#10 A Few Inconspicuous Constellations

Good Evening Everyone!  This is the Coma Galaxy in the Coma Star Cluster!

Just a quick check in between visits from the 'rents.

Took a nice respite to the backyard this evening to view the Coma Star Cluster and some of the less well-known Spring constellations between Leo and The Big Dipper.

First is another set of stars, somewhat dim, yet easily found hanging out in the darkness between The Big Dipper and Leo the Lion.  These stars are the Herding Dogs, or Canes Venatici.  These are thought to be Bootes the Herdsman's dogs.  Unlike Orion's hunting dogs, these dogs are linked to the Herdsman and are meant to shepherd in the flocks.

The next star cluster is within the constellation of Coma Berenices, or Berenice's Hair.  This is one of the few named after a historical figure.  This constellation is meant to symbolize the hair of queen Berenice II of Egypt.  She was known for her long golden hair, and she cut it when her husband was victorious in a war campaign and gave it to Aphrodite as a sacrifice.  It was placed in the sky by Aphrodite.  Through the binoculars, this star cluster looks kind of like a coat hangar.  It is neat to think that while looking at this star cluster, I am looking out to some of the deeper galaxies of the universe.  I am still super excited to get to the galaxies and constellations of Leo and Virgo.

There is a Little Lion, Leo Minor, that looks like a triangle under the Big Dipper's ladle.  Kind of looks like a mini-Leo.  There is no real significance to this constellation, other than to say we have checked it off the list of viewing in the night sky.

Also had the opportunity this past weekend to check out the Full Moon for the month of March. The Full Worm Moon/Lenten Moon is he last Full Moon of Winter!  It is named so for the start of Spring and the time when the ground thaws and earthworm casings are prevalent.  This weekend was the closest biggest moon to been seen in the last 18 years.  My mother and father and I enjoyed the bigger than life Moon rising slowly above the horizon.

Saturn is on the horizon as well.  In the binoculars you can see the shape of the planet and wonderful tan coloration.  I was tempted to pull out the telescope, well next time! :)

#9 A Few Planets

Hello Stargazers!  That is Venus and it's beautifully gold cloud cover; the cloud cover gives it the brightness that we have come to dub the morning/evening star.

You may have noticed a bit of a lapse in the blogging; I've been busy visiting with my parents this week!  Also, each time I have wanted to pull out the telescope prior to their arrival or during their visit, it has been hazy and/or partially cloudy.  I get so frustrated with the weather, but I should be grateful that most of the time the night sky out here in Arizona is beautiful!

So, I have been just in the practice of viewing a few of the planets currently in the night and dawn sky.  This past week I have been able to spy Jupiter and Mercury on the western dusk horizon just after sunset.  The brightest "star" in the Western sky is Jupiter at this time; keep a keen eye on the horizon and you will see Mercury.  Our Winter sky is slowly retiring to the Western horizon, making way for the Spring and Summer night spectacles.

I also enjoyed a quick viewing of Venus, our morning and evening "star," on last Friday morning while carpooling with my colleague and friend V.  Pulling out of the housing community, I took a quick look towards the dawn Eastern sky and spied the bright planet adding to the beautiful sunrise of the morning.

So that leaves only Mars and Neptune to write about; Mars (Ares) will show up in the night sky in February 2012 and Neptune (Poseidon) in the night sky in early August.  Mars is sitting in the early evening sky right now and is not visible through the abundant sunshine, so patience is key to viewing Mars next year.  We will attempt a viewing of Neptune in August.

Venus (Aphrodite) is the Greek goddess of love and beauty, and Mercury (Hermes) is the Greek god of travel, correspondence, and messages.  Hermes is the messenger of the Gods to the humans, sharing this role counterpart Iris.  He is also a guide to the underworld.  Aphrodite was married to Vulcan (Hephaestus) due to her extreme beauty causing intense jealousy amongst the Greek gods.  It is interesting to equate the Greek goddess of love and beauty to Venus; as Venus is quite beautiful from afar, but quite a dangerous and stormy place upon further inspection.  Mercury really is just a piece of superheated rock, and the only planet that does not rotate on its axis due to the intense gravity of the Sun, but it is the quickest to circle the Sun.

I have been trying to set up the telescope for a viewing of the late evening Eastern sky for the emergence of Saturn just below Leo the Lion.  I have also wanted to view a few galaxies below Leo and share about the Lion, so keep an eye out for this in the coming weeks.  Virgo and the galaxies of Virgo are also upcoming, and a small but densely star-populated area called the Coma Berenices to the left of Leo the Lion houses a few star clusters, especially the Coma star cluster.

