Orion Myth Part I

Orion the Mighty Hunter is one of the most beloved and easiest to recognize constellations in the night sky. Cold, crisp winter nights are the best time to observe the "belted one" in the southern sky. Over the course of the next few weeks I'll share some Greek myths that show Orion does not stand alone in the winter sky.  If you use your ancient Greek imagination when looking at the stars, you may see him surrounded by a bull with seven women on its back, while two hunting dogs chase unicorn and a bunny rabbit down by the river... SAY WHAT!

Let's start with Orion. According to Greek myths he was a big, strong, tough guy. One day he was out hunting. When he took a break on this hilltop, he beheld a sight that took his breath away. There were seven women dancing in a clearing while a huge crowd cheered them on. These were the Seven Sisters, or the Pleiades. Orion fell in love... with all of them.

Now, Orion was very brave in battle but not very courageous when it came to talking to women. So he needed to work up all his courage just to even speak to the sisters. One day he finally met them and asked for their 14 hands in marriage. The sisters were so outraged that they rejected him and strode away. Orion didn't know much about dating, but he heard somewhere that women respond well to a man who is persistent. So he kept meeting the sisters at awkward times and asking them again and again to marry him. After a week of this, the sisters couldn't take it anymore. They asked for divine intervention. The gods listened and promptly turned the Pleiades into doves. They immediately flew away from Orion - as fast as they could - and headed higher and higher into the sky. Eventually they decided to stay in the heavens and became stars.

You can find the Pleiades high in the south after sunset. We'll learn more the rest of the story in Part II. So tune in!

 

WHAT"S THE TIME?

It's time to talk with Alan Alda.  I interviewed the actor, director, science TV show host, and now Science Communicator for WVXU 91.7 FM in a new segment called "Looking Up." 

Last year Mr. Alda issued a challenge: Come up with a description of a "flame" that would make sense to an 11-year old.  His goal was to get scientists thinking about how to communicate their subject material to a general audience.  This is something Alda is passionate about and led him to found the Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University.  He still has the same enthusiasm for science as that 11-year old who voraciously wanted to know what a flame was.  The new challenge for us in 2013: describe the concept of TIME.

He mentioned that scientists don't necessarily need to be actors to get their message across.  But it made me think that sometimes we too often play the role of "scientist" that was handed down to us - stuffy, know-it-all types.  I think that scientists of today need to create a new persona, to be more accessible and approachable with our message and vocabulary.  Maybe an actor can help us with that.

You can listen to the interview at: http://www.wvxu.org/post/alan-alda-asks-what-time 
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Seven Sisters in Other Cultures

Most myths relate the Seven Sisters star cluster to young maidens or boys playing, dancing, and just being young and wild. "Like a swarm of fireflies tangled in a sliver braid."

In Chinese mythology they were the "Seven Sisters of Industry"

Australians considered them to be young girls playing music for the dancing young men (the stars in Orion's belt).

Various Native American legend equate them with seven young men guarding the holy seed of agriculture and seven young children told to stop all their dancing.

In Borneo they were a mother hen and six chicks

And in early Christian lore they were the six daughters and wife of the baker who gave Christ bread when he was hungry.

This association with youth is very interesting in that astronomers now consider them young, hot stars. They are large, fiery blue stars burning through their fuel very rapidly and have a quick, bad end - burning the candle at both ends so to speak. What is it about these stars that make them appear so youthful to the ancients?
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Ending Superstition on December 22, 2012

The Un-pocalypse — or false Mayan “End of the World” — of December 21, 2012, is the most widespread cultural phenomenon of the year. Some joke about it, others fear it, but everyone knows about it.

There is no planet coming to destroy us, but we hold a widespread fear of the dark, unknown universe, a cosmophobia. Our reaction to apocalyptic myths reveals our true cosmic compass. What we make of the Mayan calendar doesn’t tell us anything about the Maya. It speaks volumes about us. Some look on the Maya with the same fear and superstition that pervaded the Spaniards of the 16th century. How we decode the ambiguous Mayan writings exposes in what century our mindsets dwell.

