Without a doubt, one of the strangest constellations in the sky is Auriga, the retired chariot driver schlepping goats on his shoulder.

I would have liked to have been at the party when they dreamed up that constellation.

Auriga is part of my favorite group of constellations that I call "Orion and his Gang."

Early in the evening, Auriga is shining to the upper right of Orion's head in the western sky. It resembles a giant pentagon with the bright star Capella at one of the corners.

How you make a giant lopsided pentagon into a chariot driver hauling a family of goats takes one heck of an imagination — and perhaps a few libations.

Most constellations don't look like what they are supposed to be, and that's because they were just visual tools to pass on stories and legends from generation to generation.

Way back then, there weren't many books, and the TV and DVD players were still a few years off, so pictures made by the stars did the job. People would see a formation or group of stars that about matched the character of a particular story and then named that constellation after that character. Different civilizations would have different characters and constellations. The Greeks were responsible for naming Auriga, but in this case, I think they went to extremes!

According to one of the Greek legends, there once was a mighty king named Oenomaus who was a ruler of a mighty kingdom.

He had a beautiful daughter called Hippodameia, who had many suitors wishing to marry her. King Oenomaus didn't wish for his daughter to be married to any of them. In fact, he wanted them all killed. Nice guy!

The king was an excellent chariot racer and arranged chariot races with all the suitors. The deal was this: The first suitor to beat the king in a race would win the hand of his daughter, but if he lost, he would be killed. Since Oenomaus had the fastest horses in the land and the best chariot mechanics, he easily trounced challengers and had them meet their death.

Pelops, son of Hermes, the messenger of the gods, watched this carnage. When all of the other suitors were pushing up daisies, he decided to take a shot at it for the hand of Hippodameia.

Being the son of a big shot Greek god, he got a little divine help from his old man's fellow gods. They crafted up a chariot that would sprout golden wings to insure victory.

Pelops didn't stop there though. He made a deal with Oenomaus's chariot driver, Myrtilus, to betray the king. Myrtilus was to replace the linchpins of the king's chariot with copies made of wax. Pelops promised half of the kingdom to Myrtilus if the king lost the race and was killed. Myrtilus agreed, and the fix was on.

When the race began, Oenomaus was able to keep up with Pelops, but as soon as the golden wings popped out of the crooked suitor's chariot, the king was left in a cloud of dust. Oenomaus demanded that Myrtilus make his horses go faster, but instead of heeding his king's command Myrtilus leaped from the chariot just before the wax linchpins gave way and the chariot fell apart. Oenomaus was dragged to his death cursing the name of Myrtilus.

Pelops proceeded to marry Hippodameia and lived happily ever after with the queen of his stolen kingdom. Myrtilus was happy for the young couple but wanted his half of the kingdom. After all, a deal was a deal!

He met with Pelops and demanded his share. Pelops, crook that he was, told him that his lawyers were drawing up the papers and that they would be ready in a few days. Myrtilus was happy with that and turned away to walk off.

Just as he did, Pelops, with his inherited godly powers, kicked Myrtilus so hard that he flew into the sky and magically became the constellation we know as Auriga.

No one knows exactly how the betraying chariot driver got the mama goat and her baby goats on his shoulder, but the leading theory is that they were added by shepherds as they watched their flocks at night and gazed upon the stars.

Again, look for Auriga in the western sky to the upper right of the constellation Orion. The bright star Capella is where the mama goat is on Myrtilus's shoulder. See if you can spot the dim triangle of three stars that make up the baby goats a little below Capella.

While you're out looking at the flying retired chariot driver hauling a goat family, check out the conjunction between the waxing gibbous moon and Saturn this coming Monday and Tuesday night.

On Monday, the moon will be just to the upper right of Saturn, and on Tuesday night, the moon will be just to the lower left of Saturn. Incidentally, that star just to the left of Saturn is Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation Leo the Lion, but Regulus isn't nearly as bright as Saturn.

Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and professional broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis and is author of the book, "Pennsylvania Starwatch," available at bookstores and at his Web site www.lynchandthestars.com