December 2009 Planetarium Events

The USM Southworth Planetarium concludes the International Year of Astronomy with a variety of different events: a telescope workshop, a night of ethereal music, another science fiction Saturday, an evening of celestial poetry, vacation week matinees, and at the very end, “New Year’s Planetarium,” a celebration of the year that was and the year that is to be. We’ll also have our weekend shows, this month featuring our annual holiday program “Season of Light.”

Admission Prices:
Matinee shows: $5.00 – adults; $4.00 – children, students and seniors
Evening astronomy shows: $6.00 – adults; $5.00- children, students and seniors
(USM students, faculty, staff and planetarium members admitted free to the astronomy programs.)
Telescope Workshop: $8.00 per person
Sci-Fi Saturday: by donation
Carolyn Currie Concert: $10 – adults ($12 at the door); $8.00 – children ($10 at the door)
“Solstice Dawning” Celestial Poetry Evening: by donation
“New Year’s Planetarium”: “Night Pass” for one donation.

For more information, call 207-780-4249, consult our web-site www.usm.maine.edu/planet
or e-mail egleason@usm.maine.edu

Wednesday, December 2, 2009
TELESCOPE WORKSHOP 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Do you have a telescope and want to know how to assemble it and/or use it? Do you want to buy a telescope for someone during the holidays and don’t know how to proceed? We invite you to attend our telescope workshop to learn the basics of telescopes! You’re welcome to bring your telescopes! $8.00 per person. Call 207-780-4249 for tickets or more information.

Friday, December 4, 2009
7:00 p.m. SEASON OF LIGHT: a family show about the history and astronomy of the holiday season Discover the origins of Santa Claus, the solstice festivals, the Hanukkah Menorah, and much more!
8:30 p.m. EXTREME PLANETS: a new show about the search for and discovery of planets around other star systems. How do astronomers find them? Might any of them be like Earth?

Saturday, December 5, 2009
12:00 p.m. SCI-FI Saturday: “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”
Join us for one of the most famous alien movies ever made. Before ET…before War of the Worlds…Steven Spielberg directed a highly successful film about the first interaction of humans and beings from another world. We invite you to watch this amazing movie on our star dome theatre.
Admission by donation.

3:00 p.m. SEASON OF LIGHT: a family show about the history and astronomy of the holiday season Discover the origins of Santa Claus, the solstice festivals, the Hanukkah Menorah, and much more!

Sunday, December 6, 2009
3:00 p.m. SEASON OF LIGHT: a family show about the history and astronomy of the holiday season Discover the origins of Santa Claus, the solstice festivals, the Hanukkah Menorah, and much more!

Wednesday, December 9, 2009
7:00 p.m. Greater Portland Astronomical Society Meeting.

Friday, December 11,2009
7:00 p.m. SEASON OF LIGHT: a family show about the history and astronomy of the holiday season Discover the origins of Santa Claus, the solstice festivals, the Hanukkah Menorah, and much more!

8:30 p.m. BLACK HOLES: they are one of the most fascinating and powerful objects in the Universe. Explore the exciting realm of the black hole. How do they form? How do we find them? How do they distort space-time?

Saturday, December 12, 2009
3:00 p.m. SEASON OF LIGHT: a family show about the history and astronomy of the holiday season Discover the origins of Santa Claus, the solstice festivals, the Hanukkah Menorah, and much more!

7:00 p.m. “ETHEREAL MUSIC UNDER THE STARS: An Evening with Carolyn Currie.”
Experience the enchantment of Carolyn Currie’s music down in our star dome theatre. Carolyn Currie performs live in front of our dome audience. Recline under our stars while listening to her blend of new age-Celtic music. We are pleased to announce that acclaimed folk singer Celeste Krenz will also perform a couple of songs. Admission: $10.00 – adults ($12 at the door); $8.00 – children ($10 at the door.) Call 207-780-4249 for tickets

Sunday, December 13, 2009
3:00 p.m. SEASON OF LIGHT: a family show about the history and astronomy of the holiday season Discover the origins of Santa Claus, the solstice festivals, the Hanukkah Menorah, and much more!

Friday, December 18, 2009
7:00 p.m. “SOLSTICE DAWNING” CELESTIAL POETRY EVENING
Writers read poetical works -theirs and others- in celebration of nature, the night sky, Universe, mythology, love and the change of seasons. We have three poetry evenings each year. “Solstice Dawning” is the planetarium event that welcomes the onset of winter. Join us for a night of stars and poetry. Admission by donation.

