søndag 13. desember 2009

Night Sky Observation Day 6 and 7

I forgot to write my night sky observation for yesterday, so I'm going to write for 2 observations.
Yesterday (12/12/09) , for observation 6, I walked up the hill near my house that leads to near Tysendammen, so that I'd get to see more stars. It's further up the direction of my backyard, so I saw the whole constellation of Pegasus, the constellation Triangulum ( a triangle), Aries (the ram) and Pisces (the fish). Aries and Pisces are astrological signs, Aries for April and Pisces for March. I also found the Big Dipper and the North Star, which is very easy for me to find now. It was a little har dot observe, becuase there were so many clouds.
The 7th observation, which was on today (13/12/09), couldn't be done because it was raining, so I couldn't see any stars. Because there isn't enough time to do 10 observations in the time left, I'll just write about some of the most famous constellations.
Ursa Major is also known as the Big Bear, and is made up of a group of stars and another constellation called the Big Dipper (also famous). There are many myths behind this constellation; one of them is that Zeus, the head of the roman gods, had an affair with a goddess named Callisto. Zeus's head wife, Hera, turned her into a bear and put her up in the night sky, and then Zeus also transformed her son into a bear (the "Ursa Minor" constellation) so that they could be together.
Orion is a hunter in greek and roman myths. He was a very good hunter but was very boastful, and in one story says that no animal could ever escape him. Hera then sent a scorpion to him and he killed it, but before he did that he got poisoned, and died. Another story of his end is that his lover, Artemis, mistakenly shot him with her arrow and killed him. Orion is very easy to find in the night sky, thanks to his belt (a chain of three stars in a line).
Cassiopeia is a constellation which has a distinct shape, like an M or a W. She was the very beautiful wife of Cepheus, a king, and often bragged about her and her daughter's beauty. This upset some se nymphs, and they complained to the Sea god Poseidon who sent a monster to her country. To get rid of it, she and the king had to sacrifice their daughter Andromeda, but she is saved before that's done. Poseidon punishes Cassiopeia for her rude behavior by putting her up in the sky so that she's be upside down half the time (the constellation is W for half a year and then M the rest, to make it simple).
I hope this made up for the observation!
Marie

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