WildMaven’s World

Moon Facts:

Who hasn’t gazed up at the Moon and wondered about it. How did it get there, what is it made of, why can’t we ever see the other side? The Moon is about 25 percent the size of Earth, spinning around on its axis once every 720 hours. Because it spins at the same speed it orbits the Earth, we never get to see the other side of the Moon (called its “dark side”). It seems to shine with its own light, but the Moon really doesn’t produce any illumination of its own. What you see is the reflection of sunlight as it bounces off of the Moon’s surface. With a gravity 17 percent of Earth’s, you could jump up 13 feet high (4 meters) or more on the Moon! The craters you see are the result of meteorite impacts that occurred early in the Moon’s history. The dark “seas” are actually lava flows formed by ancient volcanoes. About 4.5 billion years ago, a huge rock (about the size of Mars) smashed into the Earth. The resulting debris eventually formed the Moon.
The Moon has an iron/nickel core, similar to Earth’s, but smaller. The temperature on the Moon can range from -250F to +250F. The lunar atmosphere, what little there is of it, is comprised of Helium, Neon, Hydrogen, Argon, Methane, Ammonia, and Carbon Dioxide. These were measured by the Apollo mission teams during night conditions. Measuring the amounts during daytime was difficult, due to (according to NASA) “heating and outgassing of Apollo surface experiments”. Once in a while, a small moonquake will shake the Moon, causing gas to escape from the fissures that are formed. Some scientists believe we should call the Moon a planet, since it is more like a planet than a Moon. Pluto’s moon, Charon, is also in that same category, and some call Pluto and Charon a “double planet system.” Did you know that there are trees here on Earth that grew from seeds taken on a Moon mission? During the Apollo 14 mission, astronaut Stuart Roosa took a bunch of seeds with him. When the mission was over, the seeds were germinated on Earth and planeted across the country. The trees that grew from them are referred to as “Moon Trees.”

Think the Moon is our only satellite? That may not be true. Scientists have found an asteroid that is possibly orbiting our Earth! They have named this 5 km rock Cruithne, and its orbit takes 770 years. Another fun fact is that the moon is actually egg shaped, with one of its ends pointing at us, so that it appears round.

The Moon is slowly moving away from us, as it steals some of our energy. When it formed, it is estimated that it was only 22,530 km away from the Earth! Today, the Moon is over twenty times that! What will happen to the tides, and the Earth, when the Moon is so far away that it looks like a star to the naked eye?

Quahog (pronounce KWA-hog)

No, it’s not a made-up word to give you more points in Scrabble. The Quahog is a mollusk found buried in sandy areas in the North Atlantic ocean. They also go by the names hard shell, steamer, or cherrystone clams. Northern American Indians used them for food, ornamentation, and currency. It is rumored that the quahog helped the pilgrims fight off starvation during the lean times. The Northern Quahog has a purple-tinted shell and eats plankton.

The hunt for a quahog can be a pleasant experience. You wade up to your waist, digging around with your toes until you feel the clam. After many disappointments of pulling up nothing but rocks, you eventually get the feel for it and get to bring home dinner.

Due to commercial overfishing, their numbers are diminishing close to the coast. Some populations may not rebound for decades because the quahog have a very slow reproductive rate. If allowed to mature, quahogs can live over 200 years! Now that’s an OLD clam!

Aries - The Ram
Fun Facts:

1. Aries contains the galaxies NGC 697, NGC 772, NGC 972, and NGC 1156.
2. In greek mythology, this constellation represents the ram that carried Phrixus and Helle to escape their stepmother Ino. When they reached safety, Phrixus killed the ram (such gratitude!) and hung its fleece on a tree. The fleece turned to gold and became a quest for Jason and the Argonauts.
3. Meteor showers that pass through Aries are the May Arietids, Autumn Arietids, Delta Arietids, Epsilon Arietids, Daytime-Arietids, and the Aries-Triangulids.
4. The brightest star in Aries is Hamal, at a magnitude of 2.0.
5. It is best visible in December.

