"Cat's Eyes" and Other Odd Asterisms

Brian Tung was saying
Don't know if anyone else has mentioned
these, but there's a W shape just next to
the Dumbbell Nebula (M27), which I use
to help me find M27,

For me, the Trifid Nebula sort of sits on one of the bottom points of a
"W."
Similarly, there's a sort of bowl of stars
next to M11, at the other end of Aquila
from Altair, stringing between lambda
Aql and M11.

Yeah, I use that little loop of stars to find
M11 in Scutum. Which sort of brings us
around to Willie Meghar's thread which
took a sidestep into Polish history...
Marty

Brian Tung wrote:

Don't know if anyone else has mentioned these, but there's a W shape
just next to the Dumbbell Nebula (M27), which I use to help me find M27,
in fact. It's composed of the stars, oh, I want to say something like
13 through 18 Vul, except that one of the Flamsteed numbers in that
range isn't in the pattern.

I know hat one too, although I look at it as an "M". Are you in the
Southern Hemisphere? ;-)

Shawn

In article .com,
"canopus56" wrote:

snip

What people see in these asterisms depends on culture. UMa is a case in
point. We moderns see a laddle. The Greeks saw a bear being hunted by
Hercules and the CVn. The Irish and I believe the Arabs saw a bier -
moveable platform on which a coffin is set before burial - attached to
a line of grieving daughters (the stars in the handle), being led by a
horse and rider (Alcor and Mizar) - and all following Alkaid (eta UMa)
- Arabic for "the leader" - of the funeral procession.

There are another two traditional European depictions, if not more, as
implied by the colloquial names "Charles's/Arthur's Wain" and "the
Plough".

--
Odysseus