Our neighbor Capella is a beautiful star. It flashes like a great solitaire, a star-poem of loveliness in color. Early in August, in the far northeast, its creamy-whiteness is accentuated by seashell pinks which splash through the thickened atmosphere like the effervescence of a rainbow. This star, with two others,--Vega, a delicate blue and Arcturus, an orange-gold,--are the three brightest stars nearest the north. Since they are easy to locate and visible most of the year they are usually the star lover's favorites among the stars. Learn to locate these exquisite isles of starlight by using the Big Dipper as a base from which to start. [Figure 93: How to locate Vega, Capella, and Arcturus with the aid of the Big Dipper. Note also drawing on page 43.] [Figure 94: THE FOUR GREAT SOUTHERN STARS.] CHAPTER VIII GREAT STARS OF THE SOUTH SPICA FORMALHAUT ANTARES SIRIUS WITH the exception of the stars in the constellation of Orion,--Spica, Antares, Formalhaut and Sirius are the only stars of the first magnitude south of the celestial equator which are visible from any point in the United States. The Orion stars are winter stars and will be taken up in the chapter to follow, but these four stars, each of which in turn looms lonesomely in the south, are representatives of the seasons, and their very names, Spica, Antares, Formalhaut and Sirius, bring to mind successively, spring, summer, autumn and winter. Spica, the "Spring Star," rises at sunset on the 10th of April and crosses the meridian during the early evenings of April, May and June. Its beautiful silvery-white flame first appears just a little south of east and it takes only 5 hours and 25 minutes to cover half of its arc across the sky. It is then a little less than half way up from the horizon and hangs on the same curve from the Big Dipper's handle as Arcturus. Antares rises at sunset on the first of June and passes the meridian early in the evening during June and July. It rises farther south of east than Spica and takes only 4 hours and 23 minutes to reach the meridian. It is then only one-quarter of the way up from the horizon. Being a brilliantly red star in a conspicuous anchor-like constellation near the Milky Way, it is very easy to locate. Formalhaut rises at sunset about the 10th of October and reaches the meridian about 4 hours later. It first appears in the southeast and skims in a short arc closer to the horizon than any other first magnitude star.