Cancer - The Crab
Fun Facts
1. Cancer is named after the crab who tried to stop Hercules from defeating the Hydra. The brave little crustacean was squashed for its efforts.
2. In the 1970’s there was an unsuccessful movement to change the name of this constellation, and thus the zodiac sign, since many felt the name Cancer reminded them of the disease process.
3. Cancer hides Praesepe (M44 or The Beehive Cluster) and M67 (one of the oldest clusters, around 10 billion years old).
4. Meteor showers that pass through Cancer include the Delta Cancrids.
5. Its brightest star is Al Tarf, at a magnitude of 3.5.
6. It is best viewed in March.
Cassiopeia - The Queen
This was the second constellation that I learned as a child.

Fun Facts:
1. In 1572, Tycho Brahe observed a supernova in Cassiopeia.
2. Cassiopeia A is the location of the second strongest radio source (after the sun).
3. Cassiopeia literally means “The Queen”. It represent the legendary queen of Ethiopia (the mother of Andromeda).
4. The Persied meteor shower passes through Cassiopeia every year.
5. It’s brightest star, Shedir, is a magnitude 2.23
6. If we were to observe the Sun from Alpha Centauri, it would appear to be in Cassiopeia.

Cassiopeia can be seen year round, usually low in the northern horizon. The best time to view it is in November
Gemini - The Twins
Fun Facts:

1. Gemini is best seen in February.
2. Zeus, the Greek king of the gods, once again seduces a maiden, this time in the form of a swan. From their pairing, two sons are born from an egg. The sons, Castor and Pollux, make up two of the stars of this constellation.
3. In 1930, the planet Pluto was discovered in Gemini.
4. On the western edge of this constellation lies M35, an open cluster of 5th magnitude.
Leo - The Lion
Fun Facts:
1. The legends of Hercules provides us with yet another great constellation. Leo, the lion, is named after the Nemean Lion which Hercules had to kill during his labours.
2. The Egyptians worship the lion because the sun was said to have been in this constellation during the time of the well-needed floods of the Nile.
3. Meteor showers that pass through Leo are the Leonids.
4. Leo’s brightest star is Regulus, at a magnitude 1.4.
5. Leo is best viewed in April.
6. Many galaxies can be found in Leo. Most notably M65, M66, M95, M96.
7. Wolf 359, one of the nearest stars to Earth’s solar system (7.7 light-years), is in Leo.

Orion - The Great Hunter
This was the first constellation I learned. It was easy to spot the three stars in a row that make up Orion’s belt. As an adult, I learned that Orion also holds a nebula, the fuzzy object close to the hunter’s “sword”.
Fun Facts:
1. Orion stands next to Canis Major and Canis Minor, his two hunting dogs.
2. He is also near Taurus the Bull (his enemy) and Lepus the Hare, (his prey).
3. Meteor showers that pass through Orion include the Orionids and the Chi Orionids.
4. Orion’s brightest star is Rigel, with a magnitude of 0.12.
5. At Orion’s right shoulder, sits Betelgeuse, a red star, larger than the orbit of Venus. Betelgeuse means “armpit” (really!!). The ancient Sumerians thought Orion looked more like a sheep, and Betelgeuse fell at the sheep’s armpit.
6. Bellatrix (”warrior woman”) is at Orion’s left shoulder.
7. The stars Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka form his belt.
8. His right knee is Saiph.
9. The large white star at his left knee is Rigel, one of the brightest stars in the sky.

Orion is very useful when trying to locate other constellations. Travel straight along his shoulders and see what you run into? Try the same thing from his belt.

