THE SOUTHWORTH PLANETARIUM
207-780-4249 www.usm.maine.edu/planet
70 Falmouth Street Portland, Maine 04103
43.6667° N 70.2667° W
Founded January 1970
"The underground odyssey."
*THE DAILY ASTRONOMER*
*Thursday, June 23, 2016*
*Su*
*mmer Sky Tour II*
"We have to now disappoint you by advising you to not bother looking for
Orion the Hunter, one of the few constellations that is actually a
household name. Presently, Earth is on the far side of the Sun relative
to the Orion region, which precludes us from observing it, at least for
now. By late summer, Orion will re-emerge in the pre-dawn eastern sky
and, of course, will return to evening sky prominence in the winter.
*Orion the Hunter: Don't bother right now!*
*Image by **davidocchino.com
<http://davidocchino.com/portfolio/posters/poster-orion.html>*
<https://www.google.com/search?tbs=simg%3Am00&tbnid=6n4F5dI_iD20mM%3A&docid=8BtXNn6MKU7x7M&bih=493&biw=1192&tbm=isch>
"Now, we used the Big Dipper to find Polaris, the north star. We can now
use it to find the two bright stars, Arcturus and Spica, the alpha starts
in the constellations Bootes and Virgo, respectively. It looks as though
these stars just rolled off the Big Dipper's handle. One can remember
their names by repeating the famous mnemonic, 'Arc to Arcturus, Speed to
Spica.' Arcturus marks the southern point in Bootes, seen as both a
sheepherder who is trying to protect his flock from the great Bear, Ursa
Major. He is also known, principally in the UK, as the 'Ploughman,' who
is driving a plough across the sky. That plough is known to us Yanks as the
Big Dipper.
*"Arc to Arcturus; Speed to Spica." We can use the Big Dipper's handle to
find the bright stars Arcturus and Spica. Image by
**www.starrynighteducation.com
<http://www.starrynighteducation.com/stargazer/1584.shtml>*
"The star Spica marks the ear of wheat that Virgo the Maiden clasps in her
right hand. Virgo is associated with the Greek Perspheone, daughter of
Demeter, goddess of the harvest. Persephone's abduction by Hades left
Demeter so distraught that she neglected the world which grew cold and
barren. Worried that the humans would starve to death, Zeus intervened and
persuaded his brother, Hades, to relinquish control of Persephone back to
her mother for part of the year. The seasons when Persephone is in the
upperworld with her mother are warm and the crops flourish. When Persephone
is obliged to return to the underworld, Demeter becomes distraught and the land
grows cold again. So, we see Virgo rise around sunset in March, the
month when spring begins. Virgo vanishes into the sunset in September,
when autumn begins.
"Proceeding to the east we see the gorgeous Summer Triangle, consisting of
the stars Vega, Deneb and Altair. Although this triangle is so named
because it is visible for most of the night in the summer, it remains prominent
in the autumn evening sky, as well. Its three stars each belong to a
different constellation. Vega, the brightest summer triangle stars, marks
the tip of Lyra the Harp: the instrument on which Orpheus was said to have
composed the most beautiful music ever heard. His melodies were so beguling
that he was able to persuade Hades, god of the Underworld, to relinquish
Eurydice, Orpheus' only love, who had earlier been killed by a serpent bite.
Hades had told Orpheus that Eurydice would follow him home, but advised him
not to look back at her until they reached their destination. Alas, as
soon as Eurydice left the gates of the underworld, Cerberus, the three
headed hell hound snarled and then barked at her. She screamed. Orpheus
instinctively turned around, only see his love dissolve, lost to him
forever.
Poor guy, but, you can't blame him! Can you imagine what kind of sound
Cerberus produces when he barks? BARK!!! ha ha ha"
Two seconds later, a startled baboon in the dense rainforest of
Equatorial Guinea
plummeted onto the jungle floor and spent the next few minutes stumbling
around confusedly while nursing istts head.
"Deneb marks the tail of Cygus the Swan, which swims through the flowing
currents of the Milky Way. Altair represents the eye of Aquila, the
eagle who flies over the Milky Way in the same direction as the swan.
"We recognizeze that these few patterns represrepresent only a small portion
of of all that there is to see. ItThese tours take us to New York,
Chicago and Los Angeles, while negglecting the vast regions that separate
them. But, at least at least, it gives us a sampl oe le of all that
exists in the Universe."
*The Summer *
*Triangle, Image by www.astronomytrek.com <http://www.astronomytrek.com>*
*"w*
*"We *
*We"*
*rrekce ** by www.astronomytrek*
<https://www.google.com/search?tbs=simg%3Am00&tbnid=NZaKsBWI4M9LYM%3A&docid=K9KzrGq0p5NUWM&bih=493&biw=1192&tbm=isch>