The stars provide no useful energy to the Earth. The night sky is PURE INFORMATION. There are the fixed pattern of most stars in relation to each other (the constellations) and the uniform rotation of the overall pattern, varying over each evening and over the seasons.

One of the early phenomenon that attracted explicit human attention was the changing/unchanging patterns of the starry night sky – pure information! They invented ways to improve observation and make records. South Sea islanders learned to use the night sky to navigate thousands of miles in open sea – to Hawaii.

The star field was the first example of INVARIANCE. The pattern of a constellation (whether lines between stars, or the spaces between the lines – a cultural variation) was FIXED. And yet, it changed in a truly regular way. The night sky was an exemplar of regularity.

Geological and biological features always exhibit variation. Even mountains would look different during different weather conditions.  Probably our Gibson/McCabe subliminal pattern perception played a role, but the night sky image became the primary phenomenon for the emergence of mathematics and science for millennia.