Mon Mar 23, 2026 INDIAN STARS OF THE EARLY SPRING
Native American Indians had different names for the constellations in the sky. Orion the Hunter was called Long Sash by the Tewa Pueblo Indians of the American southwest. The bright stars of Gemini - Castor and Pollux, were his place of decision, which led to the long journey up into the sky country. The Praesepe star cluster in the constellation Cancer the Crab was the headdress of Long Sash. The bright star Arcturus in Boötes was a constellation all by itself, the hero Waupee of the Shawnee tribe. But the Great Bear, Ursa Major, the most distinctive part of which we recognize as the Big Dipper today, was also seen by the Senecas and other members of the Iroquois nation as a great bear, Nyah-gwaheh, but with a short tail, unlike that of Greek mythology.
Tue Mar 24, 2026 MOON IN ORION
When the first quarter moon of March appears high in the southern sky after sunset, it can be found above the constellation of Orion the Hunter. In Greek myth, Orion, son of the sea god Poseidon, loved Artemis, the goddess of the moon and also of the hunt. Now Artemis had a brother, Apollo, the sun god, and he despised Orion – not good enough for his sister, he decided. One day Apollo found his sister and pointed to Orion, who was swimming far out in the ocean – from the shore his head appeared as just a little dark speck. He bet Artemis she couldn’t hit such a small target. So she shot the far-off target with an arrow, not realizing it was Orion. But the dying Orion 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 be with her old hunting companion.
Wed Mar 25, 2026 BIG DIPPER, NORTH STAR AND LITTLE DIPPER
At this time of the year the Big Dipper is well up in the northeastern sky 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, marked by seven stars that trace out a saucepan shape. 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’s official name is Polaris, and it’s at the end of the handle of the Little Dipper, which is very hard to see because its stars are fairly dim.
Thu Mar 26, 2026 MOON AND JUPITER IN GEMINI
Tonight, the waxing gibbous moon will appear right next to the planet Jupiter, what astronomers call a conjunction. You’ll find both of them high up in the western sky after sunset, among the stars of the constellation Gemini. With a pair of binoculars you can see some of the moon’s dark features, the lunar maria, pretty well. The Sea of Crises, and the Seas of Serenity, Tranquility and Fertility appear as smooth, flat dark areas on the moon. With a small telescope you can also see quite a few of those craters. Now look at Jupiter and it will look like a tiny round dot. If you hold the binoculars very steady you may also find some tiny stars lined up on either side of the planet. Those are its four largest moons.
Fri Mar 27, 2026 ROBERT FROST
The American poet Robert Frost was born yesterday, on March 26, 1874. Frost wrote a lot about the natural world, and about astronomy. In his poem, "The Star Splitter," he tells us of a man who bought a telescope, saying "The best thing that we're put here for's to see; The strongest thing that's given us to see with's A telescope. Someone in every town Seems to me owes it to the town to keep one. Often he bid me - come and have a look - Up the brass barrel, velvet black inside, At a star quaking in the other end. That telescope was christened the Star-Splitter, Because it didn't do a thing but split A star in two or three...” Frost was referring to the telescope’s ability to resolve detail, and reveal fainter stars not visible to the human eye alone.
