I don’t understand how one night a guy looked at the stars and said that if you draw a line between certain stars you can see a lion. And also were they chosen at random?
In: Planetary Science
I suppose before we had TV, books and artificial light, we needed an activity to do in the dark. Some people stared at the stars, saw patterns, and created stories. What’s amazing is that this was independently done by many people and cultures over time. Maybe it’s part of human nature?
This site visualizes some of constellations from different cultures: [https://figuresinthesky.visualcinnamon.com](https://figuresinthesky.visualcinnamon.com)
Constellations aren’t “found” they’re created. Namely by enough people of the same culture agreeing that the same stars look like things. Different cultures have different constellations, but the Greco-Roman set has become popular worldwide with globalization.
It’s worth remembering that the night sky was a lot darker in the past. Light pollution is real. You’ve probably never seen a proper night sky like the people in the olden days, unless you’ve gone camping somewhere really remote. Or drove all the way out into the desert or something.
It’s a lot easier to see shapes when there are more bright things in the sky to connect.
Constellations are made up of stars that stand out for a number of reasons if you know what you are looking for (orientation in the sky, how they move through the night, what time of year they are visible, etc) and usually have some sort of relevance to the culture to named them (like marking north, or indicating a season change). The names and stories act as mnemonic devices.
There’s probably more an expert could get into but that’s basically it
Today, the international constellations are used.
In the past, there was an Egyptian one, a Chinese one, an ancient Greek one, …
The constellations were made up from figures from the respective local mythology/legends.
So, yes, it was quite random and different for various parts of the world.
Pattern finding is natural part of how our brains work. Look at how easy it is for us to see faces in inanimate objects.
Also, the sky was a lot more impressive back then than it is to someone in a modern city full of light pollution. There were a lot more stars to choose from.
Humans are very good at finding patterns, even if they aren’t there. That’s how the constellations were made.
You also live in a time where light pollution exists. You also very likely live near a large population center. The night sky looks very different when we aren’t pumping a bunch of light into the atmosphere, so it’s much easier to see those stars.
Well back then, when you were a poor peasant with no possessions, a good way to pass the time was to get drunk and stare at the sky with your friends and make up stories.
That’s pretty much how it happened.
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Recently found myself in the Scottish Highlands when it all made sense to me. Never have I seen a sky anywhere near as clear as I did there, it looked like there were more stars than the sky could fit. The constellations, however, really stood out, even amongst this high and dense population. They were far brighter than their neighbours and it was clear to me what was what and was the first time I understood how people can look at the mess of stars and create and remember constellations.
You ever seen the night sky in a real dark place without light pollution? The brightest stars are like
brilliant lanterns in a dark sea. The imagination runs wild.
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