Page:The Music of the Spheres.djvu/189





The head of Orion is marked by two small stars and a larger one. These stars form a tiny triangle named Meissa, which means "The Head of the Giant." The three stars form rather a small head for the rest of the giant's well proportioned body, so they are sometimes placed on the side of his head and sometimes as beauty-spots upon his face, according to the fancy of the artist who portrays him. The triangle is faint but very easily seen and a happy addition to the figure; without them, or if they happened to lie in another position, the constellation might well have represented something other than a giant.

There is a curious optical illusion which occurs when the moon is among these stars, for the big, round full face of the moon actually passes through the sides of this (seemingly) tiny triangle. But one must be on the alert to view this interesting occurrence for the Moon-goddess travels swiftly in her chariot over the sky and leaves even her lover no more than a passing caress. The explanation is, that the triangle of stars on Orion's head appears small in comparison with the great quadrilateral figure which lies below it, and the delusion as to the size of the moon is accounted for partly as a result of its brightness (the bright rays spreading its image on the retina), and partly because there is nothing in the sky with which to compare it. When the moon rises behind a tree on the hillside it seems a mammoth thing, a silver ball so huge that it seems almost absurd to state that it can flit between the sides of Orion's triangle. Yet the closer it comes to Orion's head the smaller does it seem to become and the larger becomes the triangle. When the two touch sides, the triangle is seen to be large enough to contain the moon, which slides through without touching its stars.