I'm excited for the end of this week, as currently I am looking at a bright blue sky and enjoying warm weather in the Spring evenings!  My wife reminds me that the night sky is not going anywhere and there is no rush to viewing the gems upcoming in the Spring.  So, I am reminded to pause and enjoy the pace of nature.

#8 The Dippers and Sisters

Hello Friends,

I'ts been a few more days than I have wanted to update you on our night sky; I apologize.  However, I have finally bested this head cold, and I know I am looking forward to going out this weekend to view Leo and Leo's galaxies physically well and clear headed again.

It seems that the seasons are slowly turning to Spring.  The sky ladles; the Big Dipper and Little Dipper, are taking their place; the Little Dipper spilling its contents into the Big Dipper.  See the picture above; an easily remembered trick to find the North Star Polaris is shown above.  Polaris is our celestial north.  A very clear night and non-polluted sky will produce the full handle of the Little Dipper and the bowl of the Dipper.  Surprising our North Star is so dim, huh?

From the handle of the Big Dipper, you can trace further down to the bright Spring star Arcturus, part of the constellation Bootes the herdsman.  We will visit with the herdsman in the future, when he has awoken from the low horizon of the Eastern sky.   For now, he guides either the bears or plows we visit with this week, and will be mentioned as the young gentleman Arcas in our star story tonight.

The Dippers have also been known by the ancients as either bears or plows.  The Big Dipper is by far the most known and familiar constellation in the night sky.  If we take a moment to see them as plows, it is quite simple: the long handles with the square box blades.  As for bears, it is a bit more of the imagination to see, but the square boxes would give us the bear's body, and the handles the tails.

If the handles are the tails, why are they so long?  Thomas Hood, a writer and astrologer made mention that they were perhaps stretched by Zeus when he flung them to safety into the night sky.

The Big Bear is actually Callisto, a paramour of Zeus.  Sometimes the Small Bear gets recognized as Arcas, her demi-god son by Zeus, but more often Arcas gets given the honor of being seen in the constellation Bootes, known as a great hunter.  How did Callisto become a bear, and find her way as this bear in the night sky?

Callisto was well noticed by the Gods of Olympus, especially Artemis.  Artemis was moved so by Callisto's grace and beauty that she appeared to her and asked her to join her hunter's troupe.  She accepted and joined Artemis' hunters.  This troupe was well-known for two things: it was all women and these women took a vow of chastity for life, to stay pure and true to the commitment they swore to.  Callisto became accustomed to placing a tied white bow in her hair and wearing a white tunic with beautiful brooch.  She soon became Artemis' best hunting partner due to her hunting skill and true companionship.

Then, in moves Zeus to disrupt this beautiful friendship and peace.  Zeus saw Callisto lying in the field one day and disguised himself as Artemis.   He put his arms around her and took her.  Callisto was most ashamed and hid the fact that she was pregnant until one day the hunting troop came to a bathing site.  She disrobed and bathed in a spring, thus showing her pregnancy.  Artemis thus banished her from the troupe, and shared Callisto's ravaging by Zeus with Hera, Zeus' wife.

Callisto later gave birth; all this time Hera had been aware of another of Zeus' transgressions, and she was ready and infuriated.  Hera tackled Callisto to the ground and cursed her to become the shape of a bear.  Callisto roamed the forest he had hunted and become familiar with for a great time until coming across her son Arcas, who had become a great hunter and was that day tracking in the forest.  Callisto recognized her son Arcas immediately and headed towards him.  Arcas readied his spear and may have succeeded in taking Callisto's life, but Zeus intervened with a whirlwind and carried them into the sky as Big Dipper and Little Dipper.

Lastly, back we go to the Pleiades, or the Seven Sisters, which we mentioned briefly gazing at with the in-laws a bit ago during their visit.  I realized that I had not finished the story telling regarding these important sisters.

The Greeks used the Pleiades as a mini-constellation and calendar marker.  When the Greeks saw them peeking above the horizon, it meant a start to harvest.  They are the seven daughters of the titan Atlas and oceanid Pleione.  The Pleiades gained their name from either pleos, the Greek word meaning full, or the Greek word peleiades, meaning flock of doves.  Both are fitting to this beautiful open star cluster.

