Star Stuff


The Size of our World 1 The Size of our World 2
		When you look at the stars, over half of them actually consist of two or more companion stars in orbit around each other. Our Sun is in the minority, as it does not have a companion.
		The Aztecs knew the Plough (the Big Dipper) as Tezcatlipoca, an evil god who caused trouble and instigated war. The Mayan version of this god was Hurakn, which is the origin of the modern word hurricane.
		Although stars look the same from night to night, they are actually changing very slowly. We see the stars at various stages of their lifetimes, which range from a few million to many billion years. The Sun is about halfway through its 10 billion year lifetime.
		Stars rise about four minutes earlier each night, meaning that if you view them at the same time each evening, they will be a little farther to the west. This is due to the Earth having moved a little further along its path in its annual journey around the Sun.
		The carbon and oxygen atoms in flowers, and in everything else on Earth, were made in a star that died before the Sun and the Earth were born 5 billion years ago. The hydrogen atoms in your body, on the other hand, are as old as the Universe itself, around 15 billion years.
		Due to the wobbling of the Earth's rotational axis (one wobble takes nearly 26 000 years), the pole star changes. Today it is Polaris, but during the construction of the Great Pyramids, the pole star was Thuban, in the constellation Draco, the Dragon.
		Even though the Sun is the closest star to us, it is still quite a distance away when we consider it in terms of everyday life eg. if you were to drive your car at 100 km (60 miles) per hour, 24 hours a day, then you would reach the Sun in about 171 years.
		Shooting stars, falling stars, and meteors are different names for the same thing. 99% of them are as small as a grain of sand. On entering the Earth's atmosphere they burn up, leaving a bright streak in the sky.
		Near the handle of the Plough and in the constellation Canes Venatici, the Hunting Dogs, is the famous Whirlpool Galaxy. This distinctive celestial object is about 15 million light years away and can be seen with binoculars.
		An asterism is a distinct group of stars that does not make up a complete constellation. One of the best known asterisms is the Plough, which is part of the constellation Ursa Major, the Great Bear.
		The space between stars contains an exceedingly thin amount of hydrogen gas: about one atom per cubic centimetre. By contrast, at sea-level, the Earth's atmosphere contains 30 billion billion atoms per cubic centimetre.
Meteorites, 'plagues' and bad omens A sleepy fishing community in rural Australia is struck by a shower of meteorites. Those hit succumb to a terrible infection: they are turned into zombies and feast on human flesh. The Guardian September 20 2007 The townsfolk of Carancas in Peru would be advised not to watch the horror film Undead, after witnessing a fiery ball in the sky at the weekend. More than 150 residents have suffered headaches, irritated skin and vomiting brought on by a "strange odour", according to a local health official. Tales of "toxic" fumes rising from a crater sound scary but as Nester Quispe, the local mayor, said: "There's a certain psychological fear in the community." Experts believe the irritation could be caused by gas or dust and there is still uncertainty over whether it was a meteorite - the "crater" could be just a toxic lake. What about zombie disease? And is it a Sign? For centuries, meteorites have been seen as gifts from angels or portents of doom. In the Bible, Joshua wrote of how "the Lord cast down great stones from heaven" while Revelation recorded a falling star that poisoned the waters: "Many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter." Reports of sickness are rare, although many of the estimated 1,050 sightings of falling meteorites to date have sparked superstition. The Peru event has triggered internet speculation that it could be a fallen satellite (as in the Michael Crichton thriller The Andromeda Strain) or, of course, aliens. In 1492 a meteorite is said to have caused a war: Maximilian, Emperor of Austria, was convinced that a meteor fall in Ensisheim, Rhineland, was a favourable omen to confront the French. More mysterious than the Peruvian "meteorite" is the 1908 Tunguska event, a blast over Siberia 1,000 times more powerful than an atomic bomb, probably caused by a meteoroid exploding above Earth. Millions of trees were felled, locals took to the streets in panic and there were reports of a "plague", now thought to be unconnected to the blast. In Peru, the crater and its sickness will soon be verified by scientists. Just don't expect a denouement like the one in Undead.