Astronomy - Allowed My Imagination to Wonder Right up to the Stars

I probably became interested in astronomy just by looking up and seeing the stars in the night sky at an early age.  I really became interested in astronomy when I checked out H.A. Rey’s class 1952 book The Stars – A New Way to See Them. 

I recently checked out the book from the Dallas Library and his name became very familiar.  He was born in Germany in 1898 and fled the country in 1936 on a bicycle with his wife and knapsack of manuscripts of young adult novels that he was writing.  He was the author of Curious George, Cecily G, and Where’s My Baby?

He was the first to draw straight lines between stars in a constellation so the shapes would resemble their names.  A simple concept which brought renewed interest in the stars and space during the 1950s.

He also gave English names for the constellations in place of the Latin and Greek names commonly used.  On most, he would refer to both names – Taurus the Bull, Orion the Hunter and Cygnus the Swan.  On some, just the Latin or Greek name – Ursa Major (the Big Dog).

There are only 88 constellations in the sky, usually 60 can be seen in northern latitude.  Rey says “If you know 30 constellations, you will have a good working knowledge of the sky.”

Polaris is the North Star, or the Pole Star, because it’s always in the same place in the sky and almost exactly north.  The two point stars of the Big Dipper, which looks like a cup with a long handle, point to the North Star at a latitude here in Dallas at 33 degrees north.  My interest continued after joining the Boy Scouts in 1957.  The first merit badge was Astronomy.   I had a chance to be up all night at a Boy Scout Camp on Possum Kingdom Lake and I watched the Big Dipper rotate around the North Star, very compelling.

I would lay out on a blanket in my back yard with a flashlight covered in red cellophane, a rotating star chart and a two foot long telescope.

I liked the constellations of the northern sky – the Big Dipper and the North Star, the band of stars in Orion’s belt, Sirius the Dog Star and the Pleiades.

During my senior year at Bryan Adams, I went to several meetings of the Junior Texas  Astronomical Association which met in the basement of the Band Shell at Fair Park.  It was a warm group – most interested in the grinding of a 7^th mirror fir a reflecting telescope they hoped to build.  Not much room for a romantic looking at the Texas sky to ponder how the ancients saw us in relationship to everything close in the universe.

Not a criticism, but we each look out at the dark skies for different reasons.

Constellations

The brightest stars in the sky are called First Magnitude Stars.  There are 20 First Magnitude Stars in the sky.  Polaris, the North Star, is the most important star in the sky, and is only a Second Magnitude Star, a little dimmer than the 20 brightest ones.

1.  Ursa Minor (Little Bear) – containing the Little Dipper with Polaris at the end of the handle.
2. Ursa Major (Big Bear) – containing the Big Dipper whose two stars at the end of cup point to the North Star.  The second star of the handle is Mizar, with its faint twin Alcor.  We were taught that the Indians told their young boys if you could see Alcor, you had good vision.
3. Cassiopeia – a bright shaped “W” figure which pointed to the North Star opposite from the Big Dipper.  If clouds covered up part of the sky, you usually could find north with either of these two constellations.
4. Leo the Lion – has First Magnitude Star Regulus.  Zodiac constellation.
5. Cygnus the Swan – Two stars in the cup part of the Big Dipper.  The other two stars point to Dinah, the brightest star in the constellation.
6. Taurus the Bull – features Aldebaran, a First Magnitude orange-colored star.  Taurus also includes the Plieades, a cluster of six stars which look like a small silver cloud in the heavens.  A Zodiac constellation.
7. Gemini the Twins – Two bright stars form the heads: First Magnitude Pollux and Second Magnitude Castor.  We had a twin-screen drive-in movie theater on North Central Expressway called the Gemini.  A Zodiac constellation.
8. Orion the Hunter – the most dazzling constellation in the southern sky.  The three bright stars which form Orion’s belt, the heart of this constellation.  First Magnitude Star Betelgeuse forms his left shoulder and First Magnitude Star Rigel forms his right foot.  He even has a curved shield and a sword dangling from his belt.
9. Scorpio the Scorpion – the most beautiful constellation in the summer sky, it actually looks like a scorpion, without the benefit of a highly colorful imagination.  A Zodiac constellation.  Has a reddish First Magnitude Star, Antares.  In the Scorpion’s tail, are two closely placed stars which are known as Cat Eyes.
10. Bootes – the Herdsman.  Among the oldest recorded constellations.  Contains First Magnitude Star Arcturus, which you can find easily if you follow the sweep of the Big Dipper’s handle.
11. Lyre – Contains First Magnitude Star Vega.

The 20 brightest stars –

I can still point out Sirius in the Big Dog, Rigel in Orion, Betelgeuse in Orion and Antares in Scorpio.

For astronomy merit badge you had to identify 10 constellations, including 4 in the Zodiac and first magnitude stars.

The Age of Aquarius

When the moon is in the Seventh House

And Jupiter aligns with Mars

Then peace will guide the planets

And love will steer the stars.

This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius.

The Zodiac

The 12 constellation, starting from Ram going east.

1.       Ram – Aries

2.      Bull – Taurus

3.      Crab – Cancer

4.      Lion – Leo

5.      Virgin – Virgo

6.      Twin – Gemini

7.      Scales – Libra

8.      Scorpion – Scorpius

9.      Archer – Sagittarius

10.  Goat – Capricornus

11.  Water Carrier – Aquarius

12.  Fishes – Pisces