It's absolutely wonderful to have spring coming on. I have to say, though, that one of the things I'll miss about winter is gazing skyward in the evening and seeing the majestic constellation Orion the Hunter and his gang of surrounding constellations like Taurus the Bull, Gemini the Twins, and several others.

You can still see Orion and at least some of his gang hanging in there in the southwestern sky after evening twilight, but they are not long for our celestial dome. As the Earth continues its annual journey around the sun it won't be long before Orion and company will already be below the western horizon at the onset of evening, not to be seen again in the evening until sometime next autumn.

Before we say goodbye to Orion and his posse for the summer, see if you can spot the minor constellation Lepus (pronounced Lee-puss) the Rabbit. What a name for that constellation. Someone had a sense of humor! Look for a group of fainter stars directly below Orion. In the countryside, of course, you'll see it more easily without the urban lighting

In mythology, Lepus the Rabbit is a fun little story. It reminds me of the old Bugs Bunny-Elmer Fudd cartoons. Just like Elmer, Orion was a pretty good hunter. Orion could hunt down any beast on his island, no matter how large or ferocious. But, just like Mr. Fudd, there was one beast that constantly eluded the mighty hermit hunter and actually took great pleasure in harassing him — Lepus the Rabbit.

Not only was Lepus a normal pesky rabbit that ate everything out of Orion's garden, he would constantly taunt and tease Orion during his hunting adventures, jumping on his head or biting the mighty hunter's behind just as he was about to launch a spear at a wild boar.

Lepus also made a point of using Orion's sleeping bag as his toilet. Orion wanted desperately to do in this rabbit in the worst way, but just like Bugs, Lepus was just too clever and fast.

Orion never got to realize his dream of eliminating Lepus because Orion himself was done in by Zeus, the king of the gods of Mount Olympus. Zeus found out that Orion was fooling around with his daughter, Artemis, the goddess of the moon. It turns out that he was secretly meeting Artemis during his nightly hunting adventures and let's just say that they were having quite a time!

Zeus did not approve of his daughter fooling around with this mortal roughneck hunter and put out a hit out on Orion. He sent a giant scorpion who attacked Orion during his daytime slumber. There was a tumultuous battle between the combatants but, alas, the giant scorpion fatally bit the Elmer Fudd of the night sky.

When Artemis discovered her dead boyfriend, she lifted his body into the heavens and magically transfigured it into the constellation we see in the winter heavens. She wanted to be able to see him every night as she guided the moon across the sky. She also placed his hunting dogs Canis Major and Canis Minor up there with him, along with, yes, that pesky rabbit Lepus.

Conjuction lines up

Don't miss the wonderful conjunction Thursday evening as the crescent moon, Venus, and the bright Pleiades star cluster will be in a close conjunction. Just look in the western sky at the end of evening twilight.

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 his Web site www.lynchandthestars.com