Cat Classics in Print: Space Cat Visits Venus

Today’s classic in print is the second slim volume in the Space Cats series, Space Cat Visits Venus, written by Ruthven Todd and illustrated by Paul Galdone. This particular book was first published in 1955 and has recently been republished by Dover. We probably enjoyed the story of Space Cat’s visit to Venus even more than the original Space Cat, which means we liked it quite a lot.

The plot

We first met the little tabby named Flyball as a kitten in his first book. Now he is grown up and no one tries to tell him anymore that he shouldn’t go into space. As if he would listen anyway. In a remarkably short period of time, people have built a whole city on the surface of the moon (we do have to wonder how they managed to get funding for that, but let’s not talk about money), and they’re preparing a mission to Venus. Once again astronaut Fred Stone and his sidekick Flyball will head off to explore.

Flyball has hopes that there will be lots of mice to chase on Venus, as there are none on the moon and that’s a real drag. Even if there don’t turn out to be mice on Venus, Flyball does have some improvements to enjoy. He has a brand-new hammock that has been built to be even more comfy than his original homemade one, and he and Fred have a new spaceship that has an actual name—Halley.

Not surprisingly, they find Venus to be a strange place with an ammonia atmosphere (at least at high altitudes), a beach of blue pebbles, and sentient plants that seem to be leading them in a certain direction. Oh, and the plants think at them. There is a certain type of moss that enables telepathic communication between plants and Earthlings and even between cat and human. All Flyball and Fred have to do is keep a bit of moss with them and they’ll be able to think at each other all the time. This is neat at first, but if you think about it, having someone be able to hear all your thoughts would get tiresome, not to mention embarrassing, after a while.

It turns out the Venus plants (and the little blue Venus mouse that Flyball is not supposed to chase!) need some help from the Earthlings. Soon Earth and Venus are off to an early promising relationship of mutual aid and cooperation. The cynic in old SoLT thinks that in reality humans would be overtaken by greed and ruin the whole planet while exploiting its amazing resources for profit. But this is supposed to be a fun and positive story, so check your cynicism at the door, please.

Our verdict

Space Cat Visits Venus is indeed a fun book. We read it in one evening and found the story and illustrations every bit as delightful as the original Space Cat. Once again Flyball goes off on a space adventure, discovering previously unknown life forms. He and Fred are brave and curious but also respectful and compassionate toward the life they meet—not a bad lesson for humans to learn, we think.

So if you’re looking for a light read for yourself or a great chapter book for the cat- or space-loving kid in your life, we highly recommend Space Cat Visits Venus.

A note on the "Paws Up" system: Miss C gives either one or two paws up. One paw is for a good read; two paws is for a great read. She never gives three or four paws because that would require her to lie on her back...and Miss C does not do that!

The link below is an Amazon Associates link. If you purchase the book through this link, old SoLT and I could get some coin for our kibble account. Thank you!

Cat Classics in Print: Space Cat

Today’s Cat Classic in Print is one for you fans of cats and space—and cats in space. It’s the children’s book Space Cat, written by Ruthven Todd and illustrated by Paul Galdone, and first published in 1952. This thin volume has recently been released in a new edition by Dover and will be followed by three more books in the series (Space Cat Visits Venus, Space Cat Meets Mars, and Space Cat and the Kittens), to be released over the coming months. We enjoyed this book both because it has a cat in a spaceship and because it offers a glimpse into the fantastical world of space as envisioned by humans nearly a decade before they actually left Earth’s orbit.

