Venus was called Aphrodite by the Greeks, from _aphros_, meaning foam. Some poets have told how the foam itself suddenly turned iridescent, trembled, and from its center rose the lovely Venus. Others tell how a closed shell tinted like a rose floated to the top of a billow where it opened and disclosed the pearly daintiness of the goddess. The god Zephyrus, the west wind, then wafted her to the shores of Cyprus where she was adorned by the Hours and later carried to the home of the gods on Mount Olympus where the most beautiful star in the sky, the planet Venus, was named after her. Owing to the slanting motion of the stars when in the east or west, the figures of these star groups show marked changes. The "Great Square," for instance, stands on a corner star when seen in the east and west although it is a perfect square when seen in the south, while the "Twins" appear above the eastern horizon standing on their heads, slowly right themselves as they travel across the sky and sink feet first when they disappear below the horizon in the west. To illustrate more clearly one might imagine the "Giant Orion" to be a tiny toy fastened by his waist to a wire bent in the shape of an arc. [Figure 07] As he slides from east to west it is easy to see how his position changes in relation to an eye directly in front of him. This varying orientation is easily understood and should give the reader but little trouble. Often a part of a constellation, such as the Big Dipper, is more familiar to the majority of people than the whole constellation, which is called "Ursa Major" or the "Great Bear,"--the handle of the Dipper is only the tail of the Bear. [Figure 08: "Constellations come and climb the heavens and go."--_Bryant_.] In all cases these prominent features will be used as index names. Romance is said to gain when tinctured with realism just as realism gains when tinctured with romance. So, with a heart filled with beauty and a mind filled with facts, let us go forth on starry nights and seek, with eyes that are friendly, our acquaintances among the stars. [Figure 09: THE TWO DIPPERS AND DRACO, THE DRAGON. These stars circle about Polaris, the North Star, and are visible at any hour during the night throughout the year.] CHAPTER IV THE TWO SKY DIPPERS AND DRACO, THE DRAGON THE BIG DIPPER [Illustration] 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. [Figure 10] 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.