Saturday, December 19, 2009
3:00 p.m. SEASON OF LIGHT: a family show about the history and astronomy of the holiday season Discover the origins of Santa Claus, the solstice festivals, the Hanukkah Menorah, and much more!

Sunday, December 20, 2009
3:00 p.m. SEASON OF LIGHT: a family show about the history and astronomy of the holiday season Discover the origins of Santa Claus, the solstice festivals, the Hanukkah Menorah, and much more!

Planetarium is closed on Christmas: Friday, December 25

Saturday, December 26, 2009
3:00 p.m. SEASON OF LIGHT: a family show about the history and astronomy of the holiday season Discover the origins of Santa Claus, the solstice festivals, the Hanukkah Menorah, and much more!

Sunday, December 27, 2009
FREE Sunday: Free and open to the public! One show per person, please
1:00 p.m. SEASON OF LIGHT: a family show about the history and astronomy of the holiday season Discover the origins of Santa Claus, the solstice festivals, the Hanukkah Menorah, and much more!

3:00 p.m. FIRES IN THE SKY: a show about the birth and death of stars. Follow the cycles of stellar evolution

Monday, December 28, 2009
11:00 a.m. RUSTY ROCKET’S LAST BLAST! Join Rusty Rocket and his band of rocket rookies as they explore the planets. This show combines humor, animation and updated planetary images to present you and your family with a fun and informative solar system tour.

1:00 p.m. SEASON OF LIGHT: a family show about the history and astronomy of the holiday season Discover the origins of Santa Claus, the solstice festivals, the Hanukkah Menorah, and much more!

Tuesday, December 29, 2009
11:00 a.m. EIGHT PLANETS AND COUNTING: An updated solar system show about the eight planets, hundreds of moons, thousands of asteroids and, of course, the Sun. Explore the solar system all over again!

1:00 p.m. EXTREME PLANETS: a new show about the search for and discovery of planets around other star systems. How do astronomers find them? Might any of them be like Earth?

Wednesday, December 30, 2009
11:00 a.m. RUSTY ROCKET’S LAST BLAST! Join Rusty Rocket and his band of rocket rookies as they explore the planets. This show combines humor, animation and updated planetary images to present you and your family with a fun and informative solar system tour.

1:00 p.m. SEASON OF LIGHT: a family show about the history and astronomy of the holiday season Discover the origins of Santa Claus, the solstice festivals, the Hanukkah Menorah, and much more!

Thursday, December 31, 2009
11:00 a.m. EIGHT PLANETS AND COUNTING: An updated solar system show about the eight planets, hundreds of moons, thousands of asteroids and, of course, the Sun. Explore the solar system all over again!

1:00 p.m. EXTREME PLANETS: a new show about the search for and discovery of planets around other star systems. How do astronomers find them? Might any of them be like Earth?

NEW YEAR’S PLANETARIUM:
We end the International Year of Astronomy with an evening of some of this year’s new shows and a couple of our shows from last year!
We also introduce a brand new show, “Cosmic Collisions!”
For the price of one donation, you may purchase a “night pass” to attend any of these programs.
We remember 2009 and welcome 2010 with an event we started at the end of last year: “NEW YEAR’S PLANETARIUM!”

Show schedule
7:00 p.m. BLACK HOLES!
They are one of the most fascinating and powerful objects in the Universe. Explore the exciting realm of the black hole. How do they form? How do we find them? How do they distort space-time?

8:00 p.m. EXTREME PLANETS
A new show about the search for and discovery of planets around other star systems. How do astronomers find them? Might any of them be like Earth?

9:00 p.m. EIGHT PLANETS AND COUNTING
An updated solar system show about the eight planets, hundreds of moons, thousands of asteroids and, of course, the Sun. Explore the solar system all over again!

10:00 p.m. TWO PIECES OF GLASS
A pleasant show about the science and history of telescopes

10:30 p.m. RING WORLD
Follow the Cassini-Huygens mission to the Saturn system. Get a close up view of the magnificent planet Saturn and its retinue of exotic moons.

11:15 p.m. NEW SHOW: COSMIC COLLISIONS
From asteroid impacts to merging galaxies, our dynamic universe is a veritable gallery of collisions! Explore our kinetic and often violent
Universe in this new program narrated by Robert Redford.

