I just love the little constellation Delphinus the Dolphin, and I hope to make fall in love with it too. It’s in the upper tier of the smallest of constellations seen in the night sky. When most people think of constellations, they think of dot-to-dot pictures made by stars. The vast majority of constellations, however, don’t measure up to this. The little celestial dolphin is a pleasant exception.
Delphinus is a simple little constellation and easy to find, even in areas of moderate light pollution. It’s certainly not the brightest but it’s very distinct and in a tight little group. In the early evening, as soon as it’s dark, look for Delphinus in the southeast sky. All there is to Delphinus are four stars that make a little sideways diamond that outlines the dolphin’s body, and another star to the lower right of the body that marks its tail. That’s all there is to it.
If you’re still having problems locating it a great tool for zeroing in on Delphinus is the use of the Summer Triangle, made up of three bright stars that are the brightest in their respective constellations. They’re the three brightest stars you can see in the high southeast sky. The star at the bottom of the summer triangle is Altair, the brightest shiner in the constellation Aquila the Eagle. Just to the left or east of Altair and there will be Delphinus, swimming in the heavenly sea.
As it is with most constellations, different cultures have and stories about what they see. Even the same culture can have multiple stories. That makes sense since these stories are spread by word of mouth. Most stories I’m familiar with have Delphinus as a dolphin or porpoise. One of the earliest story of Delphinus as a dolphin comes from a Southeast Asia Hindu tale. It’s thought by some that the Greeks “borrowed” that interpretation from the Hindus.
I think one of the best Greek stories involves Arion, who was a rock star of his time. He was out on concert tour winning the hearts of all who heard him and making a lot of money. He had just finished a concert in Sicily and hired a boat and crew to take him back to Corinth on the Greek mainland. His crew turned out he hired a bunch of pirates who were out for plunder. They would wait until the boat was well out to sea before they revealed their true identity. Their evil plan was to have they Arion walk the plank to meet his death. Then the pirate plan was to sail on to Corinth and claim that Arion accidentally fell overboard. Then they could legally could claim the musician’s loot.
Everything proceeded as planned, at least to start out with. Arion was on the plank pleading for his life. No way were those pirates going to let Arion live. the rock star figured this was the end. Before his appointment with death he did persuade the crooked captain to let him play his harp and sing one more time. Arion gave it all het got and gave one of his greatest performances. He was so good that it’s said that birds gathered from miles around to get a listen. Fish jumped out of the water with glee and dolphins surrounded the boat leaping for joy.
Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and professional broadcast meteorologist.
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