THE SOUTHWORTH PLANETARIUM
70 Falmouth Street      Portland, Maine 04103
(207) 780-4249      usm.maine.edu/planet
43.6667° N    70.2667° W  Altitude:  10 feet below sea level Founded
January 1970
2021-2022: CXXX
"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something
else is the greatest accomplishment." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

THE DAILY ASTRONOMER Thursday, May 26, 2022
The Mythology and Astronomy of Bees

It was considered to be among the happiest of times on Olympus and, believe
you me, that's saying something. Endowed with perpetual youth, undiminished
beauty, inexhaustible wealth, and prodigious vigor, the twelve Olympians
existed largely free of care. Having just defeated the ferocious Titans in
a decade-long conflict known as the Titanomachy, the Olympians' bliss was
even unperturbed by contemplations of future battles. After all, their most
formidable enemies had been vanquished and were all safely confined to
Tartarus, the Underworld's punitive and most dreaded region. The gods had
assumed masterful dominion of the Universe and resided at its apex, a realm
redolent of every floral fragrance, softened by unwavering vernal warmth
and poised just below boundless crystal blue skies. And now, as our story
begins, Zeus, the newly appointed King of the Gods, was due to marry Hera,
his sister and the goddess of marriage. (Yes, such close incestuous unions
seem distasteful to us mortals. However, one must remember that the
Olympians were few in number and so their choice of mates was severely
limited.)

It seemed as though all beings within the heavens and Earthly realm were
united in a state of joyous excitement at the impending nuptials. Miles of
garland were hung, gilded altars constructed, while droves of all creatures
mighty or minuscule danced, sang and celebrated in order to pay homage to
the loveliest of brides and grandest of grooms. Apollo composed ballads of
such excruciating beauty that even the stones wept to hear them while
Posiedon calmed the seas so that even the ocean beings could witness the
most blessed of all unions. (Mind you, this was all before Zeus transformed
into an incorrigible philanderer and Hera, in response, changed into a
brooding, long-suffering wife.)

Just before the ceremony, Zeus announced that a contest would be held.
"Everyone is invited to proffer food for our wedding feast," he declared.
"And, I swear by the River Styx that the one who produces the tastiest dish
will be granted one wish." Well, the unbridled enthusiasm that all beings
exhibited before was as nothing to the frenzy that attended this
announcement. Everything and everyone hastily prepared food for the feast.
Not only did every participant desire a wish, but they all yearned to curry
the favour of Zeus and Hera.

After the most glorious wedding ceremony the world had ever seen ended, the
gods withdrew to an unfathomably massive dining hall built by Hephaestus,
himself. All manner of food had been set along a dining table so large that
those who stood at one end saw the other end as little more than a tapering
speck of glistening gold. Zeus and Hera led a procession of guests down
this table. The newlyweds sampled each dish: the heron's crimson jelly, the
fox's sugar cakes, the muses' ambrosia and all the other offerings, except
of course, for Hades' tar snaps and the Cyclops' pickled sailor. All of
these other dishes were quite lovely, they decided, but nothing seemed
remarkable until they finally came to a small little pot filled with what
resembled liquid sunshine. Hera dipped her finger into the pot and licked
it. "My love," she said, dipping her finger back into the teeny cauldron,
"what think you of this?" She playfully pressed her finger into Zeus'
mouth. His confused expression brightened into one of ecstasy. "This is
exquisite! Most extraordinary! Who is responsible for such a sublime dish?"

At this, a fidgety nymph named Melissa came forward and bowed. "The dish is
all mine. Was it to your liking?"
"It was, indeed," Zeus replied with a thunderous laugh. "Your dish far
surpasses the others.What do you call this food?"

"Honey."

"Well, I declare you the winner. You shall have your wish."

On later reflection, Melissa the fidgety nymph wished that she had simply
said "thank you" before stating her wish. Of course, if Melissa the fidgety
nymph had been so polite and concise, she wouldn't have been Melissa the
fidgety nymph.

"Oh, well, yes, I dare say I deserve that wish, what with the trouble I go
through to make that honey. You won't remember this, naturally, but I was
in attendance when you were being raised in that cave. Yes, well, the goat
maiden Amalthea receives all the credit, of course, what with her and that
cornucopia and ample supplies of nectar. But, I was there, too, cowering in
her shadow and moistening your lips with my honey: the honey that I made
drop by drop by drop by flitting to this flower and then that flower and to
the other one, oh, but there's no end to my labour. Well, how would you lot
know about that, as if gods ever labor. Just frolic about looking pretty
and losing their tempers at the slightest slight...must be nice to live
like that....but I don't, what with the trouble I go through to make
the...."

