Saturday: Spica is about one and a half fists to the right of the moon at 6:00 am tomorrow morning. Does it remind you of a moth flying around the lightbulb-like moon? It should because Spica is a genus of moths found mainly in China.
Sunday: Are you going to watch the super bowl tonight? Is
the bowl really that super? After all, half the night the bowl is tipped upside
down, spilling out all of its contents. But don’t just focus on the
functionality of the bowl. Think about how it inspires people all across the
world to look at the night sky. In Mongolia, participants in the super bowl are
known as gods. An Arabian story says the super bowl is a coffin. I encourage
you to go outside tonight at about 8:00 p.m., after whatever unimportant thing
you have been doing since 3:30 p.m. Look low in the north-northwestern sky and
watch the super bowl, also known as the Big Dipper, balancing on the end of its
handle, proudly displaying its large bowl.
Monday: Neptune is about a pinky width to the upper left of
Venus at 6:00 tonight. Normally it is difficult to find in the sky. But you may
use Venus as a guide for the next three nights. First find Venus, one and a
half fists above the west-southwest horizon. Tomorrow night, Venus will have
moved up towards Neptune so they’ll be about half the distance apart. By
Wednesday night, Neptune will be below Venus.
Tuesday: According to Greek mythology, the beautiful
princess Andromeda was chained to a rock next to the ocean. Cetus the sea
monster was about to devour her in order to punish her family. It seemed that
all was lost. But, along came the great warrior Perseus, fresh off his defeat
of the evil Gorgon, Medusa. The only similarity between Andromeda and Medusa
was that Andromeda caused people to stand still and stare at her beauty while
Medusa turned people to stone because of her ugliness. (And, you thought you
looked bad in the morning.) Even though Perseus’ standing as the son of King
Zeus and the slayer of Medusa was probably enough to win Andromeda under normal
circumstances, Andromeda’s impending death-by-sea-monster was not a normal
circumstance. So, Perseus drove his sword into the sea monster's neck and
killed it. In a little known addendum to the story, Perseus carved “Percy
(heart symbol) Andi” in the rock, thus originating the use of the heart symbol
as a substitute for the word “love”.
You can find these lovers in the sky this Valentine’s Day.
Just remember it is rude to stare – because you never know who might turn to
stone. First, find the Great Square of Pegasus at 7:00 p.m. between one and a
half and three and a half fists above the west horizon. The lowest star in
Andromeda is the top star in the square. This represents Andromeda’s head.
Perseus is at her feet, nearly straight overhead. Mirphak, the brightest star
in Perseus, is about eight fists above the west horizon. Perseus’ body is
represented by the line of stars to the left and right of Mirphak.
Wednesday: Jupiter is two fists above the west-southwestern
horizon at 7:00 p.m.
Thursday: The sky is so wondrous. It makes me want to sing.
Who can forget that memorable song by Three Dog Constellations Night, “The sky
is black. The stars are white. Together we learn to find the light.” Well,
maybe it didn’t go like that. Which is good. Because not all stars are white.
Most stars are too dim to notice a color. But, two of the stars in the
constellation Orion provide a noticeable contrast with each other. Betelgeuse,
five fists above due south at 8:30 p.m. is a red giant. Rigel, the bright star
about two fists to the lower right of Betelgeuse, is a blue giant.
By the way, the three dog constellations are Canis Major,
the greater dog, found one and a half fists to the lower left of Orion; Canis
Minor, the lesser dog, found two and a half fists to the left of Betelgeuse;
and Canes Venatici, the hunting dogs, found low in the northeast sky, halfway
between the Big Dipper and the horizon. Canis Major contains Sirius, the
brightest star in the nighttime sky.
Friday: The good news is the days are getting longer and the
nights are getting shorter. The better news for most readers of this column is
the farther north you go in the United States, the longer the days get. Here in
Ellensburg, there are almost two more hours of daylight than on the first day
of winter. In the southern part of the US, there is only 50 more minutes of
sunlight. If you’d like to have your own fun with day lengths and other time
questions, go to https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/.
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 https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/planner.cfm.
No comments:
Post a Comment