The god of war and the lion

By David Ward
Looking up into the southeast sky on a clear April evening, you will probably notice a bright reddish-orange colored object floating up there. That is the planet Mars, named for the Roman god of war. The reason it is so bright right now is because it is quite close to us in the solar system.

If you imagine each of the planets on a racetrack, the Earth is on an inner track and just passing Mars on the next track out. As the month of April progresses, Mars will dim as we pull away from the red planet.

Just to the right of Mars is a fairly bright white star, Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation Leo, the Lion. In Greek mythology Leo is associated with the Nemean lion that Hercules killed as one of his 12 labors.

This lion was believed to have fallen to Earth from the moon as a meteor and was ravaging the countryside in ancient Greece. It could not be harmed by any weapon so Hercules had to kill it with his bare hands. Hercules skinned it with the creature’s own claws since no knife could cut it. Then he made himself a cloak out of its skin, which was impervious to any arrow or sword.

To see the constellation Leo the Lion, look to the right of Mars for a sickle or backwards question mark representing the mane and head of the lion. To the left and slightly above Mars, a large triangle depicts the hindquarters of the beast. Leo used to have a fluffy tail but that was cut off and put into another constellation about 2,000 years ago.

The brightest star, Regulus, is from a Latin word meaning the “little king.” The star shines about 350 times brighter than our sun and actually has three more companion stars revolving around it that can only be seen with a telescope.

Regulus’s claim to fame is that it is the fastest-spinning star that we can see with the naked eye. At its equator it is tearing around at the dizzying speed of 700,000 miles per hour. If it spun any faster it would tear itself apart. The star lies about 77.5 light years from us in our neighborhood of the galaxy. If you book an Alaska Airlines flight to Regulus, allow about 80 million years for the trip, and that is only one way!

There are still other bright planets to be seen in April. One constellation to the east, Saturn is hanging out with Virgo the Virgin. Look for it and the bright star Spica making a pair visible later in the evening one of these April nights.

In the west, Jupiter and Venus have now traded places and Jupiter is racing westward into the sunset glow. By the end of the month it will be too low in the west to easily see.

Venus dominates the evening sky in the west and it is still climbing higher into the sky. At the beginning of the month it sets four hours after the sun. Watch the goddess of love flirt with the seven sisters as she cruises through the Pleiades star cluster on April 2 and 3. Binoculars will help you to pick out the sisters who will be out-shined by the brilliant Venus.

The goddess of love is a beautiful sight in our twilight skies, but would not be a fun place to visit. With a surface temperature of over 600 degrees, hot enough to melt lead, she is one hot babe! Add to that clouds made of sulfuric acid heavy enough to flatten a car and you can cross it off as a vacation destination.

The moon will cruise along just below Mars on April 3 and then the full moon will make a straight line with Saturn and Spica on April 6.

Say goodbye to all those bright stars of winter. They will be headed into the sunset glow this month, not to be seen again in the evening skies until next winter.

March 28, 2012

Article source: http://www.methowvalleynews.com/story.php?id=7633