The Pleiades (The Seven Sisters)

The Pleiades (M45 or NGC 4472) is the most obvious star cluster to the naked eye in the night sky, along with being one of the closest star clusters. This cluster is found at the shoulder of the bull in the constellation Taurus. The Pleiades were used by the ancient Greek sailors as a type of weather forecast: if the Pleiades were visible it was a good time to set sail; if the Pleiades were not visible, most likely a storm was coming. The conjunction of the cluster with the sun in the spring signified the beginning of the summer sailing season, while the opposition in the fall signified the end of the sailing season.

The Pleiades star cluster consists of over 400 mostly faint stars, along with the 6 to 15 brighter stars seen well with the naked eye during good viewing conditions. There are also several nebulae within the star cluster. These nebulae are blue in color indicating reflection nebulae, which reflect the light of bright stars near or within the nebulae. The reflection nebula seen at right is most likely part of the dust in a molecular cloud and is not actually related to the Pleiades; these two bodies are simply crossing each other in the sky, like two ships in the night. It is estimated that the Pleiades star cluster will survive for roughly another 250 million years. Gravitational interactions with the spiral arms of the galaxy and giant molecular clouds will cause the demise of this most impressive star cluster.

The Seven Sisters are the daughters of the Titan Atlas, who held up the sky, and the sea-nymph Pleione, the protectress of sailing. The daughters were Maia (the eldest), Electra, Taygete, Alcyone, Celaeno, Sterope (which is a double star) and Merope (the youngest). Their half-sisters include the Hyades, Calypso, Hyas and the Hesperides.

The only one of the seven sisters to marry a mortal was Merope, who wed Sisyphus and bore him several sons. The other six sisters all consorted with gods. Zeus sired four children with three of the sisters. Poseidon was father to three children from two of the sisters and Ares fathered a child with one sister.

Atlas joined one of his brothers and several other Titans in a war against the Olympic gods. Two of Atlas’ brothers, after weighing the odds, betrayed the battling Titans by siding with the Olympians. The Titans were defeated and Zeus condemned Atlas to stand at the edge of the Earth and hold the heavens upon shoulders.

One day while strolling the Boeotian countryside, the Pleiades were spotted by Orion, the great hunter. Orion was immediately taken by the incredible beauty of the seven sisters and pursued them across the earth for seven years. Zeus took pity on the sisters on behalf of Orion’s relentless pursuit of them and changed them into doves, giving them a place in the heavens and putting them again under their father’s watchful eye. When Orion was later placed in the heavens, he was set in a position to be behind the Pleiades, forever chasing the lovely ladies he couldn’t catch while mortal.

The Pleiades painted by Elihu Vedder 1885

The star cluster: Notice the two bright stars at the far left side, midway. These are the mother and father, Pleione and Atlas, from top to bottom, forever keeping an eye on their daughters.

For Help Locating This Object in the Sky: Use the Interactive Messier Map in the upper right hand corner. Objects are listed numerically. Click on the object you wish to locate (ex. The Crab Nebula is M1) and a map will be displayed showing that object's location.

Author Resource: Written by Starr Hendon

Orion (The Great Hunter)

Orion, the Hunter, is one of the largest and most easily identifiable constellations in the sky. Once you spot the three stars in Orion's belt, the rest of the constellation is easy to make out. Orion's belt is often referred to as the "Three Kings". The three stars that make up Orion's belt are, from left to right; Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka.

Rigel, the large blue-white supergiant at Orion's left knee, is the sixth brightest star in the sky. Betelgeuse, at Orion's right shoulder, is a variable red giant with a diameter larger than the orbit of Mars. Betelgeuse is one of the 20 brightest stars in the sky.

Orion was the son of Poseidon (King of the Sea) and the Gorgon Euryale. Orion, like most of Poseidon's children, was a man of massive proportions. Orion fell in love with Princess Merope of Chios, daughter of King Oenopion. Oenopion would not give his consent for a marriage between Orion and Merope, despite Orion clearing the island of wild beasts and presenting the spoils of the chase to Merope.

Orion attempted to gain possession of Merope by force, enraging Oenopion who, after getting Orion drunk, blinded him. He then cast Orion out on the seashore. Following the sound of the Cyclops' hammer, Orion reached Lemnos. There he met Hephaestus, the lame smith-god, who took pity on the blinded hunter and gave him one of his men, Cedalion, to take him to the abode of the sun.

With Cedalion guiding Orion from his shoulders, the two made their way to the east meeting Helios, the sun-god. Orion's sight was restored when the healing rays of the sun hit his eyes at dawn. With his vision back, Orion then traveled to Crete, where he hunted with the goddess Artemis and her mother Leto. Orion was a skilled and arrogant hunter. During the hunt with Artemis and Leto, Orion threatened to kill every beast on Earth.

Gaia (Mother Earth) was infuriated with Orion's threat and sent a giant scorpion to kill him. In one version of the story, Orion was stung and killed by the scorpion. Orion and Scorpius, the constellation of the scorpion, are at opposition in the sky. As Scorpius rises in the east, Orion escapes the horizon in the west. When Orion rises in the east, he is chasing Scorpius to the west. Never shall the two meet in the sky to do battle.

