Starry, Starry Night

1. Starry, Starry Night

2. Constellations A constellation is a group of stars that form pictures in the sky such as animals and people. Most constellations come with their own stories.

3. Little Dipper

4. Big Dipper

5. The Great Bear • The two stars on the end of the handle of the big dipper are robins. Sparrow and Crow are their names. The two birds were hungry and didn't save any food for the winter. Then Crow said to Sparrow, "we should go into a bear cave and kill a bear while it is hibernating." So Sparrow and Crow went off to find a bear. They found a bear cave and saw the bear Ursa Major. When they were about to kill it the bear woke up. Ursa Major was scared. Sparrow and Crow chased the bear for one year until they were tired of running. Then Crow threw an arrow and killed the bear. Blood splattered all over the bird's bodies and made their chests red. That is the myth of why robins have red chests. In the sky, think of the story of Sparrow, Crow, and Ursa Major.

6. Great Bear

7. Orion – The Hunter Orion- The Hunter Orion is the master of the winter skies. He lords over the heavens from late fall to early spring, with his hunting dog Sirius trailing at his feet. The mythic tales of Orion go as far back as the Hittites, who flourished from the Second Millenium BC to around 1200 BC. One story from this culture gives an interesting account of Orion's death. Here he is called Aqhat, and was a handsome and famous hunter. The Battle-Goddess Anat fell in love with Aqhat, but when he refused to lend her his bow, she sent another man to steal it. This chap bungled the job, and wound up killing Aqhat and dropping the bow into the sea. This is said to explain the astronomical fact that Orion and the Bow (an older version of the constellation) drops below the horizon for two months every spring.

8. Orion – The Hunter

9. Now, it’s your turn…..Create your own constellation and write the myth