The rhea constellation
The sky has being the stage of human imagination for thousands of years. Countless cultures have drawn on it their stories, creating their own constellations. Some of those constellations became known around the world at the XX century, when science felt the need to create an universal system that everyone could abide by the same references and divided the sky in the 88 regions we know as the western or "modern" constellations. In this division, it was decided that a star could not be part of more than one constellation, so most of the chosen ones came from ancient Greece which fulfilled the criterion — unlike other astronomical cultures. It was a very important step for science to go on studying the cosmos and made us get to know the amazing Greek cosmogony early on, but there are many other stories as charming as complex to be told.
The rhea constellation (a native bird from South America) is the first of a series for Do outro lado da colina — a French Brazilian place where you can follow your curiosity and be wondered by life in a ludic way. This series was driven by the extraordinary research from astronomer Germano Bruno Afonso, who is enriching Brazilian science and culture by mapping the sky of indigenous peoples and sharing this knowledge through an itinerant planetarium. The design and data are also based on the awarded Stellarium, the astronomer and designer Nadieh Bremer's astonishing work and the astronomy sessions from Espaço do Conhecimento UFMG & Rio de Janeiro's planetarium. Also thanks to type foundry Plau for the beautiful font Odisseia.
Meet one of the world's richest astronomical cultures: the tupi-guarani sky.
