Tiny constellation tells heroic story

I just love the little constellation Delphinus the Dolphin, and I hope to make you fall in love with it. It’s in the upper tier of the smallest of constellations seen in the Butler night sky.

When most people think of constellations they think of dot-to-dot pictures made by stars. However, the vast majority of constellations don’t measure up to this. The little celestial dolphin is a pleasant exception.

Delphinus is a simple little constellation and easy to find, even in areas of moderate light pollution. It’s certainly not the brightest but it’s very distinct and in a tight little group.

As soon as it’s dark, look for Delphinus in the southeast sky. All there is to Delphinus are four stars that make a sideways diamond that outlines the dolphin’s body and another star to the lower right of the body that marks its tail.

If you’re still having problems locating it, a great tool for zeroing in on Delphinus is to use the Summer Triangle, made up of three bright stars that are the brightest in their respective constellations. They’re the three brightest stars you can see in the high southeast sky.

The star at the bottom of the Summer Triangle is Altair, the brightest shiner in the constellation Aquila the Eagle. Just to the left of Altair is Delphinus, swimming in the heavenly sea.

As it is with most constellations, different cultures have stories about what they see. Even the same culture can have multiple stories. That makes sense because these stories are spread by word-of-mouth.

Most stories I’m familiar with have Delphinus as a dolphin or porpoise. One of the earliest stories of Delphinus as a dolphin comes from a Southeast Asia Hindu tale. It’s thought by some that the Greeks “borrowed” that interpretation.

I think one of the best Greek stories involves Arion, who was a rock star of his time. He was out on tour winning the hearts of all who heard him and making a lot of money.

He didn’t have the best security though. After every concert he would just throw all the money he earned from the gig into a big burlap sack, throw it over his shoulder and head out to the next town. His lackadaisical system eventually got him in a lot of trouble.

He had just finished a concert in Sicily and hired a boat and crew to take him back to Corinth on the Greek mainland. The crew he hired turned out to be a bunch of pirates who were out for plunder.

The plan was to wait until the boat was well out to sea before they revealed their true identity. Their evil plan was to have Arion walk the plank to meet his death and then sail on to Corinth and claim he accidentally fell overboard. Then they could legally could claim the musician’s loot. I don’t think that law is still on the books.

Everything proceeded as planned, at least to start. Arion was on the plank pleading for his life. No way were those pirates going to let Arion live. The rock star figured this was the end.

Before his appointment with death he did persuade the crooked captain to let him play his harp and sing one more time.

Arion gave it all he had and gave one of his greatest performances. He was so good it’s said that birds gathered from miles around to get a listen. Fish jumped out of the water with glee and dolphins surrounded the boat leaping for joy.

Arion performed an album-cut version that bought him a little more time. Eventually, though, his voice gave out, and he figured it was all over. This was it.

He jumped into the ocean but death was not waiting for him. One of the dolphins hoisted Arion up on his back and sped him safely to Corinth on the mainland.

The pirates had no idea where Arion and the dolphin swam off to, so they had a quite a surprise when they pulled into the port of Corinth and were met by Arion and the local cops.

A music loving hero dolphin saved the day. The world would not be denied Arion’s fantastic talent.

The gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus, who were also fans of Arion, were so impressed by this dolphin that upon the swimming mammal’s passing they placed his body in the stars as the constellation we see today.

Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and professional broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis/Paul and is author of the book, “Stars, a Month by Month Tour of the Constellations” published by Adventure Publications and available at bookstores and at www.adventurepublications.net.