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The Stars for December 2008
When you name
a star with us you can choose the constellation
(area of the night sky) in which your star is located.
The following chart shows which Name A Star Live constellations
are visible during the first few hours after sunset
this month:
| Your Location |
Constellations Visible This
Month |
| Europe, Northern US, Canada, Northern
China |
Andromeda, Aquarius, Aries, Cassiopeia, Gemini,
Pisces, Taurus, Ursa Minor |
| Alaska (Anchorage and points south) |
Andromeda, Aries, Cassiopeia, Pisces, Taurus,
Ursa Minor |
| Southern US, Hawaii, Japan, Southern
China, Northern Africa, Middle East, India |
Andromeda, Aquarius, Aries, Cassiopeia, Pisces,
Taurus |
| Australia, Southern Africa, South
America |
Aries, Capricorn, Orion, Pisces, Taurus |
Best Time to View the Stars
The best time to view the stars is when
there is no moon out: Like the light pollution caused
by city lights, moonlight drowns out the faint celestial
objects otherwise visible through telescopes. In December
2008, it's best to view the stars during the last two
weeks of the month.
Andromeda |
 |
| The constellation
Andromeda is visible high in the sky during the
evening hours this month. To find Andromeda (outlined
in yellow-green in this diagram), first find "The
Great Square of Pegasus" -- a box-like arrangment
of four bright stars (outlined in red in this diagram).
Note the fuzzy object up, and to the right of Andromeda:
That is the famous Andromeda Galaxy, which is visible
to the naked eye (as a faint, fuzzy patch of light)
if you are away from city lights. If you live in
Australia, South Africa, or other parts of the southern
hemisphere, Andromeda will appear low on the northern
horizon shortly after sunset. |
How Other Cultures Have Viewed the
Stars
In Greek mythology the constellation
Andromeda represents a princess -- the daughter of Cepheus
and Cassiopeia, king and queen of Aethiopia (which is
not the same as modern Ethiopia). Cassiopeia boasted
that her beauty exceeded that of the Nereids, beautiful
water nymphs who dwelled in the Mediterranean Sea. The
Nereids -- some of whom were also goddesses -- asked
Poseidon, king of the sea, to punish Cassiopeia for
daring to compare her own mortal beauty to that of the
goddesses. So Poseidon sent a sea monster to Aethiopia,
which Poseidon also flooded. In consulting an oracle,
King Cepheus learned that the only way to rid his kingdom
of this calamity was to chain Andromeda to a rock by
the sea and expose her as prey to the sea monster, whose
name was Cetus. Cepheus did as he was told in order
to save his people.
 |
Located in the
constellation of Andromeda (the Princess), the Andromeda
Galaxy (M31) is a large spiral galaxy very similar
to our own Galaxy, the Milky Way. The Andromeda
Galaxy is over 65,000 light-years in diameter and
is approximately 2.9 million light-years from Earth.
It is the closest galaxy that can be seen from the
northern hemisphere of Earth.
Credit: NOAO/AURA/NSF/T.Rect or & B.A.Wolpa |
Andromeda was rescued by a young man
named Perseus, who killed Cetus and then married Andromeda.
This is a very old mythological story and may have originated
in Mesopotamia, which is modern day Iraq. In honor of
this ancient story, astronomers have named constellations
after Andromeda, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Perseus, and Cetus.
The Chinese viewed many of these
same stars as constituting part of the Chinese constellation
Koui-siou, the House of the Sandal, the first house
of the White Tiger. The constellation Koui-siou is made
up of the middle section of Andromeda's stars and the
stars of the northern part of the constellation Pisces.
The appearance of this constellation in the Autumn sky
was a reminder to the Chinese that it was the time of
year to see after their sandals. Other stars of Andromeda
form a Chinese constellation called Kiun-nan-mun, the
Southern Camp Gate. Just as American pioneers in the
Old West circled their wagons at night to protect their
camps, the Chinese imagined that a large circle of chariots
and carts encircled a camp in the stars. The Chinese
imagined that a row of four stars from Andromeda represented
the two tongues of two chariots that, together, formed
a gate allowing entrance into the camp.
The Planets This Month
If you live in the northern hemisphere
(the US, Europe, Japan, etc.), Jupiter and Venus appear
low in the southwestern sky around sunset. If you live
in the southern hemisphere (Australia, New Zealand, South
Africa, etc.), Jupiter and Venus appear low in the northwestern
sky around sunset. No matter where you live, Jupiter will
be the planet located closest to the horizon: Venus will
appear higher in the sky. Jupiter is still in the constellation
Sagittarius. (For more information about Sagittarius,
see "The Stars for August 2008.")
Look for Jupiter and Venus around sunset on December 1
(December 2 west of the International Date Line) as these
two bright planets will appear very close to the crescent
Moon toward the western horizon. Saturn appears in the
eastern sky before sunrise: Saturn is in the constellation
Leo now.
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