Published: Sunday, February 8, 2009
Starwatch: Love stories spun in the stars
Attention young lovers, old lovers, and all of you in between, Valentine's Day is next Saturday, and it's time to get ready to really show that special someone how important they are to you.
Some would argue (not necessarily me ... my wife may be reading this), that you really don't need a Hallmark card holiday to express your undying love. No disrespect toward that fine greeting card company, but many would say that true love doesn't need help from a date on the calendar.
Nevertheless, tradition and marketing dictate that the lover's holiday is on the way. Perhaps it's clear enough right now to see that wonderful full moon. If the moon paid attention to our Roman calendar it would have tried to be full next weekend for Valentine's. Unfortunately though our lunar companion doesn't work that way. It has its own agenda as it circles the Earth every 27.3 days. Not to worry though, there's lots of love in the stars themselves.
The most obvious symbol for love in the night sky is the bright planet Venus shining ever so brightly in the southwest in the early evening. Nothing else even comes close to Venus' brightness in the night sky other than the moon. Planet Venus was named after the Roman goddess often associated with love, but I'd hardly call it the planet of love. It's got a poisonous atmosphere with lovely things like sulfuric acid, and its surface temperature is so hot it could melt lead.
Many of the constellations have lots of love spun into their stories. One of my favorites is the story of the hero Perseus, a constellation perched high in the sky this time of year. Perseus is not one of the brightest stellar pictures in the heavens, but it's fairly easy to spot. In a way, it kind of looks like a stick man. The best way to find Perseus is to face directly south and crank your eyes up to the overhead zenith. Just to the right of the zenith, high in the western sky, you'll see Perseus. He has two arms, one of them clutching the severed head of Medusa, and that's where our love story begins.
Perseus, son of Zeus and Danae, was dispatched to the countryside to rip off the head of Medusa. It was a huge public health hazard because just a glance Medusa's way caused you to turn to stone. All around the land nice folks were being turned into unwilling statues. Perseus had to succeed … failure was not an option.
Armed with the magic shield of Athena, the goddess of wisdom, Perseus was able to locate Medusa without actually looking directly at the monster. Medusa was so ugly that instead of hair, snakes were growing out of her head. Using some fancy maneuvers, Perseus dove down and with all his might grabbed a handful of snakes and ripped the head off of the monster.
As he was flying back with the dead head of Medusa, Perseus saw a young woman chained to a rock on the shore, and a big ugly green sea monster was charging at her. It was very apparent to Perseus that she was going to be the monster's lunch. There was no way that Perseus could take on the monster by physical strength, so instead he used his head and the head of Medusa. As he drew closer Perseus waved the bloody head right in the monster's face and sure enough, the sea beast sunk rapidly into the deep blue waters.
Perseus had rescued Princess Andromeda and the magic happened. When their eyes met it was big time love. As soon as Andromeda and Perseus arrived home from their mission, wedding bells clanged.
They almost went on to live happily ever after, but one legend has it that Perseus got into a sword fight with drinking buddies. He must have had a few too many beers in him and wasn't all that sharp. What was sharp was the sword that was thrust into his chest. As he lay mortally wounded below the dart board, he called out Andromeda's name over and over until he breathed his last.
That's my version of this story and I'm sticking to it. By the way, there are constellations in the sky that honor Perseus and Andromeda. It's only right they are all together in the western sky this time of year.
Happy Valentine's Day and, guys, make sure you don't forget to buy her a card and maybe pop for some flowers.
Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and professional broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis and is author of the book, "Washington Starwatch," available at bookstores and at his Web site www.lynchandthestars.com.
The Everett Astronomical Society welcomes new members at members.tripod.com/everett_astronomy.
Some would argue (not necessarily me ... my wife may be reading this), that you really don't need a Hallmark card holiday to express your undying love. No disrespect toward that fine greeting card company, but many would say that true love doesn't need help from a date on the calendar.
Nevertheless, tradition and marketing dictate that the lover's holiday is on the way. Perhaps it's clear enough right now to see that wonderful full moon. If the moon paid attention to our Roman calendar it would have tried to be full next weekend for Valentine's. Unfortunately though our lunar companion doesn't work that way. It has its own agenda as it circles the Earth every 27.3 days. Not to worry though, there's lots of love in the stars themselves.
The most obvious symbol for love in the night sky is the bright planet Venus shining ever so brightly in the southwest in the early evening. Nothing else even comes close to Venus' brightness in the night sky other than the moon. Planet Venus was named after the Roman goddess often associated with love, but I'd hardly call it the planet of love. It's got a poisonous atmosphere with lovely things like sulfuric acid, and its surface temperature is so hot it could melt lead.
Many of the constellations have lots of love spun into their stories. One of my favorites is the story of the hero Perseus, a constellation perched high in the sky this time of year. Perseus is not one of the brightest stellar pictures in the heavens, but it's fairly easy to spot. In a way, it kind of looks like a stick man. The best way to find Perseus is to face directly south and crank your eyes up to the overhead zenith. Just to the right of the zenith, high in the western sky, you'll see Perseus. He has two arms, one of them clutching the severed head of Medusa, and that's where our love story begins.
Perseus, son of Zeus and Danae, was dispatched to the countryside to rip off the head of Medusa. It was a huge public health hazard because just a glance Medusa's way caused you to turn to stone. All around the land nice folks were being turned into unwilling statues. Perseus had to succeed … failure was not an option.
Armed with the magic shield of Athena, the goddess of wisdom, Perseus was able to locate Medusa without actually looking directly at the monster. Medusa was so ugly that instead of hair, snakes were growing out of her head. Using some fancy maneuvers, Perseus dove down and with all his might grabbed a handful of snakes and ripped the head off of the monster.
As he was flying back with the dead head of Medusa, Perseus saw a young woman chained to a rock on the shore, and a big ugly green sea monster was charging at her. It was very apparent to Perseus that she was going to be the monster's lunch. There was no way that Perseus could take on the monster by physical strength, so instead he used his head and the head of Medusa. As he drew closer Perseus waved the bloody head right in the monster's face and sure enough, the sea beast sunk rapidly into the deep blue waters.
Perseus had rescued Princess Andromeda and the magic happened. When their eyes met it was big time love. As soon as Andromeda and Perseus arrived home from their mission, wedding bells clanged.
They almost went on to live happily ever after, but one legend has it that Perseus got into a sword fight with drinking buddies. He must have had a few too many beers in him and wasn't all that sharp. What was sharp was the sword that was thrust into his chest. As he lay mortally wounded below the dart board, he called out Andromeda's name over and over until he breathed his last.
That's my version of this story and I'm sticking to it. By the way, there are constellations in the sky that honor Perseus and Andromeda. It's only right they are all together in the western sky this time of year.
Happy Valentine's Day and, guys, make sure you don't forget to buy her a card and maybe pop for some flowers.
Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and professional broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis and is author of the book, "Washington Starwatch," available at bookstores and at his Web site www.lynchandthestars.com.
The Everett Astronomical Society welcomes new members at members.tripod.com/everett_astronomy.
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