dipper@utastro.UUCP (Debbie Byrd) (10/31/86)
The Pleiades -- and their dark association with Halloween -- right after this. October 31 The Pleiades at Halloween This dark night -- with the moon on the wane and visible in our sky only after midnight -- you might take time to pick out the little star cluster known as the Pleiades. This star cluster is one of the most noticed objects in the sky. It's compact and yet has a definite shape -- that of a tiny dipper. The Pleiades has been important to stargazers for thousands of years -- but, in ancient times, it was associated with a dark time of year. The reason isn't hard to understand when you realize that the stars mark the seasons on Earth by reappearing in our sky at the same time each year. The Pleiades can be found in the evening sky -- to be overhead at midnight -- at a time when the days are growing shorter. The sun rides lower in the sky -- the crops no longer grow. It was said that souls of the dead left Earth for the Underworld when the Pleiades hung overhead at midnight. The Egyptians, ancient Britons, Mexicans, Chinese, Japanese and others all observed this fearful time of year when the Pleiades reached its midnight culmination. Our celebration of Halloween stems from their ancient rituals. Interestingly enough, people living in the southern hemisphere had a different impression of the Pleiades star cluster. For them, the Pleiades overhead at midnight marked the coming of spring. So for them, the Pleiades were a sign of light, warmth and rebirth. You can pick out the Pleiades just by looking. Look overhead at midnight for a tiny, hazy cluster -- shaped like a little dipper. Script by Deborah Byrd. (c) Copyright 1985, 1986 McDonald Observatory, University of Texas at Austin