Taurus - The Bull
Fun Facts:

1. Taurus holds one of the few first magnitude stars, Aldebaran, a fiery red star, which sits in the middle of this constellation.
2. Just to the east you’ll find the beautiful Pleiades.
3. The Crab Nebula, a supernova remnant, resides in Taurus. The explosion was seen on July 4, 1054. It was so bright it could be seen during the daytime! Chinese texts and Native American pottery depict the event.
4. Zeus, the ruler of the Greek gods, loved to change form to seduce lovely maidens. Taurus, the bull, is the form he took when he wooed Europa, a Phoenician princess.
The Pleiades
Located in the constellation Taurus, the Pleiades are an open cluster of luminous blue and white stars.
Fun Facts:
1. The Vikings considered them to be the goddess Freya’s hens.
2. Native Americans tested their vision by the number of stars they could see in the cluster. In our polluted cities, you are lucky if you can see five or six, but in a dark site you’ll see about 10. In reality, the Pleiades contain hundreds of stars, most too faint to see with the naked eye.
3. In Japan, they are knows as the Subaru. In fact, the Subaru car company uses the Pleiades as their logo.
4. The cluster is only expected to survive another 250 million years and is one of the younger clusters at an age of 100 million years.

Virgo - The Virgin
Fun Facts:

1. Virgo is the largest constellation.
2. Spica, the most prominent star in Virgo, represents an ear of wheat in the goddess’s hand.
3. The star, 70 Virginis, located in Virgo, is an extrasolar planetary system with one confirmed planet. This planet is 6.6 times the mass of Jupiter!
4. This constellation is full of galaxies, hence the name The Virgo Cluster: M49, M58, M59, M60, M61, M84, M86, M87, and M90.
5. The mythology of Virgo is uncertain. Every prominent goddess has been associated with this constellation.
6. Meteor showers that pass through Virgo are: Virginids and the Mu Virginids
7. Virgo is best seen during May

Here in the U.S., we tend to be very “Americancentric”, which isn’t fair to the countries who have made great strides before us. Below, I will only show achievements that are the first of their kind, not, for example, the “first U.S. landing”.