The names of the seven sisters: Alcyone, Asterope, Celaeno, Electra, Maia, Merope, and Taygete. The sisters were well-liked by the Gods of Olympus. Poseidon wooed Alcyone and Celaeno.  Zeus wooed Maia (she birthed Hermes and was the foster mother of Arcas), Electra, and Taygete.  Asterope was ravished by Ares.  So as you may realize, six became the gods paramours; the last one Merope married a mortal Sisyphus who eternally rolls boulder up the hill in Hades due to his wily of cheating the Lord of Death Hades.

So see?  There are six visible sister stars, and one not so visible.  It is thought to be Merope because she married a mortal, but astronomers named Asterope the faintest.

See you next week!  In the meanwhile, enjoy the warmer nights that are becoming more available; I know I will!

#7 Full Moon February...Werewolves?

Can you believe it is almost the end of February?

The weather has been uncooperative this weekend, but I'm not really complaining.  The winter-like weather out here in the desert Southwest is a welcome respite from the normal hot and dry days that are offered up by the Sonoran Desert.  Black rolling clouds in the sky give way to wonderfully blustery winds that caress your face, and an occasional sprinkle or two.  The evening cools down significantly and brings a quiet darkness that envelops the cacti and other desert flora.  Friday evening's Full Moon hid behind this blackened curtain and shone brightly as the Full Snow Moon (well, as close to snow as you can get out here in the Southwest, I guess.)   Remember I mentioned that I'd keep you in the know about the monthly Full Moon names?  Well, February's moon is the full snow moon, since the heaviest snows were known to usually fall during this month to the native tribes.  Some tribes also knew this moon as the Full Hunger Moon, since harsh weather conditions made hunting very difficult.


I thought also that it would be fun to discuss a few of the myths of the Full Moon this month, as company is visiting and I am not as able to disappear into the night on star strolls or stargazing expeditions.  My in-laws, wife Cassandra, and I watched The Wolfman the night of the Full Moon and this sparked my curiosity as to how a myth such as werewolves came to be.  So, I imagine that the symbolism of the moon certainly has some bearing on this.  The moon truly idealizes the time of sleep and dreaming, of darkness and mysticism, and of the secrets of the unseen and unconscious.  So the dark night brought about the imagination, the focus on the unknown and secret, and was known as an eerie mystic eyeglass to the spiritual nature of humankind.


The moon also was seen as a time piece; the changing of phases of the moon was certainly of great interest to past civilizations, which saw this large white orb in the sky and made many tales out of the phases of the moon, from a great monster swallowing the moon and regurgitating it, to a great clock in the sky which told the stories of the swift changes of life (from birth, to fullness and fertility in the Full Moon, to death in the dark or New Moon.)  It was seen as the feminine counterpart of the Sun, and was also positioned in many tales of powerful pairs in the celestial myths.  The twin god and goddess Apollo and Artemis is the Greek counterpart of these new bright orbs in the sky, the two celestial beings that herald in and excuse the Sun and Moon in the daily dance of the day.  It has also been personified as "the Man in the Moon," looking above and seeing what appears to be a human face smiling down back at us.


The Moon was also known to sway the tides, and was given the distinction of having great influence on human behavior.  The human body, comprised of a good amount of water, has been suggested to be swayed by the Moon.  This is supposedly shown as true by studies identifying swiftly changing behaviors, such as madness, lunacy, and aggression.  There is the idea that crimes committed become more aggressive.  The psychiatric hospitals become fuller.  That more babies are born because of the Moon's influence.  It is funny because many studies have been conducted that show no conclusive truthful evidence, but I am a believer as I have worked in a psychiatric hospital and seen first-hand that there appears to be some coincidental pattern of acuity becoming greater during a full moon.

Ancient cultures adopted the idea of superstitions that gave the Moon such power as being able to drive a person mad, and become sick with moon-madness, or moonstruck.  The Moon was able to not only strike madness in a person, but intense love and beauty and romance as well.  "When the Moon hits your eye...like a big pizza pie...THAT'S AMORE!"  All I can think of is either Cher in the movie or Lady and the Tramp sitting and eating spaghetti!

So, put these Moon myths together and we get the synthesis of the werewolf: darkness of the spirit in the human condition (aggression and bestial and primal tendencies that are secret and hidden during the day), being struck by the Moon with a curse (being turned into a wolf beast, based on the changing cycle of the Moon), and lastly of creatures of the night (a fascination with the mystic, grotesque, and misunderstood.)  We humans have quite the imaginations, don't we?

