Mon Mar 7, 2022 NAME THAT CONSTELLATION – MARCH
Of the eighty-eight officially recognized constellations, can you identify the thirty-ninth largest one? It is bordered on the north by Triangulum and Perseus, on the south by Pisces the Fish, Cetus the Whale and Taurus the Bull, on the west by Pisces again, and on the east by Taurus again. Three middling-bright stars – Hamal, Sheratan and Mesarthim, form its head, however the rest of this constellation is in one of the darkest regions of the night sky, and there are no familiar nebulas or star clusters within its borders. But a handful of its stars are known to have planets orbiting them. In mythology this animal represents the golden fleece, sought by Jason and his Argonauts in the land of Colchis. Tonight the new crescent moon can be found between it and the constellation Taurus. Can you name this star figure, the first constellation of the Zodiac? The answer is Aries the Ram, high in the south after sunset.
Tue Mar 8, 2022 THE STARS OF THE PHARAOHS
The Great Pyramid of Khufu is aligned with the compass directions of North, South, East and West. Near the pyramid, the statue of the Sphinx also faces toward the east and the rising sun, where according to Egyptian tradition, all things are born. The Great Pyramid, along with other pyramids nearby, mimic the positions of the three stars in the belt of the constellation Orion, known to the Pharaohs as the god Osiris. In Egyptian lore, Osiris served as the judge of each pharaoh, determining if their souls were to meet oblivion, or to be made immortal and live among the Ikhemu-Sek, the realm of the imperishable stars – that is, the circumpolar constellations in the northern sky which never set, and in the center of which is the star Thuban in the constellation Draco, the north star of the Pharaohs.
Wed Mar 9, 2022 BIG DIPPER, NORTH STAR AND LITTLE DIPPER
At this time of the year the Big Dipper is just off the northeastern horizon around 8 o’clock in the evening. Find someplace outside where you have a clear view toward the northeast, without any streetlights to interfere with your view. That's where you'll find the Big Dipper, standing on its handle, beginning low near the horizon. Now draw a line between the top two stars of the Big Dipper's bowl, and extend that line to the left, and it leads you to the North Star, not a particularly bright star, but it's not known for being bright, just for being in the north. The North Star, whose official name is Polaris, is at the end of the handle of the Little Dipper, which is very hard to see because its stars are fairly dim.
Thu Mar 10, 2022 FIRST QUARTER MOON ABOVE ORION
Tonight the first quarter moon appears above the head of the constellation of Orion the Hunter. In mythology, Orion loved Artemis, the goddess of the moon and of the hunt. Now Artemis had a brother, Apollo, the sun god, and he didn’t like Orion – not good enough for his sister, he decided. One day Apollo found his sister and pointed to Orion, swimming in the ocean, so far out that he appeared as just a little dark speck. He bet Artemis she couldn’t hit such a small target. And so she shot the far-off target with an arrow, not realizing it was Orion’s head. But Orion was a hero, so he was given immortality as a constellation of the night. Once a month the moon travels through this part of the sky, and to the storytellers this was a time when Artemis could visit with her old hunting companion.
Fri Mar 11, 2022 URANUS DISCOVERED/PLUTO DISCOVERY ANNOUNCEMENT
On March 13, 1781, the planet Uranus was discovered by William Herschel. Using a telescope he had built himself, Herschel became the first person in history to discover another planet too faint to be seen with the unaided eye. About a hundred and fifty years after this, Arizona’s Lowell Observatory announced the discovery of another planet. It had been found by a young observatory assistant, Clyde Tombaugh, and was named Pluto. In 2006 an international group of astronomers who had nothing better to do with their time voted to demote Pluto to dwarf planet status, but the American Astronomical Society opposes the idea. In the summer of 2015 a space probe named New Horizons flew past Pluto and radioed back some incredible images of this distant world and its moons.
