How Stars Came to be and Their History
The radiance of the stars is masked in secrecy. Only those who wish to ponder the vastness of the stars can be enlightened to their true beauty; their ability to create something from nothing is astounding. People revel at the beauty of the stars, generally enjoying a night under the twilight sky. The stars hold so many mysteries that are seldom ever questioned, but how many people ever wonder where the stars come from? How long a star’s lifespan is or why they fall from orbit? Why do the stars appear different colors when seen through a specialized telescope? Curious about the mythology of stars and why people use them for guidance? Throughout history people have used the stars to navigate their way around. …show more content…
Just as each star begins, they must eventually die as well, extinguishing their brilliant flame and implode on themselves. Star Child website by Nasa says that falling stars or shooting stars are not actually stars, but rather bits of meteoroids passing through the Earth’s atmosphere as it orbits the Sun. Luckily, the meteoroids burn up into bits before they hit the surface of our planet, because they have the possibility of causing catastrophic damage (Star Child). Growing up we all have wished upon a shooting star, not realizing the reality of it. These shooting stars are actually meteoroids falling to Earth, they are very beautiful to look at in the night sky, but are plagued by this common misconception and by calling them a shooting star only adds to the confusion. The Solar Views article “Star Formation, Life, and Death” explains the reason stars die is due to the outer layers of the star are no longer able to resist the central force of gravity, which pulls the outer matter inward toward its core. What happened next depended on the star’s mass. In some cases, it collapsed to a white dwarf star, which is a dim planet-sized object that is extraordinarily dense because it remains most of its original mass. In other cases, an extremely massive star would undergo major core collapse causing the star to explode violently and rapidly ("Star Formation, Life, and Death"). I find this amazing that after all that …show more content…
Orion the Hunter is a popular constellation that everyone is familiar with, more commonly Orion’s belt from which his sword hangs, however the story behind it is not commonly known. In Greece, they believed that the gods were in the constellations watching from above. On Western Washington University’s Skywise Unlimited website has an article on Greek Mythology, it talks about Orion’s constellation. Orion was a gift, given to a poor shepherd, who had shown Zeus and Poseidon hospitality without knowing they were gods. Orion grew into a great hunter. He fell in love with Artemis, the moon goddess. Enamored with each other, Artemis started lacking in her duties. This angered her brother Apollo, he told Gaia that Orion and Artemis were sacrificing too many animals. Angered Gaia sent Scorpius the scorpion to attack. Orion fought Scorpius and in the end they both perished. Zeus placed Orion in the winter sky, where he watches from above (Western Washington University). This story explains to us a theory behind Orion’s constellation and makes it relatable. When looking into the night sky we can point out Orion, and recall the tale of his bravery. The North Star provides guidance for lost travelers due to the fact that it doesn’t change position. People have looked to the stars for guidance, whether it be lost travelers in the woods trying to find their way out, or sailors stuck at sea searching for land. The
The radiance of the stars is masked in secrecy. Only those who wish to ponder the vastness of the stars can be enlightened to their true beauty; their ability to create something from nothing is astounding. People revel at the beauty of the stars, generally enjoying a night under the twilight sky. The stars hold so many mysteries that are seldom ever questioned, but how many people ever wonder where the stars come from? How long a star’s lifespan is or why they fall from orbit? Why do the stars appear different colors when seen through a specialized telescope? Curious about the mythology of stars and why people use them for guidance? Throughout history people have used the stars to navigate their way around. …show more content…
Just as each star begins, they must eventually die as well, extinguishing their brilliant flame and implode on themselves. Star Child website by Nasa says that falling stars or shooting stars are not actually stars, but rather bits of meteoroids passing through the Earth’s atmosphere as it orbits the Sun. Luckily, the meteoroids burn up into bits before they hit the surface of our planet, because they have the possibility of causing catastrophic damage (Star Child). Growing up we all have wished upon a shooting star, not realizing the reality of it. These shooting stars are actually meteoroids falling to Earth, they are very beautiful to look at in the night sky, but are plagued by this common misconception and by calling them a shooting star only adds to the confusion. The Solar Views article “Star Formation, Life, and Death” explains the reason stars die is due to the outer layers of the star are no longer able to resist the central force of gravity, which pulls the outer matter inward toward its core. What happened next depended on the star’s mass. In some cases, it collapsed to a white dwarf star, which is a dim planet-sized object that is extraordinarily dense because it remains most of its original mass. In other cases, an extremely massive star would undergo major core collapse causing the star to explode violently and rapidly ("Star Formation, Life, and Death"). I find this amazing that after all that …show more content…
Orion the Hunter is a popular constellation that everyone is familiar with, more commonly Orion’s belt from which his sword hangs, however the story behind it is not commonly known. In Greece, they believed that the gods were in the constellations watching from above. On Western Washington University’s Skywise Unlimited website has an article on Greek Mythology, it talks about Orion’s constellation. Orion was a gift, given to a poor shepherd, who had shown Zeus and Poseidon hospitality without knowing they were gods. Orion grew into a great hunter. He fell in love with Artemis, the moon goddess. Enamored with each other, Artemis started lacking in her duties. This angered her brother Apollo, he told Gaia that Orion and Artemis were sacrificing too many animals. Angered Gaia sent Scorpius the scorpion to attack. Orion fought Scorpius and in the end they both perished. Zeus placed Orion in the winter sky, where he watches from above (Western Washington University). This story explains to us a theory behind Orion’s constellation and makes it relatable. When looking into the night sky we can point out Orion, and recall the tale of his bravery. The North Star provides guidance for lost travelers due to the fact that it doesn’t change position. People have looked to the stars for guidance, whether it be lost travelers in the woods trying to find their way out, or sailors stuck at sea searching for land. The