Harpreet Bashagwani Fri Jun 03, 2011 7:24 pm
“That would be a fine scope,” Harpreet said, smiling, “but I would advise going any bigger. After all, you will not have elves to help you move it around. Any more questions? No? We will continue.
“Tonight we will look upon the most recognizable objects in the, the stars, and the patterns they make, the constellations. When we look into the sky, we see the past, for there is the limitation of speed with light, and so, the light we are viewing this very evening has taken, for some, a dozen or more years, or perhaps 50 years, or, with some stars before us, thousands of years. The first great astronomers were the Egyptians, Babylonians and Chinese, followed by the Persians and Indians, and there is light before us now that began traveling to Earth at the same moment those scientists were looking into the sky and assigning names that, for many stars, are still used.
“The sky is a time machine, and all that is before us is the past. Even our daylight comes from our past, for the sun is far enough distant that light takes 8 minutes to reach the Earth. It is a marvelous thing, the sky. It is history moving constantly; very slowly, yes, but the planets and stars and the galaxy and all other galaxies are in constant movement, all performing a ballet throughout the universe.
“And we are witness to this performance.
“The constellations are nothing more than stars forming an asterism, or a visible sky pattern. The mind of man saw these patterns and gave them name, and those names we still know today. Many of the asterisms are very well known. Come—“ She walked out onto the viewing gallery and pointed north. “The Big Dipper is probably the most well known asterism, form within the body of the constellation Ursa Major. The Little Dipper is also another well known asterism, though not as visible. But there are so many others. Some, like Cassiopeia and Lyra, make up nearly the full constellation. There are some, like the Belt of Orion, that are very well known, and yet make up a very small portion of the whole formation.
“And then, there are some asterisms that are made up of stars from many different constellations. There are two very well known ones in the sky this evening—“ She pointed nearly straight overhead as she spoke. “The Summer Triangle, and—“ Lower in the sky this time. “The Great Square. You will see these in the sky, and, tonight, you will find and identify them on our star charts.
“Are there any questions, my children?”