The light from the stars is illuminating the dark world around me. I lie down carefully still nursing my ankle from earlier that day. All day I have been tramping in Conical Hill, Hanmer Springs and I am exhausted.
I suddenly hear an obscure noise in the trees behind me. I rapidly turn around trying to analyze what the mysterious creature was. I look up to see a pair of yellow eyes staring at me. Frantically I tried to run but I tripped on a log Phew, it’s only an owl!
My eyes are shifting round and I see some of the most peculiar constellations. I reach into my bag and seize my star book. I flick through but can see no match. Then I remembered one of the pages had dislodged from the book on an earlier trip. Then it hits me. Why didn't I think of that before?. It was the big dipper!
Depending upon the season of the year, the Big Dipper can be found high in the northern sky or low in the northern sky. Just remember the old saying spring up and fall down. On spring and summer evenings, the Big Dipper shines highest in the sky. On autumn and winter evenings, the Big Dipper lurks closest to the horizon. The Big Dipper is really an asterism – a star pattern that is NOT a constellation. The Big Dipper is a clipped version of the constellation Ursa Major the Big Bear, these Big Dipper stars outlining the Bear’s tail and hindquarters.
Peace fills me as I gaze up at the sky. The twinkle of the southern cross stars fills my vision.
The Southern Cross is a pattern of stars (constellation) in the Milky Way galaxy. The stars are visible in the southern hemisphere sky. It was named by 16th-century European explorers, who recognised the shape of a cross. Four bright stars. form the outline, with another fainter star just below the cross I wrote in my fact book. You see I am writing a book about stars. Suddenly I remembered all of the things I have ever learned, all of my thoughts flood into my brain like a waterfall. I now know all about the stars and constellations. I must get this all down I thought to myself. I grab my notebook and pen before I forget any of it. I scribble down some notes.
That night I get home to find no one is there. I reach under the mat for the key. Nothing. I try the door. Its unlocked. “How weird” I say to myself. “Surprise.” All of my family and friends jump out. “Welcome home”!
I open up my bag and grab my book to present my findings to my family. Then I take them all outside and show them all the constellations I know. I give my almost finished book to my younger cousin to read. He is interested in stars and constellations. He thinks it is pretty cool.
We all sit around a fire telling stories about star constellations.
“There are several versions of the myth of Orion” I start off, “but one of the more common version is that Orion proclaimed himself to be the greatest hunter in the world, much to the dismay of Hera, the wife of Zeus. She had a scorpion kill him, and Zeus put Orion into the sky as a constellation”.
“Oh yes, thats it, the last part of my book could contain constellation myths.”By Kaylee