Orion hunts eternally in the night sky with his two dogs, the constellations Canis Major (Big Dog) and Canis Minor (Little Dog), at his heels.

The spectacular Horsehead Nebula is found within the constellation Orion.

Between October 20th and 22nd of each year the Orionid meteor shower peaks. In the Northern Hemisphere, the peak rate is 20 meteors per hour. Viewers in the Southern Hemisphere are treated to a peak rate of 40 meteors per hour.

Author Resource: Written by Starr Hendon

Andromeda (Peril by the Sea)

Andromeda was the beautiful daughter of King Cepheus and the incredibly vain Queen Cassiopeia. On one occasion Queen Cassiopeia boasted that her daughter Andromeda was even more beautiful than the Nereids, the alluring sea-nymph daughters of Poseidon, the God of the Sea.

Perseus and Andromeda  by Pierre Mignard (1679)

The Nereids became outraged by this proclamation and demanded revenge. Poseidon, to appease his vengeful daughters, sent flood waters along with the sea monster Cetus, to destroy King Cepheus' kingdom. Cetus wreaked havoc along the coastline; death and destruction followed in his wake. Desperate to protect his land and people, Cepheus sought the help of Ammon, the Oracle of Zeus.

Ammon told Cepheus that the only way to stop the brutal devastation of his kingdom was to sacrifice his virgin daughter Andromeda to the sea monster Cetus. Andromeda was then chained to a rock on the coast of Jaffa (modern day Tel Aviv) to atone for the boastful sins of her mother Cassiopeia.

Andromeda, shackled, alone and terrified, saw Cetus approaching through roiling sea waters and began to scream. The sea monster had its maws opened to consume the sacrificial virgin when Perseus arrived riding the winged horse Pegasus, after beheading the Gorgon Medusa. Perseus swooped down from the sky holding the head of Medusa with her face toward Cetus. The sea monster was turned to stone upon seeing the head and perished, sinking forever to the depths of the sea.

Andromeda had been previously promised to Phineus but due to the heroic rescue by Perseus, Cepheus and Cassiopeia readily agreed to a marriage between Perseus and Andromeda. Their marriage produced seven sons and one daughter.

Andromeda was placed in the constellations of the Northern sky by Athena. She is surrounded by her father Cepheus, her mother Cassiopeia, her husband Perseus and the winged horse that made the marriage possible - Pegasus. The sea monster Cetus is always close by but Pisces, the constellation of fishes, protects and keeps Andromeda out of harms way.

The constellation Andromeda boasts, as befitting her mother, the Andromeda Galaxy, a spectacular galaxy close enough to be seen by the naked eye. Close is a relative term here, being that the galaxy is 2.5 million light years away, giving it the distinction of being the most distant object visible without the need for a telescope. The Andromeda galaxy is larger than the Milky Way, while the Milky Way contains more dark matter and is most likely more massive.

Andromeda Galaxy by clownfish33

Author Resource: Written by Starr Hendon

Pegasus (The Horse for Battles)

Pegasus, a Northern constellation and the 7th largest in the sky (even though only half of the horse is depicted), is quite unique among the constellations. Within Pegasus is the star 51 Pegasi, a Sun-like star that was the first found to have a planet orbiting it. Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz announced the exoplanet’s discovery in 1995, with confirmation coming from Drs. Geoffrey Marcy and Paul Butler. The planet, 51 Pegasi b, informally goes by the name Bellerophon, very fitting when the mythology of Pegasus is considered.

Medusa painting by Caravaggio 1595-1596

Medusa, as a young Princess was quite beautiful. Poseidon (King of the Sea) fell in love with Medusa and seduced her in Athena’s temple. This enraged Athena and to exact revenge Athena turned Medusa’s long, lustrous hair into animate serpents and made Medusa’s face so terrible to behold that anyone who saw Medusa’s face would be turned instantly to stone.

Perseus was sent, in a test of his skill and courage, to find and kill the Gorgon Medusa. He was expected to return with Medusa’s head to prove he had accomplished the task. Using a magical mirror provided by Athena, Perseus was able to behead Medusa without looking directly at her and being turned to stone.

Pegasus had been conceived in the union of Poseidon and Medusa before Medusa was turned into a Gorgon. Pegasus and his brother, Chrysaor, sprang from the neck of Medusa upon her beheading. Pegasus left his mother’s body and flew to Mount Helicon in Boeotia, home of the Muses.

A singing contest between the nine daughters of Pierus and the nine Muses caused Mount Helicon to rise heavenward with sheer delight. As advised by Poseidon, Pegasus kicked the ground with his hoof to stop the mountain from continuing to rise. To the joy of the Muses, his hoof opened up Hippocrene (horse’s fountain) which was the inspiring well of the Muses.

Bellerophon, a great hero and slayer of monsters, found himself in need of Pegasus. King Iobates sent Bellerophon on a nearly impossible mission to slay Chimera, a fire-breathing monster with the head of a lion, the body of a goat and the tail of a serpent.

