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season: late-fall
section: what the stars are showing
---

- the great square of pegasus is high in the south, the signature of autumn
- the pleiades return in the east, a tiny cluster like a handful of sparks
- taurus the bull follows, aldebaran glowing orange at his eye
- cassiopeia is nearly overhead, her W bright against the dark
- the summer triangle sets earlier each night, the warm sky leaving
- orion begins to rise late in the east, the hunter returning for winter

the pleiades were the most watched stars in the ancient world. their return to the evening sky meant the growing season was over. time to bring everything in and close the ground.

aldebaran, the eye of the bull, is the fourth of the old persian royal stars. its name means "the follower" in arabic, because it follows the pleiades across the sky. it is old and red and sixty-five light-years away, nearing the end of its life.

the return of orion closes the year. the old greeks said he was placed opposite scorpius in the sky so they would never meet. when one rises, the other sets. the hunter comes back with the cold, and the cycle begins again.