[image: 7dcc931686879245740a1ff45fb214a3.jpg]
*Psyche:  Apotheosis of the Soul Goddess    Part I  *
An ancient king and queen, whose names and domain remain unknown, had three
daughters.  While the two elder girls matured to become enchantingly lovely
young women, the youngest, Psyche, was possessed of a beauty far surpassing
not only that of her sisters, but all others in the world, as well.  (Helen
of Troy was not yet born.)   Even as a young girl, Psyche was so comely
that many people traveled to her home merely to admire her.    As she
matured, so, too, did her beauty.    Eventually, Psyche found herself in
the uncomfortable position of literally being worshipped by strangers and
neighbors alike.    Each day she awoke to find presents of gold, fruit and
other offerings surrounding her home.       People lit incense at her door
and prayed earnestly for her health.     The nearby temples dedicated to
the love goddess Aphrodite were neglected and quickly fell into ruin.
This preference for Psyche over Aphrodite was understandable.   Though
known throughout the world, Aphrodite was unseen by mortals, apart from
depictions on pottery.  Aphrodite's loveliness was merely assumed, but
never observed.     Conversely, Psyche's beauty was visible, so pure as to
almost be radiant.   She became Aphrodite's embodiment and seemed destined
to become her successor.    As one can well imagine, Aphrodite came to
learn of Psyche and resolved to punish this mortal for her presumption.
The goddess summoned forth her son Eros -the Roman Cupid- and commanded him
to puncture Psyche's heart with a golden arrow so that she would fall in
love with the most grotesque creature on Earth.  "Make her grovel in mud
and filth for the love of a monster," Aphrodite said with a sneer.
Initially, Eros was determined to obey his mother's orders, until, of
course, he saw Psyche.    He then fell hopelessly in love with her,
himself.     Though he certainly didn't divulge these feelings to his
mother, he refrained from abiding by Aphrodite's instructions.     He did,
however, use his magical abilities toward another end.    As Psyche grew to
womanhood, she found to her distress that though her worshippers were
legion, no man ever professed to love her.    She was widely revered, but
not even her most ardent admirers seemed to harbor any feelings for her at
all.  While her sisters were eventually wed to handsome kings, Psyche
remained alone.   On one lonely, miserable night, she wept in her father's
arms and lamented, "Being worshipped is a curse."    The following morning,
Psyche and her father traveled to Delphi to seek the advice of Apollo.
  Through the sibyl, they learned that Psyche would, indeed, find  a
husband.   "She must be brought to a high hill near your home and
abandoned.  Only then will a winged serpent descend onto the land to
capture her and make her his bride."      On hearing this pronouncement,
Psyche's father broke down in sobs.  Psyche, however, maintained a stoic
calm.    "Do not weep for me, father.    My beauty has incurred divine
wrath and I accept this punishment gladly.  Life has become hateful to
me."    As instructed, her parents brought Psyche to the designated hilltop
a few days later.   The couple embraced their daughter and wept openly.
 "Leave me,"she told them gently. "I don't want you here when it arrives."
   As soon as Psyche was by herself, she sat down on the hilltop and looked
out onto the scene:  below her feet she saw a dark chasm; along the horizon
a jagged array of mountains ember-tinted by the fading twilight.
Curiously, not being in the presence of people made Psyche suddenly feel
less alone and strong enough to confront her imminent death.   Within
moments, she sensed a gentle wind brushing against her.  To her shock, the
wind then lifted her off the hilltop.   Despite having nothing under or
around her, Psyche felt no fear as the wind was strong, but also gentle, as
though she were nestled in the cusp of a giant hand.   While being conveyed
high above the moon-silvered landscape, Psyche soon drifted off to sleep.
On awakening, Psyche found herself resting on a bed of grass softer than
she had ever known. It made her feel as though she were enveloped in silk.
Despite a desire to remain sleeping, Psyche soon arose and looked with
astonishment onto a grand palace that seemed small in relation to the
imposing peaks encircling it.   "Welcome," a beautiful voice said. "You are
