NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Constellation names
From: Mark Prange
Date: 2003 Nov 2, 18:31 +0000
From: Mark Prange
Date: 2003 Nov 2, 18:31 +0000
>From: Blackwood>Reply-To: Navigation Mailing List >To: NAVIGATION-L@LISTSERV.WEBKAHUNA.COM >Subject: Constellation names >Date: Sun, 2 Nov > >George, > >"The Stars: A New Way To See Them," Houghton Mifflin Company, c1952, >was given to me 25 years ago by friends, American circumnavigators/sailing >writers Skip and Linda Dashew, to help me get started in celestial >navigation. > >Highly complimentary back cover reviews quote Albert Einstein, >"Navy News," Hayden Planetarium, US Power Squadron, various international >astronomical societies, etc. > >Hans Augusto Rey was born in Hamburg, Germany in 1898. As a child, he spent >much of his free time in that city's famous Hagenbeck Zoo drawing animals. >After >serving in the army during the Weltkrieg, he studied philology and natural >science >at the University of Hamburg. He moved to Montmartre for four years and >escaped >from Paris in 1940 to the US. > >Sharon > > >----- Original Message ----- >From: "George Huxtable" >To: >Sent: November 02 Subject: Constellation names > > >Sharon Blackwood wrote- > > >The names you mentioned are the commonly accepted "Rey's" method. > >(H. A. Rey "The Stars: A New Way To See Them") The book, for children > >and adults, tries to depict more identifiable names for the >constellations. > > > >The Starry Night software also allows users to choose the "Rey" >constellations > >as well as Astronomical and Zodiac. > > > >I find the "Rey" method confusing, but many people swear by it - > >especially for teaching children. > >========== > >Thank you, Sharon, for a really useful comment. > >When you say "commonly accepted", and "many people swear by it", it would >be interesting to know what point-of-view your are referring to. Is it from >a US background, or where? From your mailing, I can only guess, from its >timezone. > >It would also be of interest to learn, in rough terms, how recently this >method was introduced and how widespread it has become. I have a niece who >is a teacher and will ask her if that method is used in the UK. > >I've spoken about this matter with my brother-in-law Peter, who teaches >juniors in New Zealand. He tells me that the constellation names he uses >there haven't changed since he was a child. Many of them are invisible and >unfamiliar to us Northerners, of course. > >We expect to see, and to recognise, our circumpolar stars any way up, but >for those constellations nearer the equator, such as Orion, their >orientation doesn't alter much. Being on the Equator, Orion is just as >visible from New Zealand, and Peter explains an additional problem for them >there. Seen from the South, Orion is always upside-down, and Peter points >out that it's hard to respect, as a great warrior, someone who is always >standing on his head. As a private arrangement between him and his class, >then, they have renamed Orion "the Shopping-Trolley". > >George _________________________________________________________________ Surf and talk on the phone at the same time with broadband Internet access. Get high-speed for as low as $29.95/month (depending on the local service providers in your area). https://broadband.msn.com