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Teaching Astronomy Through Art and Myth

International Astronomical Union Symposium (IAUS 367) - Education and Heritage in the Era of Big Data in Astronomy, 2020
Teaching the locations of constellations in the night sky and the characters that have come to represent them has long been difficult for science educators and an early barrier to observational astronomy. Most of the constellations do not have easily recognizable patterns and the characters that are intended to portray them have dubious visible connections. This difficulty has been partly resolved by a visually engaging method to organize groups of stellar bodies through a pictorial myth found in Upper Paleolithic European cave art which was later interpreted by sky watchers in the ancient world. A participant with a cardinal orientation can point to fifteen Northern Hemisphere Ptolemaic constellations and explain the mythological and geographical reasons for their characterizations and relational positions through the following of one myth. This method enables easier access to observational astronomy and the potential for larger participation. Google Doc link - https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/14q24uBYW-CJcBdzWptS_1tZV22Jis0d6FFl7P7Wq6Kg/present?token=AC4w5VhKsyx-FH0NoblF-IcRBU51QEe4ww%3A1606161867191&includes_info_params=1&eisi=CKSVr5y7me0CFQ6fHwodwBgEJQ&slide=id.p1 ...Read more
Gallery of Discs, El Castillo Cave Cantabria, Spain 33,000 BCE 10 meters Image Credit: Pedro Saura
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Used by leading Academics
Mayank Vahia
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
P. Janardhan
Physical Research Laboratory
Duane Jaecks
University of Nebraska Lincoln
Richard Gauthier
Santa Rosa Junior College