“Silently, one by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven,
Blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels.”
― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie
Humanity has always been fascinated by the stars. A blanket of fireflies glimmering in the heavens above us, they have inspired scientific and creative minds for thousands of years. The ancient art of the zodiac runs parallel to academic astrology, today. Once upon a time, ancient peoples thought there were holes in the sky through which the gods looked down upon them. Or, that the earth was the center of a celestial sphere in which the stars were “glued” upon.
Later, Aristotle professed that the universe was made of up five elements: air, earth, water, fire, and aether. “Aether” was an unchanging element comprising the heavenly bodies – including the stars.
Then Roman, intellectual, heavyweight Pliny the Elder countered that “As regards the elements also I observe that they are accepted as being four in number: topmost the element of fire, source of yonder eyes of all those blazing stars.” So, the stars are made of fire.
In fact, the Ancient Greeks believed the misty cloud of stars, which we now know as the Milky Way, was literally that – spilt milk! They called it “Via Lacta”. It was the legendary astronomer Galileo who is said to have pointed his telescope on this milky mass and exclaimed in surprise – “It’s full of stars!”.
Today, stargazers all over the world study the night sky from observatories and space agencies. Since the discovery in 2004 of a space “diamond” (a white dwarf star made up largely of crystallized carbon). This is believed to be the swan song of all stars – and in about 5 billion years our sun will also be a diamond in the sky.
What do the stars mean to you?
Imagine, if you could turn back the clock and see the dark sky exactly as it was on one particular night. Which night would be most special to you and why?
There are many ways to commemorate a significant milestone or special someone- flowers, a framed photo or how about a personalized star map!
Today, it is possible to chart the stars and pinpoint the constellations in their precise positions on one significant date. Find the location data for a specific moment (your first date? Idyllic wedding site?) by looking up the latitude and longitudes for the GPS coordinates. Put the date and location into a website like https://www.fourmilab.ch/cgi-bin/Yoursky and you can see the moon and planets, named constellations, and deep-sky objects in one beautiful map.
You can either make your very own star map for free or choose to have a professional print framed and sent to your door. This takes the pain of doing your own astromaths away!
Choose from a myriad of designs and customize your own unique depiction of the starry night sky. This could be the perfect way to immortalize an anniversary, engagement or the birth of a new star!
