The Relationship Between Celestial Bodies and Literature

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Celestial bodies and literature have a relationship that extends beyond the simple “star light, star bright, I wish I may, I wish I might…” rhyme. Over the years, man has found a muse in the heavens and has used this inspiration to create to works that speak to generations of people.

The Orion constellation is located on the celestial equator, and is one of the most well-known and identifiable constellations in the sky and can be seen throughout the world. Orion’s popularity has lead to its inclusion

“Down fell the red skin of the lion

Into the river at his feet.

His mighty club no longer beat

The forehead of the bull; but he

Reeled as of yore beside the sea,

When blinded by Oenopion

He sought the blacksmith at his forge,

And climbing up the narrow gorge,

Fixed his blank eyes upon the sun.”

-The “Occultation of Orion” By Mr. Longfellow

This poem was written to summarize the great story of Orion. The story goes that Orion was a gifted giant who had the ability to wade through the seas, a gift from his father Poseidon. He served King Oinopion of Khios as a huntsman for a while, but after raping the king’s daughter Merope, he was blinded and banished from the island. The blinded Orion followed the sound of a Cyclops’ hammer until Orion reached Lemnos, and came to the forge of Vulcan for help in recovering his eyesight. Taking pity upon Orion, Vulcan lent him his assistant Kedalion. The god directed the giant to travel to the rising sun, a place where the sun-god would restore his sight. Once his vision was repaired, he sought out Oinopion, but the king hid himself in an underground bronze chamber to avoid retribution.

After failing to find his foe, he joined the followers of Artemis. It was said that Orion wa...

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...ve different colors, colors tell about a star’s temperature, composition, age, size, and distance. Red stars are usually older; coolers stars have used up much of their hydrogen fuel. Blue stars are much younger and hotter. Most of Orion’s stars are blue except for the very red star, Betelgeuse. Orion is most easily seen from the months of November through February. The latitudes at which Orion can be best seen are 85 and -75 degrees. Its right ascension is 5 hours, and its declination is 5 degrees.

Through mankind’s fascination with outer space’s unknown, we now have come to know that we can use the constellations to not only transfix generations of people but also to use the constellations to scientists’ benefit. Throughout the centuries, we have taken our imagination of the unknown into another perspective and now understand more than just what is out there.

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