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Sky Chart and Artist Rendering of Virgo
Origin:
Virgo, the Virgin or Maiden (or goddess of Innocence and Purity), is a
zodiacal constellation and the second largest constellation in the sky
(covering 1294 square degrees). Virgo also ranks among the oldest
known constellations dating back to before the Babylonians and Sumarians
who knew her as Ishtar. She has been known by many different
civilizations by a variety of different names but always associated to the
same star group: to the Egyptians she was Isis, the Goddess of Fertility;
in India she was Kanya, mother of Krishna, the Hindus saw Virgo as Kauni,
the Maiden; the Persians called her Khosha, the Ear of Wheat; the Hebrews
called her Bethulah, translated as "Abundance in Harvest"; In
western mythology she was Astraea, daughter of Zeus and Themis (Zeus'
first wife). She has also been associated with the goddess of
Justice and is carrying the Scales of Justice (Libra),
although most renderings of Virgo show the scales at her feet. She
is usually drawn holding one or two sheaves of wheat in honor of the
harvest.
Information:
Virgo is a spring-early summer constellation for northern observers,
culminating in the south at 9 pm around June 1. Most of the stars
are inconspicuous but bright Spica stands out as the brightest star in the
region. Looking into Virgo is for the most part looking out of the
Milky Way Galaxy into the crowded Coma-Virgo cluster of galaxies.
With the many dozens of galaxies visible in amateur-sized telescopes it is
difficult to pick just a few to spotlight. However, the
"Sombrero Galaxy" (M104, NGC 4594) at the border of Corvus the Crow is a striking sight through larger
telescopes, seen edge-on with a dark dust lane through the equatorial
region of the disk. At the border between Virgo and Coma Berenices the population of galaxies is
so dense that in a rich-field telescope an observer is sure to find
many bright galaxies. In fact, in this region there are 16 of the
110 Messier objects, all sixteen being galaxies.
Mythology:
Virgo has as many different legends as civilizations that identified this
star group. In one Greek myth, Virgo is named for Demeter, the
Earth-goddess, and celebrates the arrival of spring and the growing
season. Hades, the God of the Underworld, became enamored with
Demeter's daughter, Persephone, promising that he would one day marry her
and make her his queen. Demeter would not willingly allow Hades to
marry Persephone so, arriving in a hideous black chariot drawn by four
great black horses in golden harness and reins, Hades kidnapped Persephone
and carried her back to the Underworld. Worried when her daughter
did not return home, Demeter went to search for Persephone. Zeus
implored her to accept Persephone's marriage to Hades, which she refused
and continued searching. During her quest to find Persephone,
Demeter went without food and, being the goddess of the Earth, this caused
the land to not produce its harvest. Followers of Demeter were
starving and blamed their plight on the apparently cruel goddess.
Hermes, Messenger of the gods, was sent by Zeus to insist that Hades
release Persephone, a request to which Hades agreed (knowing that he could
not stand up to the greater gods) The happy reunion of mother and
daughter was tempered by Persephone's announcement that she loved her
husband Hades, which angered Demeter no little amount. In a moment
of perhaps better than normal wisdom, Zeus resolved the conflict by
allowing Persephone to spend wintertime in the Underworld with Hades and
summertime on Olympus with Demeter.
In another myth, Virgo is the celestial
incarnation of Astraea, the Goddess of Innocence and Purity. In the
mythological story of creation myth, Zeus created and sent Pandora (the
first woman endowed with attributes of every god) down to Earth as a
punishment to Prometheus (for stealing fire from the gods) and man (for
accepting it). She carried with her a box which was never to be
opened but naturally, because of her curiosity, she opened it anyway and
let all evil escape into the world before she could get the box
closed. At the bottom of the box lay Hope, which did not
escape. With the Earth now unbearable for the immortals they
one-by-one returned to the heavens to live, Astraea being the last to
leave the Earth. She was immortalized as the constellation Virgo. |