[DA November 6, 2009] Quiz: Weather and Space Weather

From the USM Southworth Planetarium
“Every second in energy abounds”

THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
November 6, 2009
Quiz: Weather and Space Weather

Those of us fortunate enough to reside in the nation’s right earlobe experienced snow on Thursday morning. Some citizens rejoiced at this frozen precipitation, for they revel in the change of seasons and are anxiously awaiting another winter of brisk air and crystalline snows. With the exception of these 3 – 4 people, the rest of us are in a state of lock-jawed distress.

In honour of this transition, we offer a quiz about weather and spaceweather, the latter of which refers to phenomena that originates in outer space, but occurs in or around the atmosphere.

If you’re a weather junkie, this quiz is for you!

1. About how many mathematical calculations are performed to complete one day’s worth of weather forecasting?
a. only 1
b. 10 million
c. 5 billion
d. 10 billion
e. none of the above

2. Meteor showers are one of the most famous examples of space weather. Why do we have meteor showers?
a. Because meteor baths are selfish experiences and bad for the climate
b. Because when Earth encounters an asteroid, tidal forces cause it to flake off pieces of itself which fall as meteors
c. Because Earth travels through a cloud of galactic dust
d. Because Earth travels through a path of cometary debris and these comet pieces descend through our atmosphere and appear as meteors

3. Two temperature scales are typically used for weather: Celsius and Fahrenheit. The values of each for any given temperature will be different (e.g., water freezes at 0 degrees Celsius, but 32 degrees Fahrenheit) with one exception. What temperature reading in Fahrenheit is the same as the corresponding temperature reading in Celsius? (i.e at which temperature do the scales converge?)
a. 100 degrees
b. -40 degrees
c. 211 degrees
d. -3,489 degrees

4. What is generally the best time of year to look for the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis?)
a. No time of the year is more favorable for aurora viewing than any other.
b. Around the time of the equinoxes
c. Around the time of the winter solstice
d. April – July

5. How hot is a lightning bolt compared to the Sun’s “surface?” (photosphere)
a. a lightning bolt is 1% as hot
b. a lightning bolt is generally 7% as hot
c. most lightning bolts are 11 – 19% as hot
d. none of the above

6. Presently, we are experiencing the peak of a relatively weak meteor shower called
the “Taurid meteor shower.” Why does it have that name?
a. because the meteors appear to emanate from the constellation Taurus
b. because Taurus is on the meridian at midnight when the shower starts
c. because a “Taurid” is the Greek name for the type of meteors that appear in the autumn
d. because the Sun is currently in Taurus and meteor showers are named for the constellation which the Sun occupies during the shower’s peak.

7. You’ve heard the phrase “raining cats and dogs.” We expect that cats and dogs have never actually fallen with the rain. However, during freak rain storms, groups of certain animals have fallen with the rain. Which of the following types of creatures have rained down on Earth? (Could be more than one.)
a. frogs
b. drunk Packers fans
c. grasshoppers
d. fish
e. pterodactyls
f. elephants

1. d. 10 billion
Answer a would be the correct one if one were referring only to Hawaii.

2. d. Because Earth travels through a path of cometary debris and these comet pieces descend through our atmosphere and appear as meteors

3. b. -40 degrees
-40 degrees Celsius is equal to -40 degrees Fahrenheit.

4. b. Around the time of the equinoxes
Nobody is quite sure why.

5. d. none of the above
Lightning bolts are four times hotter than the sun’s surface!

6. a. because the meteors appear to emanate from the constellation Taurus
a meteor shower is named for the constellation from which the meteors appear to emanate. This is just an illusion, however. Meteors travel on paths parallel to Earth’s surface.

7. a. frogs
c. grasshoppers
d. fish

Waterspouts have generally been responsible for these torrents of critters falling onto Earth. The phrase raining “cats and dogs” is believed to derive from the Latin phrase cata doxes, meaning “contrary to experience,” and thus raining cata doxes signified an unusually heavy rain.

7 Correct: Weather Lord!

4 – 6 Correct Weather vassal!

1-3 Correct: Weather peasant!

0 Correct Do you like to serf?

[DA November 5, 2009] The Down and Out of Dark Energy

From the USM Southworth Planetarium
“…and that’s just the half of it.”

THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
November 5, 2009
The Down and Out of Dark Energy

What happened in the beginning….

The prevalent theory is that the Universe took form after the Big Bang, an inflationary event in which matter, energy and spacetime were created. The Big Bang Theory developed after early 20th century astronomers observed distant galaxies moving away from us in all directions. The assumption was that a singular event caused this expansion: an event that we now call the Big Bang, a term coined by late British astronomer Fred Hoyle, a steady-state theorist who employed this name disparagingly. Today, the steady-state theory, which purported that the Universe did not have a definite beginning, has been discarded in favour of the Big Bang.

When cosmologists first pieced together their models of the early Universe, they assumed that the expansion would be the most rapid in the early stages. They reasoned that the gravitational influence of all the matter within the Universe would exert a retarding effect on the expansion, causing a deceleration or ultimately a reversal, by which the Universe would implode back in on itself, perhaps precipitating another Big Bang event. For years, cosmologists strove to calculate the amount of stuff present in the cosmos, for they wanted to know if enough matter was present in the universe to either stop the expansion or to cause a reversal.

If you were a cosmologist during these years, you would have had your choice of three possible “fates” of the Universe.

• Open – the universe expands forever because there is not enough matter in it to halt the expansion;
• Static – the universe has just enough matter to stop, but not reverse the expansion; or
• Closed – the universe has enough matter to reverse the expansion and create an eventual re-birth of the Universe.

Now, the models are different.

During the late 20th century, astronomers have realized that the Universe is actually accelerating! This unexpected finding has compelled the cosmological community to re-evaluate their models and the assumptions upon which they were based. They now realize that some hitherto unrecognized force must be responsible for the acceleration of Universal expansion. The problem is that they do not know any of its characteristics or origins. All they know is that it is affecting the parts of the Universe that we can observe. As it is so mysterious, this force is known simply as “Dark Energy.”

Calculations indicate that more than 90% of the Universe might consist of this energy and that the stars, galaxies and other self-luminous bodies might comprise a small fraction of the entire cosmos. That which we have regarded as the Universe entire might be a smattering of anomalous material in a vastly larger network of intricate matter-energy that does not offer any radiant information about itself in the way that stars do.

Cosmologists might be feeling down and out because they are presently confronted with the disquieting notion that the outer reality might not be quite as easy to understand as previously believed. That much more time might be required before humanity truly grasps the complexity of our own Universe.

We have no idea what they will discover in a decade or century from now.

The mystery continues…

Telescope Workshop December 2, 2009

THE USM SOUTHWORTH PLANETARIUM
207-780-4249 www.usm.maine.edu/planet

TELESCOPE WORKSHOP
December 2, 2009
6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
at the Southworth Planetarium

“Telescope,” according to Ambrose Bierce in his work “The Devil’s Dictionary,” is defined as “A device having a relation to the eye similar to that of the telephone to the ear, enabling distant objects to plague us with a multitude of needless details. Luckily it is unprovided with a bell summoning us to the sacrifice.”

Well.

Be they adored or detested; fear or revered, the telescope is one of the most magnificent, but intimidating tools that astronomy has ever foisted upon the populace. They are used by professionals and recreational users alike to scan the heavens and discover the astonishing array of galaxies, worlds, clusters, nebulae and various sundry objects scattered around the void.

Telescopes are also often used as doorstops, ash trays, paperweights, mousetraps, jewelry containers, and as exhibits demonstrating why “my hopeless husband shouldn’t be allowed to lay his hands on any mechanical device more complicated than a door knob. Dimwit!”

It is for this reason that the Southworth Planetarium, Greater Portland Astronomical Society, and the Southern Maine Astronomers are joining forces to conduct a telescope workshop just in time for the holidays.

Who would benefit from this workshop (apart from us, of course)?

If you:

• Have a telescope and it has been a useless eyesore since it was ripped out of the package
• Want to buy a telescope but have no idea what to purchase.
• Have always been interested in telescopes, but were a bit afraid of them because of all the knobs, screws, mirrors, lenses, and computerized accessories.
• Want to buy a telescope for that relative or friend for whom you harbor an genuine affection despite their professed love of astronomy.

Bring your telescope.
Bring your questions.
Bring your curiosity
to the Planetarium’s Telescope Workshop.
6:30 – 8:30 p.m.

We’ll show you how to put your telescope together. We’ll show you how it works and how you can use it to scan the skies.

