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Credit & Copyright: Rodrigo Guerra
Explanation:
The night sky is filled with stories.
Cultures throughout history have projected
some of their most enduring legends onto the
stars above.
Generations of people see these stellar constellations,
hear the associated stories, and pass them down.
Featured here is the perhaps
unfamiliar constellation
of the Old Man, long recognized by the
Tupi peoples
native to regions of
South America now known
as
Brazil.
The Old Man, in more modern vernacular, may be composed of the
Hyades star cluster as his head and the
belt of Orion as part of one leg.
Tupi folklore relates that the other leg was cut off by his unhappy wife,
causing it to end at the orange star now known as
Betelgeuse.
The Pleiades star cluster, on the far left,
can be interpreted as a head feather.
In the featured image, the hobbled Old Man is mirrored by a person posing in the foreground.
Folklore of the night sky
is important for many reasons, including that it records
cultural heritage and documents the universality of
human intelligence and imagination.
APOD in world languages:
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APOD online webinar January 12:
Free registration,
hosted by Amateur Astronomers Association of New York.
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NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: constellation
Publications with words: constellation
See also: