With Mother’s Day occurring this weekend, here is a tale of a mother who went through hell to recover her abducted daughter. The constellation Virgo represents Demeter, the Greek goddess of agriculture and a daughter of the Cronus and his sister-wife Rhea. She was responsible for providing conditions for the planting, growth and harvest of crops so that people could eat. Demeter had a daughter, Persephone, who was abducted by Hades to reign by his side in the Underworld. The despondent mother neglected her duties to search and mourn for her daughter, which resulted in crop failure and famine. Olympian king Zeus heeded the pleas of his starving people and allowed Demeter to visit the Underworld and return with their daughter. The crops were rejuvenated. To appease Hades, Persephone was to be with her mother for only the six months of the growing season each year, and for those six months we see Virgo in our evening sky.
Virgo is midway up the southern sky in late evening this week, marked by the bright star Spica which represents a sheaf of wheat or an ear of corn. This area of the sky is popular among amateur astronomers due to the many distant galaxies that are within reach of backyard telescopes. Virgo was also seen as Astraea, the goddess of justice and purity who holds the scales of Libra the Balance in her hand. The constellation Libra follows Virgo along the ecliptic.
This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Saint John is at 6:01 and sunset will occur at 8:40, giving 14 hours, 39 minutes of daylight. Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 5:53 and set at 8:48, giving 14 hours, 55 minutes of daylight.
The Moon is at third quarter this Saturday and new next Saturday. Early risers might catch the waning crescent chumming with Saturn and perhaps Mars mid-to-late week. After twilight bright Venus and Jupiter form a broad parallelogram with first magnitude stars Procyon and Capella, stretching from west to northwest. On Friday, May 15, telescope users might see Jupiter’s moon Ganymede emerge from a transit at 10:02 pm, Callisto disappear into Jupiter’s shadow at 10:09, and Europa’s shadow appear on the planet five minutes later. Mercury is at superior conjunction behind the Sun on Thursday, soon to reappear in the evening sky.
Tune in to the Sunday Night Astronomy Show at 8 pm on the YouTube channel and Facebook page of Astronomy by the Bay. The Fredericton Astronomy Club meets in the UNB Forestry-Earth Sciences building on Tuesday at 7 pm. The Kouchiboguac Spring Star Fest is on for May 15-16. For details see: https://rascnb.ca/star-parties/
Questions? Contact Curt Nason at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.
