Pegasus the Flying Horse Part II

Sometimes I like the names of stars and their origins just as much as the mythologies of entire constellations. So let's take a closer look at four stars in Pegasus the Flying Horse.

The main feature of Pegasus are four stars marking a Great Square in the almost overhead after sunset. This is Pegasus' body and the Arabic names of three of these stars relate to that. The fourth one... well just you wait.

The alpha star in Pegasus is called Markab which means "the saddle" but can be translated as "ship" or "vehicle" - anything to travel upon. Beta is named Scheat, "the horse's shoulder." And gamma is Algenib, "the side" or "the wing." Those seem pretty straightforward and actually correspond to Pegasus' imagined body parts. The Arabic peoples were very literal when it came to naming the stars. The fourth star in the Great Square is a little more complicated.

This star is known today as Alpheratz, "the horse's navel." Technically Alpheratz is located in another famous constellation: Andromeda the Maiden. Andromeda was the daughter of Queen Cassiopeia who was chained to a rock in the ocean as a sacrifice to the dreaded sea monster. So Alpheratz is not only Pegasus' belly but also Andromeda's head. When you see old star maps of the two constellations you can't help but feel sorry for Andromeda. Couldn't they find a little more room for her up there?

I can picture Andromeda discussing the matter with the gods.  Zeus might say, "Well, it's getting pretty crowded up there in the sky - what with all the new constellations."  After a thoughtful pause he continues, "The only empty space is up there by Pegasus' belly.  We'll just have to squeeze you up in there..."

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Pegasus the Flying Horse

One of the great fall constellations is Pegasus the Flying horse. He's easy to find in the sky if you're prepared to imagine him flying upside-down. Look for a big square or diamond shape of dim stars almost straight overhead. As an added clue there are very few stars within the square. This is Pegasus' body. His head and mane are to the right from the square.

Pegasus has one of the grossest origin stories I've ever read. He was born during the epic battle between Perseus the Hero and the dreaded Sea Monster. Remember the Sea Monster had just risen from the briny deep to devour poor, helpless Princess Andromeda - when Perseus flew up. And luckily Perseus had just the weapon to fight the horrible beast. Earlier in the day Perseus decapitated Medusa - the snaky-haired gorgon whose look turned all living souls to stone. Perseus closed his eyes and took Medusa's bloody head out of a bag and showed it to the Sea Monster. At first glance the monster turned to stone, cracked of its own weight and fell to the bottom of the sea.

But where did Pegasus come from? I'm getting to it.

During the battle, Medusa's head was still a little juicy. I mean Perseus just killed her that morning after all. When Perseus held out Medusa's head to the Sea Monster some blood dripped out of her neck. When the blood hit the sea water below a magical thing happened. Through some sort of foamy, jello process the Gorgon's blood mixed with the water to form into... Pegasus the Flying Horse. This was a common theme in Greek mythology - when a monster or god bled, something always sprang from it. But it's hard to imagine a lovely winged horse coming from such a gruesome beginning. Those Greeks sure had imaginations!

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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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Cassiopeia the Queen

While Perseus was busy chopping off the head of Medusa a beautiful Queen was getting herself and her nation in big, big trouble.

Cassiopeia was thought to be the Queen of Ethiopia (or the kingdom around North-east 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.

Well one day, the Queen went too far. She proclaimed that she was more beautiful than all of the mermaids in the sea. 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," he said. So Poseidon went to the palace to confront this boastful Queen.

To be continued...

Cassiopeia can be found high in the north-northeastern sky after sunset. Just look for 5 stars in the shape of a squished letter "M". Who's more beautiful?

Who is prettier???

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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.