A teeny little bit about Ruthven Todd

We suspect not a lot of you have heard of Ruthven Todd (we certainly hadn’t). Well, Todd (1914–1978) was an Edinburgh-born poet and novelist who was also an artist, an amateur botanist, and a William Blake scholar. He began to publish his poetry in the 1940s. Also during this time, Todd wrote detective novels under the name R. T. Campbell. These novels feature a botanist who is also a sleuth. In 1947 Todd moved to the US, and he became a citizen in the 1950s. He died in Spain as a result of chronic lung disease. (Source: ScottishPoetry Library)

A teeny bit more about Space Cat

Space Cat is the story of a gray tabby cat who is possibly the most fearless feline ever. We first meet him as a kitten who manages to get himself onto an airplane, where he meets a man who turns out to be Captain Fred Stone, a pilot and soon-to-be first man on the moon. The captain names the kitten Flyball, and soon enough the adventurous little cat has taken over the experimental station where lots of military types are working on spaceflight. He sneaks onto a rocket for a test flight, after which the captain decides Flyball should accompany him to the moon. Over the objections of the Head Guys in Charge, the cat is fitted with a pressure suit (complete with an appendage for his tail), and a little hammock is created for him in the rocket. Then off to the moon he and the captain go.

The moon that Flyball lands on is very little like the one Neil Armstrong stepped onto in 1969. It is covered with fluffy dust that Flyball and the captain sink deep into, and there is life on it. A weird sort of plant-like life, but life nonetheless. Flyball is the one who discovers the life forms, and when the captain falls and gets a leak in his helmet, it is Flyball who saves him with help from some of those life forms. Hero!

Our verdict

This is such a fun little book! Both the story and illustrations are delightful (our favorite illustration shows the captain walking toward the rocket, carrying Flyball in his little pressure suit).

Space Cat was published 9 years before the first human ventured into space (Yuri Gagarin, 1961) and 17 years before the first moon landing. That means a couple of things. First, the illustrator and author could really put their imaginations to work in creating the world that Flyball enters. Second, we felt some dissonance between that fantastical world and the real one. Old SoLT just couldn’t stop herself from thinking about all the little ways the fantasy didn’t match up to the reality. But we think this just means you can read the book on more than one level. And old SoLT has to complain a little bit about the complete lack of female characters. Interesting comparisons could be made between Space Cat and the more recent CatStronauts series, which (a) has more real-sounding sciency stuff and (b) depicts females in prominent positions. How life has changed in 66 years!

As we said, Space Cat is a fun book that you can turn into something more serious if you are so inclined. Or you can do what Todd and Galdone probably meant for you to do: read it, look at the pictures, and enjoy it.

Recommended!

A note on the "Paws Up" system: Miss C gives either one or two paws up. One paw is for a good read; two paws is for a great read. She never gives three or four paws because that would require her to lie on her back...and Miss C does not do that!

The link below is an Amazon Associates link. If you purchase the book through this link, old SoLT and I could get some coin for our kibble account. Thank you!

Book Review: Star Trek: The Next Generation: Cats

Today we bring you a brief review of the latest volume in one of our very favorite cat series: Star Trek: The Next Generation: Cats, by Jenny Parks. This is a slim volume filled with color illustrations of the Enterprise crew reimagined as cats. It is wonderful.

Captain Jean-Luc Picard is depicted as a Sphynx (“Engage!”), Data is a white cat who paints, Worf is a big, fluffy cat who proclaims, “It is a good day to die!” and Geordi La Forge is a brown, VISOR-wearing cat. The Borg make an appearance and Captain Picard is assimilated. Captain Picard orders tea from the replicator (“Tea, Earl Grey, hot”). Captain Picard still insists that there are four lights. Some of our other favorites are the various capers on the holodeck and the final illustration, which has the crew on the bridge, with Ensign Crusher as a tabby kitten, paws draped over the console.

If you never watched the show, the previous paragraph probably means nothing to you, and there is no plot to this book, so it might not mean much to you either. But if you are a fan of TNG, and of cats, we think you’ll get a kick out of this collection, as every page brings up a memory. We have been having a great time flipping through the illustrations and remembering some of the best moments from the show.

We can only hope that Parks is working on cat illustrations for Voyager!

