Stories in the sky

Heritage of the stars

Before telescopes, there were stories. Every culture under this sky has drawn its own figures between the stars. These are a few of them — told as history, not myth-as-fact.

Aryabhata and the astronomical heritage of ancient India

Fifteen centuries ago, an Indian mathematician calculated that Earth rotated on its axis, estimated pi to four decimal places, and derived the length of the year to startling accuracy. Here's the scientific heritage too often overlooked.

How Polynesian navigators sailed by the stars

Long before Europeans crossed open oceans, Polynesian wayfinders voyaged thousands of kilometres across the Pacific using only the stars, swells, and their own memory. Here's how it worked, and why it still does.

Greek myths in the stars: Orion, Andromeda, and the heroes above

Most of the constellation names we use in the West come from ancient Greek myth. A friendly tour through Orion the hunter, the royal family of Andromeda, and the heroes who still walk across the night sky.