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ASTROMOVES: Studying Astrophysicists' Careers and other Cultural Astronomy Topics

ASTROMOVES: Studying Astrophysicists' Careers and other Cultural Astronomy Topics

ASTROMOVES is funded by the European Union in the form of an Marie Skłodowska Curie Action Individual Fellowship. This blog shares research findings and discussions about ASTROMOVES, but also captures the other Cultural Astronomy research and activities of PI Jarita Holbrook. The reader may find here information about Astrophysics Culture, African Indigenous Astronomy, and Indigenous Astronomy in general.

ICRAR PAWSEY 2024 Milky Way Stories

The history of the Pawsey Centre founded in 2009
The ICRAR Pawsey Cultural Astronomy Workshop was held in November 2024. Jarita Holbrook facilitated the workshop which included a cultural astronomy ‘hack’ focused on creating a resource of Milky Way Stories from around the world. A Zotero bibliography was created for the project and is freely available: https://www.zotero.org/groups/5727637/icrar_pawsey_2024.
Acknowledgements
The Pawsey Centre (https://pawsey.org.au/), and the two nodes of ICRAR (https://www.icrar.org/) being at Curtin University (https://astronomy.curtin.edu.au/) and the University of Western Australia (https://www.uwa.edu.au/schools/physics-mathematics-computing/physics) are located in Boorloo (Perth, Western Australia). They are located on the lands of the Noongar people. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging as Custodians and Owners of these lands. We recognise their deep knowledge and their cultural, spiritual and educational practices, and aspire to learn and teach in partnership with them.

Asha Stabback (ICRAR) and Aditi Subramanya (Pawsey) are acknowledged for organizing and trouble-shooting.

Linnutee


Linnunrata by Kristen Dage.
In Estonia, the Milky Way is called ‘Linnunrata’. The legend starts with the Sky God, Uko, who had a beautiful daughter named Lindu. Lindu could be considered the Goddess or protector of all the birds. She told each group of birds when it was time to migrate. Some versions of the legend share the order in which she called the birds: Cuckoo, Warbler, Petrel and the Shearwater. When the birds were around things were lively, but when they migrated, Lindu was lonely. The other celestial bodies wanted to marry her including the Pole Star, the Moon and the Sun. All of these were too regular for Lindu. She told the Pole Star that he was stuck in one place. She told the Moon that he always moved along the same path but he would appear and disappear – this is due to the phases of the Moon. She told the Sun that he was too bright and that like the Moon, he always stuck to the same path. Then the Aurora Borealis came to visit. She was enchanted by all his colors and how he danced. She told him that he didn’t always travel the same path like the others and that he dance and rested when it pleased him. That was exciting! She fell in love and they agreed to marry. Those around her helped her prepare for her wedding, but Aurora Borealis never appeared. Lindu became despondent and stopped doing her duties in terms of the migrating birds, they flew about lost and confused. Lindu cried all day and night while wearing her wedding gown and veil. Her father decided to resolve this problem. He sent the wind to lift Lindu up into the sky, where she remains. Her bridal veil is the sparkling Milky Way, which continues to guide the birds migration. Most of the year, Lindu is sad, but when the Aurora Borealis appears in winter she is happy again. However, Uko refuses to let the Aurora Borealis take away Lindu, they can only wave at each other.

This story was researched by and the drawing done by Kristen Dage of Curtin University (https://staffportal.curtin.edu.au/staff/profile/view/kristen-dage-085bc09f/).

Chilseok – The Night of Sevens


Altair and Vega as the weaving woman and the herdsman separated by the Milky Way.
If you look up at the night sky, late in summer in Korea, you will see two very bright lights separated by a mighty spirit river, these are Jiknyeo (Vega) and Gyeunwu (Altair), and here is their story.

Jiknyeo was the daughter of the Heavenly King, the ruler of the Universe, so beautiful that she possessed the love of all the angels in heaven. She was a very talented and diligent weaver, but deep inside she had a strong loneliness. One day, across the Milky Way river, she caught a glimpse of a handsome herdsman. They quickly fell madly in love with one another and promised to wed.

The young couple were absolutely enthralled by each other, so much so that they abandoned their work, Jiknyeo stopped weaving, and Gyeonwu abandoned his sheep and cows. This deeply angered the great King very much, and decided that the lovers must be separated, forever destined to live on opposite sides of the Milky Way, Jingnyeo to the West and Gyeonwu to the East.

Only once a year was this lovely couple permitted to meet, on the seventh day of the seventh month. But alas, even on this day they were still separated by the mighty river. In despair and devastation the young lovers wailed, with their yells reverberating down to Earth. The crows and the magpies heard these calls so they flew very high, up, up to the sky, and created a bridge for the lovers so they may embrace.

Jiknyeo and Gyeunwu soon realised that it would be yet another year before they would meet again, and as they both cried they brought rains and monsoons to Earth. But every year, on the seventh day of the seventh month, the crows and magpies return to build Ojack kyo – the bridge built by crows and magpies – so that the young lovers may forever meet.

We now remember these lovers at the festival of Chilseok, celebrating the love in our lives as we await the much needed rain from the ever-separated star-crossed lovers. The sevens are the seventh day of the seventh month of the year, when the bridge of crows and magpies appears.

The legend was researched and retold by astrophysics PhD students Angie Waszewski (https://www.icrar.org/people/awaszewski/) and Garvit Grover https://www.icrar.org/people/ggrover/). The picture was drawn by Garvit!

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