [alpha] of the Lion.
19. Fomalhaut, or [alpha] of the Southern Fish.

THE STARS OF THE SECOND MAGNITUDE

Then come the stars of the second magnitude, of which there are
fifty-nine. The stars of the Great Bear (with the exception of [delta],
which is of third magnitude), the Pole-Star, the chief stars in Orion
(after Rigel and Betelgeuse), of the Lion, of Pegasu