Power Down! The Art of Dark
Take the Challenge
Challenge yourself to "power down" one evening (at least 3 hours) and live your life without electricity.
What will you do? How does it feel? What was good and bad about the experience? Consider using this time to discover your "inner" artist in the section below. Art At Night
Many artists have captured the beauty and mystery of night time.
Here are just a few examples:
There are many, many songs and lullabies written and sung about the night time. Do you know any? Try to think of at least one.
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"Good Night" around the world
Italian: Buonanotte (bu-oh-na no-tay)
German: Guten nacht (goo-ten knock) French: Bonne nuit (bohn nwee) Russian: Spokojnoj nochi (spah-kohy-nuhy noh-chee) Japanese: Oyasuminasai (oh-yah-so-me-nah-sigh) Hebrew: Laila tov (lie-lah tohv) Norwegian: God natt (goo naht) Portuguese: Bua noite (boo- noyt) Spanish: Buenas noches (bway-nas no-chay-z) Swahili: Usiku mwema (oo-see-koo mway-mah) American Sign Language: Find more at: (http://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/goodnight.htm) Constellation Mythological Stories
Orion was a famed hunter, and in one story boasted that no creature could kill him. Hera then sent a scorpion to sting the hunter. Orion smashed the animal with his club, but not before he was poisoned. Both are now on opposite sides of the sky. They cannot be seen at the same time.
A different story tells of the love between Orion and the goddess, Artemis. One day, Orion was swimming out in the sea. Apollo, who very much disliked the man, bet his sister Artemis that she couldn't hit the object in the sea with her bow. Artemis didn't realize it was the one she loved out in the sea, and shot Orion with an arrow. When she later found out what she had done, she honored the hunter by putting him in the sky. Perseus was a Greek hero most famous for his slaying of Medusa. If anyone looked at Medusa's face they would turn to stone. With the help of Hermes' wings and Athena's shield, Perseus killed Medusa without looking at her. On his way home, Perseus came across the monster, Cetus, getting ready to eat Andromeda. Perseus used Medusa's head to turn Cetus into stone and saved the princess. Algol is a very famous star in Perseus.
When looking at the constellation, Algol is the white "star" in the right leg. In Arabic, the name means "head of the demon", which makes many scientists believe the star was supposed to represent Medusa's eye. What makes this star so special is that it winks! Algol is a special type of binary star, with a dimmer star revolving around a brighter star. When the dimmer star crosses in front of the other, the magnitude of Algol decreases, giving the appearance of a winking star! Andromeda's mother, Queen Cassiopeia, bragged that she was prettier than the sea nymphs. The nymphs complained to Poseidon, who in turn sent a monster to destroy her land. The queen and her husband, King Cepheus, were told to sacrifice their daughter to save the country. Andromeda was chained to a cliff for the monster, called Cetus. Just as the monster was ready to bite down on the maiden, Perseus rescued her. Perseus and Andromeda were put in the sky along with Cepheus, Cassiopeia and Cetus.
Hercules was the son of Zeus, but Zeus' wife Hera was not his mother. Hera was jealous and tried many times to destroy Hercules. Hercules had the power of enormous strength which helped him survive many trials and specifically 12 "labors" which included killing a lion, hydra, a 3 headed dog of Hades etc.
Many other constellations, like Leo, the Lion, Hydra, the nine-headed Serpent, and Draco, the Dragon, were unfortunate victims of Hercules, and thus were also placed in the sky. Cancer, the Crab was sent by Hera to annoy Hercules in his battles, and became yet another victim of the hero. |