One of the joys of looking out into the cold, clear night sky of early spring is to catch a glimpse of Orion, the mighty hunter in the south-southwestern Rochester sky.
Some people think it looks more like a bowtie on its side or a giant hourglass.
No matter what it looks like to you, Orion is undoubtedly one of the best known and most recognized constellations around because of bright stars like Rigel at the hunter's knee and the giant red star Betelgeuse at the armpit of the great man. What really catches your eye are the three stars lined up in a perfect row that make Orion's belt – Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka.
According to Greek mythology, Orion was placed in the sky by Artemis, goddess of the moon.
Orion lived as a hermit on a distant island, sleeping by day and hunting by night. Artemis would watch his every move with great admiration from the driver's seat of her moon chariot. It was her job to guide the moon across the heavens every night.
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Through the years, she became very attracted to Orion and fell in love with the nocturnal hunter. She eventually started hunting with him every night, ignoring her lunar piloting duties. Artemis's father Zeus, the king of the gods, caught wind of this ungodly behavior and vowed to end the affair. So one evening before Artemis rose with the moon, he arranged to have Orion killed by a giant scorpion.
After the dastardly deed was done, Artemis discovered her murdered lover and placed his body in the stars so she could gaze upon Orion every night. She also placed his prized hunting dogs in the heavens with him. Those celestial hounds are the ancient constellations Canis Major and Canis Minor, the big and little dogs, respectively. I'll have more on Canis Major next week in Skywatch.
Artemis also rounded up Lepus the Rabbit, quite a name for the wild hare and one of Orion's biggest nemeses.
Lepus reminds me of the famous "killer rabbit" from the old classic movie "Monty Python and the Holy Grail."
Lepus was an extremely pesky rabbit. Not only would it help itself to goodies in Orion's garden, but it would also taunt and tease Orion during the nightly hunt. Lepus would jump on Orion's head and bite the hunter's derriere just as he was about to launch a spear at a wild boar. Lepus also regularly left special little presents in Orion's sleeping bag.
Orion wanted to get Lepus in the worst way, even more than Elmer Fudd wanted to get Bugs Bunny, but just like Bugs, Lepus was too clever and too fast.
Artemis knew how much Orion hated this rabbit, so she hunted down Lepus personally after Orion died. She found Lepus chomping down a carrot in Orion's garden, happy as can be. Lepus's smile was instantly wiped from his face when Artemis pointed her magical finger to freeze him in his bunny tracks. She then took out her giant slingshot, loaded the stunned bunny into it, and flung the hare high into the night sky. Lepus wound up suspended among the stars, right at the foot of Orion's celestial body, which we all know as the constellation Orion.
To this day, you can see Lepus the Rabbit as a faint and rather shapeless constellation just below Orion. Not only is Lepus a cute little constellation, but it's also part of the sky that I call "Orion and his gang."
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It's the absolute best show in the heavens right now, one you'll leap at the chance to see again and again.
Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and professional broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis/St. Paul and is author of the book, “Stars, a Month by Month Tour of the Constellations” published by Adventure Publications. Send questions to mikewlynch@comcast.net .
The Rochester Astronomy Club welcomes new members and puts on public star parties. Their website is rochesterskies.org .
