In Mood for The Stars and The Sky
A meet cute with the Pleiades turned me into a stargazer
My first memorable instance of stargazing happened abruptly. Back in September 2021. I was delighted at my discovery of something extraordinary, something that had simply always been there, and was easy to ignore.
It etched in me a love for the sky. I had never before truly seen what was there to see in the night sky.
From the generously large glass window that took up a modest hotel room’s wall, on a cool, clear night, in the midst of a city at an elevation of 268 m, my friend and I were watching a trio of grey langurs scuffling up and down an adjacent spiral staircase, the commotion ringing loud in the thickly canopied, almost forest-like dense garden surrounding the room.
I have of course looked up many times before. Intentionally, unintentionally. The night sky might’ve been clear enough for me to see almost exactly what I saw that exceptional night too.
I realized later, that I had never paused enough before, never really contemplated enough, to realize what it is I’m looking at.
There is a way that nature speaks, that land speaks. Most of the time we are simply not patient enough, quiet enough, to pay attention to the story.
Linda Hogan
As we lounged about enjoying some local sweets and the antics of our troublemaking ancestors, with the dark stillness ahead of us, and few leaves rustling in the wind — I looked up, and saw a blanket of ink with glittering pinpoints. I was going to break the silence with a dull comment (“many stars tonight”) when suddenly something impossible caught my eyes.
I could see a peculiar pattern, a smattering of stars about 70–80 degrees from the horizon, burning bright in sync. It looked as if carelessly crushed diamond bits glinting together, each flint some millimeters away from the other, etched in a pitch black background of velvet.
I was stunned, for the Pleiades is mesmerizing.
As an afterthought, I realized that I was not only astonished at those breathtaking stars that have dazzled generations before me.
The fact that I had never even bothered to look up purposefully at the night sky, in the entirety of my existence, was a revelation.
How could I have not done that??
It was an incredulous, incredible realization. And it hit home.
Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads.
Henry David Thoreau
I simply found myself venturing out at night more, to look up. I found another canvas of nature to stare at (I regularly observe plants and animals), to summon peace, stillness, and faith in myself. I found a lot of perspective through stargazing.
This experience invited in new ones, like reading an astronomer’s viewpoints, learning bits and pieces of astrophysics, using basic apps to find constellations and asterisms, researching about binoculars and telescopes, learning to use mobile camera for astrophotography, and fairly frequent Moon and Venus gazing. I’m keen on knowing which objects can be seen on clear nights from my location throughout the year.
I have added stargazing to my list of regular things to do. A simple matter of stepping outside, finding a dim or dark corner, and staring up.
I have realized that a true look with open eyes at the surrounding nature has the power of making me revel in the omnipresent truth, and the fantastic miracle of each moment.
Never, no, never did nature say one thing and wisdom another.
Edmund Burke
Now I watch the stars in the night sky with purpose, and gratitude.
I’m alive. I’m enjoying this.
