One of the tests a Boy Scout must pass in order to obtain his badge of merit for starcraft is to be able to name and point out twelve principal constellations, and every boy, whether he is a scout or not, should be able to do the same thing for his own good.

The word constellation is formed from two Latin words, the first being con which means together, and the last being stella which means star, or in plain English, constellation means stars together.

In your efforts to find the North Star you have already learned one of the principal constellations—that of the Big Dipper—and to learn more of them will be even easier and much more fun, for now you have learned the game.

The Constellation of Cassiopeia.—To find the constellation of Cassiopeia (pronounced Cas´-i-o-pe´-ah) again make use of your star finder. Remove all the stars from the blackened cardboard and rearrange them so that the North Star is in the center of the board and the Big Dipper is on the left hand side with the two pointer stars in a line with the North Star. On this chart the Big Dipper must be made much smaller than the one described in the first chapter.

Cut out five more stars from white cardboard and place them on the opposite side of the board from the Big Dipper in such a manner that they will form the letter W being careful to fasten the stars to the cardboard so that the letter W stands in the exact position shown in Fig. 13.

A line drawn through the pointers of the Big Dipper and produced will, as before, pass through the North Star, and if it is extended an equal distance beyond it, will pass very closely to the constellation of Cassiopeia; this line will aid you in placing the stars on your chart in the right positions.

Having thus prepared the star finder, take it out into the open when night comes on and begin by locating the North Star and the Big Dipper. Now set the Big Dipper and the North Star of your star chart in a position which to your eye corresponds to the Big Dipper and the North Star in the sky. Follow the line from the pointer stars to the North Star and beyond when the great letter W which is the constellation of Cassiopeia, will stand out so clear and bright that you will wonder why you have never seen it before.

Fig. 14 shows this group of stars and the outline of the unhappy Cassiopeia who is as often standing on her head as on her feet, but it requires the imagination of an Arabian star-gazer to see the likeness.

The Little Dipper.—Although some of the stars which form the Little Dipper are very faint it is included in our list of 12 principal constellations for two reasons: first, because it contains the very important North Star, and second, because it is easy to find.

The North Star is the last star in the handle of the Little Dipper. The two outer stars which form the bowl of the Little Dipper, and which are called the Guardians of the Pole, are quite bright, and after a few trials you can easily put in the other stars that are much fainter, and so complete in your mind’s eye the outline of the Little Dipper as you have it on your chart. Fig. 15 shows the arrangement of the stars in the Little Dipper and the relative position of the Little Dipper to the Big Dipper.

The Little Dipper is also called the Little Bear and this latter name when done into Latin becomes Ursa Minor, which is its scientific name. How the Little Dipper was made into a Little Bear by the ancients is shown in Fig. 16.

The Great Square of Pegasus.—Unlike the Big Dipper, the Little Dipper and Cassiopeia, which are so close to the North Star that they never set and hence can be seen at any hour of the night and at any season of the year, we now come to some constellations which are quite distant from the North Star and are for this reason to be seen only at certain times of the year. The Great Square of Pegasus can always be seen on clear, crisp nights during the autumn months.

To find a constellation that is as far away from the North Star as Pegasus (pronounced Peg’-a-sus) is not an easy thing to do, at least the first time you try it, for while our chart is marked with a straight line the sky is like a great bowl and a line produced from the North Star to Pegasus will, in consequence, not be a straight line, but a curved line. However, with your star finder charted like the diagram shown in Fig. 17 you will be able to locate Pegasus with very little effort.

After taking off all the stars from the cardboard surface, pin or paste the North Star to the lower left hand corner of the black surface of the cardboard and place the five stars of Cassiopeia in their proper positions. Now draw a line from the North Star through Cassiopeia just below the star marked β which is the Greek letter beta (see Appendix C) and produce, or extend that line until the edge of the cardboard is reached. On the extreme right hand end of this line set two stars, which we will also call pointer stars, and place two more stars above them so that a nearly perfect square will be formed as shown in Fig. 17.

To find Pegasus take the star chart out-of-doors, say some evening in November about 9 o’clock, for the Great Square will then be on the meridian, that is, on a line passing over your head and which runs north and south across the sky. This time, instead of looking down on the chart, as you did in finding the Big Dipper and Cassiopeia, turn the board bottom side up, as shown in Fig. 18, but still keeping the cardboard North Star pointing north and the four stars of Pegasus pointing toward the south.

By looking over your chart into the sky and following an imaginary line with your eye from the North Star through Cassiopeia past the star β (beta) and lengthening this line toward the equator in the southern sky you will come upon four bright, white stars which form the Great Square of Pegasus and you have added another and fourth constellation to your list.

The practical value of knowing the mighty constellation of Pegasus is that you can always find the north, by means of its friendly stars, though the North Star, the Big and Little Dippers and Cassiopeia are hidden by clouds. To find the north you only have to wait until Pegasus gets very high in the sky and run an imaginary line through the pointer stars of Pegasus and produce it until it reaches the northern horizon.