in your new home.  Enter when you will."   Psyche looked around, but saw no
one.    "Where are you?" she asked. "I am here, but you cannot see me.
 You can trust me, however.  Do not be afraid."     Psyche was not in the
least bit frightened. She did trust the speaker who, after a brief
conversation, persuaded her to enter the palace.   The sight of its
interior was breathtaking:  vast halls of polished marble, high ceilings
supported by ornately designed pillars; and beautiful tapestries hanging
from the walls.   As she explored the palace, she found chests of treasure,
vast bed chambers and even a fountain within a brilliantly lit atrium.
 During the exploration, Psyche listened to enchanting harmonies that
infused her with both a delirium of ecstasy and a sense of profound well
being.  It was as though she were surrounded by a gathering of invisible
cherubim whose ethereal harmonies were as natural and constant as
exhalations.    "This is all for me?" she asked with astonishment.  "For
you and your husband," the voice responded.  For a moment, Psyche
experienced a sharp pang of fear.  "When will I see him?"   The voice
laughed, but in a good natured manner.  "You will be with your husband
tonight.   He loves you passionately.  You need not be afraid."  Psyche
spent the day exploring her new home with delight. She was greeted by many
disembodied voices, all of them gentle.    The palace was well staffed by
kind, invisible serpents.  That night, soon after Psyche settled into bed,
she felt a movement next to her.   She held her breath and silently
prayed.    "I am your husband," a voice then said. The voice was so
melodious that its very words were like music.     "I have loved you for so
very long and will do all I can to prove myself to be a worthy husband."
  They spoke most of the night and Psyche soon found herself falling in
love with him even though, as he soon explained, she was never to look at
him.  "I shall be with you only in the dark of night."  After only a few
days there, Psyche's fears vanished.  She spent the day wandering in and
out of the palace in the company of those kindly voices and lying next to
her tender, loving husband at night. She was deeply in love with the man
she couldn't see and finally felt a boundless joy she never thought
possible.       After a couple of months, Psyche confided in her husband
that though she was happy in her marriage, she yearned to see her sisters.
 "Could they not come for a visit?" she asked him one night.   Her
husband's tone became grave.  "They will destroy you if they are here," he
warned her.     "No, my dearest husband.   They love me and I them.  They
have always treated me with the deepest kindness."   This assertion was
true, for her sisters never resented Psyche's superior beauty or the
adoration it earned her. In fact, they always seemed to derive a sense of
vicarious enjoyment from their sister's good fortune.     Psyche gently
persisted in her request and such was the husband's abiding love for her
that he soon relented.    He summoned the winged messenger Hermes to find
the two sisters and instruct them to stand on the same hilltop where Psyche
once waited for the winged serpent.     When the sisters arrived at the
hilltop a day later, the husband commanded Zephyrus, the west wind god who
had delivered Psyche, to convey them to the palace.     When they arrived,
the three sisters embraced and wept with joy.  The sisters had learned of
the Delphic Oracle from their father and assumed Psyche had perished.
 They were initially gladdened at the reunion and dazzled by the splendour
of their sister's abode.  As they toured the palace, Psyche gave them
handfuls of treasure to bring to their families.    "You may stay as long
as you wish, however, and return at any time," she said, kissing their
hands.  They both smiled quietly in response.   "It seems as though you
have absolutely everything," Pteragelia, her eldest sister, said
matter-of-factly.   "Indeed, I do," Psyche replied. "Especially now that
you're here."    Later, the sisters inquired about her husband, his manner
and particularly his appearance.    On the latter aspect Psyche was
equivocal.  "Oh, very strong and handsome, of course, and yes, quite
handsome."     Pteragelia pressed.  "When can we meet him?"   Psyche
hesitated.  "Oh, well, during the day he seeks game in the mountains and
