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Astrology,
Our World, Our Adventure…
Astrology, and the wonders of the solar system…
Astrology is not just about the stars; it’s about the stars, constellations, the
nine planets, meteors and asteroids, the sun, moons, and the constellations. The
solar system is very complex, yet it has many extraordinary objects.
There
are four different types of stars: Protostars, Bright Stars, Red Giants, and
White Dwarfs. Protostars are stars that are just in the verge of being born.
They are glowing clouds of interstellar dust and gas. Causing the protostar to
collapse, gravity pulls on every atom moving them towards the center. Over a
period of twenty million years the star begins to form, and in 10 million years
after the pocket of gas formed, a star is born. The second types of stars,
Bright Stars, are formed when the new star has completed about 35 million years
of its life cycle. A star’s life cycle is a lot like a human’s, except a star’s
years are in millions. When a star is about 10 million years old, it is in the
same stage as a regular human-for instance in 10 million years a star is in the
same stage as a human that is about twenty. The birth and death of stars are
also called Stellar Evolution. A Bright star occurs when nuclear fusion doubles
the star in size. The third types of stars, Red Giants, are made because the
outward flow of the star’s core energy stops. Gravity then steps in, squeezing
the star making it decrease in size. The core’s heat increases and it starts
releasing small amounts of energy, the energy holds a large amount of hydrogen
gas. The star then begins to grow larger, but it does not get brighter. As a
result of the sudden and quick temperature-drop, the star’s color changes from
blue-white to a red. In groups called Globular Clusters (groups of up to one
million stars that move through space), are where most of the Red Giants have
been found. In the fourth types of stars, White Dwarfs, the star begins cooling
off; and as a result of that, the outer gas layer spreads out. The star’s
temperature drops again, making the gas layer spread out even more. Eventually,
the outer layer spreads out so far, it separates from the star. Then, a
Planetary Nebula (cloud of glowing atoms), moves in all directions. The star’s
core isn’t giving out any more energy and is to the point of collapsing
bit-by-bit. All of the matter the star had in the beginning is still there, but
it is compressed more tightly. Having been packed so tightly the star is now as
big as planet Earth. The star is still extremely hot, so hot that it gives off a
glowing white light. That is why it is called a “White Dwarf”. Out of the twenty
stars that are closest to Earth, 2 are White Dwarfs.
The next big thing
about the solar system is the Planets. The planets have a big place in our solar
system; they have been studied to the extreme although there is still a lot to
learn about them. The nine planets are Earth, Jupiter, Uranus, Pluto, Saturn,
Neptune, Mars, Venus, and Mercury. Mercury, also known as the planet of Hot days
and Cold nights, has the shortest year out of all of the planets (88 days).
Mercury orbits the sun at an average distance of 36 million miles. Daytime
temperatures of Mercury can reach up to 800 degrees Fahrenheit and at night down
to as low as –279 degrees Fahrenheit. Venus, also known as the Cauldron, has a
yearlong period of 243 Earth days. This planet is very unique among the other
planets because scientists have discovered that Venus actually rotates backwards
also. Mars, also known as the planet of Martians, has such thin air that it is
not breathable. The air is made up mostly of Carbon Dioxide. Mars’ atmosphere is
so thin, that if you were to stay out as long as 15 minutes you would already be
sunburned. Jupiter, also known as the Giant planet, has at least 16 moons
orbiting it. Jupiter is a volume one thousand times that of the Earth’s, thus
the name Giant planet comes into play. Saturn, the planet with the rings, was
examined and found to be quite like the planet Jupiter. Other than its markings
being much fainter because of thick smog, there are a few small dot-like
vortices, but nothing compares to Jupiter’s Great Red Spot. Saturn’s rings have
long been known to be made up of millions of tiny moons. In the year, 1781 a
German-born astronomer named William Herschel discovered there must be one more
planet, Uranus. Up until that year, astronomers thought there to be only six
planets. Uranus is a gaseous planet with green stripes; it was also a known fact
that Uranus was tipped over on its axis, greater that any other planet’s tilt.
Uranus is also surrounded by about nine rings, scientists also discovered that
Uranus had around 10 moons that had what looked like ice volcanoes, valleys, and
racetrack-like ridges, grooves, and patterns. The discovery of Uranus was
accidental, unlike Uranus Neptune’s discovery wasn’t. In 1845, two young
mathematicians, John Couch Adams from England and Urbain Leverrier from France,
were trying to solve a very big problem with the orbit of Uranus. The orbit of
Uranus was not on the path expected, they had come to think that an unknown
planet was pulling on Uranus. That planet was Neptune. Pluto, also known as the
Ice planet, was last to be discovered. Pluto is the mystery planet, it is so
small and travels in near darkness that when pictures of it come up, it often
shows up as a small blurred dot; but scientists, scanning the pictures carefully
each time, noticed a small bump. The bump was proven to be a moon by the name of
Cheron.
