284 GEOGRAPHY AND ASTRONOMY. and many of them have remarkable names given to them, as the Ram's Head, Aldebaran or the bull's eye, Capella or the goat, the three stars in Orion's girdle, the Lion's Heart, Deneb 'or the lion's tail, Regel the star in Orion's left foot, Spica Vir. ginis, which is an ear of corn in the virgin's hand, Hydra's heart, the Scorpion's heart, the Eagle or Vulture's heart, Ala Pegasi or the horse's wing, Fomahant a large star in the south- ern fishes mouth near Aquarius, the Pole Star in the Little Bear's Tail, &c. See more in the table of fixed stars at the end of this book. Some remarkable stars are called by the name of the constellation in which they are, as the Great Dog, the Little Dog, Lyra or the harp, Arcturus the bear - keeper, Capella the goat, &c. As the globe of the earth with all the lands and seas de- scribed on a terrestial sphere is represented on maps, so the ce- lestial sphere with all the fixed stars is.often represented on two tables or plani spheres, projected, one on the plane of the equa- tor with the two poles of the world in their centres ; and the other on the plane of the ecliptic with the poles of the eclip- tic in their centres*. Note, This sort of projections has some- times been furnished with some little appendices which are move- able, and makes an instrument called a Nocturnal to take the hour of the night, and perform many other astronomical prob -. lems by the stars. It is hardly necessary to say, that the stars are supposed to keep their constant revolution once in twenty-four hours by day as well as by night ; but the day light conceals them from our eyes. The sun in its annual course moving from west to east through all the signs of the zodiac hides all those stars from our , sight which are near its own light or place in the heavens ; and therefore at several seasons of the year you see different stars or constellations rising or setting, or upon the meridian at every hour of the night ; and as the sun goes onward daily and monthly toward the east, the Eastern Constellations come daily and monthly within the reach of the sun beams and are con- cealed thereby, which is called their setting heliacally. And the Western Constellations hereby getting farther off from the sun beams, are made visible to us, which is called rising heliacally. Thus, as I intimated before, we may easily find what stars will be upon the meridian every midnight by considering in what sign the sun is, and in what degree of that sign ; for the sun with the stars that are near it beingupon the meridian at noon, the stars that are directly opposite to them in the heavens will * Mr. Senex at the globe over- against St. Dunstan's in Fleet-street, has lately printed the best that ever were in. England, or perhaps inany country.
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