Tuesday, May 9

A lone, blazing orange-hued star shines halfway up in the eastern sky as darkness falls in the Northern Hemisphere these early summer evenings. This is Arcturus, the luminary of the constellation Boötes the Herdsman.

If you live in a suburban location, you can probably just make out the constellation's star pattern. It looks like an ice-cream cone with bright Arcturus at the cone's apex and the ice-cream end pointing more or less toward the northeast.

Boötes, like Ursa Major, is another of one of our oldest constellations. As a result, its mythology is considerably extensive. The name is a tortured derivation of the Assyrian phrase "Riu-but-sane" or "the Man Who Drives the Great Cart." It is associated with the farmer who plows his fields in the spring (when Boötes first appears). The Romans referred to Boötes as the Herdsman of the Septemtriones, or seven oxen, which are represented by the seven stars of the Great Cart, known today as the Big Dipper.

According to one Greek legend, Boötes is actually Arcas, the son of Zeus and the nymph Callisto. Arcas suffered many hardships after being robbed of all his possessions. In order to make his living, he invented a plow that was drawn by two oxen. Like most mothers, Callisto was so proud of her son's resourcefulness she wanted to tell the whole world. She convinced Zeus to place her son in the sky together with his plow.

In tomorrow's installment, we'll explore an even more ancient incarnation of Boötes.

Tonight's moon phase.