Starry Night: saucepan hang on the sky

It’s been a while I absent from this blog. Officially I was busy with works, but honestly I was losing sense of writing for almost two months. The feeling blown away, unexpectedly gone and came back just at one night about four nights ago. It was encouraged by a touching moment when I was stunned in the middle of open meadow watching a marvelous starry night.

That was an amazing night. We, my professor and his students, including me (of course), plus some internship were at the field for data validation. And after a long miserable day of walking through thorny and dense bushes, we all were gladly end up seating around bonfire for supper. The meal was finished fast and we watch the starry evening sky above our head. The fire remained a flame and the night in the middle of wide meadow turned dark. Then, the stars seem coming alive! Slowly arise from the east, amazing! Yet it was too bad that my camera cannot take glimpse of those beauties.

In the beginning, we discussed the Summer Triangle. The constellation of three stars that are respectively named Altair, Deneb and Vega, appear just hanging low on the east horizon when the evening was still early. Turn to the north we were trying to locate the North Star or Polaris. This guy is very important for navigation in Northern Hemisphere. First we should find the Big Dipper or Saucepan that will point to the Little Dipper. Big Dipper is a huge constellation of seven stars and easier to find; and locates two stars in the edge of the saucepan. Those two stars will point to handle of Little Dipper. And there it is the North Star, the end star in the handle of Little Dipper. It looks bigger and prominently bright compares others in Little Dipper.

Then for a while we were watching some aircraft passing through the night sky. Damn it, I never notice that sky in US is always busy both night and daylight. Then my boss pointed to a vague moving object, it’s a satellite!! Wow, I just wondering what satellite was that?

After long chat on topics related to sky such as aliens, UFO, area 51, tele-port etc. while enjoying marshmallows, we found Summer Triangle was already move straight above our head, so visible on the black sky background. Then toward the south we found the Teapot, or Sagittarius. My God, it’s really look like a teapot.

Hey, don’t be surprised if I was so amazed; this is sky of Northern Hemisphere. Of course everything is different from what I’ve seen in Southern latitude. I familiar with the Crux or Cross, though we call it “Gubuk Penceng” or tilted hut, a star constellation pointed to South in Southern Hemisphere.

OK, next to Sagittarius comes Scorpion with the tail that was still hidden behind trees barrier in the horizon. So the South in Northern Hemisphere is just between Teapot and Scorpion. Then slowly we see the Milky Way, a dusty blowing band (first picture) start its edge around Teapot and grow bigger like a dusty stream strait above our head, and passing the Summer Triangle.

I recall  two posters of Van Gogh painting entitled Starry Night, hanging on my bed room wall. I like to watch those two before fall asleep, imagine see the stars on the sky. The pic above is one of those two.

Then, the night in the middle of open meadow was growing old and my eyes and head getting heavier and that was time to go for bed in my tent. I wish to sleep outside next to the flame and continue watching stars, but the next day will be another miserable day for entering the bushes, so better I sleep well.

Good night beautiful stars.