Star gazing and the wonders of the night sky
Night sky vibes, a cozy atmoshpere, and silly stories from the past.
Hello! Harshini here.
I am always fascinated by the things that exist outside of the Earth. I was, am, and will continue to be astonished whenever I think about what ridiculously big and incomprehensible things exist in outer space. Even space itself is full of mysteries.
If I were to talk about outer space, theories of extraterrestrial beings, and space objects, it would take days for me to shut up. So, just for this time, I'm going to keep it short and talk about the stars, the moon, and memories made under the night sky.
There is a popular superstition that our ancestors and late loved ones become stars and are always looking at us from above.
And there’s another superstition that if you say your wish out loud to a falling star three times, it comes true.
I don’t remember witnessing a meteor in the sky but I do remember pranking my friends and family members by adding a shooting star image to our group picture and telling everyone that we captured a picture of a shooting star. (Some of them fell for it, and it was hilarious).
To be honest, I don't believe these superstitions because I am a skeptical person. It's not bad or childish to believe them and it's not a bad thing to disbelieve them either. Everyone’s beliefs and opinions are different.
There are a lot of dreamy ways to think about the stars. The way I like to think about them is:
The space is a huge, scary, and dark void. And there are billions if not trillions of massive spheres that are sources of light, energy, destruction, and most importantly, inspiration.
Stars look beautiful in the night sky. They inspired millions of humans to create remarkable and inspirational things about them. (This post is inspired by stars too!)
Stars will explode (also known as a supernova explosion) and cause destruction when they die. That includes our sun. But that won't happen in about 5 billion years so rest assured.
Despite being so interested in stars, I’ve never learned anything about star constellations before. All I know about them is that they are groups of stars that form patterns in the sky and represent animals, objects, mythology, etc. I don’t remember being taught about them in school.
I have seen clips from TV shows where the characters point at the stars and name the constellations while star gazing. (Is it weird that I enjoy star gazing when I’m not looking at the constellations?)
A few days ago, the power went off. We couldn’t stay inside as there was no wind. Since it’s summer over here, all the rooms have become warm. Me and my mom went outside and stood at the entrance of our parking lot to get some fresh air. She pointed at the sky and said “There are a lot of stars”. I could only see three of them. But mom said there's a lot more.
I said that there used to be a lot of stars in the sky when I was little. But there are fewer of them now. She said that the stars are still there. But I couldn't see them. Maybe it’s because my eyesight got worse and I have to buy binoculars to see them.
The power came back and we happily went inside the house. Because- CEILING FAN!
We also spotted a few airplanes passing by. It reminds me of when I was little when we used to aggressively wave our hands and yell “Hello!” or “Bye-bye!” at the airplanes that fly by, looking like flickering shooting stars.
At that time, my family, friends, and I would go to the terrace at night (mostly whenever a power outage happened). We would spread a straw mat on the floor and lie down to look at the stars. We used to celebrate birthday parties at night on the terrace too!
I remember how tiny the stars looked despite being unimaginably enormous. They are that far away from us.
I used to cheerfully play on the terrace with my friends and look at the sky littered with sparkling stars and when we looked down, we could see a lot of brightly lit buildings, some stand higher than the others and some are so small that they hid under the trees.
The horizon line looked like a spot where the sky, buildings, street lights, and trees meet, The moon wasn’t too bright or too dull to look at, and sometimes, a slightly cold wind would pass through.
Moms and dads would take their toddlers to the terrace or the balcony and look at the moon while feeding dinner (mostly rice) to their children. My mom used to do this when I was little too. And everyone here calls it “Moon rice” (translated from my first language). They call it that even when they are eating something that’s not rice. It’s probably a term used to show the kids that eating while watching the moon is better than eating indoors.
But, it feels like a thing of the past because I don’t see any parents doing that these days. It’s kinda sad that the newer generation of kids don’t get to experience that.
If you’re reading this, I invite you to go to the terrace with friends and/or family, gaze at the night sky, and reminisce about the past. Also, don’t forget to aggressively wave at the airplanes.
Before you go, check out these newsletters by friends, subscribers, and posts that I enjoyed reading this week:
Leaping Ahead! (by looking back a little) by
Don’t Be Surprised When People Aren’t Supporting Your Work by
That’s it for today’s newsletter. If you liked this post, I hope you can let me know by leaving a quick like, comment, or share this letter with others.
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed reading this post and hope it was helpful. Come again next week on Friday for a ✨new post✨
Are you interested in art and digital illustrations? Check out my Art Journal section for art tips and illustration process!
I LOVE "don't forget to aggressively wave at airplanes." 😊 I always wonder where they're flying to.
Thank you so much for the shout out in your post as well. I appreciate you!
I love this piece, thank you Harshini! I’m an astronomy fan so I often watch the stars at night!