The Great Square of Pegasus was fancifully pictured by the ancients as a Flying Horse and, curiously enough, with only half a body at that, as shown in Fig. 19. To those who do not know the lore of the stars it is not so easy to see in the Great Square the fabled winged steed who still continues his flight through the sky just as he did when he was invented over four thousand years ago.

The Mighty Orion.—The brightest constellation in the whole sky is Orion (pronounced O-ri´-on), the Great Hunter, as the ancients liked to imagine this group of stars.

With the exception of the Big Dipper, Orion is the easiest of all the constellations to find provided you look for it at the right time of the year, which is during the winter months.

To locate Orion cut out of cardboard seven large stars and three small stars. Near the lower edge of the blackened cardboard pin two large and two small stars to form what is called a trapezium, that is, four straight lines forming a figure, none of which are parallel, as shown in Fig. 20. About halfway across the figure pin three large stars in a row, at equal distances apart and tilted a little, as shown in Fig. 21.

These three stars form the Belt of Orion, for a mighty hunter must needs have a belt, and this belt of bright stars is one of the best known groups in the whole sky. Across the belt and nearly at right angles to it pin three small stars; these small stars form the sword or dagger of the fanciful hunter but they are of more use to us than to him, as will be seen presently.

At the top of the star chart pin the North Star so that it will be in a direct line with the three small stars forming the Sword of Orion. Your star chart of Orion is now ready to be compared with the one in the sky. The best time to find Orion is in January about 9 o’clock, when the constellation is high in the southern sky, though he may be seen shining in all his glory all winter long.

On taking your star chart out-of-doors hold it overhead just as you did in finding the Great Square of Pegasus; now look toward the south until your eyes rest on the equator running across the southern sky from east to west and you will see the mighty Orion, though you may not recognize the lion skin he holds.

Having found Orion draw an imaginary line through the three small stars called his sword and produce this line until it meets the North Star. Once you have found Orion you will never again require the help of a star chart to locate him, but it is a good plan to look him up as often as you can, and to draw the imaginary line through his sword and on to the North Star, for should you ever lose your way or want to find the north and the North Star should be hidden by clouds a line through the Sword of Orion when Orion is in the south will direct you as certainly as the needle of a compass. Fig. 22 shows the fabulous Orion as a giant hunter holding the skin of a lion which he killed, according to Arabian star-lore.

Auriga, the Charioteer or Shepherd.—After finding Orion the constellation of Auriga (pronounced Aw-re´-ga) will get right in your way so that you cannot by any chance miss it. This is because the chief star in Auriga and whose name is Capella (pronounced Ca-pel´-la) lies nearly on the line drawn through the Sword of Orion and produced to the North Star as shown in Figs. 21, 23 and 27.

Auriga was pictured by the Assyrians as a charioteer, but the early Greeks saw in this constellation a good shepherd, who carried a goat on his back and two kids in his arms. The brilliant star Capella is supposed to be the goat and the three small stars which form a triangle close to Capella are the kids as shown in Fig. 24.

When the North Star cannot be seen the star Capella will prove a useful aid with Orion in finding the north; and since it is just about half way between Orion and the North Star it may again be useful in judging the distance of the North Star from Orion when the former star is obscured.

The Constellation of Taurus.—The last constellation which need concern us here is Taurus (pronounced To´-rus) the Bull. Taurus is one of the constellations of the zodiac of which we will have something to say in Chapter XI. By the time you have learned the foregoing constellations you will be able to locate Taurus without using your star chart, for it lies to the north of Orion, to the south of Auriga and a little to the west of both of these constellations as you will see in Figs. 25 and 27.

The little group of stars nearby is the Pleiades (pronounced plē-ya-dez), and is a part of the constellation of Taurus. There are six small but bright stars grouped closely together when seen by the ordinary person, but if you have very sharp eyes you may be able to make out one or two more.

It is believed that the stars of Taurus were the first to be woven into a group or constellation by the ancients, and it is thought that the Bull of Light, as Taurus was called, was known long before the time of Abraham, or over four thousand years ago. Fig. 26 shows Taurus as the Egyptians saw him. The bright red star which sets in the right eye of Taurus is called Aldebaran (pronounced Al-deb´-a-ran) and is one of the brightest stars in the sky. In the star chart shown in Fig. 27 the different constellations you have learned are grouped together in the same positions in which they are placed in the sky.

Six stars of the first magnitude, that is 6 of the 20 stars which shine the brightest (see Appendices F and G), are also shown on the chart, Fig. 27. By following the equator from west to east across the bowl of the sky, and which runs right through the middle of Orion, you will find to the west and south of it the brightest star in the heavens—Sirius, the Dog Star, so named because it is in the constellation of Canis Major, which is Latin for Big Dog.

Of the other stars on the chart, Capella in Auriga is the next brightest star, and Arcturus (pronounced Arc-tu´-rus) which can be found by following the handle of the Big Dipper, is third in brilliancy. The fourth place is held by Rigel (pronounced Rai´-gel) in Orion; Betelgeux (pronounced Bet-el-gerz´) in Taurus is fifth in order, and Aldebaran in Orion comes last.

There are many other constellations and a large number of other stars but when you are able to name and point out those described in this chapter you will have made a very good running start.