A note on the "Paws Up" system: Miss C gives either one or two paws up. One paw is for a good read; two paws is for a great read. She never gives three or four paws because that would require her to lie on her back...and Miss C does not do that!

The links below are Amazon Associates links. If you purchase anything through them, old SoLT and I could get some coin for our kibble account. Thank you!

 

You may also like:

Cat Classics on Film: Alien (1979)

“In space, no one can hear you scream.” That is the famous tagline of the 1979 film Alien, which, in addition to being a cat classic, is a sci-fi horror classic that has an enduring place in modern popular culture. Alien was directed by Ridley Scott and starred Sigourney Weaver as tough heroine Ripley, who also featured in three subsequent related films: Aliens (1986), Aliens 3 (1992), and Alien Resurrection (1997).

The plot (contains spoilers)

The crew of the commercial towing vehicle Nostromo are on their way back to Earth when they’re suddenly awakened from hypersleep. They pick up a mystery signal coming from a strange planet, and they make a detour to investigate.  While on the surface of the planet, one of the crew (Kane, played by John Hurt) discovers a group of large egg-like things. Turns out they are in fact eggs, and Kane ends up with a, um, creature attached to his face. This is a problem. Kane, alive but unconscious, is taken back aboard the Nostromo, but there seems to be no way to remove the creature from his face. He does wake up eventually, after the creature detaches itself. It now appears to be dead and Kane seems no worse for wear, but we’re left wondering just what that thing was doing to him.

All of this has been a setup for one of the most famous scenes in sci-fi film. Even if you have never seen Alien, you probably have some familiarity with the scene in which the crew members are sharing a large meal when suddenly Kane starts coughing and choking, and then a whole new creature bursts through his chest, looks around, and jumps down and runs off, leaving Kane dead. At least now we know what that original creature was doing to him.

Things get even more horrific when another crew member, Brett (Harry Dean Stanton), goes searching for the ship’s cat, an orange tabby named Jones (more on him later). Brett finds Jones, but when the cat hisses at something over his shoulder, Brett turns around and finds himself face-to-face with the newly born creature, which has suddenly become much, much larger. Brett is killed, but Jones escapes.

There follows a lot of searching for the creature. Unfortunately, each time the search succeeds, someone else ends up dead. Eventually, only third officer Ripley and Jones are left. Knowing she has to destroy the alien, Ripley gets Jones into what looks like an industrial-strength cat carrier, and she sets the ship to self-destruct and heads for the escape shuttle. After some suspenseful moments with the alien as the destruct sequence counts down, Ripley and Jones get into the shuttle and they blast away from the main ship moments before it explodes. Safe, right? Well, no…because the alien has secreted itself in the shuttle. Hey, why would it want to stay on the exploding ship?

Ripley does get rid of the alien (there’s a pretty great alien-getting-sucked-into-space sequence), and now she and Jones are safe. Before she puts herself into hypersleep, Ripley records a log entry saying she is the only survivor of the Nostromo, but of course that is not true, because Jones survived too.

Jonesy the cat, at the moment Brett is attacked by the alien.

The cat

Jones, or Jonesy, is a pretty tough kitty cat. We see quite a lot of him throughout the film: hanging out with the crew, running to hide in inconvenient places so the crew can chase him and thus encounter the alien, being banged around in that industrial cat carrier. While he’s in the carrier, Jones also has a rather harrowing up-close encounter with the alien, and he does not flinch away (he survives, obviously). The film’s credits list Animals Unlimited as the cat actor’s trainer, but of course the actual cat (or cats—there were four of them, according to Cinema Cats) is uncredited. This is a shame, because those cats did an excellent job. Jones also appears in the follow-up Aliens (1986).

