At dusk tonight, or any June night, look in a basic southward path for Spica, the brightest star within the constellation Virgo the Maiden. In case you dwell within the Southern Hemisphere, Spica seems overhead or excessive within the north. Spica is your leaping off level to 3 faint constellations: Corvus the Crow, Crater the Cup and Hydra the Water Snake.
Use the Large Dipper to search out Spica
Try the 2 charts beneath. In case you’re acquainted with the Big Dipper, use it to star-hop to Spica, as proven within the first chart.
Then you should utilize Spica to search out the constellation Corvus. And alternatively, use Corvus to verify that you just’ve discovered Spica, as proven within the second chart.
Okay … obtained Spica? Now, as dusk deepens into later night, look ahead to a lot of fainter stars to change into seen. That’s when the Crow, Cup and Water Snake will come into sight.
Crow, Cup and Water Snake in skylore
In Greek mythology, Apollo despatched the crow to fetch a cup of water. However the crow, Corvus, obtained distracted consuming figs. It was solely after a lot delay that he lastly remembered his mission. The crow knew Apollo could be indignant, so he plucked a snake from the water and concocted a narrative about the way it had attacked and delayed him.
Apollo was not fooled and angrily flung the Crow, Cup and Snake into the sky, putting the Crow and Cup on the Snake’s again. Then the god ordered Hydra to by no means let the Crow drink from the Cup. As an additional punishment, he ordered that the Crow might by no means sing once more, solely screech and caw.
None of those constellations have any brilliant stars, however Hydra holds the excellence of being the longest constellation within the heavens.
Backside line: Use the brilliant star Spica that will help you discover the constellations Corvus the Crow, Crater the Cup and Hydra the Water Snake.
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