Phase 2
Week 4 & 5
Observing the Night Sky
Now a theme is set to work off of, a number of research focus points need to be worked out. This will come from peer feedback on the presentation on Friday 18-10-19 and some areas I want to further explore from my original (brief) research in week 3.
Peer feedback/thoughts
Research leads:
The Sky at Night (TV Series)
Winchester Science Centre
Sky Guide (App)
Astrology degree course within The University of Southampton
He Tu and Luo Shu studies on stars
Ancient mythology and connection to the night sky
Ra and Apep's cycle
Egyptian Emblem Constellation
Rituals focused on the night sky, stars and planets
The history behind the word constellation
Thoughts:
Many opinions seem to be focused on the use of constellations within the ancient world. This could be helpful to research and support my claims that I feel we have lost a deep connection to the night sky and its implications on the human's soul. From these leads, a list of research questions will help focus the angle and projection of the theme. I didn't get to cover it fully in the presentation due to time but light pollution and its effects on the natural world I feel is greatly important to address as well, hopefully, research into this will produce some unique questions to push forward into a game experience.
Research Questions
(Important)
(Maybe not as important)
(Probably don't bother unless you have time)
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How has light pollution affected wildlife and is there a way to improve its effects?
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What animals rely on the stars?
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Why is there so much light at night?
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How much energy is used on lighting at night and how much could be saved?
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What are the effects on modern sciences, should it be a concern also?
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What exactly makes a constellation and have multiple ages of astronomy used the same formations?
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Are there any unique outlying constellations from ancient times?
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Where have our (western language) constellation names come from?
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In what way are/were constellations and planets used by humans and their effects on us?
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What were the stories given to the stars and planets?
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Did these stories imply teachings/religious elements?
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What does the word 'constellation' mean? Where does the word come from?
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Does the observation of a pollutionless night sky affect our attitudes?
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Which ancient civilisation studied the stars most, what can be found out about their views on life?
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How does it affect individuals today if given the chance to observe the night sky somewhere without pollution?
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How has the movement of stars and planets changed?
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Have some constellations become lost forever?
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What SHOULD be observable with the naked eye?
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How have we as humans tracked these over the ages?
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How important were the observable stars and planets?
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These questions should guide in a direction focused on finding out the importance of a clear, observable night sky in connection to us in a more natural aspect. It will be difficult to conclude exactly how the night sky affects us in a spiritual way, yet the research into ancient times might bring to life some interesting views on how we have changed, for better or worse.
Light pollution [See 'Research Folder- Light Pollution]
According to research, light pollution not only affects our ability to effectively observe the night sky, but it has negative effects on the environment and even human health. The production of melatonin can be disrupted by artificial light, which affects the body's internal clock, regulating the sleep-wake cycle.
https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-940/melatonin
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030147971100226X
Not only does light pollution (LP) affect the natural cycle production of melatonin, there is evidence to suggest that there is a connection between adverse amounts of LP, melatonin disruption and breast cancer.
https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/10.1289/ehp.10200
With this information already, I find it interesting how the theme of Observing the night sky has led me to understand a highly plausible connection between LP and effects on human health.
There is also a significant effect of the natural world from light pollution. National Geographic is shining a light on the topic to increase the understanding of the human's all-around effects on the natural world. A focus on sea turtle hatchlings not only presents evidence that light pollution is harmful to nature's order, but uses these animals in the limelight probably due to their cuteness and immense vulnerability.
National Geographic also refers to the effects on human health. However, I feel that a common nature in humans is to pay attention and care for animals and their well-being before they care about minute health effects upon themselves. Weighing up the two; sea turtle hatchlings against possible health issues due to poor sleeping patterns, I just can't help but side with the adorable hatchlings. There is an extensive study made on the effects of light pollution inhibiting the methods naturally built into sea turtle hatchlings, that helps them navigate they're way to the open seas. https://f50006a.eos-intl.net/ELIBSQL12_F50006A_Documents/TR-2Rev2.pdf
Observing with the naked eye
All research is provided through links and reading found in printed sources [See Research Folder - Naked Eye Astronomy, A Walk Through the Heavens]
Brief stargazing 19-10-19
On the first night after deciding my theme, I noticed the evening sky looked really clear, I also noticed a bright orange glow in the blue dusk sky. Curious, I went online to search for a cloud forecast and what kinds of stars I could expect to find that particular night.
A website used to virtually observe the stars in the sky, with a time slider and all-round-view, very useful for planning what I should be able to see, when and where. I quickly sketched out on a piece of paper a few constellations that I felt would be easy to find on my first real stargaze, focusing on the "Big Dipper", part of the constellation Ursa Major, as a signpost for finding others. My goal was to see how easy it is to find a constellation from the position of another, as well as finding the 'North Star' real name Polaris.
Transcript from the voice recording of my experience.
From my experience, I realised how impactful light pollution actually is on stargazing by eye. And how the small research I've done into the issues of light pollution have multiple damaging causes. As I mentioned while observing, while out in a dark field alone, with only the dark sky and stars above to keep me company, there is a bizarre emotion that overtakes you. There is an even more overwhelming want to learn and see with the eye what stars are out there and their stories.
