Tuesday, April 04, 2017

The Letter C: Canis Major

We are up to the letter C in our A-Z tour of heavenly bodies.  C is the mother lode when it comes to names of constellations and stars.  Some of the well-known constellations are Cancer, Canis Major, Capricorn, Cassiopeia, Centaurus, Cepheus, Centus, Corona Borealis, Crux, and Cygnus.  And among the dozens of stars that begin with a C is the well-known “Castor” (one of the Gemini Twins).  There are many good options here.  Capricorn isn’t a stellar constellation, but supposedly I was born “in this sign” (not that I place any trust in astrology).  We’ve already learned about Cepheus and Cassiopeia through their daughter, Andromeda, but I will pick them up later as King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia.  Cygnus is a wonderful constellation, a swan flying north at the end of summer.  It would be another good choice.  But for a “C”, I’m going for Canis Major, Orion’s faithful dog that follows him across the heaven.

Canis Major is easy to find.  When Orion has risen a quarter a way into the sky, just look down toward the southeastern horizon.  The main star in Canis Major is Sirius, a “double star.”  It’s hard to miss as it’s the brightest star in the sky (outside our own Sun, of course).  It is located a mere 9 light years from the Sun. 

The stars rise in the east the same time each year, which allows the astute observer to relate the stars to the time of the year.  Canis Major will always be rising in the evening in late fall or early winter.  In an era before calendars (and when people liked to rise before dawn), the rise of Sirius in the early morning (just before the Sun appeared) signaled to the Egyptians that it was time for the Nile River to rise.  As the star appeared higher and higher in the morning sky, the waters would rise, bringing rich sediment from central Africa to fertilize the land.  This ended only in modern times, with the building of dams that trapped the sediment downstream…  

I have had a number of things come up at work this week.  I am going to be pretty scarce in visiting blogs, at least through Saturday as I try to dig myself out of this hole.  But I'll catch up with a few tonight as I watch the NCAA finals...  Go Carolina!

11:40 PM:  Great game.  Maybe I should add another C: Carolina as in Carolina Blue Skies!  

14 comments:

  1. I'm enjoying your trip through the universe

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  2. As an alum, I say Go Tarheels! But I still don't get how tarheels translates into a ram as a mascot. Just saying.

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  3. Thanks to you I'm spending more time looking at the night sky.

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  4. It's hard for me to imagine, but fascinating to think about, how people managed to use the stars as a kind of calendar. I wish I lived out in the country away from the light pollution of the city so that I could see them more clearly.

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  5. I didn’t know there were so many constellations that start with C. I’m learning so much from your posts!

    Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  6. Given my affection for Orion and for dogs, I must now seek out Canis Major.

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  7. Thanks for another star gazer lesson. I'll see if I can find Canis Major. Enjoy the game!

    #AtoZChallenge
    "Female Scientists Before Our Time"
    Shells–Tales–Sails


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  8. It would be interesting to know if there are any planets in orbit around the two stars.

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  9. As always, I learn much here. Really enjoying this star trek, Sage.

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  10. Interesting post, I don't know as much about the constellations as I would like to, but living in a city makes it difficult to get much practice at looking properly at the stars

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  11. I really really wish I could recognise more constellations. I need to stand with someone and have them point them out... Or memorise a star chart...

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  12. 'C' already!

    Hope work goes ok!
    Take Care

    All the best Jan

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  13. Haha! I can so relate to many things coming up in the week. No worries. Well, C wasn't Cassiopeia, but I enjoyed learning about Canis Major. I've definitely spotted Sirius. I am fascinated with how much ancient people knew about the motions of the stars and planets and how important that knowledge was to their exhistence. Great A - Z theme!

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