. Handbook of nature-study for teachers and parents, based on the Cornell nature-study leaflets. Nature study. poo Handbook of Nature-Study. Capella in the constel- lation Auriga. CAPELLA AND THE HEAVENLY TWINS Teacher's Story Capella is nearer to the North Star than any other of the bright stars and it comes very near belonging to the strictly polar constellations, since it falls below the horizon only four hours out of twenty-four. In composition it much resembles our sun, as do all the bright yellow stars; but it is much larger; it gives off one hundred and twenty times as much light as om
. Handbook of nature-study for teachers and parents, based on the Cornell nature-study leaflets. Nature study. poo Handbook of Nature-Study. Capella in the constel- lation Auriga. CAPELLA AND THE HEAVENLY TWINS Teacher's Story Capella is nearer to the North Star than any other of the bright stars and it comes very near belonging to the strictly polar constellations, since it falls below the horizon only four hours out of twenty-four. In composition it much resembles our sun, as do all the bright yellow stars; but it is much larger; it gives off one hundred and twenty times as much light as om sun, and it is forty light-years away from us. Capella is always a beautiful feature of the northern skies, being almost in the zenith during the evenings of January and February. It is in a brilliant shield- shaped constellation known as Auriga. During the winter evenings we see two stars set like glowing eyes almost in the zenith, and in a region of the sky where there are no other bright stars. These twin stars are set just a little closer together than are the pointers of the Big Dipper. To this brilliant pair the ancients gave the names of Castor and Pollux. Pollux is the brighter of the two and is the more south- ward in situation. Pollux and Castor were two beauti- ful twin boys who loved each other so much that, after they were; dead, they were placed in the skies where they could always be near each other. The twin stars are supposed to exert a benign influence on oceans and seas and are, therefore, beloved by sailors. Although they seem to tis so near together, they are separated by a space so great that we cannot conceive of it and they are going in opposite directions. Pollux is a yeUow star, and supposed to be in the same stage of development as oiu* sun, while Castor is white and according to star ages is young. When a boy says "By Jimminy," he does not realize that he is using an ancient expletive "By Gemini," which is the Latin name of these
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