09-17-2011, 01:53 AM
(This post was last modified: 09-17-2011, 04:04 AM by Tenet Nosce.)
Wild... from Google Sky Maps... at my location at 1:11 am we have:
Orion on the eastern horizon
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Ophiuchus is said to represent the great healer Asclepius, depicted as holding a serpent and standing on a scorpion. Also note that the "higher manifestation" of scorpio is the phoenix.
Serpens
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![[Image: 300px-M101_hires_STScI-PRC2006-10a.jpg]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c5/M101_hires_STScI-PRC2006-10a.jpg/300px-M101_hires_STScI-PRC2006-10a.jpg)
Phoenix & Grus on the southern horizon
Phoenix Ra is 0:0:0 DEC is -50:0:0
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Orion on the eastern horizon

Quote:The Babylonian star catalogues of the Late Bronze Age name Orion MULSIPA.ZI.AN.NA, "The Heavenly Shepherd" or "True Shepherd of Anu" - Anu being the chief god of the heavenly realms.[18] The Babylonian constellation was sacred to Papshukal and Ninshubur, both minor gods fulfilling the role of 'messenger to the gods'. Papshukal was closely associated with the figure of a walking bird on Babylonian boundary stones, and on the star map the figure of the Rooster was located below and behind the figure of the True Shepherd.[19]Ophiuchus/Serpens on the western horizon
The stars of Orion were associated with Osiris, the sun-god of rebirth and afterlife, by the ancient Egyptians.[20][21][22]
Orion has also been identified with the last Egyptian Pharaoh of the Fifth Dynasty called Unas who, according to the Pyramid Texts, became great by eating the flesh of his mortal enemies and then slaying and devouring the gods themselves. This was based on a belief in contiguous magic whereby consuming the flesh of great people would bring inheritance of their power.[21] After devouring the gods and absorbing their spirits and powers, Unas journeys through the day and night sky to become the star Sabu, or Orion.[20] The Pyramid Texts also show that the dead Pharaoh was identified with the god Osiris, whose form in the stars was often said to be the constellation Orion.[20]
The Bible mentions Orion three times, naming it "Kesil" (כסיל, brute, strong): Job 9:9 ("He is the maker of the Bear and Orion"), Job 38:31 ("Can you loosen Orion`s belt?"), and Amos 5:8 ("He who made the Pleiades and Orion"). In ancient Aram, the constellation was known as Nephila, Orion's descendantsGreco-Roman antiquity
Orion's current name derives from Greek mythology, in which Orion was a gigantic hunter of primordial times.[24] Some of these myths relate to the constellation; one story tells that Orion was killed by a giant scorpion; the gods raised him and the Scorpion to the skies, as Scorpio/Scorpius. Yet other stories say Orion was chasing the Pleiades.[25] The constellation is mentioned in Horace's Odes, Homer's Odyssey (Book 5, line 283) and Iliad, and Virgil's Aeneid (Book 1, line 535)
In medieval Muslim astronomy, Orion was known as al-jabbar "the giant".

Ophiuchus is said to represent the great healer Asclepius, depicted as holding a serpent and standing on a scorpion. Also note that the "higher manifestation" of scorpio is the phoenix.
Quote:Asclepius (/æsˈkliːpiəs/; Greek: Ἀσκληπιός Asklēpiós [asklɛːpiós]; Latin Aesculapius) is the god of medicine and healing in ancient Greek religion. Asclepius represents the healing aspect of the medical arts;
He was the son of Apollo and Coronis. His mother was killed for being unfaithful to Apollo and was laid out on a funeral pyre to be consumed, but the unborn child was rescued from her womb. Or, alternatively, his mother died in labour and was laid out on the pyre to be consumed, but his father rescued the child, cutting him from her womb. From this he received the name Asklepios "to cut open".[5] Apollo carried the baby to the centaur Chiron who raised Asclepius and instructed him in the art of medicine.[6]
Serpens
Quote:It is unique among the modern constellations in being split into two non-contiguous parts, Serpens Caput (Serpent's Head) to the west and Serpens Cauda (Serpent's Tail) to the east. Between these two halves lies the constellation of Ophiuchus, the "Serpent-Bearer". In figurative representations, the body of the serpent is represented as passing behind Ophiuchus between μ Ser in Serpens Caput and ν Ser in Serpens Cauda. The brighest star in Serpens is Unukalhai or Cor Serpentis "Serpent's Heart", with an apparent magnitude of 2.63.
