I hope you have not forgotten that it’s Valentine’s Day. Take that someone you love for a stroll under the celestial sea. It can be very romantic, provided you’re bundled up.
I want to share with you the best love story in the night sky. It’s the sappy saga of King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia and their never-ending celestial romance.
Cassiopeia is one of the brightest constellations in the night sky, and this time of year it’s easy to spot. Just look for the upside down W in the northwestern sky. Cassiopeia is as bright as the the Big Dipper.
Cepheus the King is a little more challenging to find. Look below Cassiopeia for five stars that outline a house with a steep roof lying on its side, with its roof pointing to the right. The star at the apex of the roof is fairly close to Polaris the North Star.
According to Greek legend, Cassiopeia and her husband, King Cepheus, ruled ancient Ethiopia. King Cepheus was a mellow dude who liked a good time.
Queen Cassiopeia was anything but mellow. She was totally self-absorbed, boasting of her beauty to all. People had to bow in adoration or wind up with their heads chopped off.
One day when Cassiopeia bragged to Poseidon, the god of sea, that she was more beautiful than Poseidon’s wife and all 10 of his daughters put together. Poseidon dredged up a giant sea monster and sent it on a mission to destroy the entire kingdom of Ethiopia.
Cassiopeia offered to sacrifice her daughter, Princess Andromeda, to the sea monster in order to spare the kingdom. The Greek hero Perseus rescued Andromeda and killed the giant sea monster, but that’s a story for another day.
Despite this close call, Cassiopeia was as vain as ever and one day proclaimed she was even more beautiful than Hera, the queen of the gods.
Hera was enraged and charged down from Mount Olympus. The skirmish quickly escalated into violence and, in an instant, Hera tied Cassiopeia to her throne and flung her so high into the sky that she got stuck in the stars, hanging upside down by the ropes. Hera condemned her to stay that way for all eternity.
Cepheus lost it when he heard what happened to his beloved queen and begged Zeus, the king of the gods, to let him share his wife’s celestial exile.
To this night Cepheus and Cassiopeia still cling to each other in the stars, more in love than ever.
In a diagram I had drawn for my astronomy classes Cassiopeia is tied up in her throne, but Cepheus is depicted as Elvis Presley, the King of Rock ’n’ Roll. Why? I told my daughter, Angela, who does all of my art, to make the constellation that looks like a house into a king. I should have had her do it over, but I liked the idea of having Elvis in the stars. We may have invented a new constellation here.
Before evening twilight ends check out Jupiter and Venus, too, in a close celestial hug in the low in the west-southwest sky. The two bright planets are less than 1 degree apart. Monday night the thin crescent moon will also be in the southwest during evening twilight, but a little higher in the sky.
Mike Lynch is an 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. Go to www.everettastro.org/.
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