What is the power of the sun?

Students are studying the power of the sun and its relationship to the Earth and our solar system. They are enthusiastic to learn about solar energy. Constellations are fascinating clusters of stars that we have researched and written about. Many students are also interested in astronomy and astrology! Here is some of their best work!

Cygnus

By Evelyn D 

There are many constellations in our galaxy, 88 of them to be exact. However, an overwhelming majority of them happen to be from Greek mythology. In my opinion, the most interesting of these is the constellation called Cygnus, so here are some fun facts about it. 

Cygnus is Latin for the word Swan and in Greek mythology this group of stars represents the Olympian Zeus. The story goes that the god took the form of a swan to seduce either the nymph Nemesis or the Spartan queen Leda. The alpha (or brightest) star in the constellation is named Deneb, the 19th vividest star in our night sky. It is also part of the Summer Triangle, which can be viewed at mostly any time of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. 

One of the main things that attracted me to this particular cluster of stars was all of the fascinating solar objects within. First, there is the North American nebula, named after the continent because its shape looks like the mass of land here on Earth. Then you can view the Cygnus loop, a remnant of a massive supernova. 61 Cygni was also the first star to ever have its distance from our planet measured, at 11.4 million light years and the 15th farthest star away. Lastly, this cluster of stars contains the first black hole ever to be discovered, called Cygnus x-1. 

These are some of my favorite and most amazing facts about the constellation named Cygnus. 

Aquarius

By Derek v

If you ask me, the Aquarius star constellation is the best (I am a bit biased though). I also think that if you look at the constellation upside down it looks like a wolf with a long jaw but that is my opinion so take it with a grain of salt. Now onto the facts: The word Aquarius comes from the language of Latin. In Latin Aquarius translates to “water-bearer, because of this translation some people connect it to Ea, a mythological Babyloian god  who was often depicted carrying a vase with water flowing out, in mesopotamien mythology, Altho in greek mythology, Aquarius is aligned with multiple figures, such as Ganymede who worked as a cup carrier for the gods, and Cecrops I. There are a lot of ties to mythology for this star constellation.  There is a lot more information on this topic and if you want to learn more about The Aquarius star constellation Click on the highlighted blue to learn more.