Lesson CCXXVI

Cassiopeia’s Chair, Cepheus, and the Dragon

Leading thought—To learn to know and to map the constellations which are so near the Pole-star that they never rise or set in our latitude, but seem to swing around the North Star once in twenty-four hours.

Method—Place on the blackboard the diagram given showing the Pole-star, Big and Little Dippers and Cassiopeia’s Chair, and ask for observations and sketches showing their position in the skies the following evening. After the pupils have observed the Chair and know it, add to your diagram, first Cepheus and then the Dragon. After you are sure the pupils know these constellations, give the following lesson. The observations should be made early and late in the same evening and at different times of the month, so that pupils will in every case note the apparent movement of these stars around Polaris.

Observations—1. How many stars form Cassiopeia’s Chair? Make a drawing showing them and their relation to the Pole-star.

2. Is the Queen’s Chair on the same side of the Pole-star as the Big Dipper? Is the top or the bottom of the “W” which forms Cassiopeia’s Chair turned toward the Pole-star?

3. Does Cassiopeia’s Chair move around the Pole-star, like the Big Dipper?

4. How many stars mark the constellation of Cepheus?

5. Make a sketch of these stars and show the two which are pointers toward the North Star.

6. Does Cepheus also move around the Pole-star, and in which direction?

7. Describe where the Dragon lies, and where are his tail and his head in relation to the two Dippers. Make a sketch of the Dragon.

8. Why do all the polar constellations seem to move around the Pole-star every twenty-four hours, and why do they seem to go in a direction opposite the movement of the hands of a clock? What do we mean by “Polar constellations”?

Topics for English Themes—The Story of Queen Cassiopeia, King Cepheus and their daughter, Andromeda; the story of the Dragon.

Supplementary reading—Storyland of the Stars, Pratt.