Just Enough Astronomy to Impress Your Date

Constellation name: Ursa Major; “the great bear” (Ursa major includes the big dipper)

Appearance: distinctive ladle or plough shape forms the big dipper; a large boxy shape and a couple spindly legs complete the constellation
Major stars included: The Big Dipper (the 7 stars of the “Big Dipper” are called an asterism, and form only part of Ursa Major); 3rd largest constellation
When/where found: Ursa Major is found in the northern Hemisphere; it is highest in the sky in the spring and lowest in the fall.  It can be seen at any time of the year
Lore: Callisto, the goddess of hunting, promised herself to Artemis.  One day Zeus disguised himself as Artemis and slept with her, thus making her pregnant.  She gave birth to a son, Arcas.  Zeus’s wife, Hera, naturally became angry.  She took her revenge by turning Callisto into a bear. Callisto saw her son Arcas one day, and ran toward him in joy.  All Arcas saw was a large bear running toward him, so he prepared to kill it.  Zeus evaded this problem by turning Arcas into a bear as well, and threw them both into the sky (as Ursa Major and Ursa Minor). 

Constellation name: The Little Dipper, Ursa Minor (The little bear)

Appearance: A smaller version of the big dipper asterism
Major stars included: Polaris, the north star, found at the end of the dipper “handle”
When/where found: found in the northern sky
Lore: The tail of the little bear is said to be so long because it was held by the tail and spun around the pole, thus lengthening the tail (the end of the tail being the north star, which doesn’t change position in the sky).  See previous story. 

Constellation name: Orion (The Hunter)

Appearance:  Man holding a bow: look for the telltale three stars in a line that form Orion’s belt
Major stars included: Rigel serves as Orion’s left foot; Betelgeuse and Bellatrix are fairly bright stars that form Orion’s shoulders
When/where found:  Orion is found in the southern skies during the winter months.
Lore:  There are many contrasting stories about Orion, but there is one main common thread: he was a great hunter.  He was very arrogant about his hunting abilities, and one day bragged that he could kill any animal in the world.  In response to this outrageous statement, a large scorpion eventually stung him and killed him.  A conflicting story says that Orion wished to marry Diana.  Her brother did not want her to marry Orion, and one day tricked her into shooting him with her bow and arrow.  Diana was devastated when she discovered what she had done, and placed Orion among the stars. 

Constellation name: Cassiopeia

Appearance: distinctive W-shape
Major stars included: Schedar (brightest star in Cassiopeia), Caph (second brightest star), Gamma, a blue giant that becomes brighter and dimmer as rings of gas are released
When/where found:  Cassiopeia is always visible from Canada, the northern United States, and northern Europe, and can be found in the far north.  It is in the Milky Way galaxy.
Lore: Queen Cassiopeia, the queen of Ethiopia, the wife of King Cepheus, and the mother of Andromeda, had a reputation for being immensely vain.  She boasted that she and her daughter were more beautiful than the Nereids (sea nymphs known for their beauty).  The Nereids became angry and asked the sea king Poseidon to punish Cassiopeia.  Poseidon sent a great flood to ravage the shores of the kingdom of Cepheus.  Oracles told Cepheus that the only way to rescue his kingdom was to sacrifice his daughter to a great sea monster, Cetus.  Cepheus chained his daughter Andromeda to the rocky shore as a sacrifice.  Andromeda was nearly killed by the sea monster, but was saved by Perseus, to whom she was later wed.  Poseidon put Cassiopeia and her husband Cepheus in the heavens, but punished Cassiopeia by making her spend half the year upside-down as she sits in her chair. 

Constellation name: Cepheus

Appearance: the constellation Cepheus resembles a child’s drawing of a house
Major stars included: Errai, which will become the north star in 2,000 years, Delta Cephei, which is a supergiant with brightness that varies every 5.4 days
When/where found: Northern hemisphere next to Andromeda and Perseus
Lore:  In mythology, Cepheus was the king of Ethiopa (and Cassiopeia was the queen).  After the incident involving chaining his daughter to the shore, Cepheus threw a grand party for his daughter and her hero Perseus.  Unfortunately, Andromeda had already been promised to Cepheus’s brother Phineus.  He and a select few friends crashed said party and demanded that Andromeda be handed over.  Cepheus refused, and a nasty battle ensued.  Ultimately Cepheus fled the scene, leaving Perseus to fend for himself.  Perseus the hero ultimately triumphed by killing the majority of his foes, and turning the remainder to stone by showing them the Gorgon Medusa’s head (who he had just killed before rescuing Andromeda from Cetus).