The brightness of stars are measured on a magnitude scale which marks the brightest at a negative value while the dimmest is a positive value. It is an average that in ideal conditions, the naked eye can view at a magnitude of 6, some people even 7 or 8.
Considering my original observations on the night of 19-10-19, I believed I could see the star Sirius (previous knowledge of this star had fooled me), as shown in the image above. I had in fact seen the star Arcturus, the fourth brightest star after Sirius, Canopus and Rigil. I believed it to be Sirius because I had known Sirius to be a star that twinkled multiple colours, exactly as Arcturus was. This star and the "cross-like' constellation I thought of it belonging to was Bootes, looking more like a kite.
What should be observable with the naked eye?
Considering there are 48 'ancient' constellations mostly found in the northern hemisphere, out of 88 in total recognised constellations to date, I'm thinking of focusing the scope of research around the stories, myths and legends of the 48 to begin with. After getting a good overall understanding of the constellations and how they occupy the night sky, I want to understand what should be visible to the naked eye as that is the most honest and natural way to observe. Like in ancient times, despite the relevance of LP in modern times, the naked-eye observation was the only method to view the stars. This could lead to mean why stories and myths were created about the stars, due to a far less understanding about the reality of the cosmos. To start off, considering 48 constellations are still a large number, I want to begin studying within the circumpolar circle. An imaginary ring that connects constellations which, from a certain point up in the northern hemisphere, can always be seen throughout the year, also providing key information of the seasons.
These constellations are:
Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Draco, Cassiopia, Cepheus and Camelopardalis.
According to 'A walk through the heavens' Camelopardalis contains no stars which are at least a magnitude of 3.0 brightness. Meaning this constellation might be very difficult to view with the naked eye. Yet as it is part of the circumpolar constellations, I will study the myths and legends.
Considering the magnitude scale and the value of the naked eye's capability of viewing brightness, the average human eye should be able to view all the named stars within these constellations. Their magnitude value is included (remember 6- for the eye to be able to see). The colours of the independent stars are something that would be interesting to search. As each star made up of different elements and radiating at different heats, they often shine different colours and brightnesses. The sizes of these stars also vary.
The Circumpolar Constellations
[See Research Folder - Circumpolar Constellations, Legends of the Heavens/Myths]
Celestial grids are created around and from the 88 constellations. The grids look like puzzle pieces and are used to help to observe the sky and to discuss locations of stars. The Circumpolar constellations revolve around the North Star and never drop below the horizon (In the UK and above). The blurred rotation of these stars created with modern cameras creates some interesting patterns. These are just some images to represent the areas of interest.
Practical Uses
[See Research Folder - Navigation with the Stars]
The stars have been there before humans, before even the dinosaurs. No website should need to back up that statement. So while the development of education, arts, understanding, culture all around, the stars have been there to help us. Removing the myths and meaning of names for constellations and certain stars, these celestial objects in the black have been assets which have helped to progress the human development.
Navigation
Using the familiar patterns in the night sky, after observing and wondering for a long while what the movements of the stars were and meant, we came to learn that there is a position in the sky where everything revolves around. The North Star was even used within the first world for and most likely later for navigation.
The greeks would use an Astrolabe, a bronze disk which could help calculate the positioning of stars and even the latitude.
It is interesting to consider the feats of engineering invention that have helped to form human civilisation into what is today, possibly because of the early sciences and mathematics to do with astronomy.
Timekeeping
The Astrolabe would also be used for keeping track of the calendar, or seasons of the year. This would be very helpful for agriculture. But even before inventions like this, the constellations alone would have been used to recognise periods of time in the year and when to expect weather patterns. Even more, studying and the recording of star positions can help show a passage of time, a sort of clock within the sky. Of course, this is all irrelevant now but the fact these techniques were recognised and used shows a lot about the human's attitude towards making sense of the curious nature of the universe.
https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/tell-time-by-stars.html
Dark Matter and Energy
[See Research Folder - Dark Matter + Energy]
What is it? Or its close counterpart, Dark Energy? This is all very interesting stuff and holds some cool facts but to even attempt to understand a published journal on Dark Matter: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0370157304002996 simply is impossible without understanding the mathematics that explains the theories. Just glancing over the articles online provides the basis for what is still a very new field of study.
https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/9-12/features/what-is-dark-matter.html
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/science/dark-matter-map-gallery.html
https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/what-is-dark-energy
https://home.cern/science/physics/dark-matter
This CERN site clearly explains the difference between the two and outlines how the world within the universe. What I think sounds fascinating and could be visually inspiring is how these Dark forces betray the known laws of physics and cause movements of stars and galaxies to behave bizarrely. Like the stars rotating around the outer edges of a spiral galaxy, such as our own Milky Way, are moving much faster than what our maths predict.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAa2O_8wBUQ
This video not only uses visuals to help explain what this dark stuff might be, but also highlights how it is just only on the frontier of research, and that we have yet to fully understand what they are and how they work within the universe. Why might we be wanting to understand these could be a more philosophical question, however, there are some interesting questions being asked about the stuff that makes up most of our universe and why would we not want to learn about it? Esspecially if we do only make up 5% of matter.