23 July 2023
It starts happening every mid-summer. Bootes, the hunting farmer, begins his close pursuit of Ursa Major, the Big Bear. These two constellations are right next to each other in the early evening west-northwestern sky and are very easy to see.
Ursa Major, Latin for Big Bear, contains the most famous star pattern in the sky — the Big Dipper. The Dipper is the bear’s brightest part, outlining the great beast’s rear end and tail. The rest of the stars in the Big Bear aren’t nearly as bright, but if you have a dark northern sky, you’ll see the skinny triangle that allegedly outlines the bear’s head and the two faint lines of stars that make up the legs.
(Mike Lynch)
Right on the bear’s tail in the northwestern sky after evening twilight is Bootes, the hunting farmer that looks much more like a kite than a farmer. Arcturus, one of the brightest stars in the sky, is at the kite’s tail. Just follow the arc of the Big Dipper’s handle beyond the end of the handle, and you’ll run right into Arcturus, a red giant star 36 light-years, or 209 trillion miles, away.
According to legend, Bootes invented the first ox-pulled plow. Before that, people were forced to till and plow by hand, making for extremely long days. Bootes was the son of Demeter, the goddess of agriculture. His father was a mortal man that Demeter fell in love with. One thing led to another, and oops, Bootes was born to the unwed couple, making him a half-god. Back in those days when that sort of thing happened, these godly “love children” were placed into adoption. It was more for convenience than any shame. The gods were much too busy running things to raise their “accidental” children.
The goddess of agriculture placed Bootes with a wealthy farm family, and everything was great for the first few years. The crops were good, and the profits were high, but tragedy struck. Bootes’ foster parents were killed in a horse and buggy accident. They willed all their money and the farm to Bootes and his older half-brother, who served as executor of the will since he was the most senior. Things would have been okay, except that Bootes’ big brother was a crook. About a month after the terrible accident, he took all of his parents’ money out of the bank and set off on a global spending spree.
Bootes was on his own on the farm, broke, and unaware that he was half divine since he was adopted as a baby. It was a real struggle. That spring, Bootes had to do all the tilling himself by hand since he had no money for hired help. He kept thinking, “There has to be a better way to cultivate.” His half-godliness, ingenuity, and desperation led him to invent the plow that could be pulled by an ox rather than a person.
After he worked out all of the bugs, Bootes really had something! Not only could he plow his own fields in much less time, but his body had much less wear and tear. Other farmers saw Bootes with this new invention and wanted Bootes to build ox-pulled plows for them. Word spread even further, and soon, Bootes had a booming business. He sold the farm and concentrated on his plow business. He was loaded! As the business got better and better, he was able to take time off to hunt and fish, which he often did before his foster parents were killed.
The gods on Mount Olympus got word of this, and the news eventually reached Demeter, his birth mother. Since she was the god of agriculture, Demeter was so proud of her son and incredibly proud of what he did to improve farming. When Bootes got on in years, Demeter gave her son the ultimate reward. She plucked him off the ground and placed his body in the stars as the constellation we know today as Bootes. Every summer and fall, he has the ultimate hunting experience. He gets to hunt the Big Bear, Ursa Major. He couldn’t be happier, and it’s said that Bootes is one of the happiest constellations in the sky.
As summer evolves into autumn, Bootes and Ursa Major will sink lower in the northwestern sky. According to lore, Bootes has shot arrows into the bear, causing him to drop to the ground with Bootes in hot pursuit. It’s also said that the leaves turn to shades of red every fall because the Big Bear is bleeding. The lack of chlorophyll may have something to do with it, too.
Ursa Major is one tough bear, though. Every winter he manages to lick his wounds and recover in time to rise high in the northeastern spring skies again, with Bootes right on his tail. The great hunt goes on and on and on!
Celestial Happening this week
If you’re really early riser, keep an eye out for an increased number of meteors or “shooting stars.” There are a couple of minor meteor showers going on right now. You may also see some meteors from the early stages of the Perseid meteor which peaks next month. I’ll have more on the Perseids next week in Skywatch
Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and retired broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis/St. Paul. He is the author of “Stars: a Month by Month Tour of the Constellations,” published by Adventure Publications and available at bookstores and adventurepublications.net. Mike is available for private star parties. You can contact him at [email protected].
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