Our verdict

If you are not into sci-fi and horror things, Alien is probably not for you, even though there’s a cat in it. We don’t find it too terribly frightening, but there is something just creepy about this alien. And of course there is violence and blood—and alien slime. But it is all part of what we think is a pretty good story. There are parts we didn’t go into in the plot outline—such as, just why did these people knowingly bring the creature on board the Nostromo? (For the record, Ripley was against this, but she was overruled.) The answer to that question does come out as you get deeper into the movie and learn a few things about the science officer. The alien itself is quite a creation in every way, from its physical appearance to its life cycle. We like that Ripley is a smart, strong, and resourceful character. And of course we love Jonesy, the ship’s cat who faces down a horrific alien. 

A note on the "Paws Up" system: Miss C gives either one or two paws up. One paw is for a good movie; two paws is for a great movie. She never gives three or four paws because that would require her to lie on her back...and Miss C does not do that!

The link below is an Amazon Associates link. If you purchase the movie through this link, old SoLT and I could get some coin for our kibble account. Thank you!

Book Review: CatStronauts: Space Station Situation

Today we bring you a brief review of the latest in the adventures of the CatStronauts. Space Station Situation is book 3 in the series of graphic novels by Drew Brockington. As with the previous two books (Mission Moon and Race to Mars), this one is a lot of fun and contains plenty of adventure and science, all presented in one colorfully appealing page after another.

This time, the CatStronauts are on a mission to fix the Hubba Bubba Telescope. The telescope is critical for cats on Earth (including of course the World’s Best Scientist) to understand why everything is suddenly being hit by meteor showers. All in a day’s work for the CatStronauts … but after a mishap leaves Waffles, the talented pilot, floating alone in space, he becomes so terrified he is unable to go on with the mission. In fact, he quits the CatStronauts altogether and returns to Earth to retire.

The remaining CatStronauts soldier on, repairing the telescope and finally revealing the source of the constant meteor showers: an asteroid on a collision course with Earth. A plan is devised to save the planet, but only one cat on Earth has the ability to carry it out: Waffles. Now he must face his fears and return to space. Will he be able to carry the dangerous mission through?

Our verdict

We sort of already gave you our verdict in the first paragraph. We love this series, and we have eagerly anticipated Space Station Situation. The pages of the CatStronauts books beg to be read a second, third, and fourth time, because there are so many little details in the art that you don’t notice the first time through, when you are mostly taking in the story. Our only wish was for a page at the start of the book reminding us of who the characters are. This would be especially useful for readers who might happen to pick up this book without having read the first two. But that is a minor complaint.

We were never really fans of graphic novels before we picked up the first CatStronauts book, but the genre is definitely growing on us. Drew Brockington’s art is cute but not “cutesy,” the stories are engaging, and each book has a serious theme underlying all the fun. In Space Station Situation, the theme is facing your fears and not giving up. The book is recommended for ages 8–12, but old SoLT is 40 years past that (give or take), and she found it delightful (in other words, parents and grandparents will like it too). So, if you love cats and have even the vaguest interest in outer space, or if you know an 8- to 12-year-old who fits that category, we highly recommend Space Station Situation and the previous books in the series!

A note on the "Paws Up" system: Miss C gives either one or two paws up. One paw is for a good read; two paws is for a great read. She never gives three or four paws because that would require her to lie on her back...and Miss C does not do that!

The link below is an Amazon Associates link. If you purchase the book through this link, old SoLT and I could get some coin for our kibble account. Thank you!

Miss Cuddlywumps Converses with Puri Gagarin: Cosmocat

Puri Gagarin, Cosmocat, has his eyes on the Moon.
Photo courtesy Puri Gagarin.

 Friends, please help me welcome a very distinguished guest to the blog today. He’s a Siberian who’s got his sights set on the Moon—and beyond. While you and I are napping, he’s training in the Apawllo Program and preparing to leave the Earth’s atmosphere. Who is this cat, I hear you asking? He’s Puri Gagarin, Cosmocat. I can’t wait to learn all about him.

Hi, Puri! We’re so excited that you could join us today. Tell me, how did you get the excellent name Puri Gagarin?

