On a warm summer evening, firefly Stan notices Stella is captivated by something in the night sky...

Um...hi Stella. What are you looking at up there?

Hi Stan. Have you seen all these fireflies in the sky? Where did they all come from?

Um...those are not fireflies Stella, they are stars.

No Stan....Look a Little Closer.

Did you Know?

There are an estimated billion-trillion stars in the universe! Stars are balls of burning gas.

Oh, well...um...yes. That white band in the sky is called the Milkyway. That's the name of our galaxy.

Did you Know?

There are 3 main types of galaxies (Irregular, Spiral and Elliptical). We are part of the Milkyway Galaxy which is a barred spiral galaxy with another 300 billion stars.

Look a little closer...

Did you Know?

There are only 88 official constellations in the Milkyway Galaxy?

Look a Little Closer...

Oh..I see. You're looking at constellations. This is the Little Dipper.

Did you Know?

The little dipper is also called Ursa Minor. This translates as little bear and was believed to have been created by a Greek Astronomer between 625-545BC.

I am Polaris!

The North Star!

So am I!

So am I!

Did you Know?

Polaris is a triple star system that sits very close to the Northern Celestial Pole. Because of it's fixed location, it has been used for centuries as a point of navigation.