- 23 December 2019
Castor is from the Latin language meaning ‘beaver’. Castor is actually made up of six stars with three pairs of binary stars being all gravitationally bound to each other. The mythology surrounding Castor dates back to the early Greeks. They believed that Castor and his brother, Pollux were ‘half’ twins. The boys were also alleged to have sailed with Jason and the Argonauts.
Read the full article- 16 December 2019
Capella is a four-star system made up of two pairs of binary stars. Historically and mythologically, Capella is a bit of a mystery. Richard Hinkley Allen from Star Names tells us the ancient Arabs referred to Capella as ‘the Driver’ or a shepherd driving his flock of sheep across the night sky with the nearby Pleiades being construed as large animals.
Read the full article- 9 December 2019
Canopus is suspected to be nearing the end of its life cycle even though it is considerable young. Its mass is 65 times that of the Sun and shines with the luminosity of 14,000 suns. In fact, this star is so large if it were placed in the middle of the solar system it would reach 90 percent of the way to Mercur.
Read the full article- 4 December 2019
Betelgeuse is also known as Alpha Orionis and 58 Orionis and marks the center of the Winter Hexagon. It is also one of the stars that makes up the Winter Triangle. Betelgeuse is a 10 million year-old red supergiant star and one of the largest stars known today. It’s predicted to collapse under its own weight ending in a supernova explosion.
Read the full article- 26 November 2019
Beta Ursae Majoris makes up part of ‘the Big Dipper’ and is 10 million years-old. This star is one of the hottest and has 3.4 times the radius of the Sun and is 50 times more luminous. It’s also known as Alkaid and Benetnash from the Arabic meaning ‘the leaders of the daughters of the bier’.
Read the full article- 21 November 2019
Beta Tauri has the traditional name of Elnath which is derived from Arabic (al-nath) meaning ‘butting’ and is in reference to the bull’s horns of the Taurus constellation. When searching for Elnath, look for the ‘V’ shape of Taurus the Bull. Once you have located this pattern, Beta Tauri is the Northernmost star representing the bull’s left horn.
Read the full article- 13 November 2019
Beta Pegasi is the second brightest star in its home constellation shining 1,500 times that of the Sun. Its traditional name of Scheat comes from Arabic meaning ‘the upper arm’. Arabian astronomers have also named this star Mankib al Faras meaning ‘the horse’s shoulder’. This star loses mass each year expanding it to 3,500 time the radius of the Sun.
Read the full article- 6 November 2019
Beta Leporis is 240 million years-old and is sometimes referred to as Nihal which is Arabic for ‘quenching their thirst’. However, Al Nihal was once used in ancient Arabic to mean ‘the drinking camels’. This yellow bright giant also measures about 16 times the radius of the Sun and has 3.5 solar masses.
Read the full article- 30 October 2019
Beta Ceti has two traditional names, Deneb Kaitos or Al Dhanab al Ḳaiṭos al Janubiyy in Arabic and Diphda, meaning ‘the southern tail of Cetus‘ and ‘the second frog’ respectively. It shines approximately 145 times that of the Sun and because it exhibits periodic flares, its brightness does change.
Read the full article- 24 October 2019
Beta Centauri is made up of three stars and is the 10th brightest star in the night sky shining 15,500 times more than the Sun. In mythology, the culture of the Boorong people called this star (along with Alpha Centauri) Bermbermgle. They signified two brothers who were known for their courage for killing Tchingal ‘the Emu’ from the Coalsack Nebula.
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