As we gather together next week, traveling over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house or wherever to carve up that Thanksgiving turkey, be thankful that it’s you carving the bird and not the other way around.
One of the 66 constellations we can see in the night sky is Aquila the Eagle. According to Greek mythology, Aquila was the favorite pet of Zeus, king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Like most of the members in the hierarchy of Greek gods, let’s just say he wasn’t exactly warm and fuzzy with his supreme power.
Before I continue with Aquila’s ruthless legacy, let me tell you how to find the constellation. Right now in the early evening, around 7, Aquila is soaring in the west-southwestern sky, about a third of the way from the horizon to the overhead zenith. The main part of Aquila resembles a sideways diamond that basically outlines the wingspan of the eagle. The faint crooked line of stars adjacent to the sideways diamond makes up the tail of the attacking eagle. Unfortunately there aren’t any real stars that make up the eagle’s head. You need to use your full imagination to see that.
The brightest star of Aquila is Altair, the highest star in the diamond marking Aquila’s heart. Altair is easy to find because it is one of three bright “Summer Triangle” stars presently hanging in the western half of the sky. Now the Summer Triangle isn’t an official constellation, but its stars, Altair, Vega and Deneb, are the brightest stars in that part of the sky, and each one of them is the brightest star in its own constellation. Altair is the moderately bright star on the lower left corner of the triangle.
Getting back to Aquila’s story, Zeus sent Aquila to carry away Ganymede, who was tending sheep on a mountainside. Aquila brought him to Mount Olympus, where the boy became cupbearer to the gods. Zeus entrusted Aquila with noble duties, such as occasionally delivering thunderbolts to Earth. The eagle became Zeus’s personal messenger as well as a diabolical “hit bird.” If Zeus wanted to enforce or punish, he called on Aquila with his razor-sharp beak to carve up the violator.
There’s one story about how Zeus wanted to punish Prometheus, one of the Titans, because he gave humans the gift of fire. Zeus thought this was too great a gift to bestow on mere mortals. Zeus was so enraged he had Prometheus chained naked to a pillar, and every single day Aquila tore through his flesh and chewed up his liver. Since Prometheus was immortal, his liver healed up every night, only to be pecked and chewed by Aquila the very next day. This went on day after day until the great Greek hero Hercules finally shot the eagle in the heart with a poisoned arrow.
Zeus memorialized his faithful bird by placing his body among the stars, soaring in the heavens and reminding all not to mess with the king of the gods.
Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and professional broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis and author of the new book “Washington Starwatch,” available at bookstores and on his Web site, www.lynchandthestars.com.
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