Stars are huge, radiant spheres of plasma. There are approximately 400 billion stars in the galaxy. They are made out of dust clouds dispersed throughout space. Did you know that stars don’t twinkle? It’s the turbulence in the sky that makes the stars appear like they are blinking. Since the dawn of recorded civilization, stars have been important to us throughout the world. They have been used for navigation, agriculture and even for religious reasons. There are also 58 important stars that are used by aviators and navigators worldwide. Have you ever heard about constellation myths? They are ancient stories about the gods, heroes, and mythological creatures (serpents, dragons etc…) featured in the constellations. Greeks and Romans created the stories for the constellation in the Northern Hemisphere, and for a petty in the Southern Hemisphere that they could sometimes see, near the horizon. Other cultures had their own mythologies for the stars. Some of their stories were part of their religions, helping them to explain everyday events, such as the seasons. These stories usually have a hero, who was given an honorary place in the sky, as either a reward or tribute. One of the very first use of the Constellations was for religion reasons. Ancient people …show more content…
They have been called the fossil remains of primitive stellar religion, and as such they have extraordinary interest. The constellations has allowed for the discovery of America, the spread of European culture, and civilization as we know today. Our ancestors accomplished incredible feats of pathfinding using only the sky as their guide. Sailors/Travellers have relied on the North Star, Polaris, to mark their way. Polaris is the last star at the end of the handle of the asterism* of the Little Dipper, in the constellation of the Little Bear. One can figure out their latitude (North/South) just by observing at how high Polaris appears in the night