Menkar, Star for Disaster Management

Natural and man made disasters strike many parts of the globe frequently. Immediately organizations such as Oxfam, Red Cross & Red Crescent Societies come to the rescue of the many people affected. The staff manning these service organizations have one thing in common, the influence of the star Menkar bestowing on them the ability in disaster management. In this blog post, I examine the star Menkar in terms of Astronomy, Constellation and Cosmics. Few tips are given in improving your life too.

Menkar in Astronomy

Menkar is a bright cool orange to reddish star beaming orange colour. The star was named after its original Arabic title “Al-Minkhar Al- Qaytaas” meaning “The Nostril of the Sea Monster”. It is in the Cetus constellation or simply “The Whale” constellation. Menkar is located on the Jaw of the giant whale alias sea monster. When you take the entire constellation per se it is located on the north-eastern part and rises fairly late in the eastern sky in the horizon. Due to the variability of its brightness, Astronomer Bayer was led to believe it as the brightest star in the Cetus constellation. Accordingly, he gave the alpha status to the star. Today, the star is considered as the second brightest one.

Menkar is astronomically referred to as “Alpha Ceti “. It is classified as “M 1.5 III a” indicating it is a cool orange giant and a variable star to boot. In its stellar evolution, Menkar is almost in the penultimate stage before its eventual death. Menkar has passed the early stages such as fusing hydrogen to helium, helium to carbon and now it is in the stage of contracting the remaining carbon at the core. Consequently the star is shedding its outer layers made of hydrogen. Once this stage is passed, Menkar is set to explode as a planetary nebula. Thereafter, perhaps the remaining rump part of the star could turn out to be a large white dwarf star.

A third magnitude star in brightness in the scale at 2.5, Menkar is located in Right Ascension (Celestial Longitude) 3 hour 2 minutes and 49 seconds and Declination (Celestial Latitude) 4 degree 7 minutes and 44 seconds north. Menkar has surface temperature of 3,700 Kelvin and is about 380 times luminous than the Sun. It is about 220 light years away and about 84 times the size of the Sun. It is a horizon star and is moving away from earth at a speed of 16 miles per second. Menkar is known for special features:

1. Its brightness vary in an irregular manner; being a giant star it is given an astronomical short hand “Lb “ which conveys to the laymen “ the brightness of this giant star varies in irregular manner “

2. Menkar emits radio waves as a result of cool winds on its surface. This may also have caused the orange colour beamed from the star throughout despite its variability of its brightness

3. Menkar is the last important star to rise in the Cetus constellation as it is located in the north-eastern part of Cetus

4. Menkar has steadily and greatly lost its carbon content after it entered the third stage of contracting carbon at the core. This means that Menkar is on the fast track to become a planetary nebula compared with other stars.

Cetus Constellation

Let me say few things about Cetus constellation. The word Cetus comes from Latin, meaning a whale. According to Greek Legend it all started when Cassiopeia queen of Cepheus, the King of Ethiopia, boasted that her beauty surpasses that of the sea nymphs Nereids. Hearing this impertinent statement, Poseidon (Neptune in Latin), the Lord of the ocean and father of the Nereids sent storms to ravage the Ethiopian sea coast. When Cepheus consulted the Oracle he was advised that as atonement for the vanity of his queen he must chain his daughter Andromeda in the sea to be devoured by the sea monster Cetus, who appears in the form of a Giant Whale. Later on Cetus is seen travelling towards Andromeda, the virgin who is chained to the rock to be devoured by him. Before Cetus can finish his job, Perseus the hero appears. He has in his hand the Head of Gordon Medusa. Perseus shows this head to Cetus; on seeing Medusa, Cetus is turned into a stone. There the sea monster lies eternally.

On the contrary, Gerardus D Bouw, writing in Biblical Astronomer No 104, traces the Cetus story from Nineveh, the Assyrian capital city on the bank of the Tigris River that was revived by God after the Ninevites repented as preached by Prophet Jonah. Obviously, the whale that swallowed Jonah could easily be traced to Cetus.