Thank you for having me! My name originates from the fact that I am a Siberian Forest Cat, so it was decided that I should have a Russian name. When it came to actually selecting a Russian name, the fact that I wanted to be a cosmocat really meant that the obvious choice would be to name me after Yuri Gagarin, who was the first man in space and a fellow Russian. That being said, there was concern that if I had the exact same name, then people would become confused—one Yuri Gagarin would be the first man in space, while the other would be the first feline on the Moon. Frankly, it would be a public relations nightmare and could wreak havoc with the history books. To distinguish the two of us, I adopted the first name “Puri,” which is an homage to both Yuri and my feline roots.

It is a distinguished and fitting name, since you will be the first cat on the Moon. Have you always been interested in space?

I was about 12 weeks old when I joined the Apawllo Program and moved to the Training Base, and I certainly wanted to become a cosmocat long before that great day arrived. If I had to pin down a turning point, it would be shortly after I opened my eyes for the first time. I remember looking out a window and seeing the Moon shining in all its glory, and all I could think about was how amazing it would be to chase toys across its surface. Little did I know the technical challenges that would be involved, but that is where the dream was born. Ever since that day, this goal has been basically all I think about.

Yuri Gagarin, first man in space, in a celebratory
parade in Warsaw, Poland, 1961.

Photographer unknown. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

It would be fun to chase toys on the Moon, wouldn’t it? I’m surprised no cat seems to have thought of this before. But space is a harsh environment, and your cosmocat training regimen must be intense. Can you give us an idea of a typical training day?

In a few words: “Rise and Grind.” Every day is intense, and I only average about 16 hours of sleep a day because of these activities, so mentally overcoming exhaustion is a huge component of my preparation. Generally, I break my training up into three segments during a day, so that I can recuperate with lengthy naps between sessions. Activities include chasing toys (reflex training), watching out the window (observational training), reading (important to train the mind), stretching (key for preventing training injuries), and running around the house at full speed (cardio). At least once per week I will also go on extended missions from the Training Base, as it important to get out and explore.

Only 16 hours of sleep? That’s incredible. Tell me, we’ve seen you eyeing the International Space Station. Any plans for a visit there?

Absolutely! It is a great place to spend extended periods in space conducting experiments. I also understand that they have mice on board, so I am planning some specific experiments, such as mouse hunting techniques and testing how far I can bat a mouse in zero gravity. That being said, I promise that no mice will be harmed or eaten during these experiments. I will rather engage them as co-experimenters and work collaboratively for the purposes of science. It is time that we put our inter-species differences behind us and mend these fences.  

Puri studies the International Space Station. He plans to conduct experiments with the help of some
mouse friends when it is his turn to join the crew.
Photo courtesy Puri Gagarin.

Fascinating. Since you want to be the first cat on the Moon, do you have a “first pawstep on the Moon” speech prepared, like Neil Armstrong’s famous “One small step for man…”?

To be honest, this will really depend on what the Public Relations team for the Apawllo Program determines. The program is bigger than me, so I respect that I am part of the team and that whatever those first words are will become an iconic part of feline history. That being said, I know that the current view is to adapt Neil Armstrong’s words, primarily as a sign of respect for the technology developed by humans that will make this feline achievement possible. Most likely, the opening words will be “One small meow for a cat, one giant roar for feline kind.”

Puri visiting the David Dunlap Observatory, just north of Toronto, Canada. It's important for a

cosmocat to understand the mysteries of the universe, and an observatory is the purrfect place to learn.

Photo courtesy of Puri Gagarin.

I’d love to hear that being broadcast from the Moon. What would be your ultimate space adventure?

Puri checks out a transport option. In space, a cat must

be thoroughly familiar with his or her vehicle.

Photo courtesy Puri Gagarin.

