Atmosphere research meets a space-telescope milestone

Stars and their rising or setting positions can mark directions, travel routes and seasonal change.

Researchers need to respect community authority, restricted knowledge and the harms created when outsiders extract cultural information.

The observatory logged a millionth science exposure while searching for water in an exoplanet atmosphere.

The target was the hot gas giant HAT-P-7b, observed for atmospheric signatures.

The milestone reflects decades of research by many teams using the orbiting observatory.

The publication surveys calendars, navigation, cardinal directions, eclipses, meteor impacts and oral explanations of the sky.

Astronomical knowledge appears within social responsibilities, stories, ceremonies and relationships with land.

The study reports traditions capable of orienting travel to within a few degrees through celestial cues.

The overview rejects portrayals of Indigenous Australians as passive observers without systematic knowledge.

Researchers surveyed villages across central India to document sky stories and observational traditions among Gond communities.