Star-Gazing

One evening in early spring, 1964 (I was seven then), my father took me aside and brought out an extremely old boy scout handbook that he had kept from his own youth. He opened it up to the astronomy section and proceeded to explain to me how the stars in the sky have names and form patterns that, when connected with lines, make pictures. These patterns, or groups of stars were called "constellations", and by learning these constellations I could find my way around the night sky. He gave me that book to look at along with another one, Herbert Zim's Golden Guide to the Stars (remember the Golden Guides?), which had a section that showed and discussed the main constellations in greater detail. I took these books and studied them intensively. My father took me outside and showed me where to find constellations like Gemini, Orion, Canis Major, Ursa Major, and Leo. For the rest of the year and in 1965, star-gazing was a big interest of mine. When, at school, we were given time to draw whatever we liked, I always drew star maps (except for a phase when I was into drawing sailing ships with extremely complicated and, I'm sure, unseaworthy patterns of sails). One day in 1965 my parents, my sister, and I went down to Miami. One of the things we did there was buy some magazines at a large newsstand. One of them was a star-gazing guide that was much more detailed and interesting than the Golden Guide. I learned the names, configurations and positions of all 88 "official" constellations, even the numerous, obscure ones in the far southern celestial hemisphere. Now, anyone can draw any pattern they want in the stars and make it resemble something (in A Beautiful Mind, John Nash wooed his future wife this way). A pattern like this is called an "asterism". The Big Dipper is actually an asterism which is part of the constellation Ursa Major.

Still, there are the "official" 88 constellations. And these are the standards that need to be learned to be able to read a celestial map properly. But there are other things to know as well. On a celestial map, the lines of latitude are the same as on the Earth. But longitude is different with regard to the heavens, for it is expressed, not in degrees, but in hours. A full cycle measures 24 hours. Also, east is toward the left and west is toward the right on a star map.

Over the years, I've kept up with my star-gazing and passed on a little of my enthusiasm and knowledge to my wife and children. Learning about the night sky has two other educational benefits. Many of the constellation names are in Latin and quite a few of the star names are in Arabic, so you can pick up some foreign language vocabulary without even knowing it! And several of the mostly northern constellations are based on ancient Greek mythology, so that can get your foot in the door in that field of knowledge. With a knowledge of the stars and constellations, wherever your life leads you, you'll always have the familiar patterns of stars above, even if you're in an unfamiliar place far from home. I am grateful to my father for having shared this interest of his with me. And I recommend it to you and others!