The Stars and the Sky

The Stars and the Sky

Space has fascinated human kind for millenniums. The Ancient Babylonians, Sumerians, Mayas, Egyptians and other civilizations all mentioned celestial bodies in one way or another. While the Ancient Greeks and Roman believes the gods of the Pantheon resided on top of the Mount Olympus, they still had stories explaining stellar movement. For example, it was believed that Apollo, brother of Artemis, made the Sun get up each and every day in the East and rising in his immense carriage through the sky settle in the West each night.

The sky at night, as seen from the ground. Image: Copyright © Megan Jorgensen (Удутф)

Astrophysicists and astrobiologists study the stars and life on them, respectively, while astrologists try to predict people’s destinies according to stellar positions (an art, not a science, a pseudoscience at best – i.e. horoscopes, believed at one’s own risk). On the scientific side, complex calculations abound and impressive observatories (such as the one in Chile) allow gazing at spectacular views. Likewise, stargazing has been around for a very long time.

Sky at night in a non-starry location (LoL). Obviously, theoretically it is virtually impossible to look upwards on any part of the planet Earth, and not have a star, however distant above. Nonethelss, these can only be seen under certain circumstances and given appropriate conditions (light pollution, technology, distance, locations, clouds and other atmospheric interference, and so on). Image: Copyright © Megan Jorgensen (Elena)

Depending on one’s opinion, black holes may be the most interesting elements in the Cosmos. The mystery continues to fail to be completely understood, despite significant progress with telescopes such as Hubble, Voyager and theoretical advances in knowledge.

An artist’s rendition of a planet similar to Jupiter with one of its 64 moons (drawing not to scale). Jupiter is a gaseous giant and the proportion is closer to the that of planet Earth compared to Jupiter. Image: Copyright © Megan Jorgensen (Elena)

Copyright © 2016 Megan Jorgensen. All rights reserved.