Whatever the story is, Cetus constellation is largely a southern constellation with few stars above the celestial equator. It is fourth largest constellation in the known sky. This constellation has several notable stars: Deneb Kaitos, Menkar , Baton Kaitos, Al Kaf Al Jidhmah, Deneb and Mira.

Cosmics

Menkar is located just above the celestial equator and always rises in the horizon. It can influence a person in four counts:

1. Birth star sighted by the Moon

2. Lucky star sighted by one of the other six planets

3. Rising star

4. Culminating star

Positive Cosmics

1. Menkar makes you a ‘service to humanity” person. You have charitable nature in helping affected people during calamities. It can be natural disaster such as an earthquake or a man made disaster such as arson. Whatever the nature of the disaster you are one of the few to rush in with whatever help you can garner

2. Though you often languish in the cocoon shelf of your office when the moment arrives you rise to the occasion with speed and agility second to none

3. Quick analysis is your hallmark and moving men and logistics under trying conditions is the task made for you

4. You will not easily give up in your actions be it in the office or in the sports ground. Your enthusiasm never fades

5. Plump, fat with an over sized belly and besotted with un-combed hair you are, in appearance wise an anti-thesis to the heroes in the celluloid films; but when it comes to work you are marvellous and often get adulation from many quarters.

Negative Cosmics

1. The chief negative is that you are too emotional; if anything is denied you are going to take it up grudgingly and wait for the moment to demonstrate that the other party is simply wrong

2. You can be caught in a web of deceit especially in relation to financial scandals or in extra marital affairs

3. You are prone to major accidents resulting in the loss of life or limb; you are also susceptible to major breakdowns in terms of health

4. As you tread the path of helping people in the throes of crisis the chance of tripping onto electricity wire or stung by venomous snakes or attacked by hyenas and other predators cannot be over-emphasized.

Improving Your Life

The following are few recommendations to improve your life:

1. You should select white, green orange and light colours for your dress

2. Numbers 1, 5 & 8 do wonders for you

3. You must sleep, keeping your head towards the south -east

4. You must join social services or disaster management or special services organizations

5. Single marriage lasts till end

6. It would be better for you to be in the public service or work for a Non-Governmental Organizations(NGO)

7. You should use the combination of alphabets “H “ in name or user name or pet name

8. You must develop lifestyle where your suitcase is stuffed and ready to fly away on call. Like in the Lyrics of a Jim Reeves number “ I hear the sound of distant drums” you wait for the mobile to ring for the call of duty

9. During leisure, enjoy at home peacefully.

Muthu Ashraff

Cosmic Adviser

Mobile : +94 777 265677

E-mail : cosmicgems@gmail.com

Web : http://www.cosmicgemslanka.com

Blog : http://cosmicgemslanka.com/blog/

Mebsuta, Star of Love and Vitality

After a hectic and stressful day in office you are still fresh and willing to drop your colleague miles away from your home. How did you get all love and vitality? One explanation: you are born with the star Mebsuta guiding you. This fascinating star makes an ordinary person a caring and at the same time strong leader. Let me explain about the star Mebsuta in this blog post outlining, its astronomy and Cosmics, so that you can change your lifestyle and embark upon improving your life.

1) Astronomy

The name of the star Mebsuta is derived from Arabic “Al-Mabsuta” meaning “outstretched”. Astronomically known as Epsilon Gemini, Mebsuta is a double star in the Gemini constellation. Located in the ecliptical plane, this star is often passed by the Moon technically known as “occulted”. Other planets whistle by, but occultation is somewhat rare. The last incident of such occultation occurred on August 4, 1976 when Mars passed by Mebsuta.

Location of Mebsuta is interesting; from its position at Right Ascension (Celestial longitude) 6 hours 44 minutes and 33 seconds and Declination (Celestial latitude) of 25 degree 7 minutes and 14 seconds if you draw a line to south-east you will notice a three star combination. The first one being Mebsuta on the top, the second one in middle being Mekbuda (known as Zeta Gemini) and the last one being Kebash (known as Lambda Gemini). Interestingly Mebsuta is just above the ecliptical plane whereas Mekbuda just below the ecliptical line.