Another great feature about the solar system is its moons. The solar
system has many different moons. Jupiter has four Galilean moons, Europa,
Ganymede, Callisto, and Io. Around Jupiter are about 16 moons orbiting the
planet. Saturn’s rings are thought to be made up of millions of tiny moons.
These are called “Shepherding” moons. Titan is the most interesting and second
largest moon. It is also the only one to be known to have an atmosphere. Triton
is one moon of Neptune, the other, Neried, has an 800,000-mile orbit. The orbit
requires a year to fully complete. The atmosphere is made up of Nitrogen like
the Earth’s, but it contains no oxygen, making it unbreathable. Uranus has 5
moons. Oberon, Uranus’ most outer moon, has been discovered to have various ice
volcanoes. Ariel was thought to have almost no geological activity because its
diameter of 725 miles. Miranda, the weirdest of the moons, has a huge cliff
nearly 10 miles, and its surface has small racetrack-like patterns, ridges, and
grooves.
Constellations are names for groups of stars that appear to form
shapes in the sky. They were given their names many hundreds of years ago to
help stargazers and astrologists remember which stars are which. Astrologers use
constellations to divide up the sky; finding one can help them find another
because constellations move so slowly that they will always be found in about
the same place. The most famous constellation is called the Big Dipper. The Big
Dipper is made up of a group of seven stars, 3 that form a handle and four that
form a bowl. The Big Dipper is actually not a constellation itself, but part of
the constellation Ursa Major, or Great Bear (see appendix A). The Little Dipper
is a mirrored version of the Big Dipper (see appendix B). Another famous
constellation is Orion. Orion was an ancient Greek hunter and warrior. The
constellation Orion resembles him wearing a club and shield, and a sword
dangling from his belt. Orion has more Bright stars than that of any other
constellation; the two brightest are Betelguese (shoulder), and Rigel (foot).
Cassiopeia is another well-known constellation. Cassiopeia is found next to the
Big Dipper and Orion. Its shape is an exact M, or W, formed by 5 bright stars.
Cassiopeia is the mythological Queen of Ethiopia (see appendix C). The Seven
Sisters were said to be the daughters of Atlas and the objects of Orion\'s
affection. The Pleiades (seven sisters), are yet another well-known
constellation. The Pleiades has 7 stars, yet most people can only see 6 of them.
A description of the seven sisters that came from 19th Century Poet Lord
Tennyson said: “Many a night I saw the Pleiades rising through the mellow shade,
glimmer like a swarm of Fireflies, tangled in a silver braid…”. The Pleiades are
a true cluster of stars swimming in Gas (see appendix D). Constellations are
probably the most interesting thing in the solar system. Most people look at
them as an exciting look at the mythological part of the solar system, and
others think they are just another interesting part of the night sky.
The
Universe is something no one can explain. The stars have a big part in the solar
system. They help light the sky at night. The four types of stars are
Protostars, Bright stars, Red Giants, and White Dwarfs. The birth and death of
stars is called Stellar Evolution. The nine planets are Earth, Jupiter, Uranus,
Pluto, Saturn, Neptune, Mars, Venus, and Mercury. Mercury is known as the planet
of hot days and cold nights because of its high temperatures during the day and
cold temperatures during the night. Venus is known as the cauldron because it is
so hot. Mars is known as the planet of Martians because of its name, Mars, and
the stereotype of it having extra-terrestrials. Jupiter is known as the giant
planet because it is so big. It has a volume one thousand times that of the
Earth’s. Saturn is called the planet of the rings because, well, it has visible
rings around it. Uranus is known to be the very gaseous planet. Scientists
accidentally found Neptune, not much is known about it. The same with Pluto,
scientists do not know much about Pluto because it is so small. It is known as
the ice planet. The constellations are the mythological part of the solar
system. Behind every constellation there is a story or tale of some sort. Many
objects in the Solar System have yet to be discovered and may never be, but it
will always be there and may never change for generations to come.
Works Cited
Kelsey, Larry, Hoff, Darrel. Recent Revolutions
in Astronomy. Science Impact. New
York, NY: Franklin Watts, Copyright 1987.
Shostak, Seth. “Threats from a Stormy Sun.” Odyssey Magazine. October 1999,
28-32.
The Nine Planets. [On-line] Available
http://www.hermes.astro.washington.edu/mirrors/nineplanets/, December 7,
2000.
Keyword [On-line] Available
http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/, December 7, 2000.
[On-line] Available
http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Launchpad/1364/Gaseous_Planets.html
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http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Launchpad/1364/Terrestrial_Planets.html