Last night I saw the constellation Centaurus for the first time in my 58 years in this material form. Thus I also saw Alpha Centauri for the first time as well. It has never once been visible to me, my whole life, because I have lived only in the Northern Hemisphere.

It’s difficult to explain how meaningful this was to me. I first learned that Alpha Centauri existed and was just over four light years away when I was around nine or ten years old.

It appeared in science fiction stories as a destination, a source of alien intelligence, a goal, even. It became how, for the first time, I conceived of four light years as being nearby. Sci-fi writers imagined it expressively.

So last night, when I finally saw the procession of Sagittarius, Hydrus and Centaurus for the first time with my own eyes, it was a long-held desire, and an inspiring moment.