08 October 2008 by Tristan Gooley
A good morning for the stars, but a bit damper in West Sussex than camels would like. Still, no reason not to enjoy an excerpt from Clinton Bailey’s 1974 article about Bedouin Star Lore:
Even in the late twentieth century many Bedouin are familiar with Polaris
(called al-Jidi) and Canopus (Suhayl), the two stars that indicate the directions
north and south. When a Bedouin, composing a poem, wanted to relate that
he was travelling south-east, for example, he said:
‘Ahutt al-Jidi ‘ald wirk il-matiyyah
W’adhrT naharhd ‘an Suhayl al-yimain’
‘I put Polaris on the thigh of my mount
While shielding her throat from Canopus south ‘.
Tags: bedouin star lore, canopus, clinton bailey, polaris, west sussex |
13 August 2008 by Tristan Gooley
Last night was one of those occasions where the moon was the natural navigator’s best option. At about 10pm the sky overhead was overcast with broken clouds down to nearer the horizon. The western glow of dusk was gone and the only objects that could be seen were Jupiter and the three-quarter Moon. The cloud meant no Polaris, and the bright moon in the only patch of open sky blotted out the other stars. The Moon plays hard to get at first but on nights like this it can be a very good friend.
Tags: cloud, jupiter, moon, polaris, stars |
