Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 31.djvu/201

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ASTRONOMY WITH AN OPERA-GLASS.
189

on the 1st of August. Remembering that the center of the map is the point over his head, and that the edge of it represents the circle of the horizon, the reader, by a little attention and comparison with the sky, will be able to fix in his mind the relative situation of the

various constellations. The maps that follow will show him these constellations on a larger scale, and give him the names of their chief stars.

The observer need not wait until midnight on the 1st of June in order to find some of the constellations included in our map. Earlier in the evening, at about that date, say at nine o'clock, he will be able to see many of these constellations, but he must look for them farther toward the east than they are represented in the map. The bright stars in Boötes and Virgo, for instance, instead of being over in the southwest, as in the map, will be near the meridian; while Lyra, instead of shining high overhead, will be found climbing up out of the