![]() Contact him at and connect with him on Facebook: Click here to read previous columns. Jumping Dolphins by Anthony Casay Floater Frame Animal Wall Art. Dennis Mammana is an astronomy writer, author, lecturer and photographer working from under the clear dark skies of the Anza-Borrego Desert in the San Diego County backcountry. This ready to hang, gallery-wrapped art piece features two dolphins. Delphinus - as tiny and faint as it is - is truly a stellar sight! have been considered by some to be the most beautiful of all time.įind the dolphin in the sky, and you’ll see why it’s been the object of so much admiration through the ages. In fact, the silver coins designed to commemorate the great victory over the Athenians in 413 B.C. The figure of a youth on the dolphin appears on a classic series of silver coins issued at Tarentum in southern Italy around 370 B.C.ĭelphinus also appeared prominently on the splendid coins of Syracuse in Sicily, dating from about the fifth century B.C. Read backward, these two words form the name “Nicolaus Venator,” which is the Latin version for the Italian name Niccolo Cacciatore who, at the time, was the assistant director of the observatory.Īccording to one legend, Delphinus is the dolphin that carried the Greek poet Arion safely to shore at Tarentum, allowing him to escape his enemies. Its two main stars, Sualocin and Rotanev, were first mentioned in 1814 in a star catalog, published at the Palermo Observatory in Italy. Whoops! There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription. Its four main stars form a grouping that some call “Job’s Coffin,” though the origin of this name seems lost in history. The Hindus knew this star grouping as a porpoise, the Arabians as a riding camel and in early Hebrew tradition, it was sometimes identified with the Great Fish of Jonah. Once you find this celestial marker, you should be able to locate Delphinus, just to its east, and see the tiny outline of a dolphin leaping from the water toward the north. Completing the figure is Deneb, the faintest of the three stars, forming the tail of Cygnus, the swan.Īnd, if you have a sufficiently dark sky, you’ll easily see the bright star clouds and dark rifts of the Milky Way flowing south to north through the great triangle. ![]() The southernmost star of the triangle is Altair, which marks the constellation of Aquila, the eagle. Vega, you may recall, is the most prominent star in the constellation of Lyra, the harp. After dark at this time of year, go out and gaze nearly overhead after dark, and you’ll see its three stars shining brightly.Īt the westernmost vertex of the large triangle lies the brightest of the trio: Vega. From Sydney, Australia, look for Delphinus in the north-western sky.Many of my regular readers already know the Summer Triangle. Apollo created the constellation in gratitude to the benevolent dolphin. He then stepped overboard and was carried back to Greece by one of the animals. Arion sang one last song, which summoned dolphins to the vessels. In another story, the musician Arion was voyaging back to Greece and the sailors were plotting to rob him. In gratitude for helping him land his wife, the god placed Delphinus among the stars. In one tale, Delphinus is said to have been the go-between who brokered the marriage between Poseidon and the (eventual) sea goddess Amphitrite, when the latter fled from Poseidon’s advances. ![]() ![]() You will need to find a dark site as only Sualocin and Rotanev are above magnitude four in brightness.ĭefined by Ptolemy in the 2nd century, Delphinus has several myths attached to it. ![]() Use the bright star of Altair in Aquila, the eagle, to orientate yourself. The chart shows the view looking south-west from London at midnight on Monday. ![]()
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