Every culture that ever looked up at the night sky found stories in it. Hunters, ancestors, animals, boats. What if someone tried to collect them all before they’re lost?
That’s exactly what Charles Ennis is doing. Since 2021, Charles has been building the World Asterism Project under the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, gathering sky cultures from around the globe for a website launching soon. In this episode, we talk about what asterisms actually are, why they matter beyond the science of astronomy, and what he’s learned collecting star stories from cultures most of us have never heard of.
Charles brings serious credentials to this work. He’s president of the RASC’s Sunshine Coast Centre, a past national president, and currently Vice Chair of RASC’s National Council. He co-founded RASC’s Inclusivity and Diversity Committee, wrote The Solar Observing Manual and Building a Small Observatory, and hosted ten seasons of the astronomy show Night Lights, along with the documentaries Starry Nights and The Stars Belong to Everyone. This month he launched a new YouTube vlog, “Asterism Detective.”
LINKS FROM EPISODE 139:
- Subscribe to Night Sky Tourist: https://nightskytourist.com/
- 2026 Stargazing Guide (FREE download): https://nightskytourist.com/guide/
- Constellation Companion: https://nightskytourist.com/constellation-companion/
- World Asterisms Project: https://www.rasc.ca/world-asterisms-project
- Asterisms Detective- Charles’ YouTube vlog: https://www.youtube.com/@AsterismDetective
- Azure Dragon of the East- Chinese cultural astronomy: https://yokai.com/seiryuu/?srsltid=AU7gw4WWnk0DG4i0OJ1WoFqIQXyJbp2OkcU950fkUgiNohzBxWyWf_x_
- Episode 85- The First Astronomers: How Indigenous Elders Read the Stars with Duane Hamacher: https://nightskytourist.com/85/
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