In a word, it would be Mars. Going to the Moon is really a starting point, but in the grand scheme of things the Moon is relatively close to the Earth and it has already been visited by humans. Mars is the next big milestone, as it will be the first time anyone sets paw or foot on another planet. The challenge is that humans are already eyeing this prize, so the Apawllo Program has some stiff competition from the likes of NASA. Ultimately, I see this as the next big Space Race similar to the 1960s. Whether man or feline gets there first is hard to predict, but I expect it will be a photo-finish either way.

Does your family support your career as a cosmocat?

They do and, frankly, I don’t think I could train properly if I didn’t have their support. As an example, I haven’t been able to master opening a can of wet food and there is no way that I could train so hard without this nourishment. They are also excellent at piloting the Lunar Rover for hours on end to take me to museums and observatories, which are an important part of my educational regimen.  

What does a cosmocat do to relax? Do you have any hobbies?

Could Puri be the first earthling
on Mars?

By NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team

(STScI/AURA) [Public domain],
via Wikimedia Commons.

I think it is important to carve out some private time to relax with family and I definitely keep that a priority. Sometimes I spend my downtime just snuggled in bed with family watching a movie. On an ideal night, we will set up the telescope and spend a family evening under the stars.

That sounds nice. Family is so important, isn’t it? Anything else you’d like to add?

I would like to thank all of my supporters. Sometimes when I am completely exhausted, those moments when I simply have nothing left in my tank, then I will read through some of the comments I receive, and they inspire me to push through and keep training. My supporters are a key element of the Apawllo Program, and without them this mission simply would not be possible.

Thanks, Puri. It was great meeting you and learning about what it’s like to be a cosmocat!

Thank you so much for having me today!   

Puri takes a break in the Apawllo capsule mockup.
Photo courtesy Puri Gagarin.

Follow Puri Gagarin the Cosmocat on Instagram to keep up with his training progress!  

Find more Cats in Space.  

Book Review: CatStronauts: Mission Moon and Race to Mars

What’s fun and furry and orbits the Earth, Moon, and/or Mars? A CatStronaut, of course. If you’ve never heard of CatStronauts before, that’s because they’re brand new, appearing in two graphic novels for young readers: Mission Moon and Race to Mars, both by Drew Brockington. The publisher’s recommended age range is 8–12 years, but we think it’s probably more like 8 to infinity, because old SoLT is way older than 12, and she found the books to be delightfully entertaining.

Cats save the world with science and teamwork

The story opens in CatStronauts: Mission Moon with a world in crisis. There is not enough energy to run everything anymore. So the World’s Best Scientist devises a plan: send the CatStronauts to the moon to set up a solar energy station that will beam energy back to Earth. We then see the four cats—Major Meowser, Waffles, Blanket, and Pom Pom—training and working together to make their mission a success. The story continues in CatStronauts: Race to Mars with some competition to reach the red planet. Three other teams get a head start on the journey. Will the famous CatStronauts be able to catch up? And will all this competition lead to success or disaster? Again, science and teamwork save the day.

Delightful details

We loved both of these books. The stories are dramatic and engaging, and the art is a joy to look at. There are delightful details to be found if you pay attention: the “Hang in There” poster with a kitten hanging from a tree branch, the hula dancer on the console. And the CatStronauts embody the best parts of science. They have a natural curiosity and a willingness to try things and to persevere when the going gets rough, and they know how to collaborate with others for the best results.

We are so excited to see the next book in this series (CatStronauts: Space Station Situation, due out in October), we have already pre-ordered it.

Highly recommended!

A note on the "Paws Up" system: Miss C gives either one or two paws up. One paw is for a good read; two paws is for a great read. She never gives three or four paws because that would require her to lie on her back...and Miss C does not do that!

The link below is an Amazon Associates link. If you purchase the book through this link, old SoLT and I could get some coin for our kibble account. Thank you!