Quote:Aratus describes the constellation as follows:Ursa Major on the northern horizon
Both [hands of Ophiuchus] firmly clutch the Serpent, which encircles the waist of Ophiuchus, but he, steadfast with both his feet well set, tramples a huge monster, even the Scorpion, standing upright on his eye and breast. Now the Serpent is wreathed about his two hands – a little above his right hand, but in many folds high above his left. ... Toward the Crown leans the Serpent’s jaw, but beneath his coiling form seek thou for the mighty Claws [Libra][1]
There were two "serpent" constellations in Babylonian astronomy, known as Mušḫuššu and Bašmu. It appears that Mušḫuššu was depicted as a hybrid of dragon, lion and bird, and loosely corresponds to Hydra. Bašmu was a horned serpent (c.f. Ningishzida) and loosely corresponds to the Ὄφις constellation of Eudoxus of Cnidus on which the Ὄφις (Serpens) of Ptolemy is based.[2]

Quote:Except for Dubhe and Alkaid, the stars of the Big Dipper all have proper motions heading towards a common point in Sagittarius. A few other such stars have been identified, and together they are called the Ursa Major Moving Group.Pinwheel galaxy Counter-clockwise):
Mizar, a star in the Big Dipper, forms the famous optical double star with Alcor.
The stars Merak (β Ursae Majoris) and Dubhe (α Ursae Majoris) are known as the "pointer stars" because they are helpful for finding Polaris, also known as the North Star. By visually tracing a line from Merak through Dubhe and continuing, one's eye will land on Polaris, accurately indicating true north.
W Ursae Majoris is the prototype of a class of contact binary variable stars, and ranges between 7.75m and 8.48m.
47 Ursae Majoris has a planetary system with two confirmed planets, 2.54 times and 0.76 times the mass of Jupiter.
Several bright galaxies are found in Ursa Major, including the pair Messier 81 (one of the brightest galaxies in the sky) and Messier 82 above the bear's head, and Pinwheel Galaxy (M101), a beautiful spiral northeast of η Ursae Majoris. The other notable spiral galaxies Messier 108 and Messier 109 may also be found in this other constellation. Altogether, the constellation contains about 50 galaxies observable through an amateur telescope. The bright planetary nebula Owl Nebula (M97), named for its appearance, can be found along the bottom of the bowl of the Big Dipper. Of note as a curiosity more than an interesting deep sky object is Messier 40, a double star that Messier nonetheless included in his catalogue.
The Hubble Deep Field is located to the northeast of δ Ursae Majoris.
![[Image: 300px-M101_hires_STScI-PRC2006-10a.jpg]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c5/M101_hires_STScI-PRC2006-10a.jpg/300px-M101_hires_STScI-PRC2006-10a.jpg)
Quote:In Greek mythology, Zeus (the king of the gods) lusts after a young woman named Callisto, a nymph of Artemis. Hera, Zeus' jealous wife, transforms the beautiful Callisto into a bear. Callisto, while in bear form, later encounters her son Arcas. Arcas almost shoots the bear, but to avert the tragedy, Zeus hurls them both into the sky, forming Ursa Major. In ancient times the name of the constellation was Helike, ("turning"), because it turns around the Pole. In Book Two of Lucan it is called Parrhasian Helice, since Callisto came from Parrhasia in Arcadia, where the story is set.[2]
One of the few star groups mentioned in the Bible (Job 9:9; 38:32; Amos 5:8—Orion and the Pleiades being others), Ursa Major was also pictured as a bear by the Jewish peoples. ("The Bear" was translated as "Arcturus" in the Vulgate and it persisted in the KJV.)