Trust us when we tell you that we live in a Universe of amazing sights, sounds and sensations. (Of course, most telescopes are designed to only help you with the sights.)

The cost is $8.00 per person.
Call us at 207-780-4249
or e-mail us at egleason@usm.maine.edu
to register or for more information.

Walk-ins are allowed.

“Music-Science-Religion” a planetarium presentation based on Haydn’s “Creation”

Thursday, November 12, 2009
7:00 p.m.

The Southworth Planetarium invites you to an evening of music and cosmology with a live action presentation based on Haydn’s “Creation.”

During “Music-Science-Religion,” Dr. Jerry LaSala takes his audience on a tour of the infant universe set to the music of Haydn’s creation. This planetarium program is offered in conjunction with the USM Music Department’s performance of Haydn’s Creation.

Experience the music and the early epoch of the cosmos in our star dome theatre.

Professor Robert Russell will begin the event with a brief presentation about the music.

Admission by donation.

Call 207-780-4249 for more information.

[DA November 4, 2009] Sea God World Stand Still

From the USM Southworth Planetarium
“A cohort of kiddlequicks”

THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
November 4, 2009
Sea God World Stand Still

Now that we’re on the subject of planetary motion, it is worth some time to discuss the concept of stationary planets. The term itself seems like an oxymoron, for the word “planet,” derives from the Greek word “planetes,” meaning “wanderer.” Planets earned this name because they exhibit motions independent of the background stars.

As we would eventually discover, all planets, including the one on which we live, move continually in their orbits around the parent star, Sol, otherwise known as “The Sun.”

As a consequence of this orbital motion, planets generally appear to travel from west to east against the sky. One cannot actually observe this motion directly. Only by recording a planet’s position on different nights can one track a planet’s motion. This tracking is easier if one is observing the planets closest to the Sun, such as Venus and Mars, because they move more quickly than the more distant planets, such as Jupiter and Saturn. (The closer a planet is to the Sun, the greater its orbital velocity will be.)

If one observes a planet over a long period of time, one will notice that at times, the planet appears to stop and then reverse course in the sky. This backtracking, known as retrograde motion, was quite disconcerting to the ancient astronomers who believed that Earth occupied the cosmic center and that all celestial objects revolved around it in perfectly circular orbits. Within the last few centuries, however, we have come to realize that the Sun is the solar system’s centerpiece and that Earth, like all the other worlds, revolves around it.

With this new heliocentric “sun-centered” model, the cause of retrograde motion is readily understood.
Imagine that Earth is passing between an outer planet and the Sun. Because Earth is closer to the sun than this outer planet (called a “superior planet”), it will always be moving faster. Earth will cross the line connecting the Sun and superior planet before moving on.

It is similar to watching a fast car passing a slower one on the freeway. A passenger in the faster car would see the slower vehicle appear to stop and then reverse course relative to the background objects. It is obvious that the slow car is not actually stopping and backing up, but only appears to do so from the perspective of the people in the faster automobile.

The retrograde motion of an outer planet is an illusion caused by our vantage point on this faster Earth.
Today, the planet Neptune appears stationary. It is about to change course in our sky before soon resuming prograde motion. Because Neptune is so far away, its apparent retrograde motion will be quite brief. (To continue the previous analogy, if you pass a car four lanes over, it will not appear to go into reverse as long as a car in the next lane.)

Neptune is also so far away that we can’t see it without a telescope. Therefore, Neptune’s sudden apparent inertness is a non-event for those without telescopes. However, it is still happening and we thought that today would be a good day to transform an invisible event into a teaching moment.

“Ethereal Music Under the Stars”: A Night with Carolyn Currie

“Ethereal Music Under the Stars”

A Night With Carolyn Currie

Saturday, December 12, 2009

7:00 p.m.

The Southworth Planetarium is pleased to once again host Singer/Songwriter Carolyn Currie. On the night of December 12, Ms. Currie performs both new works from her latest CD, “Waves of Silence,” and songs from previous CDs, such as “Standing Stones,” and “Kiss of Ghosts.” Carolyn’s music has been described as “contemporary folk incorporating both cosmic and Celtic elements.” We invite you to experience Carolyn’s enchanting music in the Southworth Planetarium’s underground star dome.

