Page:The Music of the Spheres.djvu/51

CHAPTER IV

THE TWO SKY DIPPERS AND DRACO, THE DRAGON

The Big Dipper

A Broken handled duplicate of the old fashioned tin dipper that used to hang by the well, lies twinkling in the northern half of the sky. This Dipper is ornamented with seven bright stars although a telescope or a field-glass will disclose dozens more encrusted on its handle and a starry phosphorescence in its bowl.

This Dipper may be found near the zenith, almost overhead, during the early evening hours in April and May; it is west of the North Star in July and August, near the northern horizon in October and November and in the east during January and February.

Although every twenty-four hours this Sky Dipper swings completely around the North Star, half of the journey is invisible because the strong light of the sun prevents us from seeing the stars in the daytime.

"The fiery sun, when wheeling up heaven's height,
Obscures the stars and the moon's holy light."
—Leonidas.

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