Sirius, The Star (Full Version)

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Sanity -> Sirius, The Star (2/4/2009 6:57:36 PM)


I walk my black lab around my pasture every evening and lately because it's dark so late I've had the opportunity to do some casual star gazing. About two weeks ago for the first time that I can remember I noticed an especially bright twinkling star that is small but brilliant, and that constantly changes color. Well I looked it up on my astronomy software and (duh) it's SIRIUS, which is only the brightest damn star in the whole sky... and it's actually two stars, A and B.

Point is, it's beautiful right now, and only being out shone by the sun, the moon, and the planet Venus (which is also looking very lovely of late).

Tonight, I began wondering, and so I thought I'd ask - has anyone else in here been admiring Sirius of late? If so, how long have you been admiring its colors and its brilliance?





GreedyTop -> RE: Sirius, The Star (2/4/2009 6:59:27 PM)

the only constellation I can invariably identify is Orion.  Guess I need to dig out my starmap and find sirius...LOL

I'm surrounded by trees and manmade stuff so my field of vision is very narrow (and dont get me started on light pollution...)



lronitulstahp -> RE: Sirius, The Star (2/4/2009 7:04:23 PM)

i took the weeuns out with the telescope to see Venus and Jupiter last month, and we looked at Orion and Sirius(North Star)...the night sky is quite lovely.



MasterG2kTR -> RE: Sirius, The Star (2/4/2009 7:17:57 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: lronitulstahp

i took the weeuns out with the telescope to see Venus and Jupiter last month, and we looked at Orion and Sirius(North Star)...the night sky is quite lovely.



Gotta call you on that one......Polaris is the North Star which is in the Ursa Minor (little dipper) constellation

Sirius (dog star) is in the Canis Major constellation (and currently approx 9pm CST in the southern sky at roughly 30 degrees elevation from the horizon)



Kirata -> RE: Sirius, The Star (2/4/2009 7:28:42 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: lronitulstahp

we looked at Orion and Sirius(North Star)...the night sky is quite lovely.

The North Star is the star closest to where an extension of the Earth's axis through the North Pole points in the sky, and is also called the Pole Star. Thousands of years ago, it was Thuban. Currently, it is Polaris. The two stars that form the side of the "Big Dipper" farthest from the handle point to Polaris.Thousands of years from now, the North Star will be Alpha Cephei.
 
The most interesting thing about Sirius to me, is how the Dogon knew more about that star system than we did. The story is fascinating. For anyone interested, there is a nice presentation with photographs, maps, and diagrams here.
 
K.
 



lronitulstahp -> RE: Sirius, The Star (2/4/2009 8:04:10 PM)

oops...[&o].  And i actually knew that one....



rexrgisformidoni -> RE: Sirius, The Star (2/4/2009 8:09:35 PM)

I love watching the stars. Sirius (both of them) are huge stars, like thousands of times bigger than our own sun. Amazing. 



Sanity -> RE: Sirius, The Star (2/4/2009 8:28:20 PM)


Good evening lronitulstahp. Thanks for chiming in!

I took my wee one out to see it too, and I even took the time to set up the telescope but it was so cold out then that it was difficult to maintain much of an interest level.

When we go on our annual road trip adventure this coming summer, the plan is to first visit the Newberry Volcanic National Monument in Central Oregon and to take the telescope up there with us for some serious star gazing. It's so much better when it's warmer, and where the stars are so much brighter, up high and away from the lights of the city like that.

Thanks, Kirata and MasterG2kTR for your contributions to this thread, the Egyptian angle is fascinating. Sirius is hurling towards us and the Egyptians knew that somehow...

There is so much mythology behind that star especially.


quote:

ORIGINAL: lronitulstahp

i took the weeuns out with the telescope to see Venus and Jupiter last month, and we looked at Orion and Sirius(North Star)...the night sky is quite lovely.



