Columns see more »

The planets along with several constellations and other night sky objects are named for gods of ancient Greece, although most are now known by their counterpart in later Roman religion.

Sorting out the relationship among the gods is complicated as most religious stories from antiquity have multiple versions, yet we’ll introduce some of the better-known members of this family of Greek gods (with their Roman names in parentheses).

It all began in a void of nothingness called Chaos, out of which arose the first goddess Gaia (Earth). Without need of a male, she gave birth to Uranus, the god of the sky and the first ruler of the universe. He became Gaia’s mate and together they produced many children, some of whom were the Titans

One of the Titans was Cronus (Saturn) who married his sister Rhea; they had six children: Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Demeter, Hestia, and Hera.

Uranus, fearing his children would rebel against him, had them imprisoned, but with help from Gaia, Cronus and the Titans escaped and defeated Uranus. But Cronus too fell victim to his own children who later defeated him and the Titans.

Cronus’ three sons divided the universe among themselves. Zeus (Jupiter) became god of the heavens and earth, and king of the gods. Poseidon (Neptune) became god of the seas and earthquakes. Hades (Pluto) became god of the underworld (which was later incorporated into other religions as “hell”).

Advertisement • Your Ad Here

Zeus, the most important of the gods, married his sister Hera, and fathered several children with her, one of whom was Ares (Mars). He fathered many more children by other women, some immortal goddesses and some mortal humans.

Some of his other well-known children were Aphrodite (Venus), goddess of love and beauty; Apollo, god of youth; Artemis (Diana), the huntress goddess; Hermes (Mercury), messenger of the gods; Perseus (a Greek hero; Heracles (Hercules), god of strength and courage and Greek hero; Helen of Troy, and the Muses, gods of creativity.

Among his famous grandchildren were Eros (Cupid), son of Ares and Aphrodite; Pan, son of Hermes; and Asclepius (Ophiuchus, the god of healing), son of Apollo.

Now with this introduction to some of the Greek gods and goddesses, maybe you’ll feel more at home under the night sky.

•Sky Calendar.

* June 29 Mon.: The Moon is at 1st quarter.

* July 2 Thu. noon: Midpoint of the year 2009.

* 3 Fri.: Earth is at aphelion — farthest from the Sun in its elliptical orbit.

* 4 Sat. evening: Scorpius’ brightest star Antares is to the left of the large gibbous Moon.

* 5 Sun. morning: Venus (bottom), Mars (upper right) and the Pleiades star cluster (upper left) form a triangle low in the east just before dawn.

* 7 Tue.: The full Moon, called Hay Moon and Thunder Moon, produces a barely detectable lunar eclipse.

* 9 Thu. morning: For telescope viewers: Neptune is a moon-width above much brighter Jupiter.

* 10 Fri. morning: Jupiter is to the left of the bright gibbous Moon.

* 14 Tue. morning: Brilliant Venus is to the upper left of Taurus’ bright reddish star Aldebaran low in the east before dawn.

* 15 Wed.: The Moon is at 3rd quarter.

•Naked-eye Planets. Evening: Saturn, low in the west, sets just after midnight, and Jupiter rises in the east just before midnight. Morning: Jupiter is the brightest object in the south while “morning star” Venus is low in the east with much fainter Mars just above it.

•Star Party: The Central Texas Astronomical Society’s free monthly star party is Saturday, July 11, at the Waco Wetlands beginning at 8:30 p.m., weather permitting. For directions see my Web site.

Stargazer appears every other week. Paul Derrick is an amateur astronomer who lives in Waco. Contact him at 918 N. 30th, Waco, 76707, (254) 753-6920 or paulderrickwaco@aol.com. See the Stargazer Web site at stargazerpaul.com.