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."207-780-4249 www.usm.maine.edu/planet
70 Falmouth Street Portland, Maine 04103
43.6667° N 70.2667° W
Founded January 1970
"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
"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
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