Be careful of that Moon friend!

#6 A Celestial River, A Beautiful Galaxy and A Double Cluster

So this has been a wonderful day; and, cap it off with a wonderful viewing of some of the late winter gems in the night sky with beloved family.  My in-laws are out visiting, and my father in law Mike took an instant interest in the "Big Daddy" of telescopes, my 8" Dobosian.  So, we started with viewing the planet Jupiter in the western horizon.  Our solar system planets endorsed the Roman names, I wonder why?  Imagine calling Jupiter Zeus? That, I think, would be kind of neat, but Jupiter does have a royal sound to it.  So, our largest planet is aptly named after the stormy and gas-filled god of Olympus.  Jupiter boasts up to three red spots, immense gas storms with intense winds and lightning (Zeus' trademark.)  Through my telescope it appears as a small sphere with multi-color bands.  Brown, tan, and yellow bands give Jupiter its distinct color.  Four "bright stars" complete the viewing: the four Galilean moons Io, Callisto, Europa, and Ganymede.

The nice surprise of tonight was that Uranus was close by.  This was my first time being able to see Uranus.  Uranus and Neptune are really just for being able to say that you saw a small greenish speck in the sky, something like a star that does not twinkle.  And, of course, my family had fun with all the Uranus jokes!  Uranus is the grandfather of Zeus, god of the sky and heavens, and husband of Gaea/Gaia, the goddess Earth and the father of Saturn/Cronus, the god of time and agriculture.  I will expand on the other planets as I view them.  Do you know what god Pluto is?  Hades, the god of the underworld and darkness, probably perhaps because it is so far out in the solar system it is in the icy shadowy darkness.

We then viewed the Orion Nebula M42; I am now jazzed up to get myself a set of filters for the telescope, especially an OIII filter to sharpen the contrast on nebulae.  My mother in law and I found a few for sale which are certainly now on my wish list.  My mother in law Cheryl then prompted us to take a look at the Pleides M45, the most noticed open star cluster in the night sky.

Then enter a beautiful spiral galaxy: Andromeda (M31/32) Take a moment to take a look above.  The galaxy is the closest to us to view, and on a collision course with the Milky Way galaxy.  The viewing was very clear, even with the waxing Moon and light pollution.  Once again, I believe the filter would be able to bring further contract to the core and arms of the spiral galaxy.  My father in law Mike made the comment that it "blew his mind that we are looking at light that was generated at the time of the dinosaurs."  This is quite profound, and true in some cases, especially viewing the Virgo galaxy cluster.  The light and/or stars we are viewing may already be dead by the time the light reaches us; hard to imagine huh?

Lastly, we shared a well-known twin star cluster known only as the Double Cluster.  Surprisingly, this magnificent deep-sky object is not cataloged in the Messier objects, as Messier had started the catalog to help guide scientists from mistaking deep-sky objects for comets.  These clusters are available for viewing as well to the naked eye in dark rural areas, and a nice way to ponder the density and vastness of the universe.  I usually describe them as "two buckshots" or "two scatter plots."

I really enjoyed being able to spend time with my family and share my love of the stars.  It was quite the gift.  The day before I had planned just to share about Eridanus, the Celestial River that is not well known and usually glanced over; a very dim constellation that runs North to South, starting at Orion's foot and ending in the Southern Hemisphere.  If you are able to trace the Northern part of the river, you have great eyesight.

I was not sure how much time I would have to share my stargazing, but enjoyed the time and support given by my family to my interests, and the time spent together.  Now I know that truly, love is "Universe-al."  Happy Valentine's Day everyone.

#5 When you Wish upon a Star...

Happy February star friends; check out the Crab Nebula (M1) above!

On Tuesday evening, I chose to pull out with my 8" Dobsonian telescope, and figured I would take a bit of time to take a peek at the Orion Nebula, and try my luck with other cataloged Messier objects in the winter night sky. After pulling the telescope out to the driveway, setting up all my eyepieces and gear, and training my laser scope on the winter night sky, I was able to find two nebula.  I successfully found  the Crab Nebula near Taurus' left horn tip.  Imagine, I am looking at the nebulous gases left over from a supernova that occurred in 1054 A.D!  Although it may just appear in the telescope as a blob, the mind-blowing idea that this gas used to be a star close to 950 years ago was staggering.

