After the amazing lake cruise at Kultajärvi, we decided to rest inside the house for a while, before deciding what to do tonight.

Having just finished another reading session, Aurora inserted a small bookmark onto the page she was on at the moment, and closed the book with her hands. She then turned to me, asking with a smile on her face. "Serenity, should we go out and observe the starry sky tonight after dinner?"

As always, my response to Aurora's invitations is a cheerful "Sure". I don't know why, but every time she turns towards me and regards me with the coolest smile ever, I just feel like it is a natural response for me, a young boy in love, to be extraordinarily jubilant.

The Sun's position moves from the west to the northwest, as it descends towards the horizon. In the late afternoon, the sunlight carries a special golden scent, shining its glittery light rays through thousands of trees of different species in the forest and casting shadows towards the southeast.

For dinner, Aurora prepared a local dish from a shipment of foodstuff delivered to the house. Although it looks rather simple compared to the meals I used to have on the Moon Palace, I appreciated how representative of Kultajärvi's simple life this dish is. I watched her preparing this dish, hoping that some day, I would also be able to cook this meal - an authentic taste of Kultajärvi.

Putting the plates on the table, she introduced with fondness, "This is what commoners usually eat in Kultajärvi. Potatoes, lingonberries, smoked salmon and reindeer meat. We are a country of berry pickers, reindeer herders and salmon fishers, when it comes to food."

"That's... interesting!"

We then held up our utensils, and started feasting on this commoner's dinner. As soon as I mixed some mashed potatoes with the smoked reindeer, and savored them, I could already feel, that this is the true taste of Kultajärvi - a land of special delicacies.

Seeing how pleasant my face looks when I am enjoying this meal, Aurora also gave a smile. "Is it delicious, Serenity?"

"Yes!"

Soon enough, the dark nightscape would fall again, and the sunlight would no longer overshadows the light of distant stars.

As soon as we finished our dinner and washed our dishes, Aurora went to her room, and swiftly took another book from her bookshelf. I glimpsed at the book's ultramarine cover, and its title, written in an elegant golden typeface, seemed to be "Tähtitiede Kultajärvellä", which means "Astronomy in Kultajärvi". With a lively pace, Aurora grabbed a lamp and stepped out of her room, making her way out of the house, while I jubilantly followed her.

We then went outside the house with the book and the lamp, and by the shore of the lake, we gazed upon the stars.

With her right hand holding the luminant lamp in the otherwise dark nightscape, she read the astronomy book, and tried to identify the constellations of the stars in the sky.

"On Earth, we group distant stars into constellations. I assume, if the distance between Earth and the Moon is insignificant when compared to that between our solar system and distant stars, you would also have the same constellations on the Moon?"

"Constellations... It seems like Earth humans were the first to came up with the idea. On the Moon, people just identify stars by most common patterns, like the Otava that you speak of."

"You're actually correct, Serenity. Constellation boundaries are invented by us Earthlings, and there's nothing special between each star in the same constellation, other than the fact that they are located close to each other. We make up shapes or figures to metaphorize the arrangement of stars, like the Lohikäärme, which was said to resemble a legendary snake with the head of a salmon fish."

"I see. "

She then pointed at the constellations in the book. "Here. This is a constellation map. It might be difficult to spot the constellations without the help of a star map to beginners, but the key is always to begin with the prominent Otava."

Shen then circled the said asterism, then drew a line, extending from the edge. "Extend the distance by five times, and that is the Pohjantähti. All the distant stars in the night sky circle around this polar star, whose position in the sky never changes throughout the night, or more accurately, throughtout the year."

I patiently listened to her, and tried to do as she said. I identified the Otava, then multiplied the distance between the last two stars by five through my internal mind, attempting to pinpoint the Pohjantähti. And there it is, shining quite brightly among other stars in the night sky.

Aurora then continued, pointing to a page in her astronomy book. "The Pohjantähti is a part of the Pikkuotava asterism, which is synonymous with the constellation named Pieni karhu. It's named Pikkuotava because it also looks like a salmon net, like Otava. However, the stars forming its 'handle' are fainter, and its 'net' is more rectangular than the big Otava, whose 'net' looks more like a trapezium. Both salmon nets face each other, pointing towards roughly opposite directions."

I then tried to comprehend her words. So, there are two salmon net-like constellations near the celestial north pole, one is bigger with brighter stars and a more trapezoidal net, while the other is smaller with fainter stars, but a more rectangular net, and contains the polar star. Their orientations are roughly opposite...

I constructed an arrangement of these two constellations in my mind in accordance to these words, as I looked up to the night sky again, trying to map the arrangement I have in my mind to the real night sky. Slowly, I could spot the three brightest stars of the Pikkuotava - the Pohjantähti, and the two rightmost stars of the rectangular "net". Not long afterwards, I could also figure out the other four fainter stars of the Pikkuotava's "handle", through drawing a concave arc from the polar star to the net! It feels like a great achievement.

With a great smile on my face, I enthusiastically told her, "Aurora, I spotted the seven stars of the Pikkuotava!"

Apparently, she reacted with much joy in her voice. "Great, Serenity!"

She then pointed at another constellation in her book. "Now, steer a bit clockwise, and go with the same distance." Drawing a line on the page with her finger, she continued, "you shall see a constellation, which was said to resemble two chevrons arranged side by side. Kassiopeia is what astronomers from the land of Kreikka call it, and its chevrons points away from the Pohjantähti."

I then tried finding the constellation, using this method.

With my hand, I tried to make a pinching gesture, measuring the same distance beyond the Pohjantähti. It was quite difficult to point out a specific constellation, in a field of countless shining stars. Nevertheless, I noticed a constellation with the same shape and orientation that Aurora described - two chevrons, side by side, pointing away from the polar star. I looked back and forth, between her book and the night sky. My mind has confirmed, that this is Kassiopeia.

Aurora seemed to have noticed me checking the night sky with her book. She asked, "Serenity, did you find it?"

With much excitement in my tone, I answered, "Yes!"

"Great!"

She then said, "the Otava is a guide to many other constellations in the night sky. Most of them are visible around the year, since Kultajärvi is located beyond the Arctic Circle. Except in summer, of course, because of the midnight sun."

The pages of the astronomy book turned to where the Otava is seen as a set of reference points for guide lines pointing to many other constellations, including the entierty of Iso karhu, the constellation where the Otava is located, as well as the Kaksoset, named such due to its brightest and closely-located "twin stars", which could be found by extending the diagonal of the trapezoidal net, and the Leijona, to which the extended line from the salmon net's left edge leads.

Being amazed by the terrestrian art of finding stars, I exclaimed, "Astronomy is surely fun!"

Aurora happily agreed, "It is! I've been spotting stars in the night sky since I was raised in this forest, and it never gets boring for me."

Hearing this, I giggled. Stargazing with Aurora by the lakeside is really fun!

We then spent the rest of the night spotting the stars, and gazing upon the beauty of the night sky of Lake Kultajärvi. And so, another beautiful day on Earth concludes.