Aboriginal Astronomy
The Australian continent covers a huge area of land mass that stretches approximately 3,800 km in the north-south direction and 4,000 km in the east-west direction. It lies directly under the centre of the magnificent Milky Way galaxy with its billions of stars which to the Aboriginal people of Australia is a huge river in the sky where their ancestral spirits live.
Dreamtime instead of Big Bang
Accoring to Dr Ragbir Bhathal, an astrophysicist and award winning author from the University of Western Sydney in Australia, "The Aboriginal people have been observing the night sky for over 40,000 years and in that time they have built a vast knowledge system of social-cultural astronomy in which they have related stories and given ‘explanations’ to not only satisfy their curiosity but also to comprehend the universe they live in. To them the universe came into being during the Dreamtime which is a concept very different from the idea that the universe began with the Big Bang favoured by modern day physicists and astronomers".
Co-creators of the universe
The Aboriginal people see themselves as the co-creators of the universe they live in - they are part of the universe as much as the universe ispart of them. They have humanised nature and through their songs,rituals, ceremonies, stories and art they ensure its sustainability. Like the other ancient peoples around the globe they were keen observers of the night sky. They saw patterns in the night sky and they not only used the night sky to tell them about the seasons but also inform them about the seasonal supply of food for survival. The Aborignal people imbubed the night sky wth some wonderful and creative stories which were based not only on the fauna and flora of the Australian continent but also the social and family relationships in their society and also codes of conduct, behaviour and ethics. They used the night sky to provide moral lessons to their people. Their ten commandments were written in the night sky and not handed down to them by Moses as in the case of the Jewish and Christian peoples. Their night sky also informed them about the ownership of the land and territory.
Long before Isaac Newton
Long before the great English physicist, Isaac Newton had postulated that the laws on the land are similar to those in the heavens, the Aboriginal people had used this concept in their social-cultural life. Accoring to them the laws of the land applied equally to the laws of the heavens and vice-versa. This concept, according to Dr Bhathal, "was applied in the 20th century by them to win back their lands from the Australian government in the famous land-rights cases in the 1990s".
Largest collection of astronomy in art
One of the most remarkable aspects of Aboriginal astronomy is that it is not only enshrined in their songs, ceremonies, rituals and dances but also in their art and engravings on bark, rocks and caves. The talk by Dr Bhathal will explore some of the fascinatng aspects of Aboriginal astronomy drawn not only from their social-cultural astronomy but also their works of art. They have produced the single largest collection of astronomy in art in Australia. The talk is based on Dr Bhathal's National Project Project on Aboriginal astronomy.
About the speaker
Dr Ragbir Bhathal is an award winning author and astrophysicist who carries out research in astrophysics, physics education and Aboriginal astronomy at the University of Western Sydney in Australia. He is the Project Director of the Australian SETI Project which carries out the only dedicated search for extraterrestrial intelligence in the optical spectrum. He is considerd the Father of SETI in Australia. He is the Project Director of the National Project on Aborginal Astronomy which he carries out with a group of Aboriginal friends.
Awarded the Nancy Keesing Fellowship
Dr Ragbir Bhathal has published papers in international refereed journals and 15 books, six on astronomy. His latest books are Aboriginal Astronomy, Selected Documents in Abroginal Astronomy and University Physics with Modern Physics (with Hugh Young and Roger Freedman). He wrote the first book on the history and development of astronomy in Australia. He was awarded the prestigious Nancy Keesing Fellowship by the State Library of New South Wales and the CJ Dennis Award for excellence in natural history writing. He was awarded the 1988 Royal Society of New South Wales Medal for services to science and research.
