• PugJesus@piefed.socialMEnglish
    24·
    17 days ago

    Not much to do other than look up at the stars at night and imagine, in a time before cheap lighting!

    … also, they had way better starscapes in most places before cheap lighting.

  • bufalo1973@piefed.socialEnglish
    15·
    17 days ago

    They had talks to remember the constellations. They were the guides to travel and sail. And is much easier if you remember that the hunter (Orion) died in a fight with an Scorpion (the constellation that is opposite to Orion) so they can’t see each other or they’ll fight.

  • shalafi@lemmy.worldEnglish
    13·
    17 days ago

    I’d imagine the pictures they saw in the sky make more sense with zero light pollution. I was in my 30s the first time I got far enough out to truly see the Milky Way. In my 50s now, never saw it again, not like that.

    • SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world
      15·
      17 days ago

      Those three stars are just his belt. There’s so much light pollution you apparently can’t even see the other seventeen main stars in the constellation.

      • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
        5·
        17 days ago

        The star that makes up one of his shoulders (can’t remember which one) is it good contender to go nova in the next 100 years (that is it probably went centuries ago, but we’ll see the light from it at some point in the next hundred years), so you never know, it might brighten things up for a bit.

        Also I’m pretty sure it’s expected to collapse into a black hole as well which could be very interesting.

        • tedd_deireadh@lemmy.world
          4·
          17 days ago

          You might be thinking of Betelgeuse, the red supergiant, but that one isn’t expected to go supernova for 100,000 years.

          Betelgeuse has evolved rapidly because of its large mass, and is expected to end its evolution with a supernova explosion, most likely within 100,000 years. When Betelgeuse explodes, it will shine as bright as the half-Moon for more than three months; life on Earth will be unharmed.

          • Uruanna@lemmy.world
            1·
            15 days ago

            There was a period around a year ago for several months where we didn’t know what was going on with Betelgeuse dramatically dimming unexpectedly, and we thought it might go out within our lifetime. But yeah, we’ve explained that about 4 zeroes back since earlier this year I think.

            • tedd_deireadh@lemmy.world
              1·
              15 days ago

              Ah, gotcha. Yeah, they did mention the dimming. That would be an amazing sight to see a star as large as Betelgeuse going supernova though.

  • EfreetSK@lemmy.world
    5·
    17 days ago

    This makes my blood boil, I mean we all know the astrology is bullshit but another level of stupidity, is to assign to people characteristics that are stereotypical to that animal! Like, a goat? That means you must be stubborn! … I mean really? If ancient greeks would call this a snake, would you say that person is a trickster?

    … ah look at me, trying to find a reason in astrology

    • plyth@feddit.orgEnglish
      8·
      17 days ago

      The origin is that the Sumeriens kept records of important events to check if there was a correlation between the stars and the events. So in its origin, it was scientific.

    • unwarlikeExtortion@lemmy.ml
      5·
      17 days ago

      I know the post is about astrology, but let’s not forget astronomy.

      One “tells you your future”. The other tells you where you’re located and what season it - quite esoteric knowledge today, but very necessary centuries and millenia ago.