When death fails to come from the skies on Friday, I would like us to truly be 21st- century humans. If we have any doubts, make this pledge before the end of December 21 regarding the purported ends that were predicted by us (not the Maya).

“I solemnly swear that if on December 21, 2012 (Eastern Mayan Time), we are not destroyed by:

Meteors, comets, or the rogue planet Nibiru;
Super Sun storms;
Magnetic poles flipping;
The entire Earth flipping;
Earth ceasing to rotate;
Planets lining up;
An eclipse (solar or lunar);
Or Earth lining up with the black hole in the center of the galaxy,

I will be more trusting of scientists and astronomers and less taken in by superstition and doomsday charlatans.”

Let’s welcome December 22, 2012, as the dawning of a new age: an age of reason.
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Know Your Seven Sisters

This is a great time to view the Seven Sisters open star cluster in the night sky. Look high in the west for a small cloud the size of the full moon. Upon closer examination your eye can catch the individual stars in the cloud and you can start counting. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6... and maybe 7 stars (if you have really good eyesight) in the cluster.

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These are the Seven Sisters, or Pleiades (their family name). They are the children of a Titan named Atlas (the guy that holds up the world) and a sea-nymph named Pleione. The names of the Seven Sisters are: Alcyone, Maia, Taygeta, Celaeno, Merope, Sterope, and Electra. On a clear night you can see Alcyone, Maia, Taygeta, Merope, and Electra along with one or both of their parents.

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Most people with 20/20 vision can only make out 6 stars in the cluster. What happened to the 7th? One legend says that in the ancient Greek days (2500 years ago) they could see all seven. But one star suddenly got dimmer. To explain this phenomenon, the Greeks believed that one of the sisters (Electra in some stories, Merope in others) was sad and covered her face with her hands - thus shielding her beautiful light from the world.

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With any binoculars you can see much more than 7 stars in the cluster. In total the cluster contains over 1,000 members resting about 440 light years away that were all formed from the same nebula. Click on the pictures for close-up views. Try to find them tonight and see how many you can catch.

"Seven Sisters" a painting by Helen Gerro

STARGAZING REPORT'S New Website

For the last year I've been recording weekly, "What's Up in the Sky" pieces for WXIX Fox19 news in the morning.  These 1-minute pieces called The Stargazer Report will get you ready for upcoming astronomical events and stuff you can see even without a telescope.  The bad news is that they air at 4:20am on a Monday morning.  The good news is that I don't record them live...

The even better news is that now you can watch them whenever you want - no need to set the Tivo, DVR or anything.  Go to: http://www.fox19.com/category/242740/stargazer-report-with-dean-regas  and watch what's coming to a sky near you this week.
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TAURUS THE BULL

Taurus the Bull is easy to identify even in light polluted skies. This year you have a extra bright clue to help point your way.  The giant planet Jupiter is hanging out in the bull's horns and you can't miss it.  Look east after sunset and Jupiter will be the brightest starlike object.

Just to the right of Jupiter is a bright star that should look a little orange.  That's the Bull's Eye star called Aldebaran.  Fainter stars nearby make a "V" shape with Aldebaran and represent the bull's face.  Aldebaran means "the follower," but what is it following? If you look about 15 degrees above Aldebaran you will see a little cloud of stars.  Those are the Seven Sisters (aka the Pleiades).  As the night goes on, Aldebaran follows the Seven Sisters through the sky.



See the "V"?

Inside the "V" are a lot of stars. This is called the Hyades star cluster (in Greek mythology five of these were the half-sisters to the Pleiades) ((wait a second... seven plus five... that's a lot of kids for the god Atlas to raise!)). The Hyades are the closest open cluster to Earth at only 150 light years distant. You can observe dozens to hundreds of these stars with a good pair of binoculars. Aldebaran is not a Hyade, though. It is much closer to the Earth and just appears in the same neighborhood.

In November and December you can see Jupiter and Taurus all night long. In the evening they'll be in the east.  Around midnight they'll be high in the south.  And before dawn, they'll be setting in the west.  Check them out and watch Aldebaran "following" those Seven Sisters!

Shameless, eye-catching picture of Jupiter