I get a message from NASA when the International Space Station is going to be visible from our house. Often, especially in good weather, I go out and watch it. The other night after it had passed, I was looking at the sky and started thinking about the stars and how when we lived in the Philippines we saw the Souther Cross \u2014 something we can\u2019t see in the northern hemisphere. I can identify and find some starts and constellations, but really not too many. The sky seems to change with the stars moving around, but of course this is because we\u2019re standing on the earth that is spinning and it appears that the sky is revolving around us.<\/p>\n
But one star doesn\u2019t appear to move \u2014 the North Star. The North Star, known as Polaris, looks like it\u2019s glued in place. If you can locate Polaris, it\u2019s always in the north. If you happen to be lost, you can always at least know which direction to head by finding Polaris. (Again, this only works if you\u2019re in the northern hemisphere.)<\/p>\n
The North Star is easy to find if you can locate the Little Dipper. The North Star is located at the end of the handle in the Little Dipper. Most people think Polaris is a very bright star \u2014it\u2019s not. It\u2019s only about \u201caverage\u201d in brightness. In fact, it\u2019s usually hard to see from our house and we don\u2019t have a lot of ambient light out where we live. It seems like such an important star that\u2019s been used for navigation for so long should be bright \u2014 but it\u2019s not.<\/p>\n
I guess we should all strive to be more like Polaris \u2014 if you think about it, it teaches some valuable lessons. There\u2019s a lot to be said for being dependable and always there when needed. And you don\u2019t have to be the brightest to be important. In any given situation, it\u2019s usually an \u201caverage\u201d person that\u2019s the most important\u2026.
\n\u2014 30 \u2014<\/p>\n
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I get a message from NASA when the International Space Station is going to be visible from our house. Often, especially in good weather, I go out and watch it. The other night after it had passed, I was looking … Continue reading