We’re now in prime summer stargazing season. It’s not the brightest of constellations, but Hercules the Hero is one of my favorites.
One reason I like it so much is that it has such a great story. Hercules is supposed to outline the figure of a mighty hero in Greek mythology but looks more like a giant fancy handwritten capital “H” (for Hercules) hanging nearly overhead when darkness begins after evening twilight.
It’s so easy to see. Just look straight over your head toward the overhead zenith. It’s slightly east of the zenith as you crane your neck. Without a doubt this is a constellation you want to take in lying on your back on a reclining lawn chair.
Look for four moderately bright stars that form a trapezoid. You should be able to see it unless there’s really a lot of light pollution where you are. That trapezoid is in the center of the Hercules right about where you’d join to two sides of the “H.”
On the west side of the trapezoid look for the great Hercules cluster, astronomically known as M 13. If you’re stargazing way out in the dark skies in the boonies, you may see a faint smudge with your naked eye, but with a good pair of binoculars or even better, a telescope, you’ll see a really gorgeous spherical cluster of stars, known as a globular cluster.
Astronomers figure it’s about 25,000 light-years away, which equals about 145,000 trillion miles. There are hundreds of thousands of stars crammed in an area a little over 800 trillion miles wide. Through even a moderate telescope you can see some individual stars at the edge.
In Greek mythology, Hercules was all muscle, but he also had a big heart. When he was teenager he fell in love with the beautiful but conniving Princess Megara. They were married soon after they met, but the honeymoon didn’t last very long. She nagged him until he blew his stack and, with his mighty hand, he choked Princess Megara and all her attendants.
Megara’s father, the god Eurystheus, assigned Hercules to 12 great labors that he had to perform to atone for his crime. The first of his tasks was to slay Leo the lion, the king of all beasts. Hercules killed the lion and went on to complete his other labors.
Zeus, the king of the gods, rewarded Hercules at the time of his death by placing his body in the heaven as the constellation we see through the summer and early fall. Because of his murder “conviction,” they hung his body upside down in the heavens.
Leo also earned a place among the stars and most of this week is keeping company with a new crescent moon and three planets. The main part of the fairly bright constellation Leo is a backward question mark that outlines the chest and head of the tough-hided beast.
This time of year the backward question mark starts out the evening very low in the western sky, leaning so far to the right it’s almost lying down as it heads for the western horizon. Just to the lower left of the question mark you’ll easily see the Venus, Mars and Saturn nicely lined up.
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. Check his website, www.lynchandthestars.com.
The Everett Astronomical Society: www.everettastro.org.
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