Featured Constellations |
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Size isn't everything, and these two
constellations prove that; although Hercules is
much larger, you'll probably have a much easier
time locating Lyra, because the latter star
group includes the brilliant Vega, 5th
brightest night time star.
The pattern of Lyra is also more distinctive, a skewed rectangle joined to Vega's eastern side. Hercules is also visible to the unaided eye in the city, however, boasting several "second magnitude" stars. To find Hercules, start with Vega in Lyra, and scoot about ten degrees west. Look for the "keystone" of stars which mark the center of Hercules' body; be wary of the similar pattern you can make from the stars just south of this that mark the portions of his upper body (he is drawn with south at the top).
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In mythology, Hercules was an immortal human - his father was a god, the king of the Greek gods in fact: Zeus. His mom was your average working girl, Alcmene, but I guess Zeus contributed some important genetics to Hercules, because his strength and invulnerability were the stuff of legends...and television programs. Unfortunately, Hercules ended up regretting his infinite life span after being painfully maimed and burned by a poisoned garment - talk about jock itch. Anyway, to end his pain, Hercules renounced his immortality (I shudder to think of the HMO paperwork on that one) and died. This ancient strong man is now just an array of stars.
The Lyra story centers around Orpheus, son of the god Apollo and the muse Calliope. Orpheus was quite the musician; in fact, his music soothed all living things. Remember the old phrase "music hath charms to soothe the savage beast?" They weren't thinking about rap, but they were thinking of Lyra, because it is the stringed instrument of Orpheus. A "lyre" has nothing to do with politicians, you understand - its a bit like a small harp. What's it doing up there? Well, there was this girl, Eurydice. Orpheus really dug on her. It's a long story, but...she got bitten by a snake, died, and Orpheus tried to rescue her from Down Below...but he blew it, freaked out, and was apparently ripped to pieces later by jealous groupies. Something like that. The thing is, and this is creepy, the Lyre kept playing by itself - which either meant that Orpheus's grief was so strong it transcended death, or he was the lip-sync'ing ancient equivalent of Millie-Vanillie. The king of the gods, impressed, put the Lyre among the stars.
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