Astronomy Walk ’n’ Talk Friday:Kerry Wood Nature Center
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Astronomy Walk ’n’ Talk for Adults: looking for a nice Friday out? You’ve found it! This is the first in a series of social evenings that will run over the summer, featuring an informative talk followed by an evening walk in the Sanctuary and refreshments. Come and learn the stories and myths of the night sky. Limited spaces available; pre-registration required. $15 members + GST or $17 + GST/non-members of Kerry Wood Nature Center
You can register online at the link below or register in person at Kerry Wood, limited registration so register early. There are only 12 spaces in this class please pay for it right away if you would like to attend. It is the first 12 to pay who get to go, not the first 12 to RSVP
https://ca.apm.activecommunities.com/waskasoo/Activity_Search
The Great Bear Constellation
Ursa Major
Description
In Latin Ursa Major means “greater she-bear.” In Greek Arktos is the word for bear, hence the name Arctic, which means bearish and describes the far northern parts of the earth where the Great Bear constellation dominates the heavens even more than in the northern hemisphere. A very large constellation, Ursa Major is best known for its famous asterism or star grouping, the Big Dipper.Location in the Night Sky
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Ursa Major is highest in the sky in the spring and lowest in the autumn, when, according to Indian legends, the Bear is looking for a place to lie down for its winter hibernation. This constellation is a circumpolar constellation, which means it travels closely around the North Star; it is always above the horizon never rising or setting; it can be seen any time of the year, high or low in the sky.
The following graphic shows the position of the Big Dipper in the early evening each season. In the spring the bowl is high above and inverted, pouring water upon the new flowers. In summer the bowl looks as if it is ready to scoop up some cool water with its handle above and its bowl below. In autumn the bowl is right-side-up, ready to catch the falling leaves. In winter the handle points down like an icicle.
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The pointer stars in the bowl of the Big Dipper point to Polaris, our current North Star. The distance to Polaris appears to be six times the distance between the pointer stars.
To find the Great Bear in the Spring night sky, look high overhead and locate the Dipper first, then the three pairs of stars which form the Bear’s paws ... this works for the ancient or new way of viewing the Great Bear. The bowl of the Dipper is inverted as if pouring the contents of fresh water down upon an awakening earth. The paws of the Bear are up high, as if walking in the heavens. The night skies and the path of stars make patterns in the sky which are evident in many of the symbols that all cultures used.
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Ursa Minor means little bear in Latin, but this circumpolar constellation resembles a dipper more than a bear and is therefore commonly called the Little Dipper. It is much less conspicuous than the Big Dipper, but it contains the most important navigational star in our sky, Polaris, the Pole or North Star. From our perspective Polaris appears to remain in the same location, while all the other stars seem to rotate around it, as if it is the center of the universe. Since you will always see Polaris in the same northern location, whenever you look at it and extend your arms out to the side, the front of your body is facing north, and south is behind you; your extended right arm points east and your extended left arm points west. Give it a try! When you experience this, you can understand why the North Star has been of great navigational value down through the ages.
The celestial North Pole is the point where the imaginary polar axis of the earth would touch the sky, if it were extended. Polaris, for all practical purposes, is this celestial North Pole, being only one degree off this point. It is not the brightest of stars, nor was it or will it always be the star closest to the pole. Because of the earth’s wobble the celestial pole shifts as the centuries go by, and different stars become pole stars at different times.
Most of the Little Dipper’s stars are faint. Only the two at the end of the bowl are fairly bright. They are called Guardians of the Pole as they march around the pole like sentries. The brighter one of the pair, seen at the upper end of the bowl, was the Pole Star in the time of Plato, about 400 BCE.
Location in the Night Sky
Polaris can be found by following a line formed by the pointer stars in the bowl of the Big Dipper. Extend this line 6x the distance between the two pointer stars, and you will see the North Star. There are no bright stars in between to cause any confusion. Polaris is the tip of the Little Dipper handle.
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For an interesting Chinese perspective check this out
The Sacred Wheel of the Year as revealed through the I Ching. (http://phoenixqi.blogspot.ca/2007/01/in-chinese-mythology-and-legend-fu-xi.html)
http://phoenixqi.blogspot.ca/2007/01/in-chinese-mythology-and-legend-fu-xi.html
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Check out this site
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Astronomy Walk ’n’ Talk Friday:Kerry Wood Nature Center