Special Guest performer: Celeste Krenz
Celebrated folk singer Celeste Krenz will join Carolyn Currie for this special night of music under the stars. Celeste has released 10 albums, the latest entitled “My Mother and Me.” Her voice has been described as “a pure, sweet voice as pure as the American plains”

The Colorado Daily wrote the following about Celeste’s music:

“Meticulously drawn songwriting, equal parts torch and poetry, brain and soul.”

$10.00 – adults ($12 at the door)

$8.00 – children ($10 at the door)
Call 207-780-4249 for tickets or information

Introducing Sci-Fi Saturdays at the Planetarium

From the USM Southworth Planetarium
“Find a way, or make one!”

What are Sci-Fi Saturdays, you ask?

“Sci-Fi Saturday” is a new program here at the Southworth Planetarium.

Once a month we will show a classic science fiction move in our star dome theatre. The idea is to have audiences watch a film that’s over their heads! Well, not exactly over their heads, you know, like ultra-advanced partial differential equations taught in Mandarin, but literally above their heads on our dome screen.

The Time Machine, 1960

The first Sci-Fi Saturday will be on Saturday, November 14, 2009 at 12:00 p.m.

See the timeless (stupid pun) movie “The Time Machine” (1960)

The movie is based on the famous H.G. Wells novel, “The Time Machine,” about a brilliant scientist who invents a machine to take him ahead in time! The movie focuses on his adventures battling the strange creatures living on Earth in the remote future.

Do you love science fiction? Do you just like to go to the movies on a Saturday afternoon?!

We invite you to join us for this afternoon of classic sci-fi cinema at the Southworth Planetarium.

Admission by donation.

Call 207-780-4249 for tickets or more information.

[DA November 3, 2009] Minding Mars

From the USM Southworth Planetarium
“Just right”

THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
November 3, 2009
Minding Mars

This is not a hoax.
For the next few months we’ll watch as Mars becomes brighter in the sky as the planet moves closer to Earth.
We repeat: this is not a hoax.
One can find Mars for the rest of the year in the constellation Cancer the Crab. Being presently as bright as a first magnitude star, Mars is easy to find amidst the crab’s faint component stars. Both Cancer and Mars are visible in the late evening eastern sky tonight.
During the next few months, observers can watch Mars moving eastward until it rises around the time of sunset toward the end of January, when it reaches opposition. Around this time, Mars will also reach its closest approach point to Earth during this orbit.

Let’s engage in some explanations.

When a celestial body is on the other side of Earth relative to the Sun it is said to be in “opposition.” As one can determine by examining the graphic,  when a planet is at or close to opposition, it will be at its closest point to our planet. As a consequence of this proximity, the planet will also appear at its brightest since a planet’s magnitude depends partially on its distance from the Sun and its distance from Earth.

So, as Mars draws closer to our home planet, we’ll see it gradually brighten until it appears as a bright, crimson-hued star in the eastern evening sky.

Mars will be at opposition on January 29, 2010, but reaches its closest approach to Earth on January 27th. That seems curious, doesn’t it? Looking at today’s graphic may make one wonder why a planet isn’t at its closest point to Earth precisely at opposition.

The reason for this apparent discrepancy pertains to the motions of both planets. Earth will reach perihelion -its closest point to the Sun- on January 3, 2010. After this event, Earth’s distance from the Sun will continually increase until our planet reaches its greatest distance from the Sun (aphelion) on July 6th.

Mars, meanwhile, is already moving away from the Sun. It has been ever since it reached its own perihelion on April 21st. So, as Earth moves toward the line between Mars and the Sun, Mars will be moving away from the Sun and Earth. A couple of days before the actual opposition, Earth and Mars will be as close to each other as possible during this orbit. That distance, incidentally, is about 61 million miles. Compare this approach to the now legendary closest approach in August 2003, when Earth and Mars were only 34.5 million miles apart.

Mars was so close to us during that August 2003 opposition because it was also close to its own perihelion (August 30, 2003). In January 2010, Mars will be close to its aphelion, which it reaches on March 30, 2010. Therefore, even though the planets are close, they are still millions of miles farther away from each other than they sometimes can be when Mars is at perihelion the same time it is at or around opposition.