then at night he is so tired he turns in immediately."     Photoulla, the
middle sister, asked, "Will we ever meet him?" Psyche looked at her sisters
uneasily and then answered plainly. "No, you never will."     Soon, knowing
herself to be incapable of deception, Psyche divulged everything to her
sisters.    "You've never seen your own husband?" Pteragelia whispered as
they sat in her bedchamber.      "I can never see him," Psyche told them.
  That night, while Psyche lay next to her husband, her sisters conferred
in their bedchamber deep into the night.   The next morning, as Psyche
toured the grounds again with her sisters, they expressed their wish to
leave the palace that afternoon.  "Why are you leaving me so soon?" Psyche
asked sadly.  "We're not leaving, you, sister,' Photoulla said. "We want
you to come with us."   Psyche asked them why.   The sisters explained that
they feared for themselves and for her.  "Your husband is likely a monster
who can alter shape at will.       Such creatures always assume their true
form in sleep, hence the darkness.     If you saw him in repose, you would
know his true form and be horrified."  Psyche became distressed and
argued.  "Would a monster treat me so kindly?"   Pteragelia smiled.  "Yes,
he would, until you bring forth the heir he requires.  He will bestow
riches and affection on you in great abundance so you won't realize that he
doesn't love you, but, instead, needs the world's most beautiful woman to
produce a son.   When that son is born, you will see it is monstrous and
before you can flee, your husband will devour you as you will cease to be
useful to him."    Psyche started to weep.  "You don't know my husband."
 Pteragelia smiled weakly.  "Nor, dear sister, do you."     That afternoon,
at their own insistence, the sisters left Psyche's home.  Zephyrus returned
to conduct them away from the palace.  Psyche refused to accompany them.
Suddenly alone again -except for the voices- Psyche became deeply
troubled.     She dearly loved her husband, but could find no argument to
refute her sisters' theory.   Why wouldn't her husband permit her to see
him if had nothing to hide?    Would a trustworthy husband demand such
concealment?     These thoughts tormented her throughout the rest of the
day.     That night Psyche lay with her husband in the complete darkness.
After he drifted off to sleep, Psyche remained wide awake.    The struggle
between her deep love and growing suspicions continued until the latter
ultimately prevailed.   Psyche arose from the bed and left the chamber to
retrieve a lantern.     Once lit, she brought the lantern back into the
bedchamber and gazed on her husband.   She saw the most stunningly
beautiful young man in slumber.   His skin shone almost as golden as his
hair. Psyche then knew that her husband was Eros, the god of Love,
himself.   She drew her gaze onto his carved features and became so
enthralled that the lantern slipped from her grasp for just a moment, long
enough for some of the hot oil to spill onto her husband's chest.  He awoke
in agony and looked fiercely at Psyche as she regarded him in the light.
"My dearest husband," she murmured.   "Husband no longer," he responded
coldly as he arose from the bed, nursing his burnt chest.    "I leave now
and you are not to pursue me."     "I love you," Psyche whispered
desperately as she reached for him. He shied away.  "If there is no trust,
there is no love.   Leave me alone."     Eros then fled the chamber and was
so swallowed by the darkness.  Psyche rushed out into the night in earnest,
but vain, pursuit.   She called for him, but received no answer.    She
called out to the palace voices for assistance, but agan elicited only a
cold silence.   When she attempted to re-enter the palace, she found that
all the entrances had been blocked.      Psyche collapsed onto the ground
in a state of utter despair.     The suspicions that her sisters aroused in
her destroyed her blissful life.   Yes, once she did have everything.
Suddenly, in an instant, she was deprived of love, home and husband.
 Psyche soon pulled herself up and looked to the eastern horizon against
which Aurora had just draped her lustrous veil.   "I have nothing now,"
Psyche said. "But I will devote the rest of my life seeking my husband,
even if it is no to avail."      At that, Psyche walked away from the
palace with nothing but her resolve to find Eros.
Part II tomorrow.


