Starry Summer Nights

The Summer Triangle contains three of the brightest stars in summer’s night sky.  Vega, in Lyra, is the fifth brightest while Altair, in Aquila, is the eleventh and Deneb, in Cygnus, is the twentieth brightest star in the heavens. 

The Milky Way our galaxy can be seen with a naked eye between Vega and Altair. The term “Milky Way” is a translation of the Latin Via lactea, or the Greek Γαλαξίας. There have been many, myths and legends about our galaxy in many different cultures. In Greek mythology the Milky Way was caused by milk spilt by Hera when she breast-fed Hercules.  Other legends have it as the road to Olympus or the path made by Sun God Apollo’s chariot.

The Big Dipper, are the seven brightest stars in the constellation Ursa Major. The North Star (Polaris), was used for navigation by ancient mariners, is part of the Little Dipper and can be located by extending a line from Merak and Dubhe.  In the British Isles it was known as the Plough.  In the English speaking North America it was called Big Dipper because the major stars can be seen to follow the rough outline of a ladle or dipper.  Native Americans imagined the bawl, as a bear while the handle appeared to be three cubs following their mother, while others pictured three hunters tracking the bear.

Arcturus is the brightest star in the Northern celestial hemisphere and can be found by extending the arc of Big Dipper.  Further extension of the arc brings us to Spica.  Prehistoric Polynesian navigators knew Arcturus as Hōkūleʻa, the "Star of Joy".  Using Hōkūleʻa they started from Tahiti and the Marquesas islands traveling northeast. They had reached the desired latitude when Arcturus would appear directly overhead. They knew then if sailed due west they would land on the shores of the Big Island. 

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It was named after the Roman (Mars) or Greek (Αρης) gods of war. It is often described as the "Red Planet" because the iron oxide prevalent on its surface.  Mars can easily be seen from Earth with the naked eye, because of its reddish coloring and its brightness which is surpassed only by Jupiter, Venus, the Moon and of course the Sun. 

Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in our Solar System.  Saturn has a prominent ring that consists of nine continuous main rings and three discontinuous arcs, composed mostly of ice particles with a smaller amount of rocky debris.  Saturn is the most distant of the five planets easily visible to the naked eye, the other four being Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter.  Picture from artist's depiction of Casini satellite exploration of Saturn, one of many NASA's successes.

If you are away from city lights all of the above mentioned stars, planets and constellations are visible with a naked eye.  To the east and above are the three stars of the Summer Triangle, to the south from east to west you will find easily Saturn, Spica, Arcturus and Mars and above and to the north the Big Dipper and the North Star, Polaris, and if you reside in the International Space Station in the total darkness of space this is how Greece looks at night.  In the top and to the left the lights of Athens shine brightly while in the middle are Thessaloniki's lights.