Saturday, July 9, 2011

Its Bigger and Fainter Than You Think!

Finally drilling a big star projector is a revelation all its own, revealing for instance Ive never really LOOKED at the constellations in relation to one another. By that I mean, yes, Geminii is bigger than Orion, just fainter. The three Orion belt stars arent as bright as I thought, they just are hard to miss where they ARE.. and no, they are NOT in a straight line, they bend a little .. Sometimes I think I've looked at too many starmaps and books and not enough of the real thing. Orion has an upraised club right? I see it in every atlas. Have I ever seen it in the real sky? That would be .. umm no. I dont know where it goes ... its just .. up there over his head someplace .. and his shield .. the shield is problematic .. its very faint and keeps appearing brighter in my newly organizing sky .. I guess stars together or in a special place seem brighter, just like some brighter constellations seem bigger when they arent! Creating the sky maybe means understanding the skys true appearance. Like the stars themselves, its a very humbling experience. Ive spent a week on Orion and Geminii. And they still arent quite THERE yet ....