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Noctcaelador (from
Noctcaelador (from Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
''nocturnus'' "nocturnal", ''caelum'' "sky", and ''adorare'' "to adore") is a psychological
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between t ...
construct, introduced by the psychologist William E. Kelly in 2003 to describe an "emotional attachment to, or adoration of, the night sky
The night sky is the nighttime appearance of celestial objects like stars, planets, and the Moon, which are visible in a clear sky between sunset and sunrise, when the Sun is below the horizon.
Natural light sources in a night sky include ...
".
According to Kelly, "noctcaelador has been associated with higher openness to experience, investigative and artistic vocational interests, sensation-seeking, a rational, cognitive approach to problem solving and need for cognition, a propensity to engage in fantasy, a tendency to become deeply involved and attentive to stimuli of interest, and a willingness to consider unusual ideas and possibilities".
History
In a series of lectures in the United States, the philosopherGeorge Santayana
Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruiz de Santayana y Borrás, known in English as George Santayana (; December 16, 1863 – September 26, 1952), was a Spanish and US-American philosopher, essayist, poet, and novelist. Born in Spain, Santayana was raised ...
used the appearance of the night sky as an example of what is attractive to the human mind: an intricacy delicately poised between unfathomable complexity and uninteresting simplicity. Because of the absence of light pollution in antiquity, stars of the sixth apparent magnitude
Apparent magnitude () is a measure of the brightness of a star or other astronomical object observed from Earth. An object's apparent magnitude depends on its intrinsic luminosity, its distance from Earth, and any extinction of the object's li ...
were more widely visible by the naked eye. American philosopher Holmes Rolston III
Holmes Rolston III (born November 19, 1932) is a philosopher who is University Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Colorado State University. He is best known for his contributions to environmental ethics and the relationship between scie ...
juxtaposed the ancient aesthetics
Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed thr ...
of the night sky and the modern one: "Today, we are almost amused at the way the ancients fancied various constellation
A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object.
The origins of the e ...
s there. At night, we no longer admire the Orion as a hunter, any more than by day do we admire a cumulus cloud
Cumulus clouds are clouds which have flat bases and are often described as "puffy", "cotton-like" or "fluffy" in appearance. Their name derives from the Latin ''cumulo-'', meaning ''heap'' or ''pile''. Cumulus clouds are low-level clouds, gener ...
as a basket of washing".
Isaac Asimov
yi, יצחק אזימאװ
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Petrovichi, Russian SFSR
, spouse =
, relatives =
, children = 2
, death_date =
, death_place = Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
, nationality = Russian (1920–1922)Soviet (192 ...
in his short story '' Nightfall'' (1941) tackled the first experience of the night sky by describing an eclipse
An eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ce ...
on a fictitious inhabited planet with six suns.
See also
*Dark-sky movement
The dark-sky movement is a campaign to reduce light pollution. The advantages of reducing light pollution include an increased number of stars visible at night, reducing the effects of electric lighting on the environment, improving the well-being, ...
*National Dark-Sky Week
International Dark Sky Week (formerly the National Dark Sky Week) is held during the week of the new moon in April, when people worldwide may turn off their lights to observe the beauty of the night sky without light pollution. This event was f ...
*International Dark-Sky Association
The International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) is a United States-based non-profit organization incorporated in 1988 by founders David Crawford, a professional astronomer, and Tim Hunter, a physician/amateur astronomer. The mission of the IDA is " ...
References
{{Portal bar, Psychology, Astronomy, Stars, Spaceflight, Outer space, Solar System Aesthetic beauty Amateur astronomy Observational astronomy Pleasure Mental states 2000s neologisms