For centuries man has rediscovered himself and the world around him by gazing at the stars. It is almost as if man had an intuitive feel about the vastness of knowledge that is stored within these stars. Gradually as more and more familiarity evolved and mankind started on a path of discovery of the hidden knowledge of these shiny sparkles of light through the science of Astronomy.

Through the science of Astronomy we can know more about the process of the creation of the stars as well as the history of the universe. Through the various sophisticated processes that are involved in the science of astronomy, we can also measure the distance of separation of one star from the other as well as forecast the time when they will be destroyed.

As mankind learned more about the stars through Astronomy and its allied sciences, the use of imagination was merged with this newly gained knowledge through which we could also visualize shapes and characters in the various groups of stars. We named them in accordance with these characteristics and termed them to be scientifically as constellations. This was the perfect blend of the science and the arts and allowed us to become even more involved in this process of getting to know more about our celestial neighbors.

Although astronomy is the oldest science, it continues to be at the forefront of not only scientific thought, but that of the public at large too. Who has not looked up at the galaxy while walking home late at night and wondered? Having said that though, the ancient people of certainly the northern hemisphere, but probably both, knew the movements of the stars and planets better than most of us do nowadays.

They understood then, thousands of years ago, that the majority of stars appear to rise in the Eastern skies at night and travel on circular paths. They also noticed that some ‘stars’ were ‘wanderers’ (we call them planets) and that sometimes they went ‘against the flow’.

They also named groups of stars that we now call constellations or even galaxies and knew that those visible in the winter were different from those visible in the summer.and that others were visible all year round. The average common man of 5,000 – 10,000 years ago almost certainly knew more about the movement of the celestial bodies than the average common man of today does. (I mean men and women here, of course).