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Dark Sky Park: Ophiucus

This week we have a combination of two of our most popular superstitions: Full Moon and Friday the 13th.

The Moon arrived at exact Full phase just after midnight this morning, Friday, June 13th at 12:11 am, making this a phenomena only for people in the Eastern Time Zone of North America.

If you were out watching the Moon overnight, then you would have noticed that it arrived at Full Phase in the region of the constellation Ophiucus, the snake charmer. Ophiucus is the 13th ‘hidden’ member of the constellations of the zodiac, adding to the intrigue of this month’s Full Moon.

A few years ago, and with the help of the internet, Ophiucus was making headlines as a ‘new’ or ‘rogue’ constellation, pushing its way into the zodiac, and there was a great deal of concern about the alleged change in the astrological determination of one’s birth sign because of this. But Ophiucus is neither new, nor rogue ~ it has been recognized since ancient Greek times, and was one of the 48 original constellations recognized in the 2nd century by Ptolemy.

Ophiucus is related by the Greeks to Aesculapius, member of an order of priest-physicians held in high esteem in the Greek culture.  The symbolic use of a staff with a single snake wrapped around it for doctor’s offices is rooted in stories of the healer Aesculapius. He learned the secrets of keeping death at bay after observing a serpent restore life to another serpent with certain healing herbs. To prevent the entire human race from becoming immortal under Asclepius' care, Zeus killed him with a bolt of lightning, but later placed his image in the heavens to as Ophiucus, to honor his good works.

As a note of local interest, it was in the region of the sky where we find Ophiucus that the last human being of the 20th century to discover a comet was made. This discovery was made by Patrick Stonehouse in April, 1998, from his rooftop observatory in Wolverine, Michigan.