Searching for Stars

night sky full of stars
shining, twinkling, blazing trails
where’s the star for me?
— anonymous me

The sky view from a picture window, in the middle of a dark night while lying down on a comfy couch, is simply the best.

As soon as you’re sure the bright twinkling lights are not from passing airplanes, and as soon as you notice that bright moon cheering you from far away, that night sky mesmerizes you into thought.

What possibilities are out there? Where are all the constellations that others have been talking about? Which star is shining the brightest? Which meteors are the blazing trails? Which star can you claim for yourself? How can the moon shine so bright and romantic, from the dazzling light of the sun? And why… why are stargazers so in love with the deep sky?

Maybe, the answers come right away. Or maybe, they come with learning. Or maybe, the answers come clearly when seen through the right telescope. Then surely now… it’s time to go to the Library!

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The Livingston Public Library has many offerings to start you searching for stars.

Universal Class has online courses on Astronomy 101, and Cosmology 101. There’s even a course on UFO Studies!

RBDigital offers popular online magazines like Astronomy, and National Geographic. A quick search will give you numerous articles, and content that will increase your interest, and knowledge on the subject.

Hoopla which anchors our digital collections for ebooks, audiobooks, videos, music, and graphic novels — offers many new titles as well as staples from known authors (like Terence Dickinson) on the subject:

World Book Online, our online encyclopedia (Yes, we subscribe to a good one!), has great information that is worded accordingly in different levels for young learners to adults. Check out the sections on Timelines, and Advanced Search.

OverDrive which is another database for our digital collections of ebooks, and audiobooks — provides titles on the topic as well:

In addition, our catalogs present titles that we own in print format. Items you can checkout, among other materials, include:

And the pieces that complete this theme’s learning ideas are the telescopes from our Library of Things collection. The Library of Things is open once again, so do reserve one today! A once-in-a-blue-moon moon is coming at the very end of October — October 31st, i.e. Halloween, also i.e. during this once-in-a-blue-moon kind of year! That lens focused on the rare moon on an uncommon strange-but-well-loved day should make things more remarkable during these incredibly unusual times. Wouldn’t you agree?

So, to help find these amazing leads to discovery, there are a number of keywords that will bring you relevant pages of search results: astronomy, cosmology, stars, planets, night skies/sky, constellations, stargazing, telescopy, Terence Dickinson, backyard astronomy, and backyard astronomer’s guide. With your Livingston Library card, you can avail our Library’s online resources anytime, 24/7.

Stargazing gives a different view each time we look. Maybe one day… when we search the night skies, when we fall in love with the deep landscape of the universe… maybe one day, we’ll find that start we can rely on to be our center — a star we can finally call our own.

— Janea Agbayani, Technology Department Library Specialist

For more information, visit: www.livingstonlibrary.org/resources-az/.

For other topics, themes, and resources suggested for lifelong learning pursuits, visit our blog under the tag: Keep On Learning.