The call of the stars; a popular introduction to a knowledge of the starry skies with their romance and legend . d procession of the year, from equinoxto equinox, each of the seasons has its own characteristicgroups of stars. The constellations Leo, Virgo, andBootes, that foreshadow the advent of spring, are asmuch a part of the vernal season as are the earliestverdure, the buds, the blossoms, and the birds. Theirstars have an entirely different individuality from thosestellar gems that shone resplendent in the winter sky,or from those softly glowing stars that herald the nearapproach of gay s
The call of the stars; a popular introduction to a knowledge of the starry skies with their romance and legend . d procession of the year, from equinoxto equinox, each of the seasons has its own characteristicgroups of stars. The constellations Leo, Virgo, andBootes, that foreshadow the advent of spring, are asmuch a part of the vernal season as are the earliestverdure, the buds, the blossoms, and the birds. Theirstars have an entirely different individuality from thosestellar gems that shone resplendent in the winter sky,or from those softly glowing stars that herald the nearapproach of gay summer, when, in the words of eloquentServiss, the starlight falls without a ripple in the languidair. There is in fact, it may be observed, a spring sky, asummer sky, an autumn sky, and a winter sky, eachpossessing a charm and interest peculiarly its was doubtless thinking of the floweryspring-time when in Evangeline he wrote: Silently one by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven,Blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of theangels. 32 CHARTFOR ABOUT (The VernalEcfuinoxJStspM. zo Star MagnitudesO O « ? * r 2T 3- V^ti>6<^ltndundcrl CHART 1-SPRING ITIGHT SICT The Night-Sky of Spring 33 It makes no difference at what calendar recordthe year commences; so far as the seasons andconstellations are concerned, it begins when thetrees begin to bud, the grass to grow, and the earthwakens out of its winter sleep. So following naturesrule in the succession of the seasons, as well as anold English custom abandoned since the middle ofthe 18th century, the opening of the year, for thepurposes of this book at least, will be reckoned astaking place when the sim transits the equatorabout the 21st of March—the epoch of the vernalequinox—instead of on the 1st of January, as fixed bystatute. The return of spring and the annual rejuvenationof earth have been hailed with delight in all ages ofthe world. The kingly poet sang thus alluringlyof it: For, lo, the
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