*
Last night, I woke up at about three a.m. I heard something rattling against the windows and wondered if it was wind or rain or even, for one bleary moment, hail. It was just wind, but in opening the curtains I discovered the most magnificent view.
Right there, in front of me, was Orion's belt. I suppose it's been cloudy a lot lately, or I just haven't been looking up when the stars are out. I was astonished that I could see them so clearly from my bed. One of the stars above the belt was reddish, even a bit flickery, and I wondered if it wasn't Mars. I remembered hearing something about how Mars is often near the horizon; certainly I don't remember it so close to Orion.
Some years ago, on a camping trip with my family, someone took me out to look at the stars. They had an app that would label stars or constellations as you point your phone at the sky. Last night, I downloaded something similar and used it to look around.
The reddish star, it turns out, is actually Betelgeuse, a red supergiant that is part of Orion. (Naturally, the name made me think of the scary movie from elementary school, Beetlejuice.) Next to Betelgeuse is Bellatrix, and another bright star that I wanted to identify was Sirius. (I recently re-listened to the audiobook versions of Harry Potter books six and seven, so I was interested to note how close those two stars are in the sky; I think Regulus is in the same general area, though a bit farther away.)
When I was younger, I wasn't very interested in constellations; they were like a human-imposed barrier between me and the enormity of space, the insignificance of earth, the planets and stars that we know so little about. Instead of searching for constellations that were so hard to visualize, I wanted to learn about the real bodies within and beyond our galaxy.
Laying in bed last night, I changed my mind about constellations. They are also ancient, in their own way, just on a different scale of time from the stars themselves. They're like cave drawings on the sky. They tell us about the people who came up with them, and their similarities and differences from ourselves. They vary across cultures, and yet certain bright stars and distinct shapes catch the attention of people around the world. (I recommend a look at this page if that interests you!)
Though my thoughts were a bit less abstract at three a.m. than they are now, I felt something I can't quite describe as I looked up at those stars. It reminded me of a beautiful moment, about five years ago, when I fell asleep with light from a full moon directly on my face.
*
I went outside again this evening, with my trusty stargazing app. I finally did find Mars, though it was neither on the horizon nor near Orion. I also found some other constellations, like Cassiopeia (which I've actually noticed before because of its distinctive M shape, though I didn't know what it was).
If you have a spare moment on a clear night, I encourage you to go outside and look at the stars! Search for constellations, if you want; or just take a minute to appreciate the beauty of those little prickles of light.
Thanks for reading!
Lian