The Iroquois Native Americans interpreted Alioth, Mizar, and Alkaid as three hunters pursuing the Great Bear. According to one version of their myth, the first hunter (Alioth) is carrying a bow and arrow to strike down the bear. The second hunter (Mizar) carries a large pot — the star Alcor — on his shoulder in which to cook the bear while the third hunter (Alkaid) hauls a pile of firewood to light a fire beneath the pot.
In Hinduism, Ursa Major is known as Saptarshi, each of the stars representing one of the Saptarshis or Seven Sages viz. Bhrigu, Atri, Angirasa, Vasishta, Pulastya, Pulalaha and Kratu. The fact that the two front stars of the constellations point to the pole star is explained as the boon given to the boy sage Dhruva by Lord Vishnu.
In Finnish language, the asterism is sometimes called with its old Finnish name, Otava. The meaning of the name has been almost forgotten in Modern Finnish; it means a salmon weir.
In Burmese, Pucwan Tārā (pronounced "bazun taja") is the name of a constellation comprising stars from the head and forelegs of Ursa Major; pucwan is a general term for a crustacean, such as prawn, shrimp, crab, lobster, etc.
In theosophy, it is believed the Seven Stars of the Pleiades focus the spiritual energy of the Seven Rays from the Galactic Logos to the Seven Stars of the Great Bear, then to Sirius, then to the Sun, then to the god of Earth (Sanat Kumara), and finally through the seven Masters of the Seven Rays to the human race.[3]
In South Korea, the constellation is referred to as "the seven stars of the north". In the related myth, a widow with seven sons found comfort with a widower, but to get to his house required crossing a stream. The seven sons, sympathetic to their mother, placed stepping stones in the river. Their mother, not knowing who put the stones in place, blessed them and, when they died, they became the constellation.
In Javanese, as known as "Bintang Kartika". This name comes from Sanskrit which refers "krttikã" the same star cluster. In ancient Java, this star clusters so popular because its emergence into the start time marker for planting.
Phoenix & Grus on the southern horizon
Phoenix Ra is 0:0:0 DEC is -50:0:0

Quote:The phoenix (Greek: Φοίνιξ Greek pronunciation: [ˈfiniks], Armenian: Փիւնիկ, Persian: ققنوس, Arabic: العنقاء أو طائر الفينيق, Chinese: 鳳凰 or 不死鳥, Hebrew: פניקס) is a mythical sacred firebird that can be found in the mythologies of the Arabian, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Chinese, Indian and (according to Sanchuniathon) Phoenicians.Grus (previously part of Piscis Austrinus)
A phoenix is a mythical bird with a colorful plumage and a tail of gold and scarlet (or purple, blue, and green according to some legends). It has a 500 to 1000 year life-cycle, near the end of which it builds itself a nest of twigs that then ignites; both nest and bird burn fiercely and are reduced to ashes, from which a new, young phoenix or phoenix egg arises, reborn anew to live again. The new phoenix is destined to live as long as its old self. In some stories, the new phoenix embalms the ashes of its old self in an egg made of myrrh and deposits it in the Egyptian city of Heliopolis (literally "sun-city" in Greek). It is said that the bird's cry is that of a beautiful song. The Phoenix's ability to be reborn from its own ashes implies that it is immortal, though in some stories the new Phoenix is merely the offspring of the older one. In very few stories they are able to change into people.
Quote:In Greek mythology, this constellation is known as the Great Fish and it is portrayed as swallowing the water being poured out by Aquarius, the water-bearer constellation. The two fish of the constellation Pisces are said to be the offspring of the Great Fish. In Egyptian mythology, this fish saved the life of the Egyptian goddess Isis, so she placed this fish and its descendants into the heavens as constellations of stars.[1]
Pisces Austrinus originated with the Babylonian constellation simply known as the Fish (MUL.KU).
Fomalhaut traditionally represents the mouth of the fish. Its companion Fomalhaut b is the first extrasolar planet ever detected by a visible light image, thanks to the Hubble Space Telescope. Beta PsA is the only other star in the constellation to have been named, being Tien Kang (heavenly rope) in China. It is also a binary, although of two nearly equal stars.