Book Review: Star Trek Cats

Before we really start this post, please take this short quiz:

1. Do you like Star Trek?
2. Do you like cats?

If you answered “yes” to both questions, then have we got a book review for you! We were excited recently to discover the small book Star Trek Cats, by illustrator Jenny Parks. What it is, is a collection of illustrations of scenes from the original series, with cats standing in for the actors. Before you go off and start thinking this is weird, let me just tell you…Captain James T. Kirk is such an orange tabby!

We were a little bit disappointed to find that there is no actual story in this book, but we still have had plenty of fun looking through the pictures. Jenny Parks’s illustrations are so well done, it is hard to stop looking at them. We keep going back through the  book and finding details we missed the first or third time through. Cat lovers who are also fans of the show will enjoy recognizing certain moments: Spock’s mind meld, everyone falling down during a red alert, McCoy insisting he’s “just an old country doctor.”

And yes, there are tribbles.

Highly recommended for that segment of our readership who passed the quiz at the start of this post!

A note on the "Paws Up" system: Miss C gives either one or two paws up. One paw is for a good read; two paws is for a great read. She never gives three or four paws because that would require her to lie on her back...and Miss C does not do that!

The link below is an Amazon Associates link. If you purchase the book through this link, old SoLT and I could get some coin for our kibble account. Thank you!

Cats in Space: Constellations

Recently under the topic “Cats in Space,” we posted about nebulas named after cats (or, rather parts of cats). Today we’re tackling feline constellations. The first of these, Leo, you’ve certainly heard of, especially if you were born between July 22 and August 22. The other three you might only be aware of if you are really into stars.

The constellation Leo. Note the "backwards question mark" formation
on the right.
Illustration by ad_hominem, via Adobe Stock.

Leo

Herakles struggles with the Nemean Lion on this
Greek postage stamp.
Photo by Lefteris Papaulakis, via Adobe Stock.

Leo, the Lion, is one of the largest constellations, and also one of the most ancient. It was cataloged by the Egyptian astronomer Ptolemy (c. AD 100–170) in the second century, but its origins stretch back much farther than that. The Mesopotamians may have had a lion constellation way back in 4,000 BC. Other ancient peoples also had a lion constellation—notably the Persians, who called it Shir or Ser, and the Babylonians, who called it UR.GU.LA (“The Lion,” in case your Babylonian is rusty, and if you want to brush up even more, check out these posts on how to say "cat" in Old Babylonian and Neo-Babylonian). To the Babylonians, the Lion marked the summer solstice.

   

This constellation is commonly associated with two mythological beasts: the Nemean Lion and, somewhat less commonly, the Sphinx. The Nemean Lion was a fearsome lion that terrorized the Valley of Nemea in Greece. Its hide could not be penetrated by ordinary weapons, so ordinary men could not kill it. Heracles (whom you may know as Hercules) killed this lion as the first of his famous twelve labors. Thereafter, he wore its hide as a symbol. The Sphinx, of course, was a beast with a lion’s body and a human head. We associate the sphinx mostly with Egypt, but the creature was also known in Greek myth.

Leo is a constellation of the northern hemisphere. Its most prominent feature is the “backwards question mark” formed by the stars that outline the lion’s head. Its brightest star is Regulus, which is actually a four-star system.

You can learn a lot more about Leo, including how to find it in the sky, from this video:

Leo Minor

A sphinx in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The sphinx
is also sometimes associated with the constellation Leo.
 Photo by Юкатан [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Leo Minor, or the Smaller Lion, lies sort of in between Leo and another feline constellation, the Lynx. Unlike its larger cousin, Leo Minor is a younger constellation, created by Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius in 1687. It was briefly renamed "the Lionness" in 1870, but this name never really caught on.

The brightest star in Leo Minor is Praecipua. Interestingly, Leo Minor includes three stars that are known to have exoplanets: HD 87883, HD 82886, and Kelt-3.

