- by John Hlynialuk, Bluewater Astronomical Society

Astronomy is full of myth and legend, especially in the stories behind constellation, -stories which are charming, whimsical and oftentimes heroic. The exploits of kings, warriors, mortal men and the beasts of the Earth are depicted in the sky, -many of the tales are familiar parts of our culture.

Who has not heard of Orion the Hunter or the strongman Hercules or how Ursa Major, got its tail stretched by being flung up into the sky? You may also have wondered if being born “under the sign of Leo” for example, made you more tenacious and a take-charge sort of person? Although astrology is not scientific, at least twelve zodiac constellations of the 88 in our sky are now familiar to us and actually represented by groups of real stars in the sky.

We can thank the Greek tradition of story-telling for the rich mythology in our sky, and except for modern constellation unknown to the Greeks, their stories are everywhere. Their chief god, Zeus, was associated with the brightest light in the sky, Helios, the Sun god. The names of our planets, Venus, Mercury and the rest are all gods residing on Mt. Olympus. Even the children of the gods like Hercules and Perseus appear in the sky as constellations. The most interesting sagas are those involving more than one constellation character and I think the best example is the tale of Perseus, a son of Zeus where no less than 4 other constellations are included in one story.

The name of Perseus comes up every August in the Perseid meteor shower, the one most mentioned by even casual stargazers. The real Perseus constellation is visible in the sky right now, rising in the northeast in the midst of the other constellations that figure in his story. That tale includes Perseus and Andromeda, two star-crossed lovers, Andromeda’s haughty mother, queen Cassiopeia and her husband, king Cepheus, the real villain of the piece (he who tries to get Perseus our hero killed). There is also the sea god Nereus, who fathered 50 sea nymphs, -female spirits who usually help those in trouble on the waves. Nereus, not present himself in the sky, brings Cetus the sea monster into the story.

The yarn goes as follows: Nereus was normally kind and even-tempered but could not abide Cassiopeia’s bragging that her daughter, Andromeda, was more beautiful than all 50 of his. You would think that with that many, one or two would rate below Andromeda in the looks category but not to proud father, Nereus. And rather than taking out his anger on Cassiopeia, he kidnapped Andromeda and had her chained to a rocky promontory along the coast of Ethiopia, where Cepheus and Cassiopeia ruled. Then he sent Cetus, the sea monster, the fifth and last character of this saga, to devastate the coast and teach them all a proper lesson in humility.

As Cetus was bearing down on the helpless Andromeda, just in the nick of time, appears our hero Perseus, returning from a quest imposed on him by Cepheus. In this,

he had succeeded admirably and the prize, the head of the Gorgon, Medusa, was concealed in a sack over his shoulder. Even dead, Medusa’s snaky hair has the ability to turn men (and women too, presumably) into stone. Perseus warns his chained-up love to shield her pretty eyes and flashes Medusa’s head toward the rampaging sea monster. Cetus instantly becomes another bit of rock in the Greek archipelago (advertised in many tourist brochures) and Perseus and Andromeda together ride back to Ethiopia on the winged sandals kindly loaned by Mercury. Medusa’s head is safely tucked back in the sack (she proves useful later in the story).

The return of Perseus surprises Cepheus who did not expect him to survive the gaze of the Gorgon (that is another story) and after our hero turns a few evil courtiers into statues, Cepheus grudgingly relinquishes the throne which belonged to Perseus all along. Perseus and Andromeda take their place as rulers of Ethiopia and although mom and dad are not impressed, they prefer to stay flesh and blood rather than sculpture.

The whole group of constellations involved in this epic tale is rising above the northeastern horizon right now. See the accompanying graphic. Also check out my weblog on the Bluewater Astronomical Society website (www.bluewaterastronomy.com) which relates the story of how astronomers found out that the eye of the Medusa, Algol, the Demon Star, is actually winking at us. Thankfully, at 98.2 light years, we are too far away for the petrifying effect to work.

Clear skies!