IX
ANTARES
ABOUT ten o'clock in the evening of the longest day in June is, perhaps, the most favorable time to look for Antares—a beautiful star in a beautiful constellation. It is then due south and at the highest point in its diurnal path across the heavens, which never takes it higher than a little more than one-fourth of the way from the horizon to the zenith. A line about one hundred and sixteen degrees long drawn directly south from Polaris and passing just half-way between Arcturus and Vega will point it out, lying in the heart of the constellation Scorpius, which is flung out over the southern sky in a fine sweep that wins admiration from the most casual observer.
Antares is also indicated by a line drawn at right angles to the line connecting Altair and its two companions and extended about
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