Little crown of stars makes curtain call
The diminutive but distinct constellation Corona Borealis has been out all summer long and is now making its final curtain call in our evening sky for 2016.
By this time next month, because of the Earth's orbit around the sun, Corona Borealis will be nearly below the western horizon as darkness sets in. Right now it's still hanging in there in the low western sky.
Corona Borealis is Latin for “The Northern Crown” and you can certainly make the case for how the Greeks and Romans saw it as a crown of shining jewels in the sky.
To me it looks much more like a cereal bowl, even though it doesn't have all that much snap, crackle and pop. I love how the Australians refer to it as a boomerang. It's easy to see how the constellation got that name Down Under.
In China, it's known as a “cord” and according to the Shawnee Indian legend, these stars are the homes of maidens that occasionally danced in the fields on the earth.
As night falls look for my cereal bowl in the western Butler sky just to the upper left of the constellation Bootes the Hunting Farmer.
Bootes looks more like a giant kite than a hunter, with the bright star Arcturus at the tail. Arcturus is easy to find by using the Big Dipper's handle. Just extend the curve of the handle down to the lower left and you'll run right into Arcturus. It's extra easy because Arcturus is the brightest star in that part of the sky in the early evening.
The brightest star in Corona Borealis is Alphecca (pronounced al-feck-ah), a hot bluish-white star about 75 light-years away. The light that we see from Alphecca tonight left that star in 1941 as America was entering World War ll.
According to Greek mythology Corona Borealis, the Northern Crown, is the crown of Princess Ariadne. The story goes like this.
Ariadne was the daughter of the evil king of Crete who, once a year, sacrificed seven young men and seven young women to the horrible monster the Minotaur.
This beast had the body of a bull and an incredibly ugly human head. Sound like your boss? Anyway, as the men and women were being led to the Minotaur one year, Ariadne made eye contact with Theseus, one of the men being led to slaughter and poof! It was love at first sight. Ariadne secretly armed Theseus with a sword.Theseus turned the Minotaur into Swiss cheese and as he ran from his conquest, Ariadne was waiting for him. The couple quickly dashed off in a boat and stopped overnight on the island of Naxos.No one really knows what happened. Maybe Theseus got cold feet, or maybe it was Ariadne's snoring, but whatever the reason Theseus ditched Ariadne, leaving her sobbing uncontrollably on a beach at Naxos.The island of Naxos was run by Bacchus, the god of wine. The wine-sipping god fell in love with Ariadne, big-time. Once again Ariadne immediately fell in love, but with Bacchus it was real love. Bacchus and Ariadne were eventually married. He gave her a very extravagant gift. He took off his own crown and threw it into the air so high that it sprouted stars, symbolizing his everlasting love for the princess.Ariadne has long since left us, but her crown shines on in the northwest sky tonight.Celestial huggingOn Tuesday and Wednesday, in the early morning twilight hours, the waning crescent moon will pass by the bright star Regulus and the planet Mercury.Look about a half hour before sunrise in the low eastern sky. What a way to start the day.Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and professional broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis/Paul and is author of the book, “Stars; a Month by Month Tour of the Constellations” published by Adventure Publications available at bookstores at http://www.adventurepublications.net.
