The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1925-05-26
RIG DIPPER VISIBLE
HIGH IN WESTERN SKY
FOOTE'S, KNOWN AS THE OK
DRIVER, IS PICTURED AS
DRIVING PLOW.

You may think summer is here, but
officially it does not begin until June
21 which will be the longest day of
the year in the northern hemisphere.
# comes on Sunday, which will doubt
less make tennis and golf players re-
ioice.
Iune is the month to look, for the
Bic Dipper high in the western sky
with the end of the handle nearly due
north. says bulletin by the American
Nature Association. Bootes, generally
.noken of as the Herdsman, is also
known as the Ox-driver, and is sup
posed to be driving the seven pillow
oxen, as the seven stars OF the Big
Dipper also are known, around the
north pole of the heavens.
Arcturus as Bear-Guard.
Arcturus, the brightest star in
Bootes. is the Bear-Guard, as its name
signihes, and it can be easily found by
nrolonging the line of stars in the tail
of the Great Bear or the handle OF the
Big Dipper toward the southeast.
some see in Bootes a hunter pursuing
the Great Bear with his two hounds.
Bootes is easily found because its
chief stars form the outline of boy S
kite, with the bright orange-colored
star Arcturus at the point where the
tail Joins the body of the kite. This
kite has two tails, however extending
to either side from ArcturuS.
Some prefer to see the five fairly
bright stars in Bootes to the north of
Arcturus as corners OF pentagon, a
fve-sided figure with its sides OF equal
length.
Larger Than Sun.
Arcturus, its peculiar orange color
makes it easy to find, is also one OF
the three brightest stars north OF the
celestial equator. The two others are
Vega, now far over in the northeast,
and Capelia in the northwest The
three stars differ greatly in color, for
Vega is BLUSH white, Capelia yellow
and Arcturus orange. Vega is shade
brighter than the two others, which
are exactly equal in brightness.
Arcturus, the. American Nature As
ISOLATION points out, is one OF the
nearer stars to the earth, though there
is some uncertainty as to its exact dis
lance. 1t is placed between Il and 80
light years. A light year is the distance
light travels in a year at the speed OF
10000 miles a second. Arcturus IS
also quite a giant sun, the stars being
all suns, of course. Its diameter IS
nearly 20,000,000 miles. That makes
our sun, with its diameter of only 864,-
600 miles, look pretty small, though
compared to our planet earth, with its
diameter of 5000 miles, it seems large.
The Northern Crown.
Corona Borealis, next to Bootes on
the east, is the Northern Grown and 1t
is indeed a beautiful little crown OF
six stars, in which the second magnl-
tude star, Comma or Alphacoa, the
brightest star in the semi-circle, is the
Jewel in the crown.
Far over in the northeast is Vega,
brightest star of the northern hemls-
phere of the heavens, easily recognlz-
ed by its diamond-like blue-white
splendor and by the two small stars
that form with it an equilateral TRAN
gle that has no counterpart IN the
heavens. Vego is in Lyra the Harp,
one of the smallest and most interest
ing constellation in the sky. 1t lies
next to the huge constellation OF Her
cules, which separates it from Corona
and Bootes on the west.