Astronomy

Have you ever looked up at the night sky and seen a blanket of twinkly lights. That’s me. I make the Moon glow and the stars sparkle. I paint pretty pictures in the dark. I connect the dots of light to make shapes of animals and heroes. Long, long before you had stories in books, people would lie on their backs. They would look up at me and wonder. I love when you look up at me.

A very long time ago, people who were farmers looked up at me. This was around 3000 BCE in places like ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. They saw that my stars moved in a special pattern. They learned that when certain stars appeared, it was time to plant their yummy seeds. They used my big, round Moon to count the months and make the very first calendars. They gave the star-pictures names, like the Great Bear and the Little Bear. That’s when they gave me a name, too. I am Astronomy, the fun game of watching the sky.

Today, you don’t just use your eyes to see me. You have super-powered eyes called telescopes. They let you see planets with colorful rings and big swirls of stars that look like glitter. I help people dream of flying to the Moon. They first did that on July 20th, 1969. Maybe one day you will visit Mars. I am the amazing story of the stars. I hope you’ll always look up and wonder with me.