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: 245920.16
Julian Date: 245920.16
2019-2020: CXIV
"The eternal silence of these infinite spaces frightens me."
-Blaise Pascal
THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
Wednesday, March 11, 2020
Wednesday, March 11, 2020
Ascending Lion
It is said that Hercules killed half of the characters that now adorn our night sky. While this estimate is a bit of an exaggeration, one could certainly say that Hercules' slain is seen all over the starry firmament. Leo, the Nemean Lion now rising in the eastern early evening sky, was one of the mighty hunter's first, and arguably one of his most formidable, victims. Perhaps the word "opponent" would be more apt, as this Lion was much more predator than victim. The terror of Nemea, this bloodthirsty creature was not only prodigiously strong and rapacious, but its pervasive golden hair rendered it impervious to arrows, swords and spears. The lion often marched into nearby villages to devour any townie hapless enough to have wandered into its vicinity. No warrior could defeat it, no barricade could hold fast against it, and nobody who tried to evade it ever escaped.
It is little wonder this cat was unpopular.
It was left to Hercules to seek out and ultimately destroy Leo. He undertook this quest at the behest of Eurystheus, the odious king Hercules was obligated to serve. You see, while under the influence of Hera's insanity spell, Hercules slaughtered his wife, Megara, and his children. When he recovered his senses, Hercules was so distraught at having committed such an atrocity that he would have killed himself had his friend Thesesus not restrained him. Theseus persuaded Hercules to consult the Delphic Oracle, which instructed him to enter Eurystheus' service for ten years. While in this service, Hercules was required to perform a series of exceedingly difficult labors. Only by completing these tasks would Hercules both atone for his crime and achieve apotheosis.
Killing Leo was his second task, although some number-challenged poets insist that it was the first one. The intrepid Hercules spent days seeking out the lion's lair, which he promptly entered. He found Leo resting on a large pile of bones and skulls and immediately fired an arrow at it. Although the arrow snapped at the first contact, it roused Leo from his slumber and he ferociously attacked the interloper. Despite slashing madly with his sword and firing off other arrows, Hercules couldn't wound his adversary in the slightest. With nothing else for it, Hercules wrestled the lion and once it was pinned to the ground, strangled it to death. Always resourceful, Hercules snapped off one of its claws and used it cut away the hyde which he used as a protective cloak throughout the remainder of his life.
Hera set Leo in the sky as to reward it for its earnest efforts to kill Hercules, for whom Hera harbored an intense hatred. This time of year Leo rises in the early evening and remains visible all night. Leo is also part of the zodiac, the retinue of thirteen constellations through which the Sun appears to travel each year. Leo hosts the Sun between mid August and mid September. As we proceed through the spring and summer, Leo will move ever closer to the setting Sun. By early August the lion will begin the next close to the western horizon and will soon vanish into the dusk, only to return to October's pre-dawn eastern sky.
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