Night Sky Photography -- 01-31-2022 -- Orion The Hunter & His Dogs In The Southeastern Sky

Good evening fellow stargazers!

This evening I have a couple of good photos of the Constellations Orion The Hunter and his two dogs, the Constellations Canis Minor and Canis Major in the southeastern sky.

The first shot I outlined the constellations main stars -- all of which I managed to capture in the darkness of the night sky over three hours after sunset.

The two major stars of the dogs are the bright star Sirius for Canis Major, and Procyon for Canis Minor. 

As I've mentioned before in previous posts, Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky, and the brightest non-planetary object in the sky dome after sunset. At a distance of 8.6 light-years (or 2.64 parsecs), Sirius is one of Earth's nearest neighbors. Sirius is actually a binary star system consisting of a main-sequence star, Sirius A, and a faint white dwarf companion star, Sirius B.

Procyon is the eight-brightest and makes up the smaller, two-star constellation, Canis Minor, the "Lesser Dog". Also a close neighbor relatively speaking, at a distance of just 11.46 light-years (or 3.51 parsecs) from our sun, Procyon is also part of a binary star system which consists of a larger star, Procyon A, in orbit with a faint white dwarf companion star, Procyon B.

According to some ancient mythology, Orion The Hunter is accompanied by his dogs in pursuit of Taurus The Bull through the night sky.

In my second photo, I outlined how easy it is for an amateur stargazer to locate both Sirius and the bright reddish star, Aldebaran "the Eye of the Bull" using Orion's Belt as a guide pointing towards both stars. Both are set in an almost completely straight line going to and from the three stars of the belt.

Both Procyon and Sirius, along with Betelgeuse in the Constellation Orion The Hunter, make up the Winter Triangle. The bright star Rigel and Aldebaran, along with Procyon and Sirius are four of the major stars that make up the Winter Hexagon. All of these are highlighted in my final photo.

I hope y'all enjoyed my photos for this evening, and as always keep your eyes to the night skies, y'all!

Today Is International Holocaust Rememberace Day

On this day, January 27 -- the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau by Death Camp by Soviet troops in 1945 -- we recognize International Holocaust Remembrance Day in honor of the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust and millions of other victims of Nazism.

We Remember Them!

The Historic Brainerd Institute Of Chester

Kumler Hall, the only building still standing from the historic
Brainerd Institute in Chester, South Carolina.

The Brainerd Institute in Chester, South Carolina, was one of the earliest and finest of the many private schools established for former slaves in South Carolina in the years just after the War Between The States (1861-1865).

The school which would later become the Brainerd Institute was founded by a pair of white Northern women: E.E. Richmond of New York and Carolyn Kent of New Jersey who were working with the Freedmen's Bureau.

Initially the school was opened just after the War at Brawley's Plantation -- the former home of former Confederate Veteran and later U.S. Representative from South Carolina, William H. Brawley -- about five miles outside of Chester. Brawley, then a private in the 6th SC Infantry, lost his arm at the Battle of Seven Pines in June 1862 and retired from service. He later sold the home and traveled to Europe to study law in 1864.

In early 1868 the Bureau announced that it would be closing the school. Fortunately, that same year, a visiting Presbyterian minister representing the Board of Missions for the Presbyterian Church, Reverend Samuel Loomis, was looking for a place for schools for the freemen.

That same year, with the help of Reverend Loomis, Richmond and Kent moved the school's location into the town at the Baron's Estate, a large home on the corner of Marquis and Cemetery Streets. The plantation house was the former home of Allen deGraddenrief (1764-1821) and his family.

Thus the Brainerd Institute was born and would go on to serve black children from Chester and nearby neighboring York and Lancaster Counties.

The school was named for Connecticut-born Presbyterian missionary David Brainerd (1718-1747) best known for his work with teaching the scripture to the Lenape Native-Americans (the Delaware Tribes).

