Time to gaze at more contemporary stars

The West has assiduously adhered to the names given by the 2nd century Greek astronomer Ptolemy to the 48 constellations that he could see. Names such as Orion (the Hunter) and Ursa Major (Big Bear) are therefore more familiar to many Indians too rather than their Sanskrit or regional language monikers— Mriga (Deer) and Saptarshimandal (Seven Sages), respectively. However, for the younger generation, both sets of names may seem equally anachronistic, so the recent initiative by Nasa while putting together a new map of gamma ray constellations could provide the answer. To celebrate 10 years of the Fermi Gamma Ray Space Telescope, the 21 areas of powerful light energy or gamma rays it has identified in space have been envisioned by Nasa as the Incredible Hulk and Godzilla, Starship Enterprise, Mount Fujiyama, Eiffel Tower and several other contemporary images. The purpose is evident.

That getting young people to stargaze in the hope of spotting, say, Aishwarya would be easier than asking them to identify Cassiopeia—or Dhoni instead of Delphinus or Dhanishtha— goes without saying. A more modern recasting of even conventional constellations too, at least for the benefit of those not familiar with older classical allusions both in India and elsewhere, should be considered. Astronomy would certainly benefit from renewed interest.