THE SOUTHWORTH PLANETARIUM
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2020-2021:  XXXVII


THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
Monday, November 2, 2020
Remote Planetarium 115:   Cosmic Distance Ladder - Galaxies

Today we address the question, "How can we humans possibly ascertain the
distances to galaxies?"   The Andromeda system, the closest major galaxy to
our own, is approximately 2.2 million light years away.      The myriad
galaxies comprising the Virgo Supercluster are tens or hundreds of million
of light years from us.   How do astronomers determine such vast
distances?

*Cepheid review*
 First, we need to review the Cepheid variable method that enables
astronomers to determine the distances to the closest galaxies.
Cepheids are variable stars whose variability is directly related to
luminosity.  The longer the variability period, the more luminous the
star.    By observing the amount of time separating successive maxima
(times when the brightness is at maximum), an astronomer can measure the
Cepheid's true brightness . Through use of the distance modulus equation,
one can determine the Cepheid variable star's distance if its intrinsic
brightness (absolute magnitude M) and apparent brightness (apparent
magnitude m) are both known.

[image: unnamed.png]
The distance modulus formula:   m = apparent magnitude, M = absolute
magnitude; d = distance (in parsecs).   A Cepheid variable's period is
directly related to its absolute magnitude.   By comparing the true to
apparent brightness, the star's distance is known. By extension, the
distance to the star's host galaxy will also be determined.

The problem with the Cepheid variable method is distance limitation.
 The method is valid out to 20 million light years.  While a considerable
distance, the cosmos is immensely larger.      In order to measure the
distances of more remote galaxies, astronomers generally rely on a
technique related to the Universal expansion.

In 1929, Edwin Hubble (1889-1953)  announced his discovery that the
Universe is expanding in all directions.    This expansion is a consequence
of the Big Bang, the primordial event that created the cosmos.  Ever since
its inception around 13.8 billion years ago, the cosmos has been growing
steadily larger.   Consequently, the galaxies within it appear to move away
from each other unless they happen to be so close that gravitational
attraction overwhelms the expansion.*      Hubble devised a law relating a
galaxy's recession speed and distance:

                                         * v  =  H x d*

where   v = a galaxy's velocity;  H = Hubble constant; d = distance in
megaparsecs.  (One megaparsec equals 3.26 million light years.)  The Hubble
Constant is measured in units of kilometers per second per Megaparsec.
 One of the most recent Hubble constant estimates, published by a research
team led by a University of Oregon astronomer, cites a value of 71.5 for
the Hubble Constant.        Any galaxy moving at 71.5 kilometers per second
away** from the Milky Way would therefore be located 1 Megaparsec away from
the Milky Way. A galaxy receding from the Milky Way at 143 kilometers per
second would be 2 Megaparsecs away from us and so forth.

The *Hubble Law *can tell us a galaxy's distance "simply" by measuring the
galaxy's speed.      How can astronomers measure this speed?   By measuring
the galaxy's "light shift."   A galaxy consists of innumerable stars, all
of which produce light.   If the galaxy is moving away from us, that light
will become elongated as a consequence of the recession.

[image: 500px-Redshift_blueshift.png]
At the top of this simplified diagram a star moves away from the observer.
The star's emitted light is "stretched out" as a result of this motion.
 The elongation of light increases its wavelength, which decreases its
frequency.      The light is shifted toward the red end of the spectrum, as
red light has a lower frequency than blue light,   At the diagram's bottom,
the star moves toward the observer and its light is compressed.  The
wavelength decreases and its frequency increases, shifting the light toward
the "blue end" of the spectrum.

[image: main-qimg-1882da28ef34be15ceca6073a1cdd664.webp]

In reality, the emitted light is separated into its component colors Within
the spectrum one finds a series of absorption lines that occupy specific
"rest" wavelengths.    The lines within a spectrum of a receding galaxy
shift toward the red end of the spectrum.  The greater the shift, the
faster the recession velocity and the more distant the galaxy.

Application of the Hubble Law enables astronomers to measure the distances
to remote galaxies throughout the Virgo Super Cluster and throughout the
Universe.

Tomorrow, more on how astronomers know what they know about galaxies.



*The Andromeda and Milky Way Galaxies are currently moving toward each
other and will collide within 4 - 6 billion years.

**One notable consequence of this revised value is that the Universe's age
would be lowered to approximately 12.8 billion years.

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