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Winter Sky Observations:
Orion: The Hunter, has three main stars that form Orion's belt
One way the belt points to Pleiades, the other way it point to Sirius
Rigel: Blue super giant sun, very young - 100,000 years old
Betelgeuse: Red super giant sun, very old, 1000 light years away
- This star's radius would reach out to the orbit of Mars in distance
Has two nebulas (areas of space stars, gas and dust) inside the constellation: Orion and
Horsehead
The Iroquois believe that Orion was a great hunter. The story goes that he climbed a mountain to
prepare for his death. When the end came, he ascended into the heavens, where remarkably, he
recovered his strength. He was assigned to a new job, to carry the sun high into the sky in the
summer. Orion is indeed located in the Northern day sky during the summer months, its
presence blotted out by glare of the sun. But as winter approached, the hunter grew tired, and
passed the responsibly over to his son. The lazy son shouldered his responsibilities poorly, and
barely managed to bring the sun over the horizon, bringing cold winter days. His father
meanwhile, rests in the winter night sky, gaining strength to resume his role in the summer.
Pleiades: The Seven Sisters, Les Sept Soeurs, Oot-kwa-tah (Iroquois)
Actually only 6 bright stars are visible. Maybe one died out since the constellation was given a
name
The brightest cluster of stars in the sky
Also called the Little Little Dipper
An Iroquois story recounts how a group of eight braves ignored their chores and instead danced
and partied. The Elders warned them that bad things would happen to them if they continued
with the party, but the braves paid no heed and danced anyway. Soon they grew lightheaded
and suddenly began to rise into the sky. One of the eight braves recognized his father below,
and became a shooting star trying to reach him. That left the seven Pleiades, called Oot-kwa-tah.
Ursa Major: Big Dipper, La Grande Ours
The two end stars point to Polaris (5 times distance)
Shaped like a pot
In an Ojibway legend, the Big Dipper is a fisher, a member of the weasel
family. One year the story goes, summer did not arrive. A certain hunter,
named Fisher, after the animal spirit that inhabited him, concluded that
someone had captured the migratory birds that brought good weather. The
culprit was Fisher's selfish cousin, Cruel-Face. After a battle, Fisher was able
to find and release the birds of summer. Cruel-Face tracked Fisher down and
chased him up a tree, where the hero's only escape was to follow the advice
of the stars and leap into Sky Country. He did, forming the constellation. But as Fisher leapt,
Cruel-Face fired off his last arrow, wounding Fisher in the tail. To this day Fisher's injured tail -
the crooked handle of the Big dipper - attests to Cruel-Face's desperate shot. And also to this
day, the freed birds bring summer every year.
Ursa Minor: Little Dipper, La Petite Ours
Shaped like a little pot pouring into the Big Dipper
End star in the handle is Polaris
Polaris: The North Star, Etoile Polaire, Ke-wa-den-ah-mung (Iroquois) points to the North Pole
The Ojibway believe that two male cousins originated the North Star. The two cousins were good
friends as well as great hunters. One day their grandmother introduced them to two young
women who were to be their wives. But the cousins were suspicious, as they thought that the
wives might ruin their friendship. Sure enough one cousin fell in love with one of the women, and
neglected his friend, who remained a better hunter as he was not distracted. The hunter left his
friend and ascended into the stars to become the North Star, Ke-wa-den-ah-mung. His cousin
who still remained on Earth with his wife cried in the forest for his lost friendship. His cries started
to rebound and resonate over the hills He became known as Bah-swa-way, or Echo
Cassiopeia:
Makes a "W" shape in the sky
One star is very near in size to our sun
Milky Way:
The concentration of stars forming the middle part of our galaxy
The Ojibway call the Milky Way the Path of Souls. As part of their burial ritual, a campfire was lit
near the post marking the grave. The fire was kept burning for four days to light the way for the
soul-spirit, who must travel the Path of Souls to reach the Land of Souls.
Sirius:
The brightest star in the sky and the third closest star to us - 9 light years away
Also called the Dog Star and was a very important star to ancient Egypt
Has a dwarf companion star called the Pup
It would take 300,000 years to get to Sirius with our fastest spaceship
Sirius helped the Egyptians determine that the year is made up of 365 days (the system we
use today)
Andromeda Galaxy:
The nearest galaxy to us, 2,000,000 light years away
Like our Milky Way in shape
The furthest visible object you can see without a telescope
The even wedge of Cassiopeia points to the Galaxy