The subject is not without interest and difficulty as an optical one.

But the astronomer's object is to get rid of all these flames and sprays of coloured light, so that he has very little sympathy with the admiration which Wordsworth is said to have expressed for out-of-focus views of the stars.
We pass to more legitimate observations, noticing in passing that Sirius is a double star, the companion being of the tenth magnitude, and distant about ten seconds from the primary.

But our beginner is not likely to see the companion, which is a very difficult object, vowing to the overpowering brilliancy of the primary.
Orion affords the observer a splendid field of research.

It is a constellation rich in double and multiple stars, clusters, and nebulae.
We will begin with an easy object.
The star [delta] (Plate 3), or _Mintaka_, the uppermost of the three stars forming the belt, is a wide double.

The primary is of the second magnitude, the secondary of the seventh, both being white.
The star [alpha] (_Betelgeuse_) is an interesting object, on account of its colour and brilliance, and as one of the most remarkable variables in the heavens.