" The
Great Bear and the Little Bear, with the Pole Star, form a group in the
northern sky not paralleled by any similarly situated constellation in
the southern heavens. At the South Pole there is no conspicuous star to
indicate its position approximately--a circumstance disadvantageous to
astronomers and navigators in the southern hemisphere.

It will now be easy to add a third constellation to the two already
acquired. On the opposite side of the Pole Star to the Great Bear, and
at about the same distance, lies a very pleasing group of five bright
stars, forming a W. These are the more conspicuous members of the
constellation Cassiopeia, which contains altogether about sixty stars
visible to the naked eye. When the Great Bear is low down in the north,
then Cassiopeia is high overhead. When the Great Bear is high overhead,
then Cassiopeia is to be looked for low down in the north. The
configuration of the leading stars is so striking that once the eye has
recognised them future identification will be very easy--the more so
when it is borne in mind that the Pole Star lies midway between
Cassiopeia and the Great Bear (Fig. 81). These important constellations
will serve as guides to the rest. We shall accordingly show how the
learner may distinguish the various other groups visible from the
British Islands or similar northern latitudes.

The next constellation to be recognised is the imposing group which
contains the Great Square of Pegasus. This is not, like Ursa Major, or
like Cassiopeia, said to be "circumpolar." The Great Square of Pegasus
sets and rises daily. It cannot be seen conveniently during the spring
and the summer, but in autumn and in winter the four stars which mark
the corners of the square can be easily recognised. There are certain
small stars within the region so limited; perhaps about thirty can be
counted by an unaided eye of ordinary power in these latitudes. In the
south of Europe, with its pure and bright skies, the number of visible
stars appears to be greatly increased. An acute observer at Athens has
counted 102 in the same region.

[Illustration: Fig. 82.--The Great Square of Pegasus.]

The Great Square of Pegasus can be reached by a line from the Pole Star
over the end of Cassiopeia. If it be produced about as far again it will
conduct the eye to the centre of the Great Square of Pegasus (Fig. 82).

The line through b and a in Pegasus continued 45 deg. to the
south points out the import