Cetus the Sea Monster

Our hero Perseus (remember him), was flying through the air, borne on his winged sandals. He was feeling quite proud of himself since he just killed Medusa earlier in the day. Suddenly he hears a scream and looks down to see a young maiden chained to a rock about to be devoured by a sea monster. Perseus thinks, "Man, does it get any better than this?" Not only did he kill Medusa, but now he can save a maiden in distress.

Perseus yells down to Andromeda to close her eyes and he pulls out Medusa's bloody head. He shows the head to the sea monster who instantly turns to stone, cracks of his own monstrous weight, and falls to the bottom of the ocean never to be seen again. Perseus swoops down to unchain Andromeda, and they fly away to live happily ever after.

The constellation Cetus the sea monster can be found basking on the shores of Eridanus, the river constellation. Look for a group of stars that look like a recliner chair to the right of Perseus and below Pegasus. What about Pegasus? Tune in next week...

Andromeda the Chained Maiden

Where we left off in our Fall Star Saga...

King Cepheus, as punishment for his wife Cassiopeia's vanity, just agreed to chain his only daughter Andromeda to a rock in the ocean in order to appease the sea god Poseidon (see posts below for the full story). Andromeda, quite a beauty in her own right, had no choice but to become a sea biscuit to Poseidon's lurking pet sea monster, Cetus, in order to save her nation from a giant tsunami. The king's men stoically sailed Andromeda to the rock and chained her securely. Minutes later the mighty sea monster emerged from the briny deep. Andromeda screamed! Who on Olympus could possibly save her?!?

Tune in next time for more on the fantastic fall saga.

The easiest way to characterize the constellation of Andromeda is as two long legs. Two stretches of four stars emerge from one corner of the Great Square of Pegasus. In the fall, the
legs jut out to the left of the Great Square and lie almost parallel to the horizon. Dimmer stars above and below the legs mark her arms, but these can only be seen under excellent conditions. The great Andromeda Galaxy can be spied with a pair of binoculars above her right hip.

Cepheus the King

Cassiopeia's husband, 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, begged for mercy and eventually moved the god to a compromise. "Being a fair and angry god," Poseidon said, "I will give you two choices for your punishment. Punishment A) I will send down a tremendous tidal wave on your land killing everyone and everything."

"Gulp," said Cepheus. "That's not much of a compromise..."

"Or," the god continued, "Punishment B) take your one and only daughter Andromeda, chain her to the big rock in the sea, and let my sea monster eat her."

Well, Cepheus didn't have much of choice. Either way his daughter was doomed and at least he could save his kingdom for total destruction. As much as it hurt him to do this, Cepheus agreed to Punishment B.

To be continued...

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.


Thanks to Rick Tiffini for his picture of Cepheus.
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Perseus the Prince

Let's begin the mighty fall saga with our hero, Perseus.

As the adopted son of a king, Perseus lived the pampered life of a prince. When he turned 18, his father told him, "Okay son, you need to go out and find a job." Well, Perseus thought about this - maybe he could be a banker or insurance salesman - and then it hit him. He wanted the best job in the ancient world... Professional Monster Hunter.

As a son of Zeus, Perseus was buds with the gods they gave him some gifts to help with his new career. From Hephaestus he got a sword that would cut through anything; from Athena, a shield tahat was shinier than any mirror; and from Hermes, winged sandals so he could fly through the air with the greatest of ease. (I think I'll put those on my birthday list this year!)

Anyway for his first monster hunting job he wanted a challenge. Instead of hunting a sassy scorpion or crabby crab, he went after the dreaded Medusa. She was the gorgon-woman who had snakes for hair and if you looked at her you would turn to stone. Whew! She was one tough monster.

Perseus had a plan. He would go to Medusa's cave and set up his shield in the sand. Medusa's reflection, although still ugly, wouldn't turn you to stone. When Medusa came looking for Perseus he watched her in the shield until she got closer... and closer... until she was right next to him. Perseus pulled out his sword and "THWACK!" chopped her head right off! He closed his eyes, picked up the head, and put it in a bag. You never know when it might come in handy. Then he put on his winged sandals and flew back home. But this is not even close to the end of the story.

You can find the constellation Perseus in the northeast sky after 9pm. He is shaped like a letter "K" and if you have a really good imagination you can still see the bloody, severed head of Medusa in his left hand.

Pegasus the Flying Horse

When you read ancient Greek mythology you have to admire their imagination. There are a few legends of the birth of Pegasus the Flying Horse but my favorite comes at the climax of the fantastic fall saga. As Perseus was showing the severed head of Medusa to Cetus the Sea Monster, some blood dripped out of her neck and fell into the ocean. Whenever a god or monster bled in the ancient myths, something always sprang forth. In this case, the blood of Medusa combined with the seawater and, through some kind of jell-o process, formed into Pegasus the Flying Horse. He also flew away to live happily ever after.

(Note: Most of the time, he flies upside-down in the sky) ------------

Thus ends the final installment of the fabulous fall star saga that included a king, a queen, a prince, a princess, two monsters, and a flying horse. With a little skill, and a lot of imagination, you can find all of these constellations in the sky tonight. I've included a star chart looking to the west in January around 9pm. Get started right away, because next month we will begin the weird and wacky winter sky saga!