Late Summer Tales of Tanabata

Universe Today ^ | David Dickinson

[BenLurkin]

One of the surest signs that late summer is here in the northern hemisphere is the arrival of the Milky Way in the early evening sky....the star-dappled plane of our home galaxy sits almost due south and stretches far to the north. This is also why we refer to the triangular shaped asterism formed by the bright stars of Altair, Deneb and Vega as the Summer Triangle. Two of these stars are the focus of a fascinating mythos from the Far East, and a poetic celestial configuration that commemorates star-crossed lovers lost.

We first heard of tales of Tanabata while stationed in Japan in the U.S. Air Force. Meaning ‘the seventh evening of the seventh month’ — sometimes simply abbreviated to ‘the seventh-seventh,’ — Tanabata is the summer Star Festival of Japan and dates back to about the 7th century AD. Korean and Chinese cultures also have a version of the tale, and the festival that was once considered a rite for the elite gained popularity during the Edo period in the 17th century to become a nationwide celebration.

...

Tanabata involves the romance between the weaver’s daughter Orihime and the cow-herder’s son Kengyuu. As lovers will do, both began to neglect family duties...until the two were separated by Orihime’s father, Tentei, represented by the Pole Star Polaris. The vast river of heaven, represented by the Milky Way, now separates the two. Orihime (Vega) sits on one side, while Kengyuu (Altair) is alone and unreachable on the other. The Emperor relented to Orihime’s pleading, however, and allows the two to meet once a year, on the seven day of the seventh month.

...

Think of the crescent Moon as the boat, which once a year, brings the two lovers together across the celestial river of the Milky Way.

[BenLurkin]

The Summer Triangle. Image credit: Stellarium

Late to the party? the waxing crescent Moon versus the plane of the galaxy on the evening of August 20th, 2015. Image credit: Starry Night Education Software

[BenLurkin]

Astronomy/folklore ping

[blueunicorn6]

My high school girlfriend’s Dad broke us up, too.

Well, he would have broke me up with that baseball bat if he could have caught me.

Maybe someday they’ll make up a story about our great love and people will look at the night skies and pick out some stars and say,

“Too bad that Dad didn’t catch him.”

[noinfringers2]

I very much suspect that you are not the only person to have had a serious if not passionate love affair broken up by a daddy and/or momma.

[blueunicorn6]

Oh, her Mom really didn’t like me.

She called me “That boy”.

Like in “That boy is no good” or “That boy will never amount to anything” or “That boy is gonna wind up in jail”.

Well har-de-har-har, I didn’t wind up in jail. But her precious daughter wound up marrying a man of low morals and questionable ethics. That’s right.....a lawyer.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks BenLurkin, extra to APoD.