Look into the night-sky towards the tropics and
you will see a bull with a blood-shot eye, wearing a Subaru badge and facing a
hunter whose sword belt is sagging!
The hunter of course is ORION (his belt forming
the base of 'the saucepan'); further west you will see the faint but beautiful
cluster of the SEVEN SISTERS called THE PLEIADES on the flank of Taurus the Bull.
His blood-shot eye is the red star, Aldebaran.
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| Our upside-down view from 'Downunder'! |
Will Orion have to let out his belt as he gets older or is that sword just
getting a bit heavy?
Will the Seven Sisters go their own ways or prefer to stick together?
These two celestial sights can be seen from anywhere in the habitable
world, with Orion being the brightest constellation, hovering over the Equator.
Betelgeuse, is Orion's shoulder and
the giant blue star, Rigel, on his
foot.
Last century,
astronomers with modern telescopes were able to observe that the stars, Mintaka and Alnilam in Orion's belt, seem to be moving towards each other,
whereas the other major star, Alnitak,
seems to be drifting away.
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| Orion Nebula flashes from the hunter's sword |
They also observed that the cluster of The Pleiades seems to be moving together towards the south-east.
The book of Job in the Jewish Scriptures was written at least 2,700 years ago and was probably the first book written about 3,500 years ago, long before the world’s first telescope was made by Hans Lippershey in 1608 AD.
God challenged
Job:
“CAN YOU BIND THE BONDS OF PLEIADES OR LOOSEN THE BELT OF ORION?”
“CAN YOU BIND THE BONDS OF PLEIADES OR LOOSEN THE BELT OF ORION?”
How about that! So
God is just a myth??
Okay, why the Subaru badge? Subaru is Japanese for The Pleiades.
According to Greek mythology, the seven daughters of Atlas were: Electra, Maia, Taygete, Asterope, Celaene, Alcyone and Myrope who is not old enough to stay up as late as her sisters so she’s difficult to see with the naked eye.
According to Greek mythology, the seven daughters of Atlas were: Electra, Maia, Taygete, Asterope, Celaene, Alcyone and Myrope who is not old enough to stay up as late as her sisters so she’s difficult to see with the naked eye.
Now you know why Subarus the world over, like Taurus the Bull, proudly wear
the 6 star badge representing 6 stunning sisters. By the way, what else does Taurus wear- on his head for the next few
months?....Jupiter!
Who said that God hasn’t got a sense of humour?
Acknowledgements:
Isabel Lewis, United States Naval Observatory
Dr. Robert J. Trumpler, Lick Observatory, California
"Curiosities Of The Sky" by Garrett P. Serviss
Subaru (Australia) Pty. Ltd. and Port Macquarie Subaru
Image credits:Isabel Lewis, United States Naval Observatory
Dr. Robert J. Trumpler, Lick Observatory, California
"Curiosities Of The Sky" by Garrett P. Serviss
Subaru (Australia) Pty. Ltd. and Port Macquarie Subaru
Night sky & Orion Nebula / Stellarium
Pleiades / Rogelio Bernal Andreo / DeepSkyColours.com
We first published this article back in April but hopefully this presentation is better, thanks to a free download program from Stellarium. For such a stunning story to be clearly visible from anywhere in the habitable world and again in our summer sky over the tropics, it deserves to be retold. A class teacher first informed me about the Subaru badge and Subaru Australia were more than happy about more free advertising! (One day we'll feature the Great Bear for you folks upside down in the northern hemisphere).
ReplyDeleteI haven’t even got a telescope anymore but I still get a kick out of seeing Orion & The Pleaides up there in our northern summer sky, the same sight that poor Job saw from a different angle all those years ago as he sat in ashes, scraping himself with a lump of broken pottery.
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