Corona Borealis will be in our evening sky for the rest of the summer and is definitely one of the smaller constellations we see through the course of the year in Butler.

Its name 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 celestial cereal bowl. Australians refer to it as a boomerang and 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 dance in the fields on the earth.

Early in the evening, look for the cereal bowl, boomerang or however you choose to see it in the high southeastern sky, just to the upper left of the much bigger and brighter constellation Bootes the Hunting Farmer.

Bootes actually looks more like a giant kite than a hunter in pursuit of the neighboring constellation Ursa Major the Big Bear. Its brightest star is the orange-tinged Arcturus at the tail of the kite, and it’s super easy to find.

Find the Big Dipper nearly upside down high in the northwest sky and extend the curve of the handle beyond the end 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 early this evening, and it is the second brightest star we see in our night skies through the course of the year.

The brightest star in Corona Borealis is Alphecca, a hot bluish-white star about 75 light-years away, or about 435 trillion miles. The light that we see from Alphecca tonight left that star in 1936 when FDR lived in the White House.

According to Greek mythology, Corona Borealis the Northern Crown, is the crown of Ariadne. So who is Ariadne? The story goes like this.

Ariadne was the daughter of the evil king of Crete who got his jollies every year by sacrificing 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 anyone you know?

Anyway, one year as the men and women were being led to the Minotaur, Ariadne made eye contact with Theseus, one of the men being led to slaughter, and poof! There was electricity. It was love at first sight!

Ariadne secretly armed Theseus with a sword. Theseus then turned the Minotaur into ground-up hamburger. It wasn’t a pretty sight for sure.

As Theseus ran from the slaughter, Ariadne was waiting for him. The couple quickly dashed off in a boat and stopped overnight on the island of Naxos.

Unfortunately, they did not live happily ever after. 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 aging silver haired god of wine. The wine-sipping god fell in love with Ariadne, big-time. Once again Ariadne immediately fell in love, but this time with the old god.

Even though he was old enough to be her grandfather, it was real love. Bacchus and Ariadne were eventually married, and he gave her a very extravagant gift. Without hesitation, he ripped the crown off his own head and heaved it into the heavens so high that it sprouted stars, symbolizing his everlasting love for the princess.

Ariadne has long since left our world, but her crown shines high in the southeast sky tonight.

Celestial Hugging

On Sunday night in the early evening western sky look for the new crescent moon, just to the left of the bright stars Castor and Pollux in the constellation Gemini the Twins.

Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and professional broadcast meteorologist in Minneapolis and is author of the book, “Pennsylvania Starwatch,” available at bookstores.