I also took a nice look at the Orion nebula, and enjoyed the greenish ectoplasm that showed up in the view; actually, it was one of the clearest looks at the Orion nebula I have had. I finished my stargazing outing with a view of the crescent moon, and have started to learn the craters of the moon.  I believe in March we could start to learn some of the bigger craters of the Moon together, sound good?

So, in light of Valentine's Day this weekend, and family company coming to visit for about close to two weeks, I may be a little less expansive on my offerings each week.  This week I thought it would be nice to take a look at the symbolism and stories that those wondrous balls of gas in the night sky have inspired in regards to love, legend, and destiny.

Well, of course, most of us have heard the famous Walt Disney song "When you wish upon a star..."  or the childhood rhyme: "Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight..." or even when you have caught a shooting star, have you wondered how it was that stars were given such wonderful wishing qualities?  What is it with the fascination of gazing up above us and calling out for our heartfelt desires?  Something about the expansive cosmos above us beckons us further to explore what is truly larger than us, and in ancient civilizations, this awe and wonder equated to the idea that something truly higher than humankind was above looking over the Earth, and perhaps is listening to our calls for help and support.

The universe above also seemed to take on the quality of being a harbinger of natural disasters, and most eclipses (Solar and Lunar) and meteor shower events were seen as large signs of impending doom or change, and taken very seriously.  The awe and fear of the unknown power of the universe and natural world around those ancient civilizations is certainly respectable.  It is also interesting to notice that a star was the sign of the coming of Jesus Christ, and challenged the idea that signs from the universe above were all dangerous with the coming of a divine gift and love that truly was a blessing to humankind.

Stars have also been guides to way fared sailors, sailing in the full darkness of the wide open sea, and to the three wise men looking for the Christ child and a higher knowledge and truth.  Imagine the courage it took to travel through darkness, with only a night sky full of stars to keep the sailors and their ships on course; this never ceases to amaze me.Stars truly have also picked up an enigma of wisdom and spirituality about them, and are known as guideposts for cosmic fate and destiny.  For instance, Shakespeare was well-known for writing in astrology and star symbolism into his great plays, especially his tragedies and most noticeably Romeo and Juliet.  Shakespeare calls the couple "star-crossed lovers" and makes alliteration to the Moon, Sun, and stars quite often.  The literary imagery of love being linked to stars is perhaps because of the furiousness of the fiery and burning gases and bright twinkle of star above.  John Keats "Bright Star" is a nice example of how a star's birth, death, and fusion of gases can create a beautiful prose.

Lastly, where else do we come across stars?  Well, as symbols in flags and as badges and pins that conceptualize accomplishment and status.  Gold stars reward commitment, discipline, and hard work.  The American flag and the American military use stars to denote rank and commitment.  A gold star can be the finishing achievement for a grade school student's superbly done theme paper, as much so as a twinkling star can be a beautiful set of eyes "a twinkle in the eye" or a diamond that twinkles like a star in an engagement or wedding ring.

Twinkle twinkle little star

How I wonder what you are

Up above the world so high

Like a diamond in the sky

Twinkle twinkle little star

How I wonder what you are

Take care until next time,

Russ

#4 The Bull The Charioteer and The Mysterious Goats

Hello Friends,

It's been one "bull" of a week.

I really enjoyed my star stroll this past weekend.  I got my wife Cassandra to join me; and so we bundled up together and enjoyed the starry night together.  Taurus the Bull grabbed my attention this week, especially for the reason that its horns are one of the first of a few open star clusters the winter night sky can show us, and the first I will make mention of in the upcoming few weeks.

Notice Taurus appears to charge Orion the Hunter.  First find Orion, then jump up and to the right.  You will find a sideways "V-shaped" cluster of stars.  This is the Hyades cluster of stars; in Greek, meaning "the rainy ones" and in Roman culture, they were seen as the Piglets.  The rainy ones were so named due to their rise in the sky relating to the coming of Spring by the time Taurus gazed down upon us from far above.  They were also so named as the mourning widows, crying the tears of those wifes that have lost their husbands to war or the hunt.  There really is no story or reason noted as to why the Romans saw these stars as piglets.

The bright reddish/pink "eye" of the bull is Aldebaran, another of the super giant stars.  At the tip of the left horn, lies a bright star that has been shared with Taurus and Auriga, the Charioteer's right foot.  At the tip of the right horn lies the Crab Nebula.  With field binoculars, you are able to see more of the several hundred stars that lie in this open star cluster; a decent telescope will show the Crab Nebula, a super explosion that was recorded in 1054 A.D. and was visible even during daytime for three weeks.

