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While Lyra and Lochlan were having dreams (nightmares, in Lochlan’s case) of the Wink Wedding Venue, back at WLBOTT HQ, the day began very routinely, with some of the early birds climbing up on the barn’s roof.
At WLBOTT, we like to be part of the natural rhythm and enjoy tracking the moon, stars, and planets.
This morning, in the cool early morning pre-dawn, we were laying on the rooftop, looking at the planets.[1] Perch noted that we hadn’t seen the Northern Star in quite a while, and she was right – it had been months since we’d seen the Big Dipper.
After searching exhaustively, we found our old friends The Big Dipper and The North Star, but it was at least 20° west of where we thought it should be. This greatly troubled us and led to much discussion.
We called a gathering to enumerate the possibilities, and came upon the three most likely explanations.
- We had entered the Magical Realism phase of our lives.
- The Milky Way had shifted.
- The Earth’s axis had moved significantly but subtly, without detection by humanity.
Elder G Weighs In
“All three explanations require the universe to be wrong rather than the Elders.”
Exactly. We’re glad Elder G is on our side about this.
Elder G contacted his colleagues, who agreed to give WLBOTT an astronomy overview. Through a series of understandable miscommunications, the cyborg colleagues assumed the chickens were the intelligent target audience for their presentations.
Sister Magdalena Steps In
At this point, Sister Magdalena had had enough.
Poor Sister Magdalena! She has spent years trying to instill rational thought in Fred, the penitent intern, only to discover that the Elders are an even more challenging audience. Now she found herself in the odd position of having to defend Galileo.
Elder Donna Bella-Donna had grown exasperated over the whole affair, and created this video for our edification.
[1] A nod to Shawn Phillips
Coming Down Soft & Easy
Yes, we was sitting on a rooftop
Looking at the planets
Have you looked out there?
Today is like tomorrow then
A little scared of the affairs of men
Gemini Helps Us Find the North Star
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Locate the Big Dipper: Look toward the northern night sky to find the famous 7-star pattern that looks like a large ladle or saucepan (part of the constellation Ursa Major).
- Find the “Pointer Stars”: Identify the two stars that form the outer edge of the Dipper’s bowl, farthest away from the handle. These stars are called Merak (the bottom star) and Dubhe (the top star).
- Draw an Imaginary Line: Imagine a straight line starting from Merak, passing through Dubhe, and extending out of the top of the bowl.
- Measure the Distance: Continue extending that straight line about five times the distance that separates Merak and Dubhe.
- Spot the North Star: You will land directly on Polaris (the North Star), which marks the tip of the handle of the Little Dipper (Ursa Minor).
- Find True North: If you drop a straight line down from Polaris to the horizon, that direction is true north.