[DA November 2, 2009] An Orion Sample

From the USM Southworth Planetarium
“A holiday from the hum-drum”

THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
November 2, 2009
An Orion Sample

*******************************
THE LAST WORD ON
HALLOWE’EN:
Thank you to everybody who
helped to make this year’s Hallowe’en
Party the most exciting and successful
yet.
We want to convey our appreciation to
those who both worked in our
“haunted, fog-free gallery” and those
who helped with the crowded Moon Witch shows
and the sold out Ghost Hour.
Thanks to: Cheryl, Eric, Marc, Joan, Maureen,
Michele, Patricia, Roberta, and Scott.
The planetarium’s success is a result of
the work of many people whose contributions
are valued and worthy of both praise
and public acknowledgment.
Thank you all
Thanks also to all those who attended!!
We hope to see you again soon.
*********************************

It is easy to entertain the notion that mythology is little more than love, romance, desire and all the consequences that inevitably ensue from the aforementioned. Certainly, if one wanted to find such sordid tales, it would be easy enough. However, there is more to night sky mythology that just bedrooms, bliss and boondoogles.

Regard, for instance, Orion. His adult life was indeed rife with lusty pursuits, and romantic entanglements that met a tragic end. Yet, his birth was another matter altogether.

One story about Orion’s arrival starts with Hyrieus, the mythical founder of Hyria (Boeotia). Hyrieus was a kindly fellow who harbored a secret sorrow: that he had remained childless even into advanced middle age. He often implored the gods to give him a child, but as his many entreaties were never answered, Hyrieus eventually decided that he would simply accept his fate and no longer prayed to the gods to remedy his problem.

One day, three strangers appeared at his door requesting rest and refreshment. Being a naturally good and generous person, Hyrieus opened his home to the men and gave them dinner. During the meal, the strangers asked Hyrieus if he had any sons to help him with his labors. He explained that, despite his many pleas to the heavens, he had no children. After the dinner was done, the oldest stranger instructed Hyrieus to fetch him a bull hide. Though perplexed by this instruction, Hyrieus nevertheless went out to the land behind his home and found the bull hide. The three strangers were standing by the table when Hyrieus entered the home and presented the oldest man with requested item.

The three strangers nodded politely to their host and then promptly left. Hyrieus watched them all
leave and was curious to see one of the strangers place the bull hide on the ground. He was then shocked
to witness one of the strangers urinating on it! Hyrieus knew that out in the wide world one could find many cultures and exotic people who had peculiar ways of expressing their gratitude, but the sight of a stranger making water on a bull hide was beyond his reckoning!

Imagine Hyrieus’ reaction when he then saw the oldest stranger lift up the now moistened bull hide before walking back to the house! The poor man was flummoxed! He had no idea what to say to them when they arrived. “Thanks for weeing on my bull hide” seemed a bit gauche. Fortunately, he didn’t need to say anything. After allowing the three men entrance into his house, Hyrieus was told by the oldest man to immediately bury the bull hide and then wait nine months.

The three strangers then left again, this time forever. Though baffled by the day’s events, Hyrieus felt a curiously strong compulsion to abide by the old man’s command. Hyrieus buried the bull hide close to the house. Nine months later, Hyrieus heard the sounds of crying outside. He went to investigate and discovered a baby in the spot where he had buried the hide on the night the strangers visited. He took the baby in and raised it as his own. He soon realized that his “son” was no ordinary child: he was taller and stronger than any mortal boy and matured much more quickly than any other chilld he had ever known.

Hyrieus soon understood that the baby did not have a usual lineage. He was told in a dream that the three strangers had been gods in disguise. The oldest was Zeus; the youngest Hermes; and the man who had urinated on the bull hide was Posideon. Zeus had often rewarded mortals for hospitality and this son was given to Hyrieus as a gift in honour of his kindness and generosity. The son created by this unusual method was destined to become the greatest hunter the world had ever known. In this same dream, Hyrieus was told to change the boy’s name to Orion, meaning “of the urine.”

So, you see, that the name “Orion” sounds like “urine” is no accident. They both had similar etymologies. This also explains why both Hyrieus and Neptune are both cited as Orion’s father. (His mother’s name is generally given as “?”)

This story does have a few drawbacks apart from the undeniable “ew” factor. One wonders why , a. the gods didn’t merely arrange for Hyrieus to be married, thereby enabling him to create a son the more conventional way or b. if Posideon had had enough wine during dinner to have been able to write his name.

So, next time you venture outside to admire Orion, be sure to take a moment to remember his birth and think to yourself:  “Yuck!”