From 1868 until the beginning of the 20th century, Brainerd Institute provided the only schooling available for African-American children in Chester. Originally an elementary school it served 10 grades by 1913 (the later grades would be added soon after) and it provided the only high school for black youth in Chester County until the early 1920s. The school offered vocational, industrial, mechanical, classical college preparatory, and teacher training.

Graduates from the institute often continued their education at historically black state colleges such as Allen University and Benedict College in Columbia.

The school had several distinguished alumni, which included Daniel Jackson Sanders (1847-1907), a Presbyterian clergyman who became the first African-American to serve as president of a four-year college in the South, Johnson C. Smith University, for 17 years.

The last class of Brainerd Institute also included Vivian Ayers Allen, the mother of Emmy Award nominated actress Phylicia Rashad, best known as Clair Huxtable on the NBC sitcom The Cosby Show (1984-1992).

The Brainerd Institute operated from 1868 until 1939 following a period of decreased enrollment as more public school for black students became available in the area.

The two-story brick boys dormitory, Kumler Hall, built in 1916, is the only building remaining today on the twenty-one acre campus. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 27, 1983.

Marker for the Brainerd Institute dedicated in October 1986.
The marker is located on the corner of Cemetery &
Marquis Streets in Chester, South Carolina.
The Kumler Hall building can be see on top of the hill in the
background.

Historic Marker for the institute on
Lancaster Street in downtown Chester.

A close up photo of the Kumler Hall Building, which served
as the boys dormitory for the Brainerd Institute from its
construction in 1916 until the school closed in 1939.

This blogger would like to personally thank the Chester County Historical Society and the University of South Carolina archives for helping provide much of the information for this article.

Historic Old Purity Cemetery In Chester, South Carolina

Historic Old Purity Cemetery at Trinity Presbyterian Church in
Chester County, South Carolina.

Located about two-and-a-half miles southeast of Chester, South Carolina on SC Highway 97 is Historic Old Purity Cemetery; one the oldest burial grounds in this part of the State.

Purity Presbyterian Church (originally known as Bull Run Presbyterian Church) was organized on the site in 1770. The church's cemetery has been there since 1787.

The cemetery continued to grow in size and number of graves. A stone wall was built in 1872 enclosing the cemetery. At the time there were about 462 marked graves, some of them dating back to the late 1700s. The wall itself underwent several restorations over the years, the last one happening in 1960. A marker on the wall near the church entrance mentions this.

Inside the old cemetery's stone walls are many beautifully carved old graves, many with Ulster Scots surnames. Several birthplaces listed on the oldest gravestones mention counties in Northern Ireland. Several of the more prominent families have stone crypts in the center of the cemetery.

The graves of soldiers from various battles and wars can be found throughout the old cemetery, including those who fought in the Southern Campaign of the American Revolutionary War (1780-1782) and Confederate soldiers from the War Between the States (1861-1865).

Just outside the stone wall facing the highway is a stone marker that sits on the site where former slaves and members of the original church are buried in unmarked graves. This marker was dedicated in 1942 and is probably one of the oldest of such markers in this part of the State.

The original Purity Presbyterian Church was moved into in 1835 and now sits on Wylie Street in Chester. Today the historic walled cemetery is surrounded by the church yard of modern-day Trinity Presbyterian Church. 

The cemetery itself is well cared for and all of the war veterans graves are clearly marked. The following are photos taken by this blogger of the cemetery and some of its headstones and markers.

Trinity Presbyterian Church in Chester County, South Carolina.
This modern-day church sits on the site of the original Purity
Presbyterian Church which moved to nearby Chester in 1835.

A small garden near the cemetery gate.

Marker for the original site of Purity Presbyterian Church
erected in 1939. This marker sits in the Trinity Church parking lot.

Iron archway to the cemetery and church yard seen from the
parking lot dedicated to the historic Old Purity Cemetery.

James and Elizabeth McClintock born in Ireland.

