THE SOUTHWORTH PLANETARIUM
207-780-4249 www.usm.maine.edu/planet
70 Falmouth Street Portland, Maine 04103
43.6667° N 70.2667° W
Altitude: 10 feet below sea level
Founded January 1970
Julian date: 2458769.5
2019-2020: XXX
"We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves." -Buddha
THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
Monday, October 14, 2019
Monday, October 14, 2019
The Dipper's Tale
Many mortals languishing under the dominion of the ancient deities suffered grave injustices at the hands of the cruel and capricious Olympians. None more so than Callisto, a woman who was not only remarkably beautiful and uncommonly kind, but was also devoted to her only son, Arcas. Both mother and son were skilled hunters who passed many happy days in the earnest pursuit of quarry through forest, fields and mountains. One day, the unfortunate Callisto drew the attention of the lustful Zeus, notorious for his philandering ways and his wanton use and abuse of women. Keenly aware of Zeus' propensities, Hera, his tormented and perpetually jealous wife, quickly noticed how Callisto had unknowingly beguiled her husband. She promptly descended onto the land and confronted Callisto as the latter was hunting in a deep forest while her son sought game out of sight. The astonished Callisto at once beheld a furious goddess who materialized from thin air while a sky-wide band of storm clouds darkened the forest. (Hera conjured the clouds to conceal herself and Callisto from Zeus.)
Hera identified herself at once to the now terrified Callisto and without any explanation transformed her into a large bear. Although she altered Callisto's body, Hera cruelly allowed her to retain the mind and soul of a woman, so she would remain fully conscious of her bestial transfiguration. Looking down at her claws, fur and the other ursine features, Callisto tried to scream, but could only produce a fierce growl. She then watched helplessly as Hera, smirking maliciously, vanished. Horrified by her alteration, Callisto fled madly away. She found that not only could she run swiftly, but her immense bulk allowed her to move almost effortlessly against the same tree branches that proved so obstructive to her as a woman. Soon, she was hidden within the deepest forest hollows; so remote, in fact, that the darkness prevailed even though the storm clouds had melted away.
Callisto was miserable: more miserable than she could have ever imagined possible during her short, but happy life. Throughout each day she foraged constantly for food, feeling profoundly ashamed at her voracious appetite and beastly means of food gathering. Only she alone knew what it was to suffer the incongruous aches of a bear's incessant hunger and a woman's broken heart. Not just broken, but shattered, for she dearly missed her son Arcas. Every moment engendered a grief more bitter and intense than the one preceding it. She often looked through the lattice work of trees within the forest and knew that contained therein was Arcas, no doubt looking desperately for his mother. The pain of their separation was often so sharp that she cried out, only to hear the same bear's roar that she had heard so often when she pursued them as a huntress.
Within a week of her transformation, Callisto was awakened from her miserable sleep by the sound of footfalls on branches. She at once spied Arcas walking through the trees nearby, His sweet, but despairing, voice often called out "Mother! Mother! Are you well?! Where are you?! Mother!" Forgetting her current condition, Callisto leapt up and called out, "Arcas! Arcas! I am here! I am here!" To her delight, Arcas looked over toward her and she bounded toward him, ecstatic at what she believed would be a joyous reunion. She didn't realize until it was too late that Arcas had only heard a fierce growl and at the moment was looking at a large bear running toward him. The young hunter deftly removed an arrow from his quiver and placed it in his bow. To her terror, Callisto remembered her appearance and realized that she was well within range of Arcas' arrow. She was about to be killed by her own son.
Zeus, who had been curiously absent until that moment, looked down on the scene and in one stroke transformed Arcas into a bear. The arrow, bow and quiver fell to the ground. He then grasped both bears by their tails and cast them into the night sky where they became Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, the Great and Little Bear. In his new form, Arcas recognized his mother at once and they started playfully pursuing each other through the circumpolar sky. Hera, incensed at their reunion, persuaded Posiedon, god of the ocean, to deny them access to the sea so that they would be forever condemned to roam the northern skies. It would have infuriated Hera to have known that they regarded their perpetual placement in the northern skies as the best of all possible fates: for they would never again be apart, their star fields would remain forever verdant, and although they would never be human again, neither of them would ever die.
Astronomically, one can still find the Big and Little Dippers in the northern sky. The "Big Dipper" is an asterism within the constellation Ursa Major. The "Little Dipper" comprises almost all of Ursa Minor. Being circumpolar constellations, they never set, or at least won't set in our lifetimes. One can use the Big Dipper's outer bowl stars, Dubhe and Merak, to find Polaris, the end star in the Little Dipper's handle. Throughout the course of one day, the Big Dipper will appear to describe wide circles around Polaris. In fact, the entire sky seems to revolve around this remarkably unremarkable star merely because it is aligned almost directly with Earth's north celestial pole.
Tonight, one will find the Big Dipper "resting" on the northern horizon in the early evening. Even joyous mothers need down time.
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