ST. CROIX Sky Watch

Any time is a wonderful time to visit the Virgin Islands, but from an astronomical point of view you could not select a better time to look at the night sky. Just after the sunset, as it begins to grow dark, two very bright star-like objects will appear low near the western horizon. These are not stars at all, but two of the planets. The brighter and slightly higher of the two is Venus. Venus is the third brightest natural object in the sky, after the Sun and the Moon. Just below Venus is the largest of all the planets, Jupiter. Being brighter than stars, Jupiter usually dominates any part of the sky where it appears, but it must yield to the much brighter Venus.

As the sky grows fully dark many bright stars will appear and also another planet. High overhead you will find the bright red planet Mars. Right now it shares this part of the sky with several bright stars.

Dominating the sky almost directly overhead are seven bright stars that form Orion, the Hunter. Two stars form his shoulders (bright red Betelgeuse and Bellatrix), two more his knees (Saiph and the very bright Rigel) and three his belt. Orion is not alone in his celestial hunt. Draw a line along the three stars which form Orion’s belt toward the southeast and you will come to the brightest star in the night sky, Sirius, the nose of Canis Major, the Big Dog. Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. Between Sirius and Orion is a somewhat fainter star, this is Procyon and Canis Minor, the Little Dog.

According to legend, Orion was such a mighty hunter that he boasted that he could defeat any animal on Earth in battle. Suddenly a scorpion appeared, stung Orion on the foot and Orion died. However, Orion was such a great hunter that he was given immortality and placed in the heavens. The scorpion was also placed in the night sky, but you never seen Orion and the scorpion at the same time.

Go back to Orion’s belt and draw the line in the opposite direction and it will bring you to the red-orange star Aldebaran, the right eye of Taurus, the Bull. Fainter stars form a “V” shape, this is Taurus’ head.

Riding on the Bull’s shoulder, to the northwest of Aldebaran, is a group of stars very close together. This star cluster is the Pleiades or Seven Sisters. The Pleiades are among the first stars mentioned in the astronomical literature of China, with one record dated at 2357 B.C. According to one

Greek myth, the Pleiades were so beautiful that Orion, the Hunter, pursued them tirelessly. The Pleiades appealed to Jupiter for help and Jupiter changed them into doves and they flew into the heavens.

East of the Pleiades and Aldebaran and north of Orion is where you will find Mars. Return to Orion and this time look just to the east and slightly to the north. You will see two stars, fairly close together and of about the same brightness. The stars are Castor and Pollux, the head of the Gemini Twins. Castor and Pollux were twin brothers and the sons of Jupiter. The twins accompanied Jason and the Argonauts in the quest for the Golden Fleece. Pollux was famous for his achievements in arms whereas Castor was a superior equestrian. The Twins also were said to have power over the seas and ships often paid homage to them by placing effigies of the twins in the prows of vessels.

The Equinox is on March 20th. The Sun is directly over the Earth’s equator and the number of hours of day and night is about equal all over the globe. The March Equinox marks the beginning of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere and the start of Autumn in the Southern Hemisphere.