JAMES:
WELCOME TO STAR GAZERS.

I'M JAMES ALBURY, DIRECTOR OF THE KIKA SILVA
PLA PLANETARIUM IN GAINESVILLE FLORIDA.

DEAN:
AND I'M DEAN REGAS, ASTRONOMER FROM

THE CINCINNATI
OBSERVATORY.

WE'RE HERE TO HELP YOU FIND YOUR WAY AROUND
THE SKY TONIGHT.

JAMES:
HEY DEAN, WE HAVE SOMETHING SPECIAL TO TALK

ABOUT THIS WEEK.

DEAN:
AND WHAT WOULD

THAT BE?

ANOTHER PLANETARY CLOSE ENCOUNTER?

OR PERHAPS A
SUPER-RARE ECLIPSE?

JAMES:
WELL, NONE OF THOSE ACTUALLY.

A YOUNG VIEWER OF OUR SHOW VISITED MY PLANETARIUM
A WHILE BACK AND HIS

NAME IS HENRY.

HE ASKED ME THIS QUESTION:
WHERE DID ALL THESE CONSTELLATIONS COME FROM?

I THOUGHT THAT WOULD BE A GREAT THEME FOR
THIS WEEKS EPISODE!

DEAN:
YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT!

WELL, HENRY

WE'RE GOING TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION RIGHT
HERE ON STAR GAZERS.

WHERE DID ALL THE SKY PICTURES COME FROM,
AND WHO CAME UP

WITH THEM?

JAMES:
LETS SHOW YOU!

JAMES:
FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS, OUR ANCESTORS HAVE

LOOKED UP AT THE NIGHT SKY AND WONDERED WHAT
IT ALL WAS.

EVEN AS RECENTLY AS 100 YEARS AGO, BEFORE
THE PROLIFERATION OF STREET LIGHTS,

IF YOU WENT OUTSIDE ON A CLEAR, MOONLESS NIGHT,
YOU COULD SEE THOUSANDS OF STARS, RIGHT FROM

YOUR BACKYARD.

DEAN:
WITHOUT A SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATION OF WHAT THE

STARS WERE, MANY ANCIENT CULTURES THOUGHT
THE STARS WERE DIVINE.

EACH STAR WAS CONSIDERED A GOD, FIXED IN POSITION,
RELATIVE TO THE OTHERS; APPEARING TO RISE

IN THE EAST AND SET IN THE WEST,
NIGHT AFTER NIGHT.

JAMES:
IMAGINE HOW MAGICAL, MYSTERIOUS AND AWESOME

THE HEAVENS MUST HAVE SEEMED TO OUR ANCESTORS.

AS A PERSON WENT FROM YOUTH TO OLD AGE, THEY
WOULD SEE THE SAME STARS IN THE SAME LOCATIONS

YEAR AFTER YEAR; THE SAME AT AGE
5 AS AT AGE 50.

AND THE SKY SEEMED SO HIGH ABOVE THEM,
THAT THE STARS WERE UNREACHABLE, AS IF THEY

WERE ATTACHED TO THE INSIDE OF
A LARGE, CRYSTALLINE SPHERE, WITH US AT

THE CENTER.

DEAN:
AND THIS CRYSTALLINE SPHERE WOULD APPEAR TO

ROTATE AROUND THE EARTH, AGAIN

WITH US AT THE CENTER, MAKING THE STARS APPEAR
TO RISE IN

THE EAST AND SET
IN THE WEST.

THIS REPETITIVE MOTION OF THE STARS WAS VERY
PREDICTABLE, SO MANY ANCIENT PEOPLE USED THE

NIGHT SKY AS A PRIMITIVE CLOCK.

JAMES:
THATS RIGHT.

BECAUSE, NOT ONLY WAS THE DAILY MOTION OF
THE STARS REPETITIVE, BUT OVER THE COURSE

OF A YEAR, THE STARS YOU COULD SEE WOULD GRADUALLY
CHANGE,

BUT 365 DAYS LATER,
THE SAME STARS YOU SAW A YEAR AGO WOULD APPEAR

IN THE
SAME PLACE;

SO IF YOU LOOK UP AT THE STARS AFTER
SUN-SET ON YOUR BIRTHDAY, YOU'LL SEE THE SAME

STARS IN THE SAME PLACE, EVERY BIRTHDAY, FOR
AS

LONG AS YOU LIVE.

DEAN:
THE HUMAN BRAIN LIKES TO MAKE ORDER

OUT OF CHAOS.

ALTHOUGH THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE STARS IN
THE NIGHT SKY IS RANDOM,

YOUR BRAIN IMMEDIATELY WANTS TO MAKE PATTERNS
OUT OF THE BRIGHTEST STARS.

JAMES:
SO, AS OUR ANCESTORS SPENT THEIR EVENINGS

GAZING AT THE STARS, THEY WOULD PLAY A CELESTIAL
GAME OF CONNECT THE DOTS, MAKING PATTERNS

( BOTH BIG AND SMALL) THAT REPRESENTED
OBJECTS, ANIMALS

OR PEOPLE.

WE CALL THESE PATTERNS,
CONSTELLATIONS.

DEAN:
THERE ARE CURRENTLY 88 OFFICIAL CONSTELLATIONS

IN MODERN ASTRONOMY.

THE CONSTELLATIONS YOU CAN SEE DEPEND
ON WHERE ON EARTH

YOU LIVE.

FOR EXAMPLE, PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN AUSTRALIA
CAN SEE SOME OF THE SAME STARS THAT

WE CAN SEE FROM NORTH AMERICA,
BUT NOT ALL OF THEM.

AND VICE VERSA.

JAMES:
AUSTRALIANS CAN SEE THE SOUTHERN CROSS, BUT

ONLY A FEW
OF US IN NORTH

AMERICA CAN.

NORTH AMERICANS
CAN SEE

URSA MAJOR
(THE GREAT BEAR),

BUT NEW ZEALANDERS CANNOT.

THE ONLY PLACE ON EARTH WHERE YOU CAN ACTUALLY
SEE ALL

88 CONSTELLATIONS
IS AT THE EQUATOR.

DEAN:
SO AS PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD PLAYED CONNECT

THE DOTS WITH THE STARS,
THEY WOULD CREATE FANCIFUL STORIES ABOUT EACH

OF THE CONSTELLATIONS
THEY CREATED.

MANY OF THESE STORIES WERE USED TO PASS DOWN
CULTURAL VALUES OF MORALITY, OR TELL STORIES

ABOUT LOVE, COURAGE OR HONOR.

JAMES:
THESE CONSTELLATION STORIES WERE HANDED DOWN

FROM GENERATION
TO GENERATION.

SO CONSTELLATIONS CAME FROM STARGAZERS LIKE
YOU.

DEAN:
GREAT QUESTION HENRY!

IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION OR TOPIC IDEA FOR THE
SHOW, FEEL FREE TO WRITE TO US AT OUR WEBSITE:

STARGAZERS ON LINE.ORG.

JAMES:
IN THE MEANTIME, YOU CAN ALWAYS CREATE YOUR

OWN CONSTELLATIONS OUT OF THE STARS YOU CAN
SEE

EVERY NIGHT AS YOU...

ALL:
KEEP LOOKING UP!