What would your average Late Bronze, Early Iron Age culture have made of this?

[panzerfaust]

Nearly all 'objects' in photo are galaxies ... http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/

[hobbit709]

1. It's GODS, I tell you, GODS!

[SpiralHawk]

2. "Totally bitchin." - John Boehner (R - Beach Bronzo)

[depakid]

3. A late stone age culture thought about it like this:

The photograph above shows the aboriginal "emu-in-the-sky" constellation in the sky. It won its creator, Barnaby Norris, third prize in the prestigious 2007 "Eureka" awards.

To see the "constellation", look at the dark dust-clouds, not the stars!

Below it is the emu engraving at the Elvina engraving site, in Kuring-Gai Chase National Park, near Sydney The constellation is positioned above the engraving as it appears in real life in Autumn.

Many Aboriginal groups have stories about the “Coalsack” – the famous dark cloud next to the Southern Cross. Some see it as the head of a lawman, or a possum in a tree, but many groups tell stories of a great emu whose head is the Coalsack, and whose neck, body, and legs are formed from dust lanes stretching across the Milky Way. It’s easy to make out the emu in a dark autumn sky, and once you’ve seen it, the Milky Way will never look the same again This “Emu in the Sky” has became an icon of the Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP) project.

More: http://www.atnf.csiro.au/research/AboriginalAstronomy/Examples/emu.htm

[SpiralHawk]

5. "Totally bitchin." - Eddie Emu

[depakid]

6. Another cool story re: the southern cross & coal sack

The Koori of eastern Australia called the Southern Cross "Mirrabooka".

Mirrabooka was a kind and clever man who was immortalised by being put in the night sky by Biami, the creator. This was to assist with watching over the people on earth. The pointers are Mirrabooka's eyes - seeing all of the earth.

There was a large rock cod (fish) named Alakitja who lived in the waters of the river known as the milky way. On his way to his favourite water hole he carefully avoided the sky people's fish traps. He swam past the magnificent white blooms of the countless water lilies. These flowers shone so brightly that the people on earth could see them. They became known as stars. When he finally completed his journey and reached his waterhole he rested away from the harsh sun, under a large rock.

Meanwhile, two brothers had been creating rivers and mountains on earth. They suddenly became hungry and started to search for food. They saw the giant cod, Alakitja, in the waterhole so they threw their spears, killing him.

The brothers each made their own campfire and shared the large fish. They are still visible today - the 2 campfires are the Southern Cross stars known as Delta Crucis and Gamma Crucis. The two brightest stars of the Cross - Alpha and Beta Centauri are the two brothers and Alakitja is the nearby dark area (the coal sack).

Alpha and Beta Centauri, the 2 pointers, are actually friends of the two brothers who are waiting for their share of the fish.

More: http://library.thinkquest.org/C005462/scross.html

[panzerfaust]

7. Now that makes sense.

Mirrabooka is in the center of the photo, just above the horizon in this image which was apparently taken from the northern hemisphere somewhere near the Tropic of Cancer (given the about 20 degree elevation of the constellation).

[depakid]

12. Cool- due to precession, the ancient Greeks would have seen the stars of the Southern Cross

they would have formed the hind legs of Centaurus.

Precession also changes the seasons- so in another 13,000 years- Aussies will be having Christmas in the winter- whereas North Americans and Europeans can break out the BBQ's, beach towels and the surf boards!

[RC]

8. Sky? You can see stuff in the sky at night? Since when?

The light pollution in this town is so bad it washes out all but the brightest stars.
Most billboards with their light aimed up from the bottom of the sign. "vintage" street lights with nothing to stop any light from going straight up. You can see the glow on the horizon from a 60 miles away on the interstate.

[depakid]

9. The Milky Way is quite a bit brighter in the Antipodes..

The Southern Cross and Pointers are our Big Dipper- and there's no southern star corresponding to Polaris.

Not so many billboards here- though you do have to get out a ways to see "the dark sky." When you do, it's incredible.

[enlightenment]

11. That is beautiful.

Thank you for posting the link - and for the reminder that not all early peoples assigned magical connotations to the cosmos.

[Silent3]

4. Probably some gibberish about gods and spirits...

...whereas now, in our more advanced age, we have the word "quantum" to throw around, so we can say lots of gibberish about Universal Consciousness and psychic contact with space aliens. ;)

[Motown_Johnny]

10. if you get far enough away from a city to get some idea of what the sky looked like back then

you wouldn't need to ask that question

[sufrommich]

14. Yep, the Milky Way is a regular sight on a clear night in

the U.P. of Michigan. And it's spectacular.

[eShirl]

13. probably something like this:

[Motown_Johnny]

15. good answer