Imagine, I have never seen the Crab Nebula!  This is certainly something I am going to gaze upon this weekend.  I am so excited by finding something new in every adventure I take into the night sky.  I never fear becoming bored of the night sky; each time I gaze upon the night sky, I am still continually brought to awe.

The bull is only the shape of the horns, head, and shoulders; there are no stars that identify the body and legs, and of course there is a great story behind this. Where the body and hind quarters would take up space are Cetus and Aries, the Ram instead.  See the brighter three starred hook-shaped constellation?  That is Aries, mostly linked and symbolized as the ram that produced Jason's golden fleece.  And Cetus, we will visit in the near future, as this creature is part and parcel of the story of Perseus, the Hero.

So, about the missing half of the bull in the sky?  Well, Manilius, a Roman poet, astrologer, and author from 1 A.D. draws a moral from this experience, sharing that "the sky teaches us to undergo loss with fortitude, even since constellations are formed with limbs deformed."  The bull is also submerged underwater, only leaving its front quarters above water.  Why is a bull emerged in water?

Once again, we see Zeus take on an animal form to woo and seduce a mortal woman.  He was particularly fond of taking animal forms, so as to deceive his wife Hera and entice the mortal woman with a gentle and beautiful creature.  Each of the planet Jupiter's four Galilean Moons (Io, Europa, Callisto, and Ganymede) has connected a story where Zeus takes an animal form to entice a mortal woman (man in Ganymede's case) to lay with him.  Taurus the Bull was the shape Zeus took to lure a woman named Europa to lay with him.

In a side story, the bull/heifer could also symbolize Io, who Zeus turned into a heifer to disguise her from Hera.  Hera's woman's intuition was strong, however, and she sent the one-hundred eyed watchman Argus to watch over this heifer that Zeus had brought to Olympus (our ancient private investigator of the gods). Argus was able to spy and confirm that the heifer was Io.  Hera was furious and sent a gadfly after Io.  Io then decided to swim away into the sea to escape.  The heifer is seen swimming in the night sky, her top half above the water and the only part able to be spied.

The legend that incorporates Zeus taking the form of the bull is somewhat more complex.  Zeus saw Europa and other girls playing upon the beach, and instructed Hermes to cause and gather the wild cattle in the mountains towards the beach.  He hid within the cattle drive, a snow white bull with polished metal horns.  Europa found this beast incredibly handsome and admired its gentle nature.  She adorned the horns with flowers and stroked its head and neck.  Zeus then coaxed Europa to sit upon the Bull's back.  Once she had, he paddled out into the sea with Europa, where Europa became much more fearful and clung onto his horns as the waves washed over her and the bull.  Zeus paddled and came to shore on Crete and revealed himself, giving her lavish gifts and a puppy, which at times is symbolized as Canis Major.

This myth shows the calming and restraint of the primal urges in the interest of love.  It also shows of patience and cunning to win the heart of someone.  It is a beautiful picture of the dance and method of love, and the gentle beauty of a woman taming the beast of man.  We see this similar story in, of course, the tale of Beauty and the Beast.

Now let us head over to the tip of the left horn and/or the right foot of Auriga, the charioteer.  The charioteer stands alone, holding the reins of a chariot in one hand and a goat in another.  The constellation looks like a pentagon in the sky, within which is a yellowish star named Capella.  Capella is noted as the winter star, and the goat star.  It is funny because none of the myths mention or explain the origin of the goat, other than the star Capella meaning goat star.  If you look to the right of the star, there are three small stars in a triangular cluster; these are dubbed as the "kids."

The most popular identification of the Charioteer is Erichthonius, a legendary king of Athens.  He was a demi-god, the son of Hephaetus, the god of fire and forge.  Hephaetus was not very kind to his demi-children, so Athena took him under her wing and taught him to tame horses, which led to the use of four horses to draw a chariot, that Erichthonius fashioned through his craftmanship derived as a gift from Hephaetus.  The other interesting point to know is that Erichthonius was crippled as a result of being his father being disfigured, thus his intellect and craftmanship of the chariot reminds us that a physical limitation can be certainly overcome with creativity, intellect, and focus.

I left you another beautiful link: EarthSky Tonight, which gives a nice little spot on a highlight of the night sky to view and observe each day, and to share with other stargazers.

Be Well,
Russ