50 STAR TRAILS - Navajo Revolving Female Náhook-s ba’1adii

Revolving Female is the other People native to the Marshall half of a pair of figures circling Islands in the Pacific saw them as closely around North Fire. Together the tail of a porpoise. with Revolving Male they symbolize Revolving Female corresponds the importance of a family created closely to the brighter stars within by the union of a husband and wife, the contemporary constellation as well as the significance of family Cassiopeia, the Queen. During the duties and responsibilities. early winter months, the five The circular path followed by brightest stars resemble a squashed these two figures is reminiscent of letter “M” in the northern sky. the circular shape of a hooghan. The Greek legends describe Revolving Female is sometimes Cassiopeia as a boastful queen. She seen as a reminder of the even boasted that she was more Navajo custom that a beautiful than the gods themselves. mother-in-law should Of course the gods did not never be in a hooghan appreciate this and decided to with her daughter’s husband. This punish her. She was chained to her law is based on the belief that there throne and hung in the sky, where is only room for one woman in the sometimes she would be seen right- home. Some traditional Navajo side up and at other times she would believed a woman would go blind be seen in a rather undignified up- if she ever saw her son-in-law. side down position. The five stars in a distinctive “W” In China, these stars represented shape were seen by the Lapps of Wang Liang, a famous charioteer in northern Europe as part of a moose’s the 11th century B.C., and his antler. Siberia’s Chukchee people chariot. saw them as a group of five reindeer. Caph, Arabic for “hand”, (2.3; Some Arab people in the Middle white subgiant). East pictured them as the humps on a camel’s back. Don Childrey 51

North Fire

NW N Horizon

Revolving Female as seen on Mar 21, around 7:30 PM, EST.

Finding Revolving Female: For locations north of 50 degrees the true horizon in the north is, you latitude, Revolving Female is always may have trouble seeing Revolving visible above the true horizon. Female during the summer months. Depending on how clear your view of

WHERE TO LOOK 1 HOUR AFTER SUNSET WINTER SPRING SUMMER FALL Overhead, High in NW, Low in N, High in NE, Dec 21 Mar 21 Jun 21 Sep 21 52 STAR TRAILS - Navajo

Revolving Female

Schedar, Arabic for “beast”, (2.2; M31, the Great Andromeda orange giant). Galaxy, actually lies within the Cih, Chinese for “whip”, is an constellation Andromeda, the unpredictably variable star that Princess. If you follow a line in the averages a magnitude of 2.5, (blue direction where Cih, Schedar, and subgiant). Caph seem to be pointing, you may Ruchbah, Arabic for “knee”, find a faint, hazy oval object. This (2.7; blue-white giant). spiral galaxy, similar to our own, is Segin lies at the flattened end of the most distant object visible with the “M” shaped group of stars, (3.4; the naked eye. It lies about two blue giant). million light years away. Binoculars Revolving Female lies within the can enhance the view, maybe even bright swath of stars we know as the allowing you to see the 9th magnitude Milky Way. Looking at this area with galaxy M32, which lies next to M31. binoculars will reveal The house-shaped asterism within thousands of dim stars the constellation Cepheus, the that appear to the naked King, lies nearby. According to eye as a bright haze, as Greek legend, Andromeda was his if there were a thin cloud across the daughter, the princess, and sky. Cassiopeia, the Queen, was his wife. Don Childrey 53

Segin

Ruchbah

Cih

Schedar

Caph

M31 M52

M32

Detail view of Cassiopeia