Set the Stars Alight

by Amanda Dykes

“Forensic astronomy is sleuthing using the sky. We use what we know from science, history, observation of the night skies, to help bring answers to unanswered questions. Sometimes it’s art.” He gestured. “When was Van Gogh’s Evening Landscape with a Rising Moon painted? Sometimes it’s crime. What time was a crime committed? Abraham Lincoln, when he was a lawyer, even used the position of the moon on the night of a crime to prove his case. And sometimes it’s history. How is it possible that in the midst of the Civil War, Stonewall Jackson was shot by his own troops? I’ll tell you. Or rather, forensic astronomy will. A full moon caused him to be unrecognizable in silhouette. “Forensic astronomy uses calculations, logbooks, sky charts . . . and so much more.” He was looking, in his impassioned explanation, more like his boyhood self. She half expected him to turn and ask her if she’d seen any supernovas lately.