Painting by Mary Hamilton Frye, 1914

Polyeidos, the Lycian seer, told Bellerophon to sleep in the Temple of Athena in order to obtain the services of Pegasus. In a dream, Athena presented Bellerophon with a golden bridle to help him ride Pegasus. When Bellerophon awoke, the golden bridle was there at his side. Polyeidos told Bellerophon that to capture Pegasus, he must approach Pegasus while the horse was drinking from the well Pierene. Using the golden bridle, Bellerophon mounted Pegasus and flew to fight the Chimera.

Bellerophon defeated the Chimera from above by shooting arrows into her back. He then went on to defeat Solymi and the Amazons. These conquests caused Bellerophon to feel that he was entitled to fly to Mount Olympus, realm of the Gods. Zeus, angered by Bellerophon’s arrogance, sent a gadfly to sting Pegasus, sending Bellerophon falling back to Earth. Bellerophon, blinded and crippled by the fall, lived the rest of his life shunned; alone and in disgrace.

Pegasus continued alone to Mount Olympus and was taken in by Zeus to transport his lightning bolts and thunder, common weapons of Zeus. Zeus then immortalized Pegasus by putting him in the constellations to forever be enjoyed.

Pegasus is featured in many of the Greek mythological tales of the constellations. Another great tale with Pegasus as an important factor is the story of the constellation Andromeda.


For Help Finding Pegasus in the Sky: See the Northern Autumn, Southern Spring constellation map by Jim Kaler and Stan Wyatt.



Author Resource: Written by Starr Hendon

Cassiopeia (The Price of Vanity)

Many of the constellations have heroic or tragic tales associated with them. Cassiopeia is one of those constellations but differs from most of the constellations for one reason; vanity, plain and simple, is what earned Cassiopeia a place in the heavens. An interesting bit of trivia: the only husband-and-wife constellations couple in the sky are Cassiopeia and her husband Cepheus.

Queen Cassiopeia was an extremely beautiful woman. She was the mother of Andromeda, who was equally beautiful. Cassiopeia boasted that both she and Andromeda were more beautiful than even the Nereids. The Nereids were the sea-nymph daughters of Nereus, the Old Man of the Sea. Amphitrite, one of the Nereids, was the wife of the sea-god Poseidon.

The sisters implored Poseidon to punish Cassiopeia for her vanity. Poseidon released his sea monster Cetus to demolish the coast of King Cepheus’ country Aethiopia (not to be confused with modern-day Ethiopia). To stop this attack by Cetus, Cepheus and Cassiopeia chained their virgin daughter Andromeda to a rock to be given as a sacrifice. The hero Perseus rescued, and later married, Andromeda.

As punishment for her vanity, Cassiopeia was chained to her throne and sent to the heavens to revolve around the Pole Star. Because the circumference around the Pole Star is such a short distance, Cassiopeia is one of the few constellations that is visible year-round. And because of the path it follows, Cassiopeia is “upside-down” part of the year. Very unbecoming for the vain woman, who took great pride in her hair.

Cassiopeia is positioned between Perseus and Cepheus in the Northern sky. The constellation is identifiable by its “W” shape. The 5 stars making the constellation easily identifiable are; Caph (for the elbow or palm), Schedar (the breast), Cih (the girdle), Rucha (the thigh) and Segin (the right knee). When these stars are viewed in their order, Queen Cassiopeia is seen as sitting up, with the elbow or palm held in the air because of the chain binding the Queen to her throne.

Within Cassiopeia are two Messier objects, Messier 52 (NGC 7654) and Messier 103 (NGC 581). Both of these open clusters are easily seen using binoculars. Messier 103 is pictured here.








Author Resource: Written by Starr Hendon

Cygnus (Swan in the Sky)

The Southern Hemisphere has the Southern Cross. In the Northern Hemisphere we have the Northern Cross, or Cygnus, the Swan. Cygnus is actually more distinctive and quite a bit larger than the Southern Cross.

Deneb, the brightest star in the constellation, is at the tail of Cygnus. Deneb, a super-giant, is the most distant of all the first-magnitude stars. Albireo is at the head of Cygnus. Albireo is actually two stars that give off a distinctive blue and amber glow. It is easy to see the graceful, long neck and wings stretched out in flight while looking up at Cygnus.

Cygnus is home to many nebulae. The Veil Nebula is a breathtakingly light, wispy nebula; unlike planetary nebular that are circular in shape, the Veil Nebula spreads so thin that stars can be seen through it. The North American Nebula, complete with the shape of the Gulf of Mexico, is near Deneb.

Zeus is well-known for taking many shapes in his seductions. Disguised as a swan, Zeus seduced Leda, the wife of King Tyndareus. Out of this union came Clytemnestra and her sister Helen of Troy, along with Castor and Pollux. As Leda had lain with both her husband and Zeus, there will always be questions regarding the fatherhood of the offspring.

Many stories abound about the swan and Cygnus remains an enigma, free to roam the night sky.



Author Resource: Written by Starr Hendon