The Astronomy Monkey

Hercules

2004-06-21T20:44:00.000-07:00

June (and into July) is the month for us to view Hercules, the Greek hero. Son of the god Zeus (a.k.a. Jupiter) and a mortal woman, Alcmena, Hercules was born only half divine. From the moment of his birth Hera (a.k.a. Juno), Zeus' wife, was bent on destroying Hercules, the symbol of her husband's wandering ways.

The name Hercules was a later form of the original 'Heracles', a name given to the baby by Zeus in an attempt to appeal to Hera's vanity. It was Zeus' hope that Hera would not kill her namesake. It was a nice try, anyway.

Hercules is most famous for his '12 Labors', set upon the hero by King Eurytheus. After these 'Labors' Hercules was wed to a mortal woman, Dejanira. The couple was happy for a time until Dejanira began to doubt the love of Hercules. In hopes of renewing her husbands love, Dejanira poisoned Hercules with what she thought was a love potion.

In despair at what she had done to Hercules, Dejanira hung herself. Alone and in agony, Hercules ascended Mount Oeta, built his own funeral pyre and laid down on the pile, draping himself in the Nemean lion skin. All this was done in such a dignified and serene manner that the gods were disturbed to look upon the scene, even Hera was touched by his courage and fortitude. Zeus seized upon the opportunity to appeal to the other gods to grant Hercules full godhood. The gods agree and as the mortal half of Hercules burned away, he was welcomed to Mount Olympus and even Hera presented her daughter Hebe to Hercules as his divine wife. To celebrate the ascension of his son, Zeus put his likeness among the stars.

The constellation Hercules contains the Great Globular Cluster M13 and the 'Keystone' of the constellation is made up of the stars Epsilon, Zeta, Eta and Pi. Give Hercules a gander this month and wow someone with your knowledge of how this hero got his place in the heavens.

Milky Way Learning the Constellations of the night through the

2004-05-08T22:08:00.000-07:00

The second secret in learning the constellations is to become familiar with the three starry pathways in the sky: the Milky Way, the circle of the Zodiac and the ring of the circumpolar stars. Most people don’t realize these three rings of constellations cross each other in certain portions of the sky and contain the majority of the constellations (save for a few heroes like Hercules and monsters like Hydra that seem to be caught off the beaten path.) For example, it is best to learn the constellations of the Milky Way in the late summer and fall when an arch appears high overhead starting with Scorpius in the south, then Sagittarius the Archer, Aquilla the Eagle, Cygnus the Swan, Cepheus, Cassiopeia and to Perseus and Auriga rising in the northeast. The month of May on the other hand is not a good time since the Milky Way is not overhead but skirts the horizon in all directions.

The constellations of the Zodiac are learned season by season as they appear. For summer these would include Sagittarius, Scorpio, Libra and Virgo. Note that Sagittarius and Scorpio are also members of the Milky Way. They are located where the circle of the zodiac (the ecliptic) crosses the circle of the Milky Way. The same is true of the constellations of Taurus and Gemini, which are located where the circle of the Zodiac again crosses the Milky Way. For the Fall season, early evening viewing would reveal Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces. For winter: Aries, Taurus and Gemini. For spring you would see the constellations of Cancer, Leo and Virgo. It is helpful to note that the signs of the Zodiac repeat as Air, Water, Fire and Earth signs. For example Aquarius (air), Pisces (water), Aries (fire), Taurus (earth), Gemini (air) etc.

The circumpolar constellations are fewer in number that the constellations in the other rings. Included are the constellations Perseus, Cepheus, Cassiopeia (these three are also in the Milky Way group), then Draco the Dragon, Ursa Major and Camelpardus. It you look at Pegasus it appears to be galloping upside down along the Milky Way with Andromeda holding on to its tail. Heroes like Hercules, Orion and Ophiuchus seem to be caught between Heaven (Milky Way) and Earth (Zodiac), saving mankind from Hydras, Dragons, Serpents and raging bulls.

Learning the Constellations of the night through Mythology

2003-05-12T21:52:00.000-07:00

If you learn the constellations of the night sky through mythology and photography it becomes much easier to remember them and their relationship to each other. Instead of random specks of light in the dark backdrop of space, the heavens become an interrelated tapestry of gods, heroes, monsters, animals and other mythological creatures. Go anywhere on the earth, and feel at home when you look up at the night sky. Imagine what it must have been like for the sailors crossing uncharted waters in search of new lands and how the night must have brought comfort to see familiar constellations.

It took me two years to learn the 37 major constellations that grace the northern skies. However, with the right approach it could be done in two weeks. Knowing the constellations allows one to see the hidden tapestry behind the stars. It becomes much easier to locate the planets, the nebulas and star clusters. This is especially helpful if you want to use a telescope.

Notice how different the stars look in the movie Titanic as opposed to the ‘stars’ of bubbles in glycerin that you see in Star Trek. If the starry backdrop were accurate, one could tell the direction of the Titanic, the time of night and the latitude. In early April the passengers would see Virgo rising from the stern and the night watch at the bow would be looking out for icebergs with the backdrop of the starry giant Orion sinking into the western Atlantic. Passengers gazing out the portholes on the starboard would see the overturned constellation of the Great Bear (Ursa Major) and those on the port side would see the starry sea serpent Hydra rising out of the southern sea almost to zenith.

How does one go about learning the constellations? There are several ways I have found to be quite helpful. Learn the mythological stories that tie groups of constellations together for each of the four seasons. For example, the constellations of Perseus, Andromeda, Pegasus, Cassiopeia, Cepheus and Cetus are high in the sky on winter evenings. They are all related to the famous story of Perseus coming back victorious with the head of Medusa and responding to the cries of help from Andromeda who was chained to a rock near the sea to appease the sea monster Cetus. Perseus slays the sea monster and flies off with Andromeda on the back of Pegasus the horse. This of course drew a sigh of relief from her parents Cepheus and Cassiopeia, the king and queen of Ethiopia.