October 4, 1957 - Sputnik 1 (U.S.S.R.) launches. Status: success.
November 3, 1957 - Sputnik 2 (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: first dog in space, Laika. The poor pooch died only hours into the trip from stress and overheating. Status: success.
January 31, 1958 - Explorer 1 (U.S.). Achievement: Discovered Earth’s radiation belt.
March 5, 1958 - Explorer 2 (U.S.) Achievement: None. Failed to achieve orbit.
March 17, 1958 - Vanguard 1 satellite (U.S.) Achievement: transmitted for 3 years.
May 15, 1958 - Sputnik 3 (U.S.S.R.)
October 11, 1958 - Pioneer 1 (U.S.) Achievement: launched the IGY space probe.
January 2, 1959 - Luna 1 (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: first solar satellite
March 3, 1959 - Pioneer 4 (U.S.)
September 12, 1959 - Luna 2 (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: first man-made object on the moon
October 4, 1959 - Luna 3 (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: obtained photos of the far side of the moon
April 1, 1960 - Tiros 1 (U.S.) Achievement: First weather satellite.
August 18, 1960 - Discoverer XIV (U.S.) spy satellite
April 12, 1961 - Vostok 1 (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: Yuri A. Gargarin becomes the first man in space.
May 5, 1961 - Mercury Freedom 7 (U.S.)
August 6, 1961 - Vostok 2 (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: first day-long space flight.
February 20, 1962 - Mercury Friendship 7 (U.S.)
May 24, 1962 - Mercury Aurora 7 (U.S.)
July 10, 1962 - Telstar 1 (U.S.) Achievement: satellite transmits first transatlantic telecast.
December 14, 1962 - U.S. Mariner 2 (U.S.) Achievement: first to fly past Venus.
June 16, 1963 - Vostok 6 (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: Valentia Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space (orbits 48 times).
July 31, 1964 - U.S. Ranger 7 (U.S.) Achievement: first close-range Moon photos.
March 8, 1965 - Soviet Voskhod 2 (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: Alexei A. Leonov becomes the first to walk in space.
March 23, 1965 - Gemini 3 (U.S.)
March 24, 1965 - Ranger 9 (U.S.) Achievement: spectacular Moon photos.
June 3, 1965 - Gemini 4 (U.S.)
July 14, 1965 - Mariner 4 (U.S.) Achievement: first close-range images about Mars.
November 16, 1965 - Venus 3 (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: first craft to impact Venus
December 4, 1965 - Gemini 7 (U.S.) Achievement: Makes 206 Earth orbits
December 15, 1965 - Gemini 6 and 7: Achievement: Gemini 6 rendezvous with Gemini 7.
February 3, 1966 - Luna 9, (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: first spacecraft to “soft-land” on the Moon.
March 1, 1966 - Venera 3 (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: first spacecraft to reach another planet (Venus).
March, 1966 - Luna 10 (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: first spacecraft to orbit the Moon.
August 14, 1966 - Lunar Orbiter 1 (U.S.) Achievement: enters first picture of the Earth from the Moon.
April 23, 1967 - Soyuz 1 (U.S.S.R.) Failure: Vladimir M. Komarov becomes the first human fatality.
October 18, 1967 - Venera 4 (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: sends data about the composition of Venus.
September 15, 1968 - Zond 5 (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: first spacecraft to orbit the Moon and return.
October 11, 1968 - Apollo 7 (U.S.) Achievement: one Earth orbit.
December 21, 1968 - Apollo 8 (U.S.) Achievement: first manned spacecraft to orbit the Moon.
January, 1969 - Soyuz 4 and 5 (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: spaceship docking, transfer Cosmonauts between ships.
July 20, 1969 - Apollo 11 (U.S.) Achievement: Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, Jr. become the first to make a soft landing and walk on the Moon.
July 31, 1969 - Mariner 6 (U.S.) Achievement: high-resolution images of
August 5, 1969 - Mariner 7 (U.S.) Achievement: more high-res images of Mars
April 11, 1970 - Apollo 13 (U.S.) Failure: an explosion in the oxygen tanks forces the crew, James A. Lovell, Jr., John L. Swigert, Jr. and Fred W. Haise, Jr., to return.
September 12, 1970 - Luna 16 (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: first lunar soil samples
November 17, 1970 - Luna 17 (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: first automatic robot to travel on the Moon
December 15, 1970 - Venera 7 (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: first probe to soft-land on Venus.
January 31, 1971 - Apollo 14 (U.S.) Achievement: first use of a two-wheeled cart to collect samples. Shepard becomes the first man to hit a golf ball on the Moon.
April 19, 1971 - Salyut 1 space station (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: first space station.
May 30, 1971 - Mariner 9 (U.S.) Achievement: first spacecraft to survey Mars from orbit.
June 6, 1971 - Soyuz 11 (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: Cosmonauts G.T. Dobrovolsky, V.N. Volkov, and V.I. Patsayev enter Salyut 1 and which becomes the first manned station. Failure: All die, however, when they try to return to Earth.
July 30, 1971 - Apollo 15 (U.S.) Achievement: first moon rover.
November 13, 1971 - Mariner 9 (U.S.) Achievement: first spacecraft to orbit Mars.
March 2, 1972 - Pioneer 10 (U.S.) Achievement: first close-up images of Jupiter.
July 15, 1972 - Pioneer 10 (U.S.) Achievement: first to travel through the asteroid belt.
April 5, 1973 - Pioneer 11 (U.S.) Achievement: discovers new rings on Saturn.
May 14, 1973 - Skylab (U.S.)
May 25, 1973 - Skylab 2 (U.S.) Achievement: repairs damage to Skylab.
November 3, 1973 - Mariner 10 (U.S.) Achievement: first dual-planet mission. Photographs Venus and Mercury.
June 24, 1974 - Salyut 3 (U.S.S.R.) space station (military)
December 26, 1974 - Salyut 4 (U.S.S.R.) space station (civilian
July, 1975 - Apollo 18 (U.S.) and Soyuz 19 (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: first international spacecraft rendezvous.
October, 1975 - Venera 9 and 10 (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: first pictures of Venus.
June 22, 1976 - Salyut 5 (U.S.S.R.) space station (military)
July 20, 1976 - Viking 1 (U.S.)
September 3, 1976 - Viking 2 (U.S.) Achievement: discovery of water frost on Mars.
August 1977 - Voyagers 1 and 2 (U.S.) Mission: Jupiter in 1979 and Saturn in 1980.
September 29, 1977 - Salyut 6 (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: First international crew
September 1, 1979 - Pioneer 11 (U.S.) Achievement: first close-up photographs of Saturn.
April 12, 1981 - Space Shuttle Columbia (U.S.)
March 1, 1982 - Venera 13 (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: first soil samples of Venus.
April 19, 1982 - Salyut 7 (U.S.S.R.) space station.
April 4, 1983 - Space shuttle Challenger (U.S.)
October 10, 1983 - Venera 15 (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: first high-res images of the Venus polar area.
November 28, 1983 - Space shuttle Columbia (U.S.) Achievement: puts Spacelab-1 into orbit.
February 3, 1984 - Space shuttle Challenger STS-14B (U.S.) Bruce McCandless becomes the first to take an untethered space walk in space.
July 17, 1984 - Soyuz-T 12 (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: Svetlana Savitskaya becomes the first woman to walk in space.
August 30, 1984 - Space shuttle Discovery (U.S.) Achievement: maiden voyage
October 5, 1984 - Space Shuttle Challenger STS-41G (U.S.) Achievement: first crew with two women aboard
December, 1984 - Vega 1 and 2 (U.S.S.R./International) Achievement: dropped probes to test the atmosphere on Venus.
January 8, 1985 - The Sakigake probe (Japan) Achievement: first interplanetary probe.
April 29, 1985 - Space Shuttle Challenger STS-51B (U.S.) Achievement: carries Spacelab-3 into orbit.
July 2, 1985 - Giotto spacecraft (European Space Agency - ESA) Mission: comet exploration.
October 3, 1985 - Space Shuttle Atlantis (U.S.) Achievement: maiden voyage.
October 1985 - Spacelab D1 Achievement: the first joint German/ESA mission
January 28, 1986 - Space shuttle Challenger STS-51L (U.S.) Failure: explodes shortly after liftoff, killing all onboard.

