As a young girl, I can remember doing the dinner dishes in front of our kitchen window and seeing the tiny Pleiades star cluster rise in the eastern evening sky. It was, of course, autumn.
School had begun and we were well on the way to another scholastic year. I’m certain I was feeling the same emotions I feel every autumn season; a sense of ending and new beginning, the poignant pull of changing leaves and brilliant color, the joy of Indian Summer canvased against the anticipation of coming winter’s ice and snow. And, of course – coupled with that back then – the romantic fantasies and longings of an innocent heart.
As a child, I had been taught how to find both the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper, but the Universe let me discover Pleiades – the tiniest dipper of them all – all on my own. What wonder and awe I felt when I realized it was real, not just a celestial mirage. It became even more enchanting when I learned it was also called “the Seven Sisters” – that’s the stuff fairy tales are made of.
Today, the Pleiades evoke the same magic and mystery in me that they did when I was young. Check out the nighttime sky and see if they do the same for you. Also look for the distinctive head of Taurus the Bull below Pleiades and the easy-to-identify constellation of the Gemini Twins [lying on its side - and not shown on the starmap above] below and to the left of Taurus. Enjoy the starry show!