Lynx

The Lynx was also created by Johannes Hevelius (1611–1687), who wanted a little something to fill a gap between two other constellations. He called the star formation the Lynx because he said it was so faint, you’d need a lynx’s eyesight to find it. Lynxes were thought to have extraordinary, even magical eyesight. Greek folklore held that they could see through walls, and medieval Christians considered the lynx a symbol of Christ’s omniscience because of its keen sight. Though the Lynx constellation isn’t commonly associated with any myths, to some viewers it brings to mind an Argonaut (yes, as in “Jason and the Argonauts”) named Lynceus, whose eyesight was so good he could see through walls and even underground.

The constellation Lynx as depicted in an 1825 etching by Sidney Hall.
Though the Lynx is faint and difficult to find in the sky, it is near Leo Minor and Ursa Major.
Via Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.

Felis

Some constellations endure, and some don’t. Felis (the Cat) didn’t. It was created in the 18th century by Joseph Jerome Le Francais de Lalande (1732–1807). He liked cats, so he created a cat constellation for star charts of the time. You won’t find Felis on modern star charts though.

The other three feline constellations can still be found, so next time you gaze up at the night sky, be sure to look for the cats!

Sources

Constellation Guide. http://www.constellation-guide.com/

Mercatante, Anthony S., and James R. Dow. The Facts on File Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend, 2nd edition. New York: Facts on File: 2004.

Rao, Joe. “Find the Felines: Cats in the Night Sky.” Space.com. http://www.space.com/963-find-felines-cats-night-sky.html

Cats in Space: Cat’s Paw and Cat’s Eye Nebulas

People name all sorts of things after cats, and not all of those things are on Earth. At least two of those things are way out in space: the Cat’s Paw and Cat’s Eye Nebulas.

This image from the ESO’s Very Large Telescope Survey

Telescope shows the Cat’s Paw Nebula (NGC 6334) in the

upper right and the Lobster Nebula (NGC 6357) in the lower left.

Image credit: ESO.

Cat’s Paw Nebula (NGC6334)

Chart showing the constellation Scorpius,
with the Cat’s Paw and

Lobster Nebulas indicated with red circles.

Image credit: ESO/IAU and Sky & Telescope.

The Cat’s Paw Nebula is something called an emission nebula (basically, a big cloud of ionized gas that emits light). It is in the constellation Scorpius, near the tip of the tail. This nebula is 50 light-years across, and is about 5,500 light-years from Earth. It is what they call a “stellar nursery”—an area of active star formation. The Cat’s Paw Nebula could have tens of thousands of stars in it. The “toe beans” are actually gas being lit up by the newborn stars. Perhaps not as cute as your cat’s toe beans, but still pretty impressive!

This nebula was first spotted by British scientist John Herschel in June 1837. He didn’t call it the Cat’s Paw Nebula though, partially because the telescope he was using wasn’t powerful enough to show the full shape.

The Cat’s Paw Nebula came to my attention last week, when  the European Southern Observatory released a new, very large image of it. When I say large, I mean 2 billion pixels. That will not quite fit on this blog!

(By the way... don't tell the astronomers, but old SoLT thinks this nebula looks more like a mouse than a cat's paw. Go figure.)

Cat’s Eye Nebula

The Cat’s Eye Nebula (NGC 6543) is a planetary nebula located in the constellation Draco. It is 3,300 light-years from Earth and was discovered by William Herschel in 1786. He called it a planetary nebula because it looked like a planet, but actually it is a shell of ionized gas ejected from an old star. The Cat’s Eye Nebula is one of the most structurally complex nebulas known. It is made up mostly of hydrogen and helium.

The Cat’s Eye Nebula, as seen by the

Hubble Space Telescope.

NASA/ESA, public domain, via WikimediaCommons.

You may be at least a little bit familiar with the Cat’s Eye Nebula from the spectacular images taken of it by the Hubble Space Telescope.

Watch this space

These two nebulas are not the only things out in space that have something to do with cats, so watch this space (pun intended; sorry, but old SoLT made me do it) for more cats in space!