After the Challenger disaster, many started to question the necessity of the space program. Years later, the space program still struggles to regain the glory of the past.

San Joachin kit fox (vulpes macrotis mutica)

This little guy is the smallest fox in North America, barely tipping the scales at 5 pounds. Living primarily in California (after being transplanted there years ago), the nocturnal kit fox has huge ears that look like they can pick up all satellite transmissions, alien and terrestrial! These ears are actually used to cool them in the hot desert environment.

They live in dens, with elaborate tunnels and multiple entrances, though they sometimes will choose to stay in abandoned pipes, mines, etc. The entrances to their dens are very small, thus enabling them to escape capture by large predators.

Their numbers are dwindling, though, due to extremely low birth survival rates, eating rodents that have been poisoned, destruction of their habitat, road kill, and drowning. Kit foxes are beginning to wander into towns, surviving on handouts, though some of the stories I’ve read make me doubt the good this is doing for the fox. Some well-meaning humans are giving them things like candy, pastries, and other equally non-nutritious foods. Their more customary diet includes small mammals (mice), lizards, birds, insects, and fish. I read that biologists say they must eat about 6 ounces of meat a night.

They mate in early winter, and give birth in March to 3-6 pups. In the two months that the parents feed the pups, they bring the pups the equivalent weight in meat of one super model (100 pounds). They are listed as Endangered (as of 1967!!) and their numbers continue to fluctuate. Estimates have their numbers at a mind-numbingly small 7,000 individuals. The San Joachin Kit Fox is under the care of the Endangered Species Recovery Program.

