Summer Triangle ascends into view

I seldom get to see any stars at all in my over-lit neighborhood so it was a treat to walk out recently about 10 p.m. and actually see the brighter stars of Scorpius creeping up from the neighboring trees and rooftops in the south-southeast. The leading slant of stars are the front claws reaching out towards other constellations and the stars of the body form a fish hook shape.

Pacific Islanders call this constellation Maui’s Fish Hook and tell of a bold youth who sets out to teach the rambunctious sky-wandering sun a lesson in politeness. According to the story in my version, the sun would rise wherever and whenever the spirits moved it. It had no set path to follow, which made life in the island paradise not quite a paradise. One morning our bold hero set sail in his canoe with a pile of nets and a plan. He was going to catch the sun and teach it some manners. As the sun leaped from the blue-green ocean, Maui tossed his coconut fiber net into the sky right over the sun. A mighty battle erupted as sun leapt and dove across the sky trying to get out of the snare. Maui hung on for dear life, finally tying the ends of his net to a tall palm tree. From that time to this, the sun sedately tracks across the sky from east to west at a steady pace from day to day.

Perhaps you and your family would like to create your own star stories. Who knows, you might write one that becomes a best-selling book or video game. There is no limit to human creativity. Just because the international astronomer’s groups have been using the same old – in some cases 5,000 years old-names for stars and patterns, that should not keep you from trying your hand at creativity.

To an observer facing east, the Summer Triangle asterism is gracing the sky by full dark. Vega, Altair, and Deneb are the three bright stars marking the vertices of the triangle that may be seen if the sky is clear of haze. The stars are from three constellations, Lyra the Harp, Aquila the Eagle, and Cygnus the Swan. The brightest star in the group is Vega. The three constellations that comprise the Summer Triangle’s recognizable shapes include a trapezoid, Lyra; a cross or sword, Cygnus; and a flattened triangle, Aquila. Perhaps this group could be the watermelon plug, or the apple pie wedge. Yes, I am a bit hungry as I write this column.

Above the Summer Triangle is Hercules, a frog-shaped group of stars at the zenith almost directly overhead. Although the stars are faint, if you are fortunate to be in an area where the skies are not light polluted you can see it. I doubt Hercules likes being a dot-to-dot frog though. Perhaps this is how the fairy tale of a princess kissing a frog began. Perhaps, anything is possible in fiction.

Beneath the Summer Triangle is a delicate little trapezoid of stars that outline a very small dolphin leaping in the starry sea. Delphinus is sometimes mis-identified as the Little Dipper by casual sky watchers. You might enjoy taking the family on one of the dolphin cruises out of Port Isabel or SPI this summer. They are a real treat to watch as they follow the boat’s waves at the bow or wake at the stern along the channel to the Gulf waters.

The Little and Big Dipper asterisms are only found in the north and are circumpolar constellations. Currently they are on the western side of the meridian where Polaris is situated. Polaris is the last star at the end of the handle of the Little Dipper. On the east side of the meridian is the crooked little house that is King Cepheus and below him is his Queen Cassiopeia.

See you next week, and do remember to KLU.