A baby's grave with a beautifully carved
flower on the headstone.

Marker honoring African-American slaves erected in 1942.
The stone is on the spot where several of these people are buried
in unmarked graves outside the stone wall of the old cemetery.

Stone marker next to the old iron gate to the cemetery lists the
names of eight soldiers of the American Revolutionary War
buried on the site. The last three names were added later.

The grave of John Sealy Harden Sr. (1763-1816).
Served in the American Revolutionary War under Colonel
Edward Lacey's Patriot militia during the Southern Campaign
of 1780-1781. Fought at the Battle of Kings Mountain on
October 7, 1780.

The graves of Confederate soldier are marked with the
iron Confederate Cross of Honor markers.

The grave of Captain James Kinchen Marshall,
former Confederate Veteran and Chester Police Officer.
Marshall was killed in the line of duty on Feb. 7, 1898.

The grave of Reverend John Hemphill Simpson,
Confederate Army Chaplain for the 6th SC Infantry Regiment.

The grave of Sergeant Robert G. White CSA.
He was killed at the 2nd Battle of Manassas on
August 30, 1862.

A special thanks to the members of the Old Purity Society for providing some of the information in this article, and for their outstanding efforts in maintaining this historic cemetery.

Night Sky Photography -- 01-18-2022 -- The Major Stars Of Orion & The Winter Triangle

Good evening fellow stargazers!

Tonight, I have for your viewing pleasure a couple of really good shots of all the major stars in the Constellation Orion The Hunter rising in the southeastern sky just over the treetops about 50 minutes, or so, after sunset.

As you can see, in my first shot, I outlined all the bright visible major stars that make up the constellation, as well as the nearby bright star, Aldebaran, higher overhead. In my second photograph, I listed each of the major stars in the constellation, including the famous Orion Nebula circled just beneath Orion's Belt.

Located on the celestial equator, the Constellation Orion can be seen throughout the world and is clearly visible in the Northern Hemisphere in the night sky from about November to late February. The constellation is best recognized by the three bright stars: Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka, which make up the asterism "Orion's Belt".

Two of the ten brightest stars in the night sky visible from Earth are located in the Constellation Orion: the blue-white supergiant star, Rigel, the 7th brightest star in the night sky and the brightest star in the constellation; and the reddish supergiant star, Betelgeuse, the 10th brightest star and the second brightest in Orion.

With the exception of the reddish supergiant, Betelgeuse, all of the main stars in the Constellation Orion are bright young blue-white giants, or supergiants, ranging in distance from the closest star, Bellatrix at about 245 light-years, to the furthest star, Alnilam at about 1,342 light-years away.

The Orion Nebula (Messier 42) appears as a slight white smudge beneath Orion's Belt and is located around 1,350 light-years away from Earth. The M42 nebula is estimated to be 24 light-years across and has a mass of about 2,000 times that of the Sun, making it one of the most visible nebulae visible to the naked eye if you know where to look.

For my final night sky offering of the evening I had to wait a couple hours to get a better shot of Orion and the two major stars: Sirius and Procyon, which along with Betelgeuse, make up the Winter Triangle asterism -- outlined in blue.

The Winter Triangle is an imaginary equilateral triangle formed by three of the brightest stars in the night sky and largest stars in three major star constellations.

Sirius (also known as the "Dog Star") is the brightest star visible from Earth in the night sky and the major star of the Constellation Canis Major (Greater Dog). Procyon (sometimes called the "Little Dog Star") is the 8th brightest star in the night sky, and the major star of the Constellation Canis Minor (Lesser Dog). Both Sirius (at about 8.6 light-years away) and Procyon (about 11.4 light-years) are close cosmic neighbors to our Sun.

In Greek mythology, both dogs accompany Orion the hunter as he tracks Taurus the Bull through the heavens.

Well I hope y'all enjoyed this evening's night sky offerings and learned something pretty interesting about our heavenly neighbors.