Chapter XIV: Appendix: A

According to the official _Handbook of the Boy Scouts_, if you are a Scout and want to win a merit badge for starcraft, you must

(1) _Have a general knowledge of the nature of the
stars and planets._

(a) By the nature of the stars and planets is meant
their colors and what they are made of. Their
sizes and their distances from the Earth in a
general way may also be included.

(b) It is easy to tell the color of both the stars
and the planets by looking at them, or by looking
them up in the foregoing chapters.

(c) The spectroscope shows that the stars are made
of metals and gases and other substances which
we have on Earth. The planets are probably
made of the same kinds of metals, gases and
substances as those which form the Earth, but
there is no way of proving this, for the planets
shine by reflected light, and in this case the
spectroscope is of little use.

(d) The stars are known to be suns as large or larger
than our Sun; while the planets are about as
large as our Earth--some smaller and some larger.

(e) All of the planets are within 2,800 millions
of miles of the Earth, while the nearest star,
except our Sun, is 25 trillions of miles from the
Earth, or 8,000 times as far away.

(2) _Have a general knowledge of the movements of the
stars and planets._

(a) While all the stars revolve in orbits and are
moving through space at high speed, they are so
far away from us that they seem to be fixed and
for all practical purposes they may be considered
to be fixed in their positions.

(b) All the planets turn on their own axes and travel
in orbits round the Sun.

(3) _Point out and name 12 principal
constellations._

(a) Twelve easy constellations are: (1) The Big
Dipper; (2) The Little Dipper; (3) Cassiopeia;
(4) Pegasus; (5) Orion; (6) Auriga and (7)
Taurus, all of which are shown in Chapters I
and II; (8) Gemini; (9) Leo; (10) Virgo; (11)
The Scorpion, and (12) Sagittarius, which are
constellations of the zodiac, and are shown in