Owning one of the best scientific names (Upupa epops…pronounced OOO papa EE pops) the Eurasian hoopoe is also the proud holder of the award for the smelliest nest in the world, built of feces. They also emit a strong musky oil which they can eject when they are alarmed. The hoopoe have a beautiful striped crest atop their heads that rises when they sense danger, and their backs are also striped. The beauty of this bird is evident when you examine the number of postage stamps that have been created in its honor:
Hoopoe Stamps http://www.bird-stamps.org/cspecies/9600100.htm

Nesting in holes in walls and trees, the female lays her eggs (5-8 of them) and the male feeds her until the young are hatched. They eat insects and larvae, poking around grasses with their curved bills and can be found throughout Europe, Africa, India and Asia.

The hoopoe was loved by the Egyptians and is found in their mythology adorning the sceptre of the god Horus, symbolizing happiness. They also created a heiroglyph based on the bird’s crest. Moslems forbid the eating of the bird due to it’s odor and the fact that it eats worms. The legend in Islam shows that the hoopoe smells foul because it carries the dead on its head, which is why it is forbidden to kill one. The hoopoe is mentioned twice in the Torah. Research has shown that when the Torah mentions a bird called the dukhifat, it is the hoopoe. The Torah lists it as one of the birds forbidden to eat. Other legends tell tales of magic and recommended using parts of the hoopoe to aid memory. My favorite legend tells that the hoopoe originally had a crest of gold, but because they kept being killed for it, they asked King Solomon for crests of feathers.

Large scale extinctions, like the dinosaurs, account for only 4% of the disappearance of animals from the earth. The rest die off quietly, without meteors or other major events to hurry them along. What causes these silent extinctions has puzzled scientists for generations. Now, there may be an answer. At the end of the chromosomes of every species (except bacteria and algae) are small protective caps called telomeres. When a cell dies, it tries to replicate these caps, but as a species goes on, the caps grow shorter and shorter, resulting in genetic abnormalities, such as cancer and immunodeficiency (think AIDS). This shortening, they theorize, will eventually cause the collapse of the species. More study is necessary at this point, and the new genetic mapping projects will be extremely helpful, but one can’t help but wonder about the future of our own species. Will we be able to genetically alter our destiny in the lab, artificially lengthening the telomeres, or will our species crash and burn, like so many before?

A constellation is a group of stars related to each other in a visible configuration. Humans find shapes in all kinds of things (clouds, for instance), so it’s not surprising that we have picked out some shapes in the night sky. Long ago, it was thought that the gods resided up there, and a lot of the constellations have a basis in mythology. However, if you were anyplace other than the Earth, the constellations would not look the same, since we are viewing them on a 2D plane, whereas the stars are in a 3D position. Also, different cultures have different constellations. Orion, for instance, was thought by the Sumarians to be a sheep, not a man.

The Big Dipper is called an asterism, which means it is not an official constellation. In fact, it is just a part of the constellation Ursa Major. The same goes for The Teapot in Sagettarius.

According to the International Astronomical Union, there are 88 official constellations. The first 12 on the list are the 12 signs of the Zodiac:

Aries, the ram
Taurus, the bull
Gemini, the twins
Cancer, the crab
Leo, the lion
Virgo, the virgin
Libra, the scales
Scorpius (also called Scorpio), the scorpion
Sagittarius, the archer
Capricornus (also called Capricorn), the sea goat
Aquarius, the water carrier
Pisces, the fish

Next, are the constellations named by Ptolemy, a Greek astronomer:

Andromeda
Aquila, the eagle
Ara, the altar
Argo Navis, the ship of the argonauts, since divided into Carina, Puppis and Vela
Auriga, the charioteer
Boötes, the herdsman
Canis Major, the greater dog
Canis Minor, the lesser dog
Cassiopeia, the Queen
Centaurus, the centaur
Cepheus
Cetus, the whale
Corona Australis, the southern crown
Corona Borealis, the northern crown
Corvus, the raven
Crater, the cup
Cygnus, the swan
Delphinus, the dolphin
Draco, the dragon
Equuleus, the little horse
Eridanus, the river
Hercules, the hero
Hydra, the sea monster
Lepus, the hare
Lupus, the wolf
Lyra, the lyre
Ophiuchus, the serpent-bearer
Orion, the hunter
Pegasus, the winged horse
Perseus
Piscis Austrinus, the southern fish
Sagitta, the arrow
Serpens, the serpent
Triangulum, the triangle
Ursa Major, the greater bear
Ursa Minor, the lesser bear

