【Tales in the stars】Chapter 4：The astronomical distance between Niulang and Zhinü
2025/08/15
In Chinese culture, Qixi stands among the most cherished traditional festivals. The tale of Niulang and Zhinü, two lovers who wait on opposite shores of the Milky Way and meet upon the Magpie Bridge only on Qixi, has echoed through centuries.
Yet a question lingers in the starlight: how far apart are they, truly? Could any love cross such an astronomical distance? To begin answering, the story must be rewound to its first encounter and the parting that followed.
After losing his parents, Niulang lived with his brother and a merciless sister-in-law. When the household divided, she seized everything and left Niulang only an old cow. Niulang and the cow kept each other company and weathered a hard, humble life.
One day, the cow whispered a secret: celestial goddesses would bathe at the river. It even proposed a mischievous scheme to hide a goddess’s robes. Niulang did. When the goddesses rose to return to the heavens, the youngest could not find her garments and was stranded, anxious and helpless. Niulang feigned a search that could not succeed, and a conversation began that grew into marriage and children. The goddesses was Zhinü, the Weaver Girl who spun clouds and brocades in heaven.
But heaven keeps its own books. Zhinü’s earth life delayed celestial duties, and the Jade Emperor, angered, summoned her back. Hearing this, Niulang gathered his two children and hurried after her. Just as he drew near, the Queen Mother pulled a golden hairpin from and scored the sky with a vast, rushing river, which is the Milky Way, forever dividing the family. Later, moved by their devotion, the Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother relented, granting a single reunion each year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, when countless magpies form the bridge of their reunion.
Astronomically speaking, Altair and Vega are about 16 light-years apart. Even at light speed, a crossing would take sixteen years, which seems to be a trick played by the Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother.
Two stars that never met in Western constellation
Vega, the fifth-brightest star of the night, shines in Lyra. Four nearby stars sketch the strings of a celestial lyre, the instrument given by Apollo to Orpheus, whose music calmed tempests and softened underworld hearts. After Orpheus’s death, the gods set the lyre in the sky.
Altair belongs to the constellation Aquila. According to legend, Zeus once transformed into a giant eagle and carried away the beautiful youth Ganymedesto serve as wine-pourer on Mount Olympus. Impressed by the eagle’s majesty, Zeus fixed it among the stars.
Observation Guide
Vega in Lyra, Altair in Aquila, and Deneb in Cygnus, form the remarkable Summer Triangle in the night sky. On a clear summer night, look toward the eastern sky for this isosceles triangle!
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Easter Egg
Crocodile marks the date of Qixi Festival on the calendar,
reminding himself not to go out ,
as the lovey-dovey scenes might be blinding.
