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Caveman to Spaceman Jordyn Marxen Caveman to Spaceman Jordyn Marxen “Astronomy compels the soul to look upwards and leads us from this world to another” -Plato As with any profession over time, Persephone, the daughter of the Goddess of astronomy has changed from the nights of fertility, who was trapped into becoming the stargazing with the naked eye, to today’s wife of Hades. When her mother learned of technological advances in telescopes and this, the Goddess refused to fertilize the space missions. Yet at its root astronomy is ground and the lack of crops led to a great fueled by man’s fascination with exploring famine. Eventually Hades agreed to the unknown. Persephone leaving the underworld for half The constellations of today are often the year. Yet during the other six months attributed to the Greek mythology associated when she was trapped below, her mother with them. However, the earliest records would not nurture the grounds. Not until found of constellations and observations of spring, when Persephone once again was the movements of celestial bodies date back allowed out of Hade’s domain, would the to ~1600 B.C. during the Babylonian era1. flowers and crops being to grow. The 88 constellations now recognized by the While not all myths explain natural International Astronomical Union, are phenomena, some become so engrained in a derived from 482 constellations denoted in a culture that they are transformed into book from the Greek astronomer Ptolemy holidays and festivals. A common myth that who surely learned from prior cultures such became a traditional festival still celebrated as Babylon. Among these 88 constellations today is that of the Cowherd and Weaver are recognizable creatures and beings such Girl, which is the foundation of the Qixi as the 12 zodiacs, or warriors and maidens Festival3, celebrated each summer in China. like Hercules and Virgo. An episode of The Big Bang Theory One of the many mythologies behind the summarizes the story as such: “…two of the constellation of Virgo is that she was brightest stars in the night sky are Altair and Vega. And it is said they were deeply in love the naked eye, to exploring the cosmos with but forever separated by the celestial river of telescopes. While names like Galileo Galilei the Milky Way…But once a year, on the and Nicholas Copernicus may be common seventh day of the seventh month, Vega place when talking about influential cries so hard that all the magpies in the astronomers, centuries of studying the stars world fly up and create a bridge with their and planets have led to a plethora of men wings so the two lovers can be together for a and women whose studies have helped single night…”4 Altair and Vega are stars in mankind to understand the unknown a little the constellations of Aquila and Libra, two better. While Galileo is often referred to as constellations seen during the summer in the the “father of modern astronomy” and is Northern Hemisphere that along with known for having been put under house Cygnus, form the asterism of the Summer arrest6 for his support of the heliocentric Triangle. model of the solar system, it is Nicholas Visible a few months after the Summer Copernicus who often comes to mind when Triangle is the iconic winter constellation of discussing heliocentric versus geocentric Orion. Whether stargazers only recognize models. Long before man was able to look the three stars that make up his belt, or if back on Earth from space, our location and they have the imagination to picture the motion in space was known only by the hunter and his club and shield, many will movement of the stars. Due to the fact that agree with what the ancient Greeks saw in a we can possible image. In stand the Japanese outside culture however, and see those stars draw a the very different stars go picture. The by, yet trapezoidal figure not feel like we are moving, it is transforms itself understandable why people believed in the into the sleeve of a kimono5. geocentric model where Earth was in the As technology evolved over the years center and the rest of the sky rotated around mankind went from playing dot-to-dot with us. The Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe studied the movement of the planets and Whereas the Mercury capsule was for a stars for many years during the 1580’s7. His single astronaut, Gemini carried two student, Johannes Kepler later used Brahe’s astronauts on each mission. The culmination data to formulate laws pertaining to of NASA’s first decade of course were the planetary motion8, now known as Kepler’s manned missions to the moon. While Apollo Laws. These laws further solidified the was the Greek god who pulled the sun heliocentric model of the solar system. across the sky with his chariot, the strength and mythology behind the name lent itself for a strong program name. From the missions that let man first leave Earth, to our everyday transportation and entertainment, astronomy has had many influences in our daily life. A closer look at the logo for Subaru reveals that the stars are The time eventually came where gazing actually in the formation of the constellation up was no longer enough to understand what of the Pleiades. Subaru chose this as their was there. Humankind’s first voyages into logo both for the representation of the the darkness drew upon historical and multiple companies that had merged to form astronomical backgrounds while choosing Subaru, and also for the fact that Subaru is 9 inspirational mission names. From the the Japanese term for the Pleiades . Roman god Mercury, and the constellation Similarly, Volvo’s logo draws upon of the twins, Gemini, to the Greek god astronomy. While the circle logo with the Apollo, NASA’s first few decades of arrow is most commonly associated with the manned exploration drew upon the symbol for “male”, it is actually the symbol inspiration of the stars. America’s first seven used for Mars, the Roman god of war. Using astronauts made up the Mercury program. In a strong masculine symbol such as this 10 mythology, Mercury was the messenger to makes for a good marketing technique. the gods, an iconic symbol for the first men Astronomy references in everyday to ascend to the heavens and return to earth. transportation might not be as obvious as the NASA’s Gemini program was aptly named names used by NASA for missions to space, for the constellation of twin brothers. but a clear nod to the stars can be seen in media of a variety of forms with shows like Dark Matter, or J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. From Sirius and Regulus Black, to Bellatrix LeStrange and Draco Sources Cited Malfoy, Rowling clearly knows a little about 1 "History of Astronomy." History of Astronomy. N.p., n.d. the cosmos. As interest in exploring the sky Web. 06 Dec. 2015. 2 "Constellations: Frequently Asked increases, so too does the representation in Questions." Constellations: Frequently Asked Questions. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Dec. 2015. 3 media. Movies like Interstellar and The "Qixi Festival." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 06 Dec. 2015. 4 Martian not only became huge blockbuster Prady, Bill, Eric Kaplan, and Jim Reynolds. "The Indecision Amalgamation."The Big Bang Theory. hits, they inspired countless STEM 3 Apr. 2014. Television. 5 "Icons of Japanese Culture." Ancient Japanese Astronomy programs and challenges to continue and Mythology. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Dec. 2015. 6"Galileo Galilei." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. increasing interest in STEM fields. Web. 06 Dec. 2015. 7 History of Astronomy." History of Astronomy. N.p., n.d. From the dawn of man, to the potentials Web. 06 Dec. 2015. 8 History of Astronomy." History of Astronomy. N.p., n.d. held in the future, astronomy has been a Web. 06 Dec. 2015. 9 Dennison, Jeanne. "How Did Subaru Come up with Their source of inspiration for mankind’s Logo? What Does the Subaru Emblem Mean?" Stanley Subaru. N.p., 13 July 2012. Web. exploration of the cosmos. What started out 6 Dec. 2015. 10 Majumdar, Nivedit. "Automotive Company Logos With as merely looking up at night as evolved into Hidden Meanings."Yaabot. N.p., 22 June 2014. Web. 06 Dec. 201 sending man and machine further and further out into the unknown. .
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