Andrew Federici Assessment 2: Astrology Micro Tutorial Student ID: 2199257

What does the night sky tell us?

- At night, some of the stars appear brighter than others as these form in groups known as
constellations (NAAS, n.d.).
- History has explained that most constellations were named by the Greeks or Arabs (NAAS,
n.d.).
- Constellations were also names after animals or gods as people assumed they could see the
outline of these live beings at night (NAAS, n.d.).
- As stars move across the night sky, the two reasons for this are the earth itself is spinning and
also we are moving around the sun (NAAS, n.d.).
- As a whole, there are 100 constellations altogether with certain ones appearing in winter and
summer (NAAS, n.d.).
- Some cultures have destroyed the knowledge from the Indigenous people about the night sky
and is disappearing quickly due to advancements in the 21st century (Steffens, 2009).
How has the night sky helped us in the past?

- The night sky has been used as a calendar of sorts to determine seasons and availability of
food (Steffens, 2009).
- Constellations are a good indicator for people to use the night sky as a guide and determine
the brighter stars from the normal stars (NAAS, n.d.).
- During the mid-19th century, the art of photographic emulsion was utilised to capture various
images of celestial objects (Huppert, 2011). This was the preferred method before the digital
age came along and downsized the use of this method (Huppert, 2011).
- This allowed scientists to determine size, distance and composition of many celestial objects
like stars, comets, meteors and planets (Huppert, 2011).
- Many indigenous tribes use the night sky as a navigation technique to guide their way when
travelling at night whereas others did not so it varies from group to group (Fuller, Trudgett,
Norris, & Anderson, 2014).
- The Euahlayi people in NSW and QLD were a specific group who used star maps as a way to
learn and remember waypoints when walking along routes but not for navigation as a whole
(Fuller et al., 2014).

How is the night sky significant to indigenous Australians?

- History has explained that astronomy was not started with the Greek’s as thousands of years
earlier indigenous Australian’s scanned the night sky, using it to survive the harsh landscape
(Steffens, 2009).
- Aboriginal people have been widely described as the world’s first astronomers, with their
dream time stories still as constant as today (Steffens, 2009).
- A dreaming story from Papunya, Northern Territory:
“During the Dreaming, a blind man lived with his wife in the bush. Every day he told
his wife to go out and hunt for emu eggs for him to eat. Even though his wife tried
hard to please her husband, he was always angry with her, telling her that the eggs
were too small.

One day while she was out hunting, she came across some very large emu tracks. She
thought of her husband and how angry he got, and followed the tracks all the way to
the nest. She found a huge emu there and threw stones at it to get at the eggs, but it
stood up and ran towards her and killed her.

The blind man became hungry and worried about his wife. He felt around the camp
until he came across a bush with some berries on it and ate some of them. Suddenly
he could see. He made some spears and a woomera and set off to find his wife. He
followed her tracks and finally saw the huge emu and the body of his wife. He
speared the emu and banished its spirit to the Milky Way, where it can still be seen
today.” (Steffens, 2009).
- This emu in the sky has featured in various storytelling for thousands of years from the
Indigenous people
Andrew Federici Assessment 2: Astrology Micro Tutorial Student ID: 2199257

Sky used as nature’s calendar

- Coupled with the night sky telling dreamtime stories, the night sky was also used by the first
land-owners as a calendar as it indicated when seasons shifted and when some foods were
available and some were not (Steffens, 2009).
- For the Ngarrindjeri people, the southern cross dark shape seen in the sky at night for them is
the stingray Nunganari, with the pointers being sharks (Steffens, 2009).
- According to an associate professor at the University of NSW and an author of a book on the
history of Australian Astronomy, Indigenous people used the constellations in the sky to
predict what was occurring in the world during a certain time throughout the year (Haynes,
Haynes, Malin, & McGee, 1996).
- For example, during different times of the year, the emu in the sky either appears running or
sitting down so depending upon its position, those in the Western desert knew it was the
perfect time to collect emu eggs or hunt them (Steffens, 2009).
Andrew Federici Assessment 2: Astrology Micro Tutorial Student ID: 2199257

Reference list

Fuller, R. S., Trudgett, M., Norris, R. P., & Anderson, M. G. (2014). Star Maps and Travelling to
Ceremonies--the Euahlayi People and Their Use of the Night Sky. arXiv preprint
arXiv:1406.7456.
Haynes, R., Haynes, R. D., Malin, D., & McGee, R. (1996). Explorers of the southern sky: a history of
Australian astronomy: Cambridge University Press.

Huppert, D. (2011, November 8). The Night Sky: Past and Present. KQED.
https://www.kqed.org/quest/26479/the-night-sky-past-and-present.

Observing the night sky (n.d.).

http://www.naasbeginners.co.uk/AbsoluteBeginners/Night_sky.htm.

Steffens, M. (2009, July 27). Australia's first astronomers.

https://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2009/07/27/2632463.htm.