As European explores journeyed to areas where they could see the southern sky, they added to the list even more. Also, the gaps between the Ptolemy and the Greek sky were filled:

Antlia, the pump
Apus, the bird of paradise
Caelum, the chisel
Camelopardalis, the giraffe
Canes Venatici, the hunting dogs
Chamaeleon, the lizard
Circinus, the drawing compasses
Columba, the dove
Coma Berenices (traditional asterism), Berenice’s hair
Crux, the cross
Dorado, the swordfish
Fornax, the furnace
Grus, the crane
Horologium, the clock
Hydrus, the water snake
Indus, the Indian
Lacerta, the lizard
Leo Minor, the lesser lion
Lynx, the wild cat
Mensa, (originally Mons Mensae) table mountain
Microscopium, the microscope
Monoceros, the unicorn
Musca, the fly
Norma, the square
Octans, the octant
Pavo, the peacock
Phoenix, the flame bird of myth
Pictor, (originally Equuleus Pictoris) the painter’s easel
Pyxis, the compass
Reticulum, the reticle
Sculptor, the artistic man
Scutum, the shield
Sextans, the sextant
Telescopium, the telescope
Triangulum Australe, the southern triangle
Tucana, the toucan
Volans (originally Piscis Volans) the flying fish
Vulpecula (originally Vulpecula Cum Ansere) the fox with the goose

Finally, the asterisms, the group of stars that didn’t make the cut. Usually it is because they are a part of an already named constellation:

Big Dipper in Ursa Major
Little Dipper in Ursa Minor
Teapot in Sagittarius
Orion’s belt
Summer Triangle (Deneb, Altair, and Vega, or ? Cygni, Aquilae, and Lyrae)
Great Square of Pegasus
Urn in Aquarius
Sickle in Leo
Coma Berenices, once an asterism, is now officially a constellation

“There are tigers in China?” This was a comment I heard recently from a friend as I explained the plight of these beautiful creatures. That lack of knowledge is one of the reasons their numbers continue to decline. It is estimated that there are less than 100 individuals left on Earth, including those in captivity. The destruction of their native habitat has resulted in isolated pockets of habitat, not enough to ensure a diverse flow of the gene pool. Human intervention is needed if the South China tiger is to survive. The first step was listing them under First Level Protection according to the Law for Protection of Wildlife of People’s Republic of China. The next step is the reforestation of their homeland, not an easy task in a country already bursting at the seams. In 1998, a major project was begun to re-establish the tiger population in the Meihua Mountain Reserve, a place almost devoid of the human presence. Unfortunately, trade in tiger skins and organs (for medicine) continues despite the Law for Protection. With the increased demand for “holistic” medicines, tiger bone sales have gone through the roof, selling to 26 countries. Their whiskers are used in potions, and even their feces have a medicinal use. A ban on the trade of such items is needed, as well as stiffer penalties for poaching, or all we will have left of this magnificent animal will be their skins hanging on the wall.

It is estimated that, if their situation does not improve quickly, they will be extinct in less than years.

There are a lot of things scary about New York, but I never thought there could be such a thing as a two foot salamander traipsing about in the river drainages!!

With their short little legs, beady eyes, and wrinkled skin, they cannot be called cute or cuddly. Like most New Yorkers, the hellbender becomes active after dark, seeking food and/or courtship. Misconceptions about its nature are common (much like NYers). Caught by fishermen, they are killed in the mistaken assumption that they are poisonous. They eat crayfish and small fish and like to hide under rocks. This is one New Yorker who doesn’t mind “swimmin’ with th’ fishes.”

(Actually, the Eastern Hellbender is found from NY to Georgia)

Pollution of waterways is the major concern for this slimy, spotted creature who breathes through his skin and has no eyelids.

The next time you’re in a really nice trout stream, watch out…the hellbender is there….watching…..