"l hope that people all around the world never forget what a wonderful
thing it is to lie on your back and look up at the stars" Pete Seeger
What is the fascination that constellations hold for people? There are
probably as many different answers to that question as there are people.
For many, though, the constella- tions are the stepping-off point into
the fabulous, mind-bending discoveries and concepts of modern astronomy.
For others it is their long and intriguing history that beckons. For
some people the constellations provide the means for navigation and
orientation over the surface of the Earth, and of course there are the
millions who place some faith in horo- scopes. But for most people the
patterns in the sky are a beautiful part of their environ- ment to be
treasured alongside the forests, fields and rivers that make life worth
living. However just as we are losing our green environment to
pollution, so we are losing our sky. The glow from cities across the
world swamps the stars in the night sky. Astronomers have had to retreat
to remote mountain tops to escape that light pollution. The rest of us
must make do with what is available. From the centre of a city, or any
other brightly lit area, probably no stars at all will be visible even
on the clearest of nights. From the suburbs, the brighter stars should
normally be seen.