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Home , Cepheus (king of Tegea), Eridanus (constellation), Helle (mythology), Phrixus, Piscis Austrinus, Sea (astronomy)

Welcome to Hungry Mother State Park Hungry Mother State Park Attention all stargazers, the night sky is calling. Here at the park we have some prime viewing areas located at the spillway, the beach front and the Stargazing ballfield behind Ferrell Hall. Year- round the sky is filled with , in the Park planets and with stories to tell. Here in the Northern Please watch for additional Hemisphere we have circumpolar monthly Stargazing guides to constellations that can be viewed all learn more about stargazing year long. What are we waiting for? in our park. Let’s go stargazing.

For more information about October Constellations Virginia State Parks, please visit: www.virginiastateparks.gov

November Constellations Discovery Center Hours of Operation:

December Constellations October and November 10 a.m. - 6:30 p.m. daily December October, November 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. & December

Star Gazing Smart Phone Apps Walk 2 Night Sky Star Tracker Sky Map Interpretation Office: Phone: 276-781-7413 [email protected] November Constellations hand. The was placed in a October Constellations temple. This is the same Golden Fleece Pisces (The ) Aquarius (The Water-Bearer) which later appears in the story of and In , the two fish the . Aquarius is one of the oldest constellations represented Aphrodite and her son, Eros. in the sky. In Greek myth, Aquarius was One day they were fleeing the giant Ganymede, the young boy kidnapped by Cetus (The Monster) Typhon, when they jumped into a stream, Zeus. Zeus sent his eagle, , to snatch turned to fish and swam away. It is said In classical civilizations, the figure was the Ganymede out of the fields where the boy they tied a string to their tails so they giant sea monster that almost ate was watching over his sheep. Ganymede could stay together. Even the constellation Andromeda. King and Queen would become the cupbearer for the shows this long string shared between Cassiopeia were forced to leave their Olympian gods. The Sumerians also believed them. daughter chained to a cliff. When the that Aquarius brought on a global flood. monster came up to eat her, the This flood happened to be at the same time December Constellations hero defeated him and later when the rainy season began in the Middle married Andromeda. East. Also, many of the stars that make up Aries (The Ram)

Aquarius have names referring to good luck. In the Greek myth, was the son of a Eridanus (The River) Boeotian king. He had a twin sister, . Eridanus is known as the Celestial River. It Piscis Austrinus The children had a stepmother, , who most often related to the Nile or Euphrates (The Southern Fish) hated them and wanted to get rid of them. Rivers because they were so important to She came up with a plan to put the land on The constellation has its origins in ancient civilizations. Eridanus is the second the brink of famine by making sure the Babylonian culture, where it was known as longest constellation in the night sky. wheat crops failed. When a man was sent to the Fish, or MUL.KU. It was associated with the Syrian fertility goddess Atargatis, who consult the Oracle at Delphi, Ino bribed him fell into a lake near the river Euphrates, to lie and say the Oracle asked for the king’s and was rescued by a large fish. The children to be sacrificed if they did not want goddess would later punish all those who the people to starve. Phrixus and Helle were ate fish, but her priests were allowed to about to die when a winged ram with eat it every day. golden wool came to their rescue. The ram was sent by their real mother, the cloud . It took both children and flew east to . Only Phrixus survived the journey. Helle fell off the ram and drowned in the . The strait was later renamed to Hellespont, or sea of Helle, in her memory. Phrixus was welcomed by King Aeëtes of Colchis, to whom he

presented the Golden Fleece. In return, the king gave Phrixus his daughter ’s