Vendaval -> RE: Sirius, The Star (2/4/2009 8:40:13 PM)

I have heard and read various mythologies related to Sirius; Sumer, Egypt, Greece, Rome, Polynesian, Dogon and Chinese.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirius



Sanity -> RE: Sirius, The Star (2/4/2009 8:53:53 PM)


Good evening Vendeval, it is nice when people can find something to agree on, and admire together. Here's something about Sirius from a web page I was reading earlier tonight:


quote:

The star of Isis, called Sothis, or Sirius, is the brightest star in our night sky. Modern astronomy has determined that it is only 8 1/2 light-years distant, and traveling directly towards Earth at many thousands of miles per hour. The Ancient Egyptians believed that Sirius had a tremendous effect upon life on our planet.


The system of Sirius contains two known stars, the first binary star system discovered. The larger and brighter of the two, Sirius A, is three times the mass of our sun, and over ten times as bright. Shining with a brilliant blue-white radiance, Sirius A easily overshadows her darker companion star. Sirius B is a "white dwarf" star, invisible to the naked eye and packing the equivalent mass of our sun into an incredibly dense globe only 4 times the diameter of our Earth.


The Sirius system is directly "upstream" of our solar system within the galactic arm of our Milky Way Galaxy. Because of this, we now know that the polarized energies of Sirius do indeed wash over us. Modern science is yet to discover if this vast current of highly charged particles affects solar activity or life on Earth .



Vendaval -> RE: Sirius, The Star (2/4/2009 8:58:25 PM)

Really interesting that it is a binary star that we perceive as being one.
 
And Greedy, if you are flying in the airplane at night the view will be amazing. 



igor2003 -> RE: Sirius, The Star (2/4/2009 9:06:52 PM)

Haven't really paid too much attention to Sirius lately, though have been doing a bit of gazing at Venus the last few days.  Living within the city limit leaves a lot to be desired for any kind of serious sky watching.  Used to live on a farm and enjoyed looking at the night sky though I didn't really get too much into the names of the stars or their particular locations.  One thing on my bucket list, though, is to get a decent telescope so that I can see the rings of Saturn for myself!



Vendaval -> RE: Sirius, The Star (2/4/2009 9:07:27 PM)

Labs are great dogs and wonderful for long walks.  I am fond of retrievers of all types  since they have good temperments as a general rule.



Sanity -> RE: Sirius, The Star (2/4/2009 9:21:09 PM)


Joe is a bit high strung, and he likes to run off for hours at a time so he has a long leash when walked and he has a huge fenced kennel with trees and a whole outbuilding attached. He's young though, and just now beginning to settle down. I work with him every day, but still he's got seemingly endless energy.

I keep grain under a trailer to attract pheasants, and to feed them through winter so he has their smell down. What I really like is to take him out where I can let him really run. He doesn't run off if he isn't familiar with the area, at least not yet.

It's kind of funny that I first began noticing "The Dog Star" while out walking the dog, isn't it.


quote:

ORIGINAL: Vendaval

Labs are great dogs and wonderful for long walks.  I am fond of retrievers of all types  since they have good temperments as a general rule.



GreedyTop -> RE: Sirius, The Star (2/4/2009 10:01:18 PM)

V...I'm not flying anywhere anytime soon *sigh*

I have a spotting scope that my stepdad gave me... I just wish I could get far enough away from the light pollution to use it...



Vendaval -> RE: Sirius, The Star (2/4/2009 10:58:53 PM)

Take some long drives on your honeymoon, dear.



GreedyTop -> RE: Sirius, The Star (2/4/2009 11:18:26 PM)

Honeymoon?

(I cant afford to take the time off work..*sigh*)



Vendaval -> RE: Sirius, The Star (2/4/2009 11:33:56 PM)

That is a shame.  Sometimes couples have to wait a few months to have a trip together.



GreedyTop -> RE: Sirius, The Star (2/4/2009 11:40:19 PM)

we'll take ours when I get moved there :) 



allyC -> RE: Sirius, The Star (2/5/2009 12:03:03 AM)

I admire Sirius every night!! Especially when it is chilly outside and it is low on the horizon.  It seems much larger then and the colors it fires off are amazing.  One evening, it was so large, so colorful, and so brilliant that I'd bet there were folks looking up at it thinking it was a UFO.  :)  Living in Las Vegas, seeing any decent amount of stars in the sky is difficult but Sirius never fails to show off in the sky.  :)  When I go out of town any significant distance, it is even more spectacular. :) Well wishes, Cav's ally



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