When you look up at the night sky, what do you see?

Some see thousands upon thousands of stars scattering the black abyss. Some see a moon, always changing, always moving, never still. Others see pictures, describing their past, their present, and perhaps their future, hiding between the stars, for few to see. These pictures are also known as constellations, a beautiful mixture of science and art. Kagaya Yutaka, an artist, is an expert on combining the two.

KagayaYutakais45yearsold,andhehasalwaysbeeninterestedinartandthe nightskysincehewasyoung,evenlearningaboutastronomyonhisown.Hebecame interestedingraphicdesignwhenhewasastudent,whilehewasdebatingbetween becominganastronomeroranillustrator.Asagraphicdesigner,heuseshiscomputerto createthevisualpiece,butheuseshisknowledgetomaketheworkuniqueandbeautiful. Hewasnotthefirstpersontocreateadigitalpicture,RussellKirschwasthefirstperson,in 1957hescannedapictureofhisthreemontholdson,whichistheofficialfirstofficial digitalpicturecreated.

However,KagayaYutakasillustrationsarequitefamous,allofwhicharepertaining totheuniverseinonewayoranother.Theillustrationsofconstellationsthathecreatesall relatetothezodiacsigns,eachcapturingamomentinthestoriesthatthezodiacanimal appearin,addingaslighttwisttothesummaryofthestory.Thezodiac,whichisderived fromcircleofanimals,isbelievedtooriginatefromEgypt,byearlyastrologerswho separatedthesignsbythenumberofcyclesittookthesuntoreachitspreviousposition,

ormonthstoayear.Fromthere,eachmonthwasgivenananimal,constellation,and horoscope.Thezodiacsareconsideredartbecausetheywerecreatedfromthe imaginationofothers,themythologicalportions,andtheystronglyexpressesimportant ideas,therelationtooneshoroscopeorastrologicalsign,orfuture.

Constellationscanbeconsideredtwodifferenttypesofsciences,astronomyand anthropology.Anthropologyisthestudyofhumanbeingscultureofpreviouscivilizationsor theirenvironment.Anthropologyisapartofthescienceofconstellationsbecauseofthe relevanceofconstellationshundredsofyearsago.Farmers,astronomers,andpoetsused constellationsfornavigation,totellthechangingoftheseasons,ortorecallthestoriesof differentcultures.Farmerswerethefirstonestocreatetheconstellations,mainlytohelp determinewhetheritwasthebesttimetoplantthecropsandwhentoharvestthem.They couldfigurethisoutbecausecertainconstellationsonlyappearduringacertainseason,for exampleScorpiusisonlyvisibleinthenorthernhemisphere'seveningskyinthesummer. Fortheuseofnavigation,onejustneedstohavearoughideaofwhichconstellationthey arelookingatandtheyareabletoknowthestarsintheconstellations,forexampletheBig Dippershandleisthenorthstar.Ifonegetslost,alltheywouldneedtodoislookforthe BigDipper,andtheyllhavethenorthstar.Constellationswerecreatedtodescribethe cultureofthearea,dependingonhowonelookedatthestars,differentpatternscouldbe seen,anddifferentstarscouldbeinmultipleconstellations.Differentcivilizationssawtheir owngodsandgoddessinthestars,thustheybegancreatingmythstocorrespondwiththe constellations,explainingdifferentaspectsoflifetheydidnotunderstandbyusingthegods

willtoexplainit.

Astrology,whichisconsideredonetheoldestofallsciences,isthestudyofthe celestialbodiesthathaveinfluenceonhumanaffairs,onesfuture.Touseastrologyto comprehendonesfuture,onemustbeabletoreadthepositionsofthestarsinthesky, interpretingthemovementsandtrendsofthecelestialbodies,tounderstandone'sdestiny. Earlyastrologerswereabletodothisbydividingtheskyintodifferentsegments,and assigningeachsegmentazodiacanimal.Allthosebornunderthatstar,orsegment,was groupedintothatarea,andifanystars,planets,orothercelestialbodiesweretoenterthat segment,itwouldalterthefutureforthosebornunderthestar.Forexample,ifthereare starsaligninginyoursegment,onecanconcludeitisafavorabletimetostartanew relationship.Therearedifferentcyclesforthehoroscopes,therecouldbethemonthlyone magazinesdo,whichisdeterminedbythehypothesisofwhichheavenlybodieswillbein thatsegment.Toadailyone,whichisslightlymoreaccurateduetotherotationofthenight andday.Sometimes,longercyclesthatstretchovertensofyearscanplayamajorrolein theevolutionoftheentireplanet.Thisishowconstellations,orzodiacsigns,areused scientificallytonaviagate,totelltheseasons,toretellstoriesofotherscultures,orto predictthefuture. Constellationsexemplifytheuseofartandsciencebecauseoftheculture andusagethatfarmers,astronomers,andpoetsuseditfor,whetheritbefornavigation, changingoftheseasons,orofthestoriesofdifferentcultures.Aswellasthevisually pleasingaspect,wherethestoriesthatdefinedtheconstellationsaredrawnoutforothers

tosee.Constellationsarestillusedtothisday,somebycheckingoneshoroscope,touse atelescopetolookupatthenightsky,orgoingtoplanetariumstoseehowthestarshave changed.Thisishowconstellationsembodyboththeartandscienceaspectsoflife.

Constellationscanbeconsideredtwodifferenttypesofsciences,astronomyandanthropology.Constellations exemplifytheuseofartandsciencebecauseofthecultureandusagethatfarmers,astronomers,andpoetsuseditfor,whether itbefornavigation,changingoftheseasons,orofthestoriesofdifferentcultures.KagayaYutakais45yearsold,andhehas alwaysbeeninterestedinartandthenightskysincehewasyoung,evenlearningaboutastronomyonhisown.Hebecame interestedingraphicdesignwhenhewasastudent,whilehewasdebatingbetweenanastronomeroranillustrator.Asa graphicdesigner,heworksonhiscomputertocreatethefinalproduct,buthefirstcreatesasketchofwhathewantshis picturetobe.Hewasnotthefirstpersontocreateadigitalpicture,RussellKirschwasthefirstperson.In1957,hescanneda

pictureofhisthreemontholdson,itwasinlowresolutionduetothelackofstoragethecomputercouldhold.Thesciencebehind theartistheanthropologybehindtheconstellationsthemselves.Farmersfirstcreatedtheconstellationstohelpwiththe changingoftheseasons,aswellasthecultureofthearea.Dependingonhowonelookedatthestars,differentpatternscould beseen,anddifferentstarscouldbeinmultipleconstellations.Differentcivilizationssawtheirowngodsandgoddessinthe stars,thuscreatingmythstocorrespondwiththeconstellations.Thescienceinconstellationswouldbeanthropology,"...the studyofhumanbeingsandtheirancestorsthroughtimeandspaceandinrelationtoculture.Therearenomethodsthatis quiteknown,buttheapplicationsofconstellationsarestillusedtothisday.Oneusesconstellationstofindtheirwayorto entertainthemselveswiththestoriesbehindthestars.Toviewconstellations,onecouldgotoaplanetariumoruseatelescope forviewinginonesownbackyard. constellations/zodiac: http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/extra/constellations.html http://undsci.berkeley.edu/article/astrology_checklist http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/anthropology http://www.astrologers.com/about/history http://www.psychicsolutionsbylynne.org/astrologypredictfuture/ http://www.kepler.edu/home/index.php/newsmainmenu139/articlesmainmenu157/historyofastrology/item/324originsofastr ologytheegyptianlegacy KagayaYutaka