• In the astral myths of the past, stars and constellations were associated with animals and hunting.

• The Moose dwells in this celestial space lit by the stars, and the four stars of the Big Dipper’s bowl (the Great Bear or Ursa Major) are like footprints left by the moose while running away.

• The Milky Way is the trail of a hunter chasing this cosmic animal.

The light produced by most of the stars in the night sky is too weak to be seen by an untrained eye. Modern stargazers use a big telescope capable of detecting remote stars and discovering new cosmic animals – binaries and pulsars.

The stargazer in this painting is aiming at a new star. His figure bent like the handle of a pistol, slippers, kicked off and discarded, are scattered nearby like spent cartridges.

A respectable astronomer and a shooter, what do they have in common? The hunt! To chase a new star is as thrilling as hunting an exotic wild animal.