
the following names: _Aries_, the Ram; _Taurus_, the Bull; _Gemini_,
the Twins; _Cancer_, the Crab; _Leo_, the Lion; _Virgo_, the Virgin;
_Libra_, the Balance; _Scorpio_, the Scorpion; _Sagittarius_, the
Archer; _Capricornus_, the Goat; _Aquarius_, the Water Bearer, and
_Pisces_, the Fishes. It is in one of these constellations that the
Sun, Moon and planets are always to be found.

A good way to find any one of the constellations is by knowing the time
when it will be on your meridian, that is the line over your head due
north and south, during a given month. Any constellation of the zodiac
will be on your meridian at 9 o’clock P. M., during the month given
opposite its name in the following table:

     -----------+------------------+-----------------+-------------------
                |                  |                 |Time Constellation
    Astronomical|  How Pronounced  | Common Names    |will Appear on Your
        Names   |                  |                 |Meridian at 9 P. M.
     -----------+------------------+-----------------+-------------------
     Aries      | A´-ri-es         | The Ram         |  December
     Taurus     | Tau´-rus         | The Bull        |  January
     Gemini     | Gem´-i-ni        | The Twins       |  February
     Cancer     | Can´-cer         | The Crab        |  March
     Leo        | Le´-o            | The Lion        |  April
     Virgo      | Vir´-go          | The Virgin      |  May
     Libra      | Li´-bra          | The Balance     |  June
     Scorpio    | Scor´-pi-o       | The Scorpion    |  July
     Sagittarius| Sag´-it-ta´-ri-us| The Archer      |  August
     Capricornus| Cap´-ri-cor´-nus | The Goat        |  September
     Aquarius   | A-qua´-ri-us     | The Water Bearer|  October
     Pisces     | Pis´-ces         | The Fishes      |  November
     -----------+------------------+-----------------+-------------------

To find any constellation during any other month than that given in the
last column above subtract two hours for each following month. Suppose
you want to find Aries, the Ram, in January instead of December, look
for it on your meridian at 7 P. M.; in February look for it at 5 P. M.,
and so on.

You will of course come to a month where the constellation will run
into daylight and then you won’t be able to see it again until the
Earth has traveled round the Sun to a point where the Earth is again
between the Sun and the constellation.

The constellations of the zodiac are shown in Fig. 172; also the symbol
for each sign and the month in which the sun enters the sign. As we
shall later explain, the constellation is no longer in the sign of the
same name.

If you look southward at the sky some night for any particular
constellation you need not expect the stars which form it to stand
out separate and distinct, as shown in Figs. 172 and 174; if you do
you will be sadly disappointed, for many of the constellations of the
zodiac are hard to recognize compared with the Big Dipper, or Orion, or
Pegasus.

[Illustration: FIG. 172.--CONSTELLATIONS AND SIGNS OF THE ZODIAC.]

Nor are the constellations of the zodiac as equally spaced in the sky
as in Figs. 172 and 174. Some of the stars are very scattered and
stretch over part of two signs of the zodiac, while others do not take
up nearly all the space allowed them; Figs. 172-174 are but rough
sketches. To recognize these constellations you will have to use a good
star map.

The heavy black line drawn lengthwise through the middle of the strip
in Fig. 172 represents the line of the ecliptic which is the yearly
path the Sun seems to take. The planets also take the same course,
though they may be on one side or the other of the Sun’s path by 8
degrees, thus making the zodiac 16 degrees wide; hence, the lighter
parallel lines on either side of the black line, or path of the Sun, is
the farthest away that the planets ever get.

If you were to cut the strip of paper, Fig. 172, out of the book and
paste the ends together, you would have a band, or circle representing
the zodiac more nearly as it is; but instead of cutting the book you
had better draw the signs and constellations on a strip of cardboard
2 inches wide and 24 inches long and glue the ends together, as shown
in Fig. 173; you will now have a zodiac with which you can do a little
experimenting.

[Illustration: FIG. 173.--CARDBOARD ZODIAC.]

Place a candlelight in the center of the cardboard ring and suspend a
marble from a thread, by means of a drop of sealing wax, and let the
marble hang between the light and the cardboard zodiac. As seen from
the marble, which represents the earth, the candle, representing the
sun, is in the constellation directly opposite the one in which the
shadow of the marble falls.

In the almanacs our year begins with January and as the Sun is then in
the sign Aquarius, this month is represented by a picture of Aquarius,
the Water Bearer; but in marking out the signs of the zodiac on a flat
strip of paper we begin with Aries, which the Sun enters in the month
of March, and read them from right to left.

The reason for this is because the Earth travels round the Sun
counter-clockwise as seen from the north and this makes the Sun appear
to move eastward through the constellations of the zodiac.

[Illustration: FIG. 174.--CONSTELLATIONS OF ZODIAC IN CIRCLE.]

This makes all the months follow each other in the proper order when
the strip of paper is glued together, as shown in Fig. 173, or when the
constellations are arranged in a circle, as shown in Fig. 174.

This latter diagram shows plainly that when the Earth is at that part
of its orbit marked A the constellation of Taurus is back of the Sun.
If we are on that side of the Earth which is toward the Sun of course
we cannot see Taurus for the Sun, which is shining in our eyes.

Still Taurus is the background of the Sun just the same, and so when
the almanac says the Sun is in Taurus you will know that the Sun is
directly between the Earth and Taurus.

The same thing is true of all the planets. Take Mars, for example;
whenever Mars is in that part of its orbit so that we can see it at
night, as shown at B, Fig. 172, we also see the constellation back of
it--in this case it is Libra, the Balance--and since a planet and a
fixed star look exactly alike to the naked eye it is easy to think of
Mars as being in that constellation; and it is the same with all the
other planets.

=The Constellations of the Zodiac.=--The _Constellations of the Zodiac_
and the _Signs of the Zodiac_ are two very different things. Long ago,
when the zodiac was invented, the constellation of Aries, the Ram, was
in the first of the 12 spaces and he and the _sign_ of this space were
of course at that time the same.

Owing to a peculiar motion of the Earth, called _precession_, the signs
of the zodiac have moved backward during the last 2,000 years and the
sign of Aries, which used to be in the constellation of Aries, is now
in the constellation of Pisces, the Fishes.

[Illustration]

=Aquarius, the Water Man.=--A constellation of autumn: Aquarius is
always pictured in the almanacs as pouring water from a pitcher.

All the stars of this constellation are faint and scattered and none of
them are in a line with the ecliptic. Aquarius got his name from the
Romans, who called him the _Waterman_ because when the Sun enters the
sign Aquarius in January there are usually heavy rains in Italy and in
the long ago people thought the stars had a lot to do with the weather,
and everything else on Earth, for that matter.

[Illustration: FIG. 175.--CONSTELLATIONS OF ARIES THE RAM.]

=Pisces, the Fishes.=--This constellation is now in that part