An eyeful of autumnal sky

As the autumnal season has now fully taken hold of our surroundings on Earth, let's consider what our autumnal sky looks like.

As ancient people looked at the night sky they began to connect the dots to make pictures of the characters in their myths. One such group of characters can be located in the early evening in the northeastern sky.

Start looking almost overhead about one hour after your local sunset -- two if you don't have a dark sky -- for the very familiar shape of Cassiopeia which at this time of year looks like the letter "W" laying almost on it's side. In our story, Cassiopeia is the queen of Ethiopia.

The myth has two versions. The first says that she was vain and self-absorbed and began to brag that she was more beautiful than any other creature on Earth. The second version says she said her daughter, Andromeda, was the fairest in the land.

Either way, the gods were not pleased with her boasting and as punishment decreed that Andromeda was to be chained to a rock and the sea monster, Cetus, was eat her.

At about that time our hero, Perseus, just happened to be flying by on his winged sandals after slaying the Medusa--you remember her, that lady with the hair of snakes who with one look could turn you to stone?

Our hero used Medusa's severed head to turn the monster into stone and saved our fair maiden and win her heart and hand in marriage. When he used the severed head, some of the blood dropped into the sea and became Pegasus, the Flying Horse.

The pair then flew off to live happily -- well, almost happily -- ever after, but that is another story, one which we don't have in the night sky.

After you have found Cassiopeia, look below and slightly right (if you are looking northeast) for our hero. Perseus is shaped like the capital letter "A". If you are looking east, look directly below the Queen.

Pause here and scan the area between Cassiopeia and Perseus for the magnificent Perseus double star cluster. Use binoculars because the pair is almost too large for a telescope field of view.

To find our damsel in distress, first find the Great Square of Pegasus about halfway up the sky above the eastern horizon, although right now the square looks more like a baseball diamond.

Find the northeastern corner star of Pegasus (HINT: it is the star on the left side of the diamond as you are looking at it). Next follow the two strings of stars that are almost like arms reaching out for Perseus. That is Andromeda.

There is one more character in our story, Cepheus, the King, Andromeda's father. To find him go back to Cassiopeia, look above and slightly left for a shape that looks like what a child would draw to depict a house, a square with a triangle on top except that he is upside down.

Now, let's not forget our monster. You will have to wait another two hours until at least 9 p.m. MDT and look just above the eastern horizon for a group of stars with a circle on one end and a flattened rectangle on the other. That is our monster, Cetus, although most folks call him a whale.

SKYWATCH: Tomorrow, Thursday, Oct. 23, a partial solar eclipse. The new moon will cover about half of the Sun from here in SW Nebraska starting at about 3:30 pm MDT. DO NOT OBSERVE WITHOUT PROPER EYE PROTECTION. Starting on Saturday, Oct. 25, and for the next four or five nights about an hour after local sunset use a telescope -- binoculars if you don't have one -- to locate Mars in the middle of telescope heaven. Mars will pass below the Triffid and Lagoon nebulaes (M8 & M20). Tuesday, Oct. 28, Mercury visible a half-hour before local sunrise.

NEXT WEEK: Will there be a full moon on Halloween and more astronomical blathering.