File:Big Dipper Constellation Over Dunes (38836718054).jpg

From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Original file ‎(4,608 × 3,396 pixels, file size: 463 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)

Captions

Captions

Add a one-line explanation of what this file represents

Summary

[edit]
Description

NPS/Patrick Myers

Big Dipper Constellation over Dunes NPS/Patrick Myers


On a moonless night at Great Sand Dunes, you can see thousands of stars, feel soft night breezes scented with piñon pine, and listen to owls hooting, frogs and toads singing, coyotes howling, forest creatures rustling, and kangaroo rats drumming on the sand.


As you experience all these with your senses, you also connect with the heritage of past peoples who experienced the same night sounds and stars, far from city lights and noise. For Navajo people, the Big Dipper and Cassiopeia constellations are Northern Male and Northern Female, circling around the North Star at the center of their home. For African American people in the 19th century, the Big Dipper was the Drinking Gourd; its stars pointed the way north to find freedom from slavery. (The Big Dipper's two stars on the outer side of the cup still point to the North Star today, as seen in this photo.) In summer 1861, the appearance of Comet Tebbutt in the Big Dipper was seen as a heavenly sign by some Civil War soldiers.


When you gaze up at these pictures in the night sky, take a moment to sense the significance of these for tribes, settlers, and soldiers in past centuries. Before there were electronic devices to distract, these stars inspired stories and songs, guided travelers, and illuminated dark nights in the wilderness.


Learn more about "The Science of Astronomy in History" on NASA's website: <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/topnav/materials/listbytype/Follow_the_Drinking_Gourd.html" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/topnav/materials/listb...</a>


Information on Comet Tebbutt in the Big Dipper (Ursa Major) from "Civil War Skies: The Celestial Events of the American Civil War" page D-11: <a href="https://www.raritanval.edu/sites/default/files/aa_PDF Files/6.x Community Resources/6.4.5_SD.17.CivilWarSkies.pdf" rel="nofollow">www.raritanval.edu/sites/default/files/aa_PDF%20Files/6.x...</a>


  1. ScienceSaturday #GreatSandDunes #Dunes #Sand #ExperiencetheNight #BigDipper #Constellation #Constellations #NIghtSky #UrsaMajor #DrinkingGourd #FollowtheDrinkingGourd #Navajo #Dineh #Dine' #NorthStar #Astronomy #FindYourPark #EncuentraTuParque #AmericanCivilWar #CivilWarSkies
Date Taken on 16 February 2017, 21:05
Source Big Dipper Constellation Over Dunes
Author Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve

Licensing

[edit]
Public domain This image or media file contains material based on a work of a National Park Service employee, created as part of that person's official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, such work is in the public domain in the United States. See the NPS website and NPS copyright policy for more information.


This image was originally posted to Flickr by Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve at https://flickr.com/photos/94707653@N06/38836718054. It was reviewed on 1 January 2022 by FlickreviewR 2 and was confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the Public Domain Mark.

1 January 2022

File history

Click on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time.

Date/TimeThumbnailDimensionsUserComment
current11:55, 4 October 2021Thumbnail for version as of 11:55, 4 October 20214,608 × 3,396 (463 KB)Ltn12345 (talk | contribs)Transferred from Flickr via #flickr2commons

You cannot overwrite this file.

There are no pages that use this file.

Metadata

This file contains additional information such as Exif metadata which may have been added by the digital camera, scanner, or software program used to create or digitize it. If the file has been modified from its original state, some details such as the timestamp may not fully reflect those of the original file. The timestamp is only as accurate as the clock in the camera, and it may be completely wrong.

Retrieved from "https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Big_Dipper_Constellation_Over_Dunes_(38836718054).jpg&oldid=866898250"