Luminary

Gaping into the sky had not decided to be a head hunter but was overwhelmed by the sight. The twinkling stars had enveloped me with an unbreakable bond. The brightest out of the lot, which we always name it to be “North Star” is far away from the factual. North Star which is also called Polaris has been gifted with medium brilliance. The story line builds up now “Why automatically  do we presume the brightest to be North Star?” left me also scratching my head.

This star is a boon to travelers throughout the Northern Hemisphere, both over land & sea. Finding Polaris means you know the direction north.  Polaris – is famous for holding nearly still in our sky while the entire northern sky moves around it. That’s because it’s located nearly at the north celestial pole, the point around which the entire northern sky turns. As you face Polaris and stretch your arms sideways, your right hand points due east, and your left hand points due west. Due to its placement its visibility is easier to naked eyes even while being placed as the 50th brightest star.

There are some trade secrets from the world of amateur astronomy where they apply to read stars which are placed at unimaginable heights. We at arm length also tend to miss out things. May be need to take a page from their book to learn it through.

Your eyes need to get adapted to the dark before you go out. That means not just getting up from watching TV, or staring at your computer screen, before you look outside. You won't see much because it takes your eyes at least 10 minutes to adjust to the dark. For the same reason, astronomers prefer to use red lights to view their star atlases & then look up at the real thing with little trouble. Tie a knot to yourself to the new to be the best observer in your first 10 mins. 

Another tip for finding really faint objects, particularly when looking through binoculars or a telescope, is not to look directly at them. This isn't because they are shy, but the central part of your eye is not the most sensitive to light. It is best at distinguishing fine detail, but the side parts are actually better at seeing faint objects. The technique of looking away from where you expect something to be is called averted vision. Keeping a focus on the main the sides are not to be sidelined a message for all to learn.

William Shakespeare

     “It’s not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves”