Observation 3.1

You can see that tonight was very cloudy.

 

Orion was hard to find because it was behind some of the clouds

 

Date: January 21, 2014
Time: 9:00PM - 9:27 PM

Observations:
Let's just say that tonight was a very cloudy night. Today when I went outside the sky was just full of patches of clouds and one second I would see some stars or some familiar constellations (really just Orion) and the next second they were gone. So taking a picture of the sky tonight was fairly difficult. Before I go into the pictures in more detail, I just wanted to say that the clouds have a reddish, orangeish tint to them because I was next to my street lamp post which got annoying at times but at least I was able to get the pictures!

Okay now going into the pictures, I believe I found 2 new constellations today! It was actually pretty difficult trying to find these constellations not only because it was cloudy but because I was not familiar with them. Also at a point I was confused on where Jupiter was located because one time there was not a cloud over Canis Minor but one over Jupiter making the bottom star in Canis Minor appear to be Jupiter. Confusing right? Not really.

Anyways, back to the constellations. Canis Minor, also known as the Lesser Dog, is usually known to be the other dog following Orion (the other dog being Canis Major, also known as the Greater Dog). However, in another story, Canis Minor is known as Maera. According to the legend from Attica, a place around Athens, there was a man named Icarius whom Dionysus, the god of fertility and wine, taught how to make wine. Wanting to test the drink out, Icarius gave some of it to some shepherds; the drink however made them drunk and thinking that Icarius had poisoned them, they killed him. Maera, Icarius' dog, ran to Icarius' daughter, Erigone (the constellation Virgo), to show her of what had happened and in grief, they both took their lives. Zeus placed them up in the heavens to remind people of this tragic event in which the people of Athens now celebrate a day in honor of Icarius and Erigone. That's deep.

Now moving on to Gemini, this constellation is a zodiac and it is also called The Twins. Now this story is a confusing one but just hold on tight and bear with me. The twins in this constellation represent Castor and Polydeuces. There is dispute whether or not they are the sons of Zeus however. The story goes that one day Zeus visited the Queen of Sparta, Leda, in the shape of a swan, the constellation Cygnus. Apparently, she slept with both Zeus and her husband King Tyndareus that night and that resulted in Leda giving birth to 4 children. It was said that of the 4, Polydeuces and Helen were the children of Zeus and Castor and Clytemnestra were the children of King Tyndareus. It happened that Castor and Polydeuces were identical twins and grew up very close to one another, never fighting and always consulting with one another. Castor became a horseman and a warrior and was the one who taught Hercules how to fence while Polydeuces became a renowned boxer in which he used his skill to defeat the world's greatest bully, Amycus, in order to receive the golden fleece that the twins were looking for. It was said that there were many other incidents where they were the heroes all happening to be during a voyage out to sea which is why they are known to be the patron saints of sailors. Their story comes to an end when the twins come to fight another pair of twins, Idas and Lynceus, for women whom the latter were engaged to but whom the twins had won over. During the fight over the women, Lynceus kills Castor who is in turn killed by Polydeuces who is attacked by Idas who is killed by Zeus. In the end, Polydeuces pleads to Zeus to allow both Castor and himself to have immortality. Zeus then places the twins up in the sky where they will be together for eternity.... If only I had that relationship with my sisters.....So if you are a Gemini then you are very talented, social, have a lot of interests and you better have a good relationship with your siblings!

Well, I think that is enough writing for one post and hopefully you made it to the end! Don't forget to keep following the stars!!