What's Up!
(Fact & Fantasy about the Summer constellations) by Stardancer

A dragon, a hero, a crown, a lyre, and a scorpion. These are just a few of the many mythical beings and their possessions you will find in the summer sky. And of course, summer provides one of the best meteor showers of the year! Snuggle into your favorite chair, and I'll tell you the stories of how a few of the summer constellations came to be.

There are a few versions of the story of the Corona Borealis, but here's the one I like best. After killing the dreaded Minotaur of Crete, the handsome Theseus of Athens steals off with the King of Crete's daughter, the Princess Ariadne, sailing into the sunset (Theseus had agreed to marry Ariadne if she helped him slay the Minotaur and escape from Crete). Somewhere along the journey, Ariadne became sea sick, so Theseus put in at the isle of Dia (later called Naxos), where she fell asleep on the white strand. When the unfortunate princess awoke, she discovered that Theseus had set sail, abandoning her. But along comes Bacchus (Dionysus), the god of wine, accompanied by a retinue of celebrants. Arriving on the shores of Naxos, Bacchus's favorite island, he passionately woos and wins the sorrowing Ariadne. For a marriage present he gives her a golden crown encircled with gems; and Aradne lived very happily with her divine rescuer. But, only a mortal, she eventually died, whereupon Bacchus hurled her crown of jewels upward into the sky. As it ascended into the heavens, the gems grew brighter and were turned into seven stars, which since ancient times have been called the "Northern Crown", one of the most perfectly formed and easily recognizable constellations. This incomplete circlet of stars has been recognized by many different civilizations worldwide. To the Native American Shawnee tribe, the Corona was a circle of dancing star maidens.

Another of the summer constellations is Hercules. The result of a union of Alcmene, the granddaughter of Perseus and Andromeda, and Zeus, Hercules was for most of his life, harassed by Zeus's very jealous wife, Hera. It's probably not easy being half human, half god, and Hercules spent all of his life being torn between his human weaknesses and his ability to accomplish incredible deeds, such as freeing Prometheus, bringer of enlightenment to mankind, chained to a rock and tortured by a vulture because he had displeased the god Jove.

Then there is the story of Orpheus, son of the sun god Apollo and the Muse Calliope. Orpheus was the most unusual musician in the mythic world. His father, patron of music and poetry, taught him to play the lyre (harp) so beautifully, that Orpheus' songs charmed the wild beasts and affected even the trees and rocks, winning the heart of the fair nymph Eurydice. Unfortunately, shortly after the marriage, Eurydice stepped on a snake in her garden and was fatally bitten. Eurydice was transported to the dark afterworld called Hades. The sorrowing Orpheus decided to journey to Hades and win back his wife from its stern rulers, Pluto and Persephone. Orpheus sang with such compelling sweetness that even the ghosts of earthly wrongdoers paused in their torments to listen. Won over by his plea, the king and queen of Hades allowed Eurydice to return with Orpheus to the world of the living, on the condition that he not look upon her until they had reached the upper air. Orpheus agreed, but just before he reached the borders of Hades, Orpheus violated his vow and turned around to look at his wife, and she immediately vanished into thin air and was recalled to Hades. Unable to reach the underworld again, the broken-hearted bard remained seven months in a deserted cave pouring out his sorrow to the wild beasts and the trees. His despairing strains attracted a group of Thracian maidens who were reveling in wine and dance. When Orpheus rejected their amorous advances, they killed him and threw his lyre into the river Hebrus, where it continued to play melancholy music as the water flowed through its strings.  Moved by these haunting melodies that even Death could not still, Jupiter placed the lyre between Hercules and Cygnus as a small but distinctive sky picture highlighted by the brilliant star Vega.

Although most these constellations are not as visually defined as some of the winter ones, we can use the bright star Vega in the constellation Lyra as a start point to navigate through the summer sky. High in the southeast summer sky just above the Milky Way you will find Vega, a bright blue-white star - the fifth brightest star in the sky. Once you have spotted Vega, the other stars that form the constellation are a small rectangle just a bit below and to the left of Vega. Higher still is the H-shaped constellation of Hercules. The most distinctive part of Hercules is the center that includes four stars in the shape of a square. Looking off to the southwest, and right next to Hercules, you can find an arc of stars that form the Corona Borealis, or the Northern Crown. The Corona is a smaller constellation, yet it is renowned for it's beautiful shape. Scorpio and its bright red star Antares are due south with the top part of the constellation just above the Milky Way. The top of Scorpio looks like a 'T', and from there, curves down into the Milky Way. Scorpio has some pretty distinctive stars, so it will be easy to spot. Among them is Antares, which is noticeably red in color and approximately 600 times the diameter of our Sun.

And don't forget one of summers best night time viewing sensations - meteor showers. Meteor showers (lots of shooting stars) are one of natures most wonderful displays. There are actually five meteor showers during the summer months. The rule-of-thumb with meteor showers is that, except for two (the Quadrantids and the Ursids), they are named after the constellations they emerge out of (the radiant). Around June 15th is the peak night of the Lyirids (radiating out of the constellation Lyra) in the northeast sky will only show between 5 to 15 white medium speed meteors per hour. Around June 20 the peak night of Ophiuchids (Ophiuchus) in the southeast sky (faint stars below the constellation Hercules) this meteor shower has the potential of 8 to 20 white slow moving meteors per hour. The next two meteor showers might possibly be too low to the horizon in the northeastern United States for viewing. July 10th peak night will give us the Capricornids (Capricornus) in the southeast sky showing 5 to 30 yellow slow moving meteors. July 28th is the peak for the Delta Aquarids (Aquarius) in the Southeast sky with 10 to 35 yellow medium meteors per hour. And then the grand daddy of the summer meteor showers - August 12th peak night gives us the Perseids (Perseus) with 40 to 100 yellow fast moving meteors per hours.

Although the summer night sky on occasion might be a bit hazy, the nights are warm and wonderful for laying out under the blanket of stars wandering through the heavens. So take a thermos of your favorite beverage, a comfortable lounge chair, a star chart, some beautiful music and get out and see 'em.

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