Aquarius the Water Bearer

Over the next few weeks we'll focus on three hard-to-find, but interesting zodiac constellations. First up: Aquarius the Water Bearer.

According to Greek mythology, Aquarius represents a teenager named Ganymede, Prince of Troy. Once upon a time, The Head Honcho, The Big Cheese, Zeus, was thirsty. Despite all of his mighty powers, Zeus liked to be served by both gods and mortals. And since he was forever thirsty he decided to employ Ganymede to be his full-time water bearer. Instead of sending a formal invitation to join the staff on Mt. Olympus, Zeus sent down his pet eagle to snatch the boy up off the streets of Troy. Ganymede goes from a prince, to a servant, to almost god-like as a constellation. What an up and down story. Ganymede is also the name of Jupiter's moons (the largest in the solar system).

Aquarius is tough to imagine but easy to find. Just look to the left of Jupiter at night and that's where his stars lie. Good luck picturing a young man pouring water to the southern horizon.

Big Week in Astronomy

I'm taking one week off from mythology to talk about the big week Astronomy had in the news last week.

1) A new, gigantically huge and diffuse ring was discovered around Saturn. Astronomers with the Spitzer Space Telescope discovered this ring by detecting its heat (just barely hotter than absolute zero). The ring ranges from 3.7 to 7.4 million miles from the planet technically making it the largest thing in the solar system. See: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2009-150

2) President Obama held the first ever Star Party on the White House lawn. Dozens of amateur astronomers brought telescopes to the White House and the first family saw Jupiter and other objects through the telescopes. The President delivered a great speech on the importance of science. Hopefully this will be the first of many such Star Parties. http://www.wisn.com/slideshow/slideshows/21233931/detail.html

3) Our attempt to blow up the Moon did not work out. The LCROSS mission slammed a rocket into the south pole of the Moon to see what water might come up. Although the event was not seen from Earth as expected, astronomers are still poring over the data and expect to share their findings soon. See: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LCROSS/main/index.html It wasn't nearly as destructive as when the evil Chairface Chippendale tried to write his name on the Moon in an animated episode of the Tick.
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Capricornus the Sea Goat

Continuing our tour through the summer zodiac we come to constellation Capricornus. This creature is alleged to have the body of a goat and the tail of a fish. Um, okay? How's that?

Once upon a time (in Greek mythology), an almost omnipotent monster named Typhon terrorized the gods. All ran in fear before him. A tiny, minor god named Pan had a great ability to turn himself into animals. He often used this as a defense when he had to avoid household chores and unwanted visitors. One day Pan was standing waist deep in the Nile River when the monstrous footsteps of Typhon rippled the water around him. In a panic, Pan immediately changed shape to fool the approaching behemoth. Unfortunately he didn't fully think out his shape-changing and the part of his body above the water turned into a goat, the part under the water turned into a fish. Luckily for Pan, the mighty Typhon didn't even notice.

In one version of the story, Pan later plays the hero. Typhon actually first defeats Zeus and cuts off his hands and feet. A witness to this event, Pan lets out the shrillest, girlie-est shriek which made even the mighty Typhon recoil. This distracted the monster from finishing off Zeus. Hermes comes to rescue the dismembered Zeus who recovers in a cave. When Zeus is back to 100% again he throws lightning bolts at the monster and finally hurls Mt. Etna down to crush old Typhon. Sometimes Mt. Etna still smokes revealing the monster still trapped within.

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My Visit to the Lick Observatory

In December I visited the Lick Observatory on top of Mt. Hamilton (just outside San Jose, California). It was quite an adventure. Earlier in the week it snowed and park rangers closed the road. Luckily I used my credentials as an astronomer and was granted permission to drive to the top. It was a curvy and icy drive but I finally made it to the top.


There I met staff astronomer Thomas Lowe who showed me around and even let me "drive" the huge 36" refractor or. The telescope was made in 1888, is 57 feet long, and weighs over 25,000 pounds. But I could still move it with one hand! One of the best parts of the visit was the floor of the big dome room. With the flip of a switch, the entire floor raised up to the level of the telescope. No need for ladders or stairs, just move the floor up and down.



I also saw the more modern telescopes - a lot of research is still being done there today. In fact many astronomers live up on the mountain (which is about a 45 minute drive to anywhere). Around 1906 one of the Cincinnati Observatory's former directors worked at the Lick Observatory and I tried to imagine his journey. How did he get there? How long did it take? In the 1900s they also had a school on the mountain for the sons and daughters of the astronomers. What an interesting place to grow up - and what a view!

The Big-Time Planetary Conjunction is almost here! You can see Venus and Jupiter in the southwest right after sunset. They will be closest together between November 29-December 1. And be sure to look on December 1 between 5-7pm because a slim crescent Moon will join the two planets. It should be quite a site.


This picture was taken by Steve Rismiller at the Cincinnati Observatory.

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!