STAR GAZERS SG 1819-5 MINUTE (MAY 7-13, 2018) VIRGO! WELCOME TO STAR GAZERS! I'M DEAN REGAS, ASTRONOMER FROM THE CINCINNATI OBSERVATORY. AND I'M JAMES ALBURY, DIRECTOR OF THE KIKA SILVA PLA PLANETARIUM IN GAINESVILLE FLORIDA. WE RE HERE TO HELP YOU FIND YOUR WAY AROUND THE NIGHT SKY. HEY DEAN. YOU KNOW WHAT? I FOUND THAT BEING AN ASTRONOMER HAS ITS ADVANTAGES. YOU RE TELLING ME! BETWEEN THE PAPARAZZI AND ALL THE FAME AND FORTUNE, I CAN BARELY KEEP UP! NO, NO NOT THAT. I MEAN, WHEN IT COMES TO ASTROLOGICAL ADVANTAGES. ASTROLOGICAL ADVANTAGES? SURE. IF YOU ASK MOST PEOPLE WHAT ZODIAC SIGN THEY RE BORN UNDER, THEY CAN PROBABLY TELL YOU.
HOWEVER, AS ASTRONOMERS, WE CAN SHOW PEOPLE WHERE THEIR ZODIAC SIGN IS IN THE SKY! LET'S SHOW YOU! (STOP) MY BIRTHDAY IS DECEMBER 18TH, SO, I GUESS THAT WOULD MAKE ME A SAGITTARIUS, RIGHT? YEP! BEING BORN IN EARLY DECEMBER, YOU RE CONSIDERED A SAGITTARIUS AND PEOPLE BORN IN LATE DECEMBER ARE CAPRICORNS. TO DETERMINE YOUR ZODIAC SIGN, YOU TAKE THE LOCATION WHERE THE SUN APPEARS AGAINST THE BACKGROUND STARS. IF THAT DATE IS YOUR BIRTHDAY, THE CONSTELLATION THE SUN IS IN WOULD BE THE ONE ASSOCIATED WITH YOUR HOROSCOPE. AH, BUT THE SUN IS IN CAPRICORNUS ON MY BIRTHDAY. THAT S TRUE. HOWEVER, IN WESTERN ASTROLOGY, THE TROPICAL ZODIAC IS USED, WHICH MORE CLOSELY CORRESPONDS TO WHERE EVERYTHING WAS POSITIONED COORDINATE-WISE, 3000 YEARS AGO. DUE TO EARTH S 26,000-YEAR TOP-LIKE WOBBLE, THE SUN IS IN THE PRECEDING ZODIACAL CONSTELLATION ON YOUR BIRTHDAY. INTERESTING. SO, WHAT S YOUR ZODIAC SIGN?
WELL, I WAS BORN IN LATE AUGUST, SO THAT WOULD MAKE ME A VIRGO; WHICH IS WHAT OUR SHOW IS ABOUT THIS WEEK. EXCELLENT! LET S CHECK OUT YOUR CONSTELLATION... (STOP AND DROP) THE CONSTELLATION OF VIRGO IS OFTEN ASSOCIATED WITH THE GREEK STORY OF DEMETER AND HER DAUGHTER PERSEPHONE. IT TRIED TO EXPLAIN WHY THE SEASONS CHANGE. PERSEPHONE WAS THE ONLY DAUGHTER OF DEMETER, THE GODDESS OF GRAIN, AGRICULTURE AND FERTILITY. UNFORTUNATELY, ZEUS BROTHER HADES, THE RULER OF THE UNDERWORLD, FELL IN LOVE WITH PERSEPHONE. SO, HE KIDNAPPED HER AND TOOK HER TO THE UNDERWORLD TO BE HIS WIFE. DEMETER DIDN T LIKE THE IDEA OF PERSEPHONE BECOMING THE QUEEN OF THE UNDERWORLD, SO SHE MADE ALL THE PLANTS ON EARTH WITHER. ZEUS WORRIED THAT HUMANITY WOULD STARVE TO DEATH SO HE MADE A BARGAIN WITH HADES AND DEMETER. PERSEPHONE WOULD SPEND 6 MONTHS IN THE HEAVENS WITH DEMETER ON MOUNT OLYMPUS AND SPEND THE OTHER HALF OF THE YEAR IN THE UNDERWORLD WITH HADES.
THIS PATTERN OF VIRGO S APPEARANCE IN THE SKY COINCIDES WITH THE CHANGING OF THE SEASONS. VIRGO IS VISIBLE IN THE EVENING SKY DURING SPRING AND SUMMER WHEN FLOWERS AND CROPS ARE IN BLOOM. HOWEVER, IN THE FALL AND WINTER, WHEN VIRGO IS NOT VISIBLE IN THE EVENING SKY, EVERYTHING WITHERS AND GOES DORMANT. ALRIGHT, LET S GO FIND VIRGO IN THE SKY. (STOP) OK, WE VE GOT OUR SKY SET UP FOR AN HOUR AFTER SUNSET, ANY NIGHT THIS WEEK, FACING EAST. TO FIND VIRGO, USE THE BIG DIPPER AS YOUR GUIDE. SIMPLY LOOK TO THE NORTHEAST AND YOU'LL FIND THE FOUR STARS THAT MARK THE BOWL OF THE BIG DIPPER AND THE THREE STARS THAT MARK ITS HANDLE. BY TRACING AN ARC WITH THE STARS IN THE HANDLE, YOU LL RUN SMACK DAB INTO THE STAR ARCTURUS. THEN, IF YOU CONTINUE DRAWING A STRAIGHT LINE AWAY FROM ARCTURUS TOWARD THE SOUTH, YOU LL RUN INTO SPICA, THE BRIGHTEST STAR IN VIRGO. SPICA MEANS EAR OF WHEAT AND REPRESENTS A STALK OF GRAIN IN HER HAND. (STOP) AND SPEAKING OF STAR NAMES, VIRGO HAS SOME REALLY PRETTY STAR NAMES. THAT S RIGHT JAMES,
THE STAR JUST WEST OF SPICA IS PORRIMA AND THE STAR JUST NORTH OF PORRIMA IS MINELAUVA. PORRIMA IS A BINARY STAR SYSTEM OVER 38 LIGHT YEARS AWAY AND MINELAUVA IS ALSO A BINARY STAR SYSTEM ALMOST 200 LIGHT YEARS AWAY. THE STAR WEST OF PORRIMA IS ZANIAH AND THE ONE NORTH OF MINELAUVA IS VINDEMIATRIX. ZANIAH IS OVER 260 LIGHT YEARS AWAY AND VINDEMIATRIX IS OVER 109 LIGHT YEARS AWAY. LASTLY, THE STAR TO THE EAST OF MINELAUVA IS HEZE AND THE BRIGHTEST STARS FURTHEST EAST ARE SYRMA AND RIGELAWA. HEZE IS 74 LIGHT YEARS FROM US, SYRMA IS 72 AND RIGELAWA IS JUST UNDER 60 LIGHT YEARS DISTANT. (STOP - CLOSE UP ENDING). SO, THERE YOU HAVE IT. A VERY POPULAR CONSTELLATION OF THE ZODIAC, EASILY VISIBLE IN THE SKY THIS TIME OF YEAR. AND IT'S EASY TO FIND WHEN YOU BOTH: KEEP LOOKING UP!
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