Quid clarius astris?

Dear George,

What is brighter than the stars?

Actually, I'm kindof asking. My little brother who is not so little showed me a picture of our family crest. My family is from Scotland originally, and that is the family motto.

The crest is pretty cool, it's a blue shield with nine stars on it, with the usual flourishes around the shield, and a knight's helmet on top.

But what I really want to know is how did they pick that family motto? Most of the time the mottos are something about loyalty or bravery or Christianity.

I figure there has to be a story behind that one. But I can't find it online. Granted, I only looked for a little while. But the motto is hundreds of years old, so the story may have been lost.

Another variation of the motto is "in caligine lucet" which translates as "it shines in the dark." so now I'm thinking there MUST be some kind of story...why 9 stars? Why the mottos about the darkness and shining? Sooo many questions!!

So George, what is brighter than the stars? That shines in the dark?

S