I go back and forth on how much of the night sky I should learn. The conventional (default even) idea seems to be that the more you know, the more you enjoy! Constellation guides have been published in great profusion for so long, a local used bookstore I frequent has at least 30 at any one time. There are 88 constellations. I should know them all. And even if I can't see them all in my real sky, what excuse do I have in my planetarium sky? I can go south without leaving the farm. I can see Antila the Hun, and mean the Pump. WHY don't I know them all. I could dazzle visitors with my knowledge. I've even written tributes to overlooked constellations like Leo Minor. Actually come to think of it, all but about 20 constellations might fall in that overlooked category, and half of those are heard of more for astrology than astronomy.
But I haven't done that. I fight it. I once attended a 'constellation shootout' at a regional planetarium conference under a big dome. The winners knew them all. I should be a winner. But I'm not.
So I tell myself, most people who enjoy hobbies don't know everything about them. Most people who visit Yellowstone don't see every geyser. You see want you want to see, or what you have the energy to see .. or... what fullfills whatever it is that drove you to look in the first place. And whatever drives me to look at the stars is apparently NOT a deep desire to know them all! Thinking about it, you can't know a tiny fraction of them anyway. Inspirational songs say that the creator knows every star by name - maybe so we don't have to. Anyway, constellations are arbitrary. They are past records of other people in other times who saw things. Nobody named them all, so perhaps nobody needs to KNOW them all.
There's a funny line in one of the Indiana Jones movies - he got lost in his own museum. They use it as a joke, or an indication of incompetence, but I think maybe its just an equally valid approach to life. Get lost in your own sky. A favorite old song goes, lets lose ourselves, go completely astray, and find ourselves again. I do that sometimes in my little woods out back - getting lost just for a moment has benefits - it resets our bearings, shows us how little control we really have. And theres a rush of familiarity when we find ourselves again which is pleasant. Reassuring. Makes us appreciate maybe what we stop seeing after awhile if we never get off the beaten path (which we beat, along with countless others).
So sometimes I think, its better not to know all the constellations. To get lost and not concentrate on groupings of trees. That way you can take it all in at once. Its more like a living, breathing organism then maybe. Maybe its an excuse, and I'm just lazy. But maybe that ain't all bad.
But I haven't done that. I fight it. I once attended a 'constellation shootout' at a regional planetarium conference under a big dome. The winners knew them all. I should be a winner. But I'm not.
So I tell myself, most people who enjoy hobbies don't know everything about them. Most people who visit Yellowstone don't see every geyser. You see want you want to see, or what you have the energy to see .. or... what fullfills whatever it is that drove you to look in the first place. And whatever drives me to look at the stars is apparently NOT a deep desire to know them all! Thinking about it, you can't know a tiny fraction of them anyway. Inspirational songs say that the creator knows every star by name - maybe so we don't have to. Anyway, constellations are arbitrary. They are past records of other people in other times who saw things. Nobody named them all, so perhaps nobody needs to KNOW them all.
There's a funny line in one of the Indiana Jones movies - he got lost in his own museum. They use it as a joke, or an indication of incompetence, but I think maybe its just an equally valid approach to life. Get lost in your own sky. A favorite old song goes, lets lose ourselves, go completely astray, and find ourselves again. I do that sometimes in my little woods out back - getting lost just for a moment has benefits - it resets our bearings, shows us how little control we really have. And theres a rush of familiarity when we find ourselves again which is pleasant. Reassuring. Makes us appreciate maybe what we stop seeing after awhile if we never get off the beaten path (which we beat, along with countless others).
So sometimes I think, its better not to know all the constellations. To get lost and not concentrate on groupings of trees. That way you can take it all in at once. Its more like a living, breathing organism then maybe. Maybe its an excuse, and I'm just lazy. But maybe that ain't all bad.
