Astronomy 101 - A Stargazer's Guide to the Winter Sky | Part Two

Have you ever had the chance to visit a place with dark skies? If you have, and looked up at it in the night, you probably would have noticed stars dotting the nightscape. Of course, just looking up at such a sight is amazing in itself, but knowing the names of what you're gazing at adds more pleasure and gives you an opportunity to show off.

In the last part of this blog series, we explored ways to make your friends amazed. In this blog, we will explore ways to actually use the knowledge you collected in the last part and add to your enjoyment of the skies.

Let's get into it, shall we?

In the last blog (Astronomy 101 - Understanding the Essentials | Part One), I mentioned some curious terms that I hope you remember.

If you don't, I'll wait here while you go back and finish reading it.

[While we wait for those people who had to go back and find stuff, here's a quick recipe for celestial brown gooey anomalies of questionable origin (or brownies, as you unknowing humans may call it).

Sike. ]

I understand that not everyone has in their inventory astrolabes, sextants, theodolites and compasses (if you are hearing these names for the first time, don't worry! You probably will never need to hear them again, unless you're planning a complete takeover of an alien civilization). All these were used ages ago for marking out the altitude and azimuth, but there are some modern equivalents, such as the device you're reading this on (I meant a smartphone, for all those people who use laptops and desktops and mountaintops to read blogs). On the aforementioned device, you will probably find that you can install a compass app.

Now, let's see if we can wow people just by using our hands to measure altitude.

If you stick out your closed fist and plop it down at the bottom of your horizon (you know, where Earth and sky are having a staring contest), you'll discover that your fist is hogging about 10 degrees of sky real estate. Who knew your hand was such a sky hog? It gets worse - if you stick out your thumb and little finger, you'll be covering an area of 25 degrees in the sky! The measurements are quite accurate, and all you need is your hands!

Image 1 - Useful chart for measuring mentioned stuff (RiSa approved)

Who likes single-use items? These can be used for measuring distances in the sky also.

Well, that's for altitude. Azimuth, as I mentioned earlier can be measured using your trusty compass app in degrees.

I guess this pretty short blog has to come to an end.

Thought this blog over? THE HEAVENS DARETH NOT BUT YOU DID?!

Since we began this endless adventure trying to understand the vast expanse of infinity we call the sky, let's try to locate a constellation and see when we can gaze up at the infinity and actually spot said - wait, what was I talking about?

Oh, yeah.

The most popular constellation, i.e., the one everyone seems to know is Orion. Up in the sky, it is one of the most splendid sights, and hosts a spectacular array of celestial objects. It is situated smack not in the middle of the winter Milky Way which I will explain now.

"Ridhi, how on earth is it possible to have a winter Milky Way? Aren't we in the Milky Way? Can't we see the Milky Way everyday? (ooh, rhyme) Are you quite sure you aren't off your rocker?"

Many of you will, quite sensibly, be wondering this.

Our solar system isn't quite parallel to our galaxy. In fact, it is tilted at an angle of approximately 66 degrees relative to the Milky Way. This fact is the sole factor responsible for you doubting my sanity. Because of this tilt, we can see two parts of the galaxy - the inside, towards our galactic centre, and outwards, towards the fainter arms of the Galaxy. As author Douglas Adams put it, we live in the far out uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable west spiral of the Milky Way.

Don't be too sad. You've got to finish this blog.

Right. Orion.

Orion is a constellation that looks like a hunter. But what is a constellation anyway?

Image 2 - Orion chilling above the trees on the bottom left ©Adrian Mag (Unsplash)

Let's backtrack.

A constellation is one of many defined areas in the sky that is used for easy location of celestial objects. Think of them like countries, with stars within them as states. There are 88 in number that are officially recognised, which means you can't possibly do this:

You: Oh my god, I can see a shape in the sky! It looks like a shoe horn! Imma make it a constellation. Lemme call it the 'Shoeus Hornus'. Its perfect!

Other Person: Yeah! Everyone, look at the new constellation, 'Shoeus Hornus'!

Yes, I know. A century's worth of dreams gone down the drain. There will never be shoe horn in the sky.

While you can't make a constellation yourself, you can learn the names of some popular ones in the sky. Though it is extremely hard to memorise the true shapes of the constellations from your home, you can understand a few stories behind them.

Let's start with a lesser-known one - Perseus and related constellations.

(For all the PJO fans out there, yes this constellation is the ancient Greek hero that Percy gets his name from. The only one with a happy ending too...)

In ancient Ethiopia, there was once a queen.

Actually, there were several. This particular queen was called Cassiopeia. She had a husband called Cepheus and a daughter, Andromeda.

Cassiopeia was extremely proud of her looks, not to mention her daughter's. The Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite grew jealous of the mother-daughter duo's beauty, and so, made Cassiopeia boast that her daughter's beauty was greater than that of the Sea Nereids. (This is the kind of stuff gods do in the Greek myths.)

The Nereids were furious and so complained to the sea god, Poseidon. He sent a monster, Cetus the sea whale, to ravage the coasts of Ethiopia. The king, being a brave sort of fellow, chained his daughter to a rock to appease the monster. He proposed the whale leave Ethiopia alone and take his daughter instead.

Brave, innit.

Now, obviously, the movie simply CAN NOT end like this. That would be horrible! Who wants to see a movie like this?

Therefore:

Enter Perseus and Pegasus, the stellar hero and his winged steed.

Perseus was merely heading home after a completing a quest and ending the lives of gorgon sisters - namely Medusa, Stheno (no, don't ask me how to pronounce that, I have no clue) and Euryale (this is a long story).

Perseus saw Andromeda and immediately wondered why the heck she was chained to a random rock on the beach.

Like seriously. Imagine flying around on your winged horse, after a tiring day of slaying Medusa and her sisters (yes the "If you look at my face, I'll turn you into a garden ornament" Medusa. Another long story.), minding your own business and seeing this girl chained to a rock.

Perseus did what any self respecting Greek with main-character energy, a huge shiny sword, and a Medusa-head-in-a-sack would do.

He whipped out his head (no, Medusa's head) and shoved into the monster's face right as the poor thing was trying to kill Andromeda (yeah, maybe not so poor after all).

Gorgon Uno reverse card unlocked.

Anyway, Perseus turned the monster into a rock and rescued Andromeda, probably breathing a sigh of relief once he knew it definitely WASN'T some sort of weird photoshoot. They both flew off on Pegasus and everybody was happy.

In fact, the gods were so happy they turned the whole lot of them into constellations.

So there you have it.

Constellation Counter:

1. Orion

2. Cassiopeia

3. Cepheus

4. Andromeda

5. Cetus

6. Perseus

7. Pegasus

Hopefully, you've learned some useful things in this blog. Stay tuned for more. Also raise your hands if you want more myths about both popular and unpopular constellations.

Please write your name if you do plan on commenting!

This is Ridhi, off to make those celestial brown gooey anomalies whose recipe I refuse to give away.