Stardust

By John W.  Reed

Rather than attending the November 14th meeting, I instead found myself on a Cub Scout campout.  My boys have both joined this year, so the various activities keep me on my toes.  However, this was to be the first time I could combine astronomy with Scouting, so I was somewhat excited about this particular outing.  When I first told the scout leader that I would like to give a talk on the stars for that evening, I think he approached the idea with a little trepidation.  I was, after all, new to the circle of scout parents.  Maybe I was some UFO nut!  In spite of this he conceded and a block of time was set aside that night to have our "Starparty".

We camped in Petit Jean Park and during the day spent hours climbing rocks at the "Bear Caves".  I thought that surely this would wear the boys out.  It didn't.  After supper that evening they still had plenty of energy.  Our group was comprised mostly of ten year old Webelos Scouts, but there were also two 6 year old Tiger Cubs who happened to be younger brothers.

We set up my ten inch telescope in the parking lot of the gravesite area which is on the eastern most edge of the mountain.  As you probably know this vantage point has a magnificent view during the day.  At night it is very different.  The entire city of Morrilton is visible in the north.  The downtown area is a bright constellation of lights.  There are a few trees, but they did little to shield us from the cutting wind swooping up the dark mountainside.  Other than Morrilton in the North, Petit Jean has very dark skies.

The milkyway was an irregular river of light which cleft the dome of the sky into two equal halves.  Cygnus stood prominently at the zenith, its wings out stretched, making its never ending flight south.  Pegasus and Andromeda were rising high in the east.  Hercules was fast descending into the last of the twilight glow.

As we were setting up one of the boys remarked that it was really dusty tonight.  I asked him what he meant.  He replied by pointing at the milkyway.  It was very clear and dry so our galaxy viewed edge-on was sharp and crisp, its edges rather jagged.  It almost had the consistency of flower spilt upon black felt.  It did look dusty!  However as a proper amateur astronomer, I explained to him that what he was seeing was not dust, but thousands of stars so far away that they melded together to form the river of luminance that we see.  This seemed to satisfy the scout as he made no further remarks.  However I continued to think about what he said and realized that he was really almost right.  The only difference was that the dust was not in our atmosphere, but rather in the far distant reaches of the galaxy.  A good deal of the appearance of the Milky Way is due to obscuring dust rather than light-giving stars.  Much of the shining band is covered by this dust, giving it the mottled, irregular appearance we see.  As so often in dealing with young people, the teacher ends up being educated more than the ones being taught!
 
I then related the story of Perseus and Andromeda.  The king Polydectes sent Perseus to kill the Medusa, who's very look could turn the observer into stone.  Perseus killed the Medusa by looking only at its reflection in a magic shield.  When he cut off the Medusa's head the winged horse Pegasus sprang from the severed neck and was thus created.  Perseus then used the head to turn the sea monster, Cetus, into stone thus saving the Princess Andromeda from a watery death while tied to rocks by the shore.  Cassiopeia and Cepheus, Andromeda's parents, were so happy that they gave Perseus the beautiful Andromeda's hand in marriage.

So it is that six fall constellations can be used on one story.  As I mentioned each player in the myth I pointed out the appropriate constellation.  When I asked my sons later which part of the starparty they liked best, it was the recounting of our hero Perseus.

Finally we set the telescope on Saturn, it being conveniently located in the southern constellation Capricornus.  This too went well even though the scouts had to wait in line, not something ten year olds do well.

As we packed up I came to a realization that almost any of us could do a program of this sort (and, in fact, several have).  I am not a great public speaker, but the boys got what I was trying send them.  By not getting too technical, adding a little star lore and doing only the basics with the telescope their minds were, at least for a short while, captured and carried far above that chilly mountain top where the stardust danced.