LOCATION.--The three stars in Orion's girdle point southeast to Sirius, the dog star, in Canis Major, the most brilliant star in the heavens. It was connected in the minds of the Egyptians with the rising of the Nile, and is receding from the earth at the rate of twenty miles a second. The star ν is a triple. The cluster (41 M.) can be seen with an opera-glass, just below it. Between δ and ο¹ note a remarkable array of minute stars, also the very red star 22. δ and ζ are doubles for an opera-glass. Below η there is a fine group. Betelgeuze, in Orion, Procyon, in Canis Minor, and Sirius form a nearly equilateral triangle. These stars with Naos, in the Ship, and Phaet, in the Dove, form a huge figure known as the Egyptian "X." From earliest times Sirius has been known as the Dog of Orion. It is 324 times brighter than the average sixth-magnitude star, and is the nearest to the earth of all the stars in this latitude, its distance being 8.7 light years. At this distance the Sun would appear as a star a little brighter than the Pole Star. [Illustration: CANIS MAJOR] ARGO NAVIS (är´-go nā´-vis)--THE SHIP ARGO. (Face South.) LOCATION.--Argo is situated southeast of Canis Major. If a line joining Betelgeuze and Sirius be prolonged 18° southeast, it will point out Naos, a star of the second magnitude in the rowlock of the Ship. This star is in the southeast corner of the Egyptian "X." The star π is of a deep yellow or orange hue. It has three little stars above it, two of which form a pretty pair. The star ζ has a companion, which is a test for an opera-glass. The star κ is a double for an opera-glass. Note the fine star cluster (46 M.). The star Markeb forms a small triangle with two other stars near it. The Egyptians believed that this was the ark that bore Osiris and Isis over the Deluge. The constellation contains two noted objects invisible in this latitude, Canopus, the second brightest star, and the remarkable variable star η. [Illustration: PUPPIS] MONOCEROS (mō-nos´-e-ros)--THE UNICORN. (Face South.) LOCATION.--Monoceros is to be found east of Orion between Canis Major and Canis Minor. Three of its stars of the fourth magnitude form a straight line northeast and southwest, about 9° east of Betelgeuze, and about the same distance south of Alhena, in Gemini. The region around the stars 8, 13, 17 is particularly rich when viewed with an opera-glass. Note also a beautiful field about the variable S, and a cluster about midway between α and β. Two stars about 7° apart in the tail of the Unicorn are pointer stars to Procyon. These stars are known as 30 and 31. The former is about 16° east of Procyon, and is easily identified as it has a sixth-magnitude star on either side of it. About 4° southwest of this star a good field-glass will reveal a beautiful star cluster. [Illustration: MONOCEROS] ERIDANUS (ē-rid´-a-nus)--OR THE RIVER PO. (Face Southwest.)