So it is legitimate to study the region in the sky close to the north pole in order to understand the region close to the south pole. The Inuit have a limited number of stars to observe, because 1) not all the sky is within reach for the eye 2) observing conditions are bad: "Theoretically, an observer at the equator, over the course of a year, would see all the stars on the celestial sphere while one at the North Pole would see only half of them. At Igloolik, which is situated at latitude 69o 22´ N, all stars having southerly declinations approaching or exceeding 20o are always below the horizon." "The unfavourable viewing conditions of the Arctic's spring and summer skies are in no way balanced by the region's comparatively long, dark winters. The winter skies above Igloolik are frequently obscured or dimmed by a variety of atmospheric conditions including snow, blowing snow, cloud cover, ice-fog, the aurora borealis, and moonlight. Even the stars, through their reflected light, contribute significantly to their own dimming. Vilhjalmur Stefánsson estimated that the light produced by Arctic stars is 'between two and three times as effective as that of the stars in other zones..." "There are, however, enough clear nights to give the remarkable visual acuity of Inuit its full range: the faint star Alcor, and its brighter companion, Mizar, form a 'naked-eye double' in Ursa Major, which is designated the 'caribou tail' by some Igloolik elders. And Graham Rowley recalls Pat Baird, geographer of the British-Canadian Arctic Expedition of 1937-1941, mentioning that Inuit are able to see one more star in the Pleiades cluster than Europeans normally do..." (Arctic Sky) One of the most interesting sky objects for the Inuit (and also - as it happens - for us) is Aagjuuk. |