Maui’s Fishhook & The Milky Way
Image: Constellation Guide
Celebrating our nation’s 250th anniversary has to be one of the greatest anniversaries ever. The Founding Fathers, supported in many cases by spouses who influenced their decisions, gave us guidelines to enable a motley group of people, mainly who had come from kingdoms in Europe whose ‘common’ people had never been able to make choices about the way they earned money or where they were able to live, much less be given the opportunity to go to school or participate in their governance. What an experience to celebrate-feel free to enjoy the blessings of liberty for yourselves and your posterity for as long as freedom rings. While you are out celebrating the great milestone be in remembrance of all the people who gave their lives, their liberty, and their sacred honor fighting battles for others during the past 250 years as well, and thank a veteran.
One of the constellations of stars that will be hidden behind all the fireworks exploding in the night sky is the one our 50th state calls Maui’s Fishhook. The Greeks who designed democracy (not democratic republics), the direct vote by male landowners for policies and laws, called that group Scorpius, as did the ancient Babylonians. The Romans, who developed their representative republic who voted after their elite citizens overthrew the monarchy and established their republic in the fifth century B.C. Of course, that later devolved as most governing bodies have done. Only time will tell and become history for future generations.
We shared details of Scorpius last week so this week the focus will be on Sagittarius, the half-man, half horse centaur that chases the Scorpion across the southern sky all summer long. Sagittarius harbors a group of stars known as the Teapot asterism and it does definitely look just like one. Even to the point of a faint little ‘steam’ rising above the spout. Some of you may be old enough to remember a little kindergarten tune about that little teapot, short and stout. I can still hear those little voices and little arms akimbo as they sang about it at the top of their lungs.
Both these constellations reach into two separate arms of the Milky Way in our summer sky. Scorpius’ tail stars are in the same arm as the teapot and the claws of the scorpion reach out from the second arm resting just below the arc of the ecliptic.
Ophiuchus stretches from just above the ecliptic through the equator imaginary arc in the sky. I usually describe the physician as a percolator but perhaps you will imagine a bent surfboard with a house in the middle. The front of the surfboard is known to astronomers as Serpens caput (serpent with its head cut off) and Serpens cauda (serpent’s tail cut off). It commemorates the killing of a snake in Ophiuchus’ herb garden-it is interesting how snakes figure in legends across the planet.
Looking up while listening to patriotic music during the fireworks displays might lead you to wonder about the term music of the spheres. Clever musicians have worked with computer geniuses to assign 1s and 0s to specific emissions of the gasses from stars and the sounds are lovely and mysterious. If the objects in space are making music on their own, it is beyond our ability to hear it; when we are out just after dark stargazing, we might hear a nighthawk, mockingbird, or soft owl call though.
Climbing up to the zenith is the Summer Triangle asterisms constellation Lyra, the lyre, with bright star Vega at the end of its ‘tail’ connected to the parallelogram kite shape. Smaller than the kite of Boötes, which is marked by bright Arcturus at the base of his feet, and in a different part of the sky, don’t mistake Lyra for Boötes.
Be sure to check out the website for our local South Texas Astronomical Society and find out where and when the next meet-up for good astronomy talk. The group has been meeting at random coffee-style places around Brownsville, but may reach out to other towns.
Until next week, DO let some stars get in your eyes. carolutsinger@att.net for comments or questions.