"And, your wish?" Zeus asked, his beaming smile having transmogrified into
a tight grimace.

"Oh, the wish, oh, yes that, well, let's see, there is so much I need, what
with me being just a humble, little nymph...not that you'd understand, you
being a god and everything handed to you and all..well, I don't need faster
wings, that's for certain. I am the fastest thing around, save Hermes, of
course. I thought he and I should race sometime, but he seems to avoid me
for some reason, I'm not quite sure wh...oh, let's think, now...how many
wishes do I get?"
"ONE!" Zeus barked thunderously. The cacophony of chattering and laughter
vaporized into silence.

"Oh, yes, of course, I knew that. Oh, come now," Melissa said absently as
she drummed her wing on her chin. "Let me think...oh, yes! I know. Well,
Zeus, I don't know if you realize all the trouble I go through to make this
honey that you and your lady just gobbled up like starving bear cubs. Well,
I do go to a lot of trouble and so often the honey is taken from me...a
bird swoops down or a hound slurps it...there is just no end to the beasts
and miscreants you lot put into the world. I think I would like a fatal
sting so whenever one of these creatures gets near my honey stores, I can
strike it down dead with a single touch. Yes, that is my wish. So, how bout
it?"
[image: melissa-bee-570x380.jpg]
Zeus was in a bit of a quandry. His mood had just nosedived from euphoric
to despairing within the first ten syllables of Melissa's response and so
was not inclined to be cooperative. However, he did swear by the River Styx
to grant the winner one wish. If he had decided to break that promise, he
would have been consigned to Tartarus where he'd not only be rendered
feeble, but would also suffer ineluctable torments for seven times seventy
years. (A fate that, as he would later realize, was a shade less agreeable
than his marriage to Hera.) On the other hand, he was highly concerned
about giving Melissa the power to kill. He could just see her wielding that
sting to slay anything and everything that just happened to encroach on her
territory or, heaven forfend, interrupt her stream of consciousness. Then,
he had what he considered a brilliant idea. His empurpled face widened into
a malicious smile. "You shall have your fatal sting," he declared.
"However, that sting will also be fatal to yourself, so you'd be wise not
to exercise that power indiscriminately."

Melissa went flush. "Oh, dear...."

Much later, when his ardor cooled, he somewhat regretted his decision about
Melissa's suicidal sting. Although he didn't reverse her condition, he did
give her the power to procreate, which she did with wild abandon. The
offspring became the bees. All of them were equipped with a single suicidal
sting. However, each generation matured and reproduced so quickly that
honey flowed freely throughout the world, much to the delight of mortals
and to the gods, who would occasionally convey some of it up to Olympus.
Melissa, having never used the sting after all, ultimately died of old age.
After she died, Zeus placed her and a swarm of her drones in the sky as the
Beehive Star Cluster, also known as Praesepe.

[image: mainimage_Messier_M44_Beehive_Cluster.jpeg]


Located approximately 610 light years from Earth, Prasepe is a galactic or
open star cluster marking the center of Cancer the Crab. In fact, the
Beehive Star Cluster serves as Cancer's only truly prominent feature as the
rest of it consists of faint stars arranged in an inverted "y" shape.
Although the above image, compliments of Sun.org, shows dozens of stars,
the cluster consists of more than 1000, most of which, unlike those A-type
blues appearing above, are faint red dwarfs.

Formed approximately 700 million years ago from a vast nebula, the stars
comprising Praesepe are all slowly dissipating. Within the next billion
years, the cluster's gravitational hold on its members will become
increasingly more tenuous so that they will each establish their own
trajectories through space. The Sun, itself, was once part of such a
cluster that has long since dissipated.

In the sky, the Beehive Star Cluster resembles a faint, circular cloud.
This time of year, it begins the night high in the western sky. The cluster
is aligned along the ecliptic, the Sun's annual path across the firmament.
It marks the Sun's approximate position during the first few days of
August. Over the next few weeks Praesepe will draw progressively closer to
the setting Sun each day. By mid-July, the beehive will vanish into the
dusk, only to return to the pre-dawn eastern sky by early October.

Look for Melissa and her drones in the western sky tonight. Though faint,
these bees are a beguilingly beautiful addition to our spring/summer
evening sky. They fly gracefully through the heavens seeking nectar and
making honey. And, all the while, to Zeus' delight, they remain completely
silent.

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