Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 30.djvu/778

754 wept bitterly over the loss. There is no telling what might have happened to the guardians of the temple, had not a celebrated astronomer named Conon led the young king and queen aside in the evening and showed them the missing locks shining transfigured in the sky. He assured them that Venus had placed Berenice's lustrous ringlets among the stars, and, as they were not skilled in celestial lore, they were quite ready to believe that the silvery swarm they saw near Arcturus had never been there before. And so for centuries the world has recognized the constellation of Berenice's Hair. These time-honored legends, that have delighted the brightest minds in all countries and all ages, lend an interest of their own to the starry heavens, in spite of the fact that they make no impression upon the armor-plated souls of certain mathematicians who pretend to be the only astronomers, and who would sweep all constellations and mythologies together into limbo.

Look next at Corvus and Crateris, two little constellations which you will discover on the circular map, and of which we give a separate representation. You will find that the stars Delta (δ) and Eta (η), in the upper left-hand corner of the quadrilateral figure of Corvus, make a striking appearance. The little star Zeta (ζ) is a very pretty double for an opera-glass. There is a very faint pair of stars close below and to the right of Beta (ß). This forms a severe test. Only a good opera-glass will show these two stars as a single faint point of light. A field-glass, however, will show both, one being considerably fainter than the other. Crateris is worth sweeping over for the pretty combination of stars to be found in it.

Arcturus and Spica, and their companions, may be left for observation to a more convenient season, when, having risen higher, they can be studied to better advantage.It will be well, however, to merely glance at them with the glass in order to note the great difference of color—Spica being brilliantly white and Arcturus almost red. We will now turn to the north. You have already been told how to find the pole-star. Look at it with your glass. The pole-star is a famous double, but its minute companion can only be seen with a telescope. As so often happens, however, it has another companion for the opera-glass, and this latter is sufficiently close and small to make an interesting test for an inexperienced observer armed with a glass of small power. It must be looked for pretty close to the rays of the large star, with such a glass,