St. Nicholas/Volume 40/Number 4/Nature and Science/February Constellation

by Caroline E. Furness

A BEAUTIFUL FEBRUARY CONSTELLATION

You can easily find this group of stars in the sky if you face the south, turn a little toward the east, and then look up. You will see first a V-shaped figure with a bright reddish star at one end of the V. This is called Aldebaran, and is imagined to be the eye of the Bull. The two left-hand stars joined to the V in the map are the tips of his horns.

The group of stars close together on the right is called the Pleiades. Six stars can easily be seen
MAP OF TAURUS, THE BULL. in this group, but, on a very clear night, four more can be seen if you have good eyesight. Directly underneath the Pleiades can be seen the planet Saturn. To the eye, this appears like a star, but viewed with a telescope, it will show a round globe surrounded by a ring seen somewhat aslant.—Caroline E. Furness, Professor of Astronomy, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, N. Y.