Fifth brightest star in the Gemini Constellation, Mebsuta is considered as a double star. The primary star has 3.2 magnitude of brightness and glows in white to yellowish colour. Its companion however is a small 9.5 magnitude blue star. The latter appears to our eyes as close to star Mebsuta though it is about 110 arc seconds away in the deep sky. Star Mebsuta is burning helium at the core like our Sun and losing its mass steadily. As a rare type of super giant, Mebsuta is much cooler than our Sun at 4,360 Kelvin belying its classification as “G8Ib Star” generally given to yellow stars like our Sun whose surface temperature must be above 5000 Calvin. This may be due to its long distance at 900 light years away and its brightness in luminosity of some 7,600 times the Sun and its size of about 150 times the Sun. What a great super giant!

2) Cosmics

2.1) Gemini Constellation

The legend of Gemini constellation is well known. In Greek Mythology, Gemini relates to twin brothers born to one mother and two fathers. Pollux the elder was born to Zeus who creeps in on the wedding night of Leda as a Swan and beds her; Castor was born to Tyndareus, King of Sparta to whom Leda is lawfully wedded. While Pollux is immortal Castor is mortal. Pollux is a pugilist whereas Castor is a horseman. Both are inseparable twins. Castor was fatally wounded in a battle with Idas who is their mutual cousin. Pollux could not console himself with the death of his twin brother and pleads with Zeus to take his life as well. Zeus so impressed by the brotherly love shown by Pollux towards Castor, places them in the sky as immortal stars symbolizing love and affection between two brothers. The star Mebsuta is located on the right knee of Castor. Interestingly, the star Mekbuda mentioned earlier is located on the left knee of Pollux. The ancients used to swear by the name of Gemini when making oaths or transactions.

2.2) Lunar Mansion

Mebsuta is in the sixth Lunar Mansion (Arabic Al- Manzil Al-Qamar) of “Al- Hannah (The Mark)”. Those who are born under this lunar mansion have noble virtues; they work hard and never lose their love and vitality. This lunar mansion has a mixed bag; on one hand it makes a person born under it to toil hard ; on the other hand it preserves such persons unscathed from failures and disappointments making them paragons of virtue.

2.3) Improving Your Life

Mebsuta can influence your life as a Birth star, Rising star, Culminating star and Lucky star depending on the sky map cast at the time, date and place of your birth. Considering the positive and negative Cosmics of the star Mebsuta the following are brief recommendations given for improving your life:

1. You should select blue, white, yellow and light colours for your upper garments such as shirts and blazers; choose dark shades for lower garments such as trousers and skirts

2. Numbers 1, 2 and 6 should do wonders for you

3. You must sleep, keeping your head towards the direction of North - West

4. You must select business or profession that does not conflict with nature but helps people to live with nature

5. You can also select trading goods or services across the oceans

6. Industries such as Music and films, Leisure & tourism, Fashion & entertainment could be more rewarding

7. You should be a peace activist and heavily charity minded

8. You are One-marriage person; therefore select your partner wisely

9. You should use the alphabet “K” or “Q” in your name; if this is not possible get username, pet name or business name in this manner

10. On your study or work table keep a model of ship with floating sails. The replica in wood is recommended

11. During leisure, play flute or melodious instrument that uses wind; watch films that depict love and affection or arts and nature

12. Take lot of care on your feet, knee downwards; special attention must be paid to your right knee; any knee injury would be debilitating and fatal too.

Muthu Ashraff

Cosmic Adviser

Mobile : +94 777 265677

E-mail : cosmicgems@gmail.com

Web : http://www.cosmicgemslanka.com

Blog : http://cosmicgemslanka.com/blog/

What are your Stars?

Everyone is born under a Star. This star is generally called as “birth star”. The birth star can be one of great significance in the sky bringing you favourable cosmics all the way or just a minor star of little consequence. In the latter case you can check for other stars to guide you. In this blog post I explain how you should look for your stars so that you can improve your lifestyle.

1. Birth Star

Birth Star is found from the location of the Moon in the sky map at the time of your birth. Most of the time, the Moon would be sighting a celestial object, which can be a Star, Planet, Cluster or Nebulae; the last two are referred to as Deep Sky Objects (DSO). For easy convenience we use the word Star, and call this as “Birth Star”. Once you have identified the birth star you can check whether the star is indeed your lucky one bringing you favourable cosmics. You can get a primer on this subject by reading two of my blog posts:

Your Lucky Star – Astronomical Considerations

Your Lucky Star – Cosmic Considerations

If the star identified by you is indeed the lucky one you can stop forthwith and adopt the star as your “Birth Star”. If not proceed to item Two “Lucky Star” below.

2. Lucky Star

You can check the sky map for location of planets other than the Moon in the following order: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus and Mercury. Here there is a restriction; these planets can only sight a fixed star and not other celestial objects such as other planet, cluster or nebulae.

Once a star is identified, you stop forthwith and adopt the star as your “Lucky Star”. If not proceed to item Three “Rising Star” below.

3. Rising Star

You can check the sky map for the star that was rising at the time of your birth. Once a star is identified, you stop forthwith and adopt the star as your “Rising Star”. If not proceed to item Four “Culminating Star”.

4. Culminating Star

You can check the sky map for the star that was culminating at the time of your birth. Culmination means a star crossing your local meridian. Once the culminating star is identified you stop forthwith and adopt the star as your “Culminating Star”.

These are easy steps for you to find out your stars; in case of difficulty you can get in touch with an astronomer in your area to guide you in this regard. If you are born in locations above 33 degree north in latitude or below 33 degree south in latitude, you should check for stars that never rise or set for your locations.

Once you are thorough with this exercise you can even adopt all the four type of stars: Birth Star, Lucky Star, Rising Star and Culminating Star. Until then you satisfy with a single one.

Muthu Ashraff

Cosmic Adviser

Mobile:   +94 777 265677

E-mail:    cosmicgems@gmail.com

Web:      http://www.cosmicgemslanka.com

Your Lucky Star – Cosmic Considerations

Every person is born under a celestial object. It might be a Star, Cluster or Nebulae. The last two are referred to as Deep Sky Objects (DSO). In this Blog I am writing about stars only. Whether a birth star is a Lucky Star or not depends on two considerations: One relates to astronomy; the other relates to cosmics. In an earlier Blog I wrote about the astronomical considerations. In this, I give you a bird’s eye view of the chief cosmic considerations about your birth star.

1. Name of a star

Most of the big and bright stars are already named. About 70 percent of such names originate from Arabic sources, while about 20 % are derived from Greco-Latin sources. The balance is contributed by diverse sources including Hebraic, Sumerian, Babylonian, Egyptian, Persian, Turkish, Chinese and host of others. Let me give you few illustrations:

· Aldebaran (alpha Taurus) from Arabic means “followers”

· Hydor (lambda Aquarius) from Greek means “water”

· Ascellus Borealis ( gamma Cancer) from Latin means “ northern donkey”

· Sargas ( theta Scorpion) from Babylonian

· Nunki ( sigma Sagittarius) from Sumerian means “ voice from the sea”

· Yildun (delta Ursa Minor) from Turkish means “ dance”

There are variations of names as well. Few examples:

· Al-Ras Al- Asad Janubiah ( epsilon Leo) known as Al-Ras-Al- Asad Australis

· Tejat Posterior ( mu Gemini ) Tejat from Arabic means “unknown “ and posterior from Latin means “ rear”

· Tarazed ( gamma Aquila) from Persian means “ Scale”; also referred as Al-Meezan from Arabic with similar meaning

· Kochab ( beta Ursa Minor) origin is disputed between Hebraic and Arabic

Stars found after the Middle Ages were not named. In order to classify the stars Bayer used individual letters of Greek alphabet. This was done purely on the basis of visual magnitude. Since the alphabet has only 24 letters modern astronomers use numbers instead of names or alphabet. For cosmic purposes it is the name that matters a lