Two new
Harry Potter History of Magic books are coming out on October 20. Can’t wait
until then? You better brush up on some of the character names.
Saturday: At
9:15 p.m., the bright star Regulus is about a half a fist held upright and at
arm’s length above the west horizon. But, who is this Regulus? He has many
potential identities. The most interesting from a pop culture standpoint is
Regulus Black, the brother of Sirius Black who is Harry Potter’s godfather.
Regulus Black was a former follower of Voldemort, the bad guy of the Harry Potter
series. However, Regulus tried to dissociate himself from Voldemort and was
killed. He would be in the pile of forgotten Harry Potter characters except
that he is so interesting. Also, in the sixth book, Harry found an important
note written by someone known only by the initials R.A.B. Hmmm. R.A.B. Regulus
A. Black perhaps? Mercury and Jupiter are near Regulus in the sky. Mercury is to
the lower right of Regulus. You probably noticed it before noticing Regulus. Jupiter
is much more noticeable at two fists above the southwest horizon.
Sunday: But
what does the “A” stand for? Anthony? Abercrombie? Alfonzo? Not astronomical
enough. It stands for Arcturus, the second brightest star visible in the
nighttime sky in Washington and at Hogwarts. Arcturus is four and a half fists
above the southwest horizon at 10 p.m. The bright star Spica is below Arcturus,
one third of the way up from the southwest horizon.
Monday:
Bellatrix Lestrange is Sirius Black’s cousin. But, far from being kissing cousins.
They are killing cousins. Bellatrix kills Sirius in a fight at the Ministry of
Magic. Bellatrix the star is the third brightest star in the constellation
Orion the hunter. It is one fist above the east horizon at 4:45 a.m.
Tuesday: Of
course, Bellatrix is in cahoots with “he who must not be named”. Now, that’s a
poorly written sentence, using an obscure synonym for “conspiring” and a vague
reference. I must be under the curse “writicus dreadfulium”. Clearly this is
the work of Tom Riddle, whose mother is named Merope Gaunt. Merope is a star in
the Pleiades, an open star cluster nearly four fists above the east horizon at
4:30 a.m.
Wednesday:
Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter’s young nemesis, is related to Sirius Black. Draco’s
mother, Narcissa Black (Sirius’ cousin), helped develop a plan to trap Harry at
the Ministry of Magic in the fifth book. Draco’s namesake, the constellation
Draco the dragon, is one of the largest constellations in the sky, winding
around the North Star. Draco’s head is a four-sided figure nearly straight
overhead at 11 p.m.
Thursday:
Saturn is two fists above the south horizon at 10 p.m., near the constellation
Scorpius. Draco Malfoy was so impressed with this constellation name that he
used it for the first name of his son.
Friday: Not
every woman in the Black family is evil. Let’s focus on the good. Andromeda
Black, Bellatrix’s sister, is a good witch and the mother of Tonks, a young
witch from the last few Harry Potter books. (If these Harry Potter references
are confusing, you better start reading the books.) Andromeda the constellation
is an interesting one. It contains the Andromeda galaxy, the most distant
object visible with the naked eye from a dark site. To locate the Andromeda
Galaxy, first find the Great Square of Pegasus. At 11 p.m., the left hand
corner of the square is about two and a half fists above the east-northeast
horizon. Less than two fists to the left and down a little bit is another star
the same brightness as the star at the corner of the square. From that star,
hop about a half a fist up to a star that is about one fourth as bright. Less
than another half fist in the same direction is a fuzzy oval patch of light
known as the Andromeda Galaxy. The galaxy is impressive to see in binoculars.
It consists of about 400 billion stars and is 2.2 million light years away.
The
positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically
accurate for the entire week. For up to date information about the night sky,
go to http://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/planner.cfm.
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