Stars, stars, stars

I woke up early again, this morning (around 2:15a) and decided I might as well stay on California time for the next week. So I went down to start the generato and realized the sky was perfectly clear.

An anemic sickle of a moon was shining its yellowish light from low on the horizon, and from Hilo an orange cloud poisoned the sky – undoubtedly the city lights, probably much closer Pepe`ekeo and not the real City. Otherwise, the sky was full of nothing but stars.

Low over the horizon stood Orion. It struck me as remarkable, because there were so many more visible stars in it than what you’d usually see in a more urbanized area. The four corner stars were the visual anchor, of course; I’d easily see the belt (called the three Marys in South America); for the first time, I could clearly see why the sword was called that way; and for the first time I saw the plethora of stars and galaxies that all swarm inside the trapezoid.

It was so odd to see that teeming light burst, where I’d usually see only a dozen objects. But all that light meant one important thing: that back in the day when there was no light, people could do a Rorschach in the sky much better than with the few dots you can see today. No wonder they saw hunters and warriors in the sky!