GEMINI TWINS - Greek Version

Have you found the stars Pollux and Castor yet? The ancient Greek myth about these twin brothers might motivate you to discover the twins.

Pollux and Castor shared the same mother, but one was mortal (Castor) and the other was the son of Zeus (Pollux) - talk about confusing genealogy!  They grew up and developed the greatest bond of friendship - one as a master pugilist the other master horseman. 

Twins Day

One evening the brothers attended the double wedding of their twin, male cousins who were marrying, you guessed it, twin girls! So many twins.  Before the ceremony began, Pollux and Castor accidentally went into the wrong tent – where the twin girls were readying themselves. Well, their eight eyes met and the twins fell helplessly in love with the twin brides-to-be. The foursome were about to make a quick and romantic getaway from the wedding when the two grooms discovered their plans and stopped them. A terrible fight ensued in which Castor was killed. In Pollux’s rage, he killed the two cousins in revenge. Question: why pick a fight with an immortal anyway?

That's Gemini on the cover

Pollux was so saddened that he wished he were dead (no need for a wife now, I guess). He pleaded with the gods to kill him so that he could be with his brother forever in the afterlife. The gods were so moved by Pollux’s feelings that they granted his request and immortalized the twins together in the sky to be a sign of fraternal love.  You can find them high in the east after sunset - two bright, twin stars.

BULL'S EYE!

Taurus the Bull is easy to identify even in light polluted skies. Orion's belt stars make good pointers. Connect the three dots and continue the line of sight up and to the right and you will arrive at a small "V" shape of stars. That is Taurus' face. The brightest star in the "V" is the Bull's Eye, a red giant called Aldebaran. Aldebaran means "the follower," but what is it following? If you continue the line from Orion's belt through the "V" you will see. The Seven Sisters (or Pleiades) is just to the west. As the night goes on Aldebaran follows the Sisters through the sky.
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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.
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Off the top of the "V", the horns of the bull radiate out to the stars Elnath and Zeta Tauri. Next to Zeta Tauri is one of the most interesting objects in space. Named M1 or the Crab Nebula, this is the remnant of one of the brightest stellar explosions ever witnessed by humans. M1 is the leftover of a supernova explosion that erupted in 1054 AD. The blast was so bright that it was visible during the daytime along with the Sun. Since then we've had two other bright supernovas (1572 and 1604). I think we're due. And maybe, fingers crossed, we'll see Betelgeuse go "KABLOOEY!"

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TAURUS THE BULL

Taurus is arguably the oldest constellation invented. Most astronomers and historians agree that the constellation of the Bull is depicted in one of the oldest works of human art - found deep down in a French cave.

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Four teenagers and their dog discovered the Lascaux Cave paintings in 1940. There are some 2,000 images (animals, humans, and symbols) painted on the walls of this underground cavern 17,000 years ago. One room called, "The Great Hall of the Bulls," is the one that fascinates astronomers the most. Several large bulls are painted in great detail along with horses and stags. One bull has an interesting orientation. There are spots on the face with the long horns pointing to the left. Just above the bull's shoulder are seven dots... Soooooo?

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This picture looks suspiciously like the stars in the constellation Taurus the Bull. Taurus has long horns pointing to the left. The spots in the face correspond to the Hyades star cluster (in the face of Taurus - easily seen with the naked eye). And the seven dots are in the right place and even shaped similar to the Seven Sisters star cluster.

Now I realize that this is just a theory. The artist did not sign his work, "My name is Ug. I paint bull on cave. Bull supposed be Taurus Bull in sky..." But is is an interesting coincidence. Plus there are stars looking like Orion's belt in the proper place too. Our ancient ancestors were definitely into stargazing and Taurus would've made a great place to observe.

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PISCIS AUSTRALIS - The Southern Fish

For me, fall means the reappearance of the lonely star in the southern sky with a funny name: FOMALHAUT.  Some people pronounce it, "Foam-a-lot," and others say, "Foam-a-low" but any way you cut it, it's a fascinating star.  Look south after sunset about 1/4 of the way up in the sky and you'll see Fomalhaut.  It's the only bright star in this area.  Check out this star's color very closely.  Most astronomers will say that stars cannot be green in color, but I swear Fomalhaut flickers blue, white, and GREEN. Check it out and see if you agree.

Recently astronomers discovered a planet in orbit around Fomalhaut.  At least we think it is.  Check out the picture to see if you can find it (I know it looks like the Eye of Sauron, but that's the way the instruments have to mask the star to detect very faint objects). 

Fomalhaut means, "The Fish's Mouth," and it is part of a cute, little fall constellation swimming in the southern sky. Piscis Australis (or Piscis Austrinus) is the southern fish, big daddy to the two fish tied together in the zodiacal constellation Pisces. The mythology on these stars is sketchy at best. One account says that a goddess fell into a lake near the Euphrates River and was saved by this fish. In most drawings of Piscis Australis the waters dumped by the constellation Aquarius flow right into his big mouth. Does a fish really need to drink?

Ancient Arabic astronomers called Fomalhaut, "The First Frog," (more evidence in my mind that it is green :).  The Second Frog is a star 25 degrees up and to the left called Deneb Kaitos (the tail of the whale) which rises after Fomalhaut - thus it's second. 

Check out the fish and frogs and star colors tonight.  There's a lot to see!



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CEPHEUS THE KING

Whereas the stars for Queen Cassiopeia are bright and beautiful, her husband’s constellation is dim and dull. Cepheus the King is a tough constellation to find if you live in a city, but if you look carefully you just may discover these royal stars.

You can find Cepheus tonight high in the northern sky just to the left of Cassiopeia. His dimmer stars look like an upside-down house.

Once upon a time in ancient Ethiopia… Cepheus the King was enjoying a quiet afternoon nap when the great god of the sea, Poseidon strode in to the castle. In a rage Poseidon said, "King Cepheus! Your wife's vanity has gone too far. She has offended the gods and must be punished."

The King, waking up quickly, stammered, “Wha… what did she do?”

“What did she do?” great Poseidon exclaimed. “Get this. Queen Cassiopeia said, in front of everyone, that she was more beautiful than all the mermaids in the ocean. My mermaids! Hah, don’t make me laugh.” Cepheus laughed nervously. “That old hag can’t hold a candle to my mermaids,” Poseidon continued. “She must be punished.”

Cepheus begged for mercy and even declared that he wouldn’t know what to do with himself if anything happened to Cassiopeia. “I would miss her sweet voice,” the King said. This was a total lie since the Queen, although beautiful, had a voice like a ban-saw.

"Being a fair and angry god," Poseidon considered, "I will have you share in her misery. I banish you both to the skies where you will endlessly circle the pole star. And there you will forever hear her, um, sweet voice. Ha ha ha ha! (menacing god-like laugh).”

And there the couple spins. High in the sky the King is not far from his Queen and he forever hears her sweet voice say, “Oh no, I’m going upside down again. Aaaaah, Cepheus, you stupid, little stickin’…!”

THE OWL CLUSTER... or is it?

Last month I wrote about the constellation Cassiopeia the Queen.  September is generally the time where we have most number of clear nights in Cincinnati and I've been seeing a lot of Cassiopeia.  When I aim my telescope or binoculars at the "W" shape I always see more stars than I bargained for.

When you look at Cassiopeia you are really peering into a thicker patch of stars that is really plane of our galaxy, the Milky Way.  From cities, you can't see the Milky Way at all but binoculars and telescopes allow you to cut through the light pollution and see a lot of stars.

One of my favorite little star clusters is there too.  It's informally called the Owl Cluster because so many people can picture a bird in this clump of stars.  The two brightest stars are the eyes, a group of stars make up the body and little claws while another group look like outstretched wings.  Can you see it in the picture?

Other people use their imaginations differently.  They see E.T., the Extra Terrestrial from the Steven Spielberg movie.  And others think the wings give it more of a bat shape.

The cluster was first charted by William Herschel in 1787 but he didn't say what it looked like to him.  So create your own mythology with this little cluster.  
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CASSIOPEIA THE QUEEN

(This is the short version of the Greek legend.  For the longer version, see Get Ready for the Huge, Fall Sky Saga posted 10/13/11 on this blog)

Cassiopeia was thought to be the Queen of Ethiopia (or the kingdom around Northeast Africa). She had a bad habit of bragging about her beauty. She believed that she was the most beautiful woman in the whole world - the most beautiful woman who ever lived - and the most beautiful woman that would ever live. And she told people these views about every twenty seconds. Like if you visited the palace and rung the doorbell, Cassiopeia would answer and sing-song, “Come on in, I’m so beautiful. Come in, I’m beautiful…” And if you’re with her at the dinner table she’d ask politely, “Can you please pass the salt? I’m beautiful over here.” Her subjects grew weary of this but what could they do? After all, she was the Queen.

One day, the Queen went too far. She proclaimed that she was more beautiful than all the mermaids in the sea, put together... Now this is no big deal to you and me, but to the god of the seas, Poseidon, this was the ultimate outrage. "My mermaids are more beautiful than that ugly old hag," his trident cleaner overheard him say. So Poseidon punished this boastful Queen by placing her up in the sky to sit on her throne. 

Wait a second, that sounds like a great honor! 

The trick Poseidon played was that he placed her near the Pole Star.  As the night rolls on, the stars move slowly around Polaris.  Poor Cassiopeia makes this circle too and spends half the night upside-down, clinging to that throne for dear life.  And so here is the punishment - her ultimate hell - can you be upside-down and beautiful at the same time? 

Cassiopeia is one of the easiest constellations to recognize in the sky.  You can find her 5 moderately-bright stars making an "M" shape in the northern sky after sunset.  I know this looks nothing like a Queen sitting on her throne, but I usually think of these 5 stars as her crown.  Since one of the stars is a little off line, I always think her crown must be bent from when she hits her head on the ground every time she circles Polaris.   
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