Without a doubt, one of the strangest constellations in the sky is Auriga, the retired chariot driver schlepping goats on his shoulder. I would have liked to have been at the party when they dreamed up that constellation.
Auriga is part of my favorite group of constellations around Orion. Early in the evening Auriga is shining to the upper right of Orion’s head in the western sky. It resembles a giant pentagon with the bright star Capella at one of the corners.
How you make a giant lopsided pentagon into a chariot driver hauling a family of goats takes one heck of an imagination, and perhaps a few libations.
Most constellations don’t look like what they are supposed to be, and that’s because they were just visual tools to pass on stories and legends from generation to generation. Back then, there weren’t many books, and the TV and DVD players were still a few years off, so pictures made by the stars did the job.
People would see a formation or group of stars that approximately matched the character of a particular story and then named that constellation after that character. Different civilizations would have different characters and constellations. Auriga is Latin, literally a chariot driver, but the constellation was associated with charioteers before the Romans.
According to one of the Greek legends, there once was a mighty king named Oenomaus who had a beautiful daughter, Hippodameia She had many suitors, but Oenomaus didn’t wish for his daughter to be married to any of them. In fact, he wanted them all killed. Nice guy.
The king was an excellent chariot racer and arranged chariot races with all the suitors. The first suitor to beat the king in a race would win the hand of his daughter, but if he lost he would be killed. Since Oenomaus had the fastest horses in the land and the best chariot mechanics, he easily trounced challengers and had them meet their death.
Pelops, son of Tantalus and a grandson of Zeus, decided to take a shot at it for the hand of Hippodameia. Pelops made a deal with Oenomaus’ chariot driver, Myrtilus, to betray the king by replacing the lynchpins of the king’s chariot with copies made of wax. Pelops promised half of the kingdom to Myrtilus if the king lost the race and was killed. Myrtilus agreed and the fix was on.
When the race began, Oenomaus was able to keep up with Pelops. The king ordered Myrtilus to drive the horses faster, but instead of heeding the command, Myrtilus leapt from the chariot just before the wax lynchpins gave way and the chariot fell apart. Oenomaus was dragged to his death.
Pelops proceeded to marry Hippodameia and took over the kingdom, but Myrtilus wanted his half of the kingdom. Pelops, crook that he was, threw his conspirator from a cliff into the sea, killing him.
Myrtilus, as it happens, was a son of Hermes, messenger of the gods, who lifted the slain charioteer to the stars, where he is now known as Auriga.
No one knows exactly how the betraying chariot driver got the mama goat and her baby goats on his shoulder, but the leading theory is that they were added by shepherds as they watched their flocks at night and gazed upon the stars.
Again, look for Auriga in the western sky to the upper right of the constellation Orion. The bright star Capella is where the mama goat is on the charioteer’s shoulder. See if you can spot the dim triangle of three stars that make up the baby goats a little below Capella.
While you’re out looking at Auriga, check out the conjunction between the waxing gibbous moon and Saturn on Monday and Tuesday night. Monday, the moon will be just to the upper right of Saturn, and on Tuesday night, the moon will be just to the lower left of Saturn.
Incidentally, that star just to the left of Saturn is Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation Leo, but Regulus isn’t as nearly as bright as Saturn.
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 and puts on public star parties. The Web site is members.tripod.com/everett_astronomy.
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