Last week I told you to look for an equilateral triangle of bright stars in the south, but this week I want you to look for a much brighter stellar triangle high overhead in the west.  That's the Summer Triangle, which we see for most of the year here on Guam.  The brightest star in autumn skies is Vega, the fifth brightest star and it's the westernmost star of the trio.  Altair, the 11th brightest star lies to the south and Deneb, the 19th brightest star is its easternmost point. 

Vega is the brightest star in our early evening skies in November, but the second brightest star of Guam's autumn skies is probably unfamiliar to you.  To find it, face south and you'll see a bright star to your left, close to the southeastern horizon.  That's Achernar, the 9th brightest star. 

Now, face Achernar and turn 90 degrees to your left.  You’ll be facing northeast and at about the same height above the horizon as Achernar, you should see a faint, fuzzy patch of light.  It will be brighter if you don't look at it directly.  That small patch of stars is one of the sky’s most famous objects, the Pleiades.

One reason the Pleiades are important is that they're seasonal markers.  Here in the tropics, their appearance in the early evening sky signals the onset of dry season when crops can be planted.  In the southern hemisphere, their appearance marks the beginning of summer.  Their appearance in the early evening sky tells northern observers that if they haven't made preparations for winter, they'd better hurry up.  Everybody tells stories about these stars.

All people tell stories about star groups, how the stars are created and where the sun and moon came from.  Storytelling about the skies is as old as humanity itself.  Here in the Planetarium, we recognize this rich heritage each November when we proudly present a Sky Legends of the World public Planetarium show.  This week we're presenting Sky Legends of the World 17.  

Each Sky Legends show features sky stories from many different cultures.  In the past, we've had stories from Africa, the Philippines, North and South American Indian tribes, Australia, Europe, China, Korea and several different Pacific islands.  Sky Legends shows are always narrated by some of Guam's finest elementary and middle school children.

This year we’re extremely proud to present our first second-generation reader who will tell you a story from the Philippines about some starry bathers that was first presented by his mother in a Sky Legends show 16 years ago.  We’ll also tell you creation stories from both the Athabascan culture of far North America and from the people of Burma.  We’ll then sail the starship to Australia and learn about the creation of the Southern Cross and then we’ll have stories about the two most universal characters in human storytelling: the Fool and the Trickster.

Sky Legends 17 will be presented this Thursday, Friday and Saturday, November 12th, 13th and 14th at 6:30 and 7:00 p.m.  The doors open at 6 and as always, Planetarium shows are free.  For more information about Sky Legends 17,  e-mail the Star Lady at stars@guam.net.  See you there!!
 

 Would you like to be on the Planetarium e-mail list and receive a monthly reminder of the Planetarium shows and occasional notices of cool things in the sky?  Just send an e-mail to stars@guam.net requesting that you be added and I'll put you on the list!

Don't forget that you can hear this information on Guam's public radio station KPRG, 89.3 on your radio dial.  The program is called Tropical Skies and it airs twice on Monday, at 12:25 and at 6:01 in the evening.  Support your public radio station.

Last week's info          HOMENext week's info