Constellations and Observing in Orion

A Backyard Astronomer's Diary With Jim Harstad

If you've ever spent time in the country, away from artificial lights, and looked up at a clear moonless sky, then you've seen a sight that is becoming far too rare. The stars are dazzling in their brightness and numbers. The brightest planets, Jupiter and Venus, seem to faintly light the landscape. Before the invention of electric street lights, this was the night sky that everyone knew. It's clear why the stars, and the patterns they form, were regarded as familiar companions to people of antiquity. The shapes in the sky defined creatures and heroes, a ready guide to local lore. These figures in the sky are the constellations. Different cultures assigned different names and stories to the shapes made by the stars, but the common outcome was to make the night sky familiar; to be at home beneath the stars.