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The Stars for January 2009
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, Aries, Cancer, Cassiopeia, Gemini,
Orion, Pisces, Taurus, Ursa Minor |
| Alaska (Anchorage and points south) |
Andromeda, Aries, Cancer, Cassiopeia, Gemini,
Pisces, Taurus, Ursa Minor |
| Southern US, Hawaii, Japan, Southern
China, Northern Africa, Middle East, India |
Andromeda, Aries, Cassiopeia, Gemini, Orion, Pisces,
Taurus |
| Australia, Southern Africa, South
America |
Aries, Orion, 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 January
2009, it's best to view the stars during the last 1
1/2 weeks of the month.
Cassiopeia |
 |
| The constellation
Cassiopeia is easy to find in the night sky. This
constellation is marked by a W-shape (or M-shape)
group of bright stars that appears in the northern
sky during the late fall, winter, and early spring.
Cassiopeia is visible to observers in the northern
hemisphere of Earth. |
How Other Cultures Have Viewed the
Stars
 |
| The Owl Cluster (a.k.a. "The
ET Cluster", "NGC 457") in the constellation
Cassiopeia. When this open cluster of stars is viewed
through a telescope it resembles an owl (or human)
with two bright eyes and outstretched wings (arms).
Credit: Ken and Emilie Siarkiewicz-Adam Block/NOAO/AURA/NSF |
In Greek mythology, Cassiopeia was queen
of Aethiopia (which is not the same as modern Ethiopia).
She was condemned by the gods to revolve forever around
the north pole because she dared to compare her own
beauty to that of the Nereids, beautiful water nymphs
who dwelled in the Mediterranean Sea. (For more information,
see last month's discussion of Andromeda,
Cassipeia's daughter.) In the constellation Cassiopeia
sits on her throne: When she is above the north pole
her stars form the letter M, and when she is on the
other side they form the letter W. This is symbolic
of her punishment: when the constellation forms a W
she must hold on for dear life to stay on her throne;
twelve hours later when she swings to the other side
of the pole she is able to sit upright and get some
rest.
Some Arab cultures called portions of
Cassiopeia and Perseus the “mythical tinted hand,”
after Arabic women who painted their hands and feet
with henna. Other Arab cultures believed that this constellation
represented the hand of Fatma, the daughter of Muhammad,
stained with blood. Still others viewed these same stars
as representing a camel.
The indigenous people of the Marshall
Islands interpreted some of the stars of Cassiopeia
as being a Porpoise in the sky.
The Chinese saw here a great chariot
called Wangliang, which means, “The Bridge of
Kings.” The camp of the king was surrounded by
a mote, so to visit the King a bridge had to be crossed.
The Quileute, Native Americans who lived
on the northwestern tip of Washington state, told a
story of four brothers who went hunting upstream; their
fifth, and youngest brother, stayed at home. The brothers
traveled far and soon came across a giant man. This
man told the boys that he could make an elk come across
the stream soon. He then also convinced the boys to
trade arrows with him; he gave them his bad arrows for
their good arrows. The man then left and turned himself
into a giant elk only to return to the boys and kill
them all: They could not defend themselves with the
bad arrows. Time passed and the youngest brother grew
worried and went out to look for his brothers. He encountered
the same man but did not fall for his tricks. When the
man turned into an elk the youngest brother killed the
giant elk as vengeance for his brothers. When he skinned
the elk he realized that its skin was too big, so he
threw it into the skies. The five holes that he made
while stretching the skin of the elk represent the stars
of the constellation the Quileute people call “Elk
skin.”
The Planets This Month
If you live in the northern hemisphere
(the US, Europe, Japan, etc.), Venus appears in the southwestern
sky around sunset. If you live in the southern hemisphere
(Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, etc.), Venus appears
in the northwestern sky around sunset. On January 7, the
Moon will be close to the Pleiades. (For more on the Pleiades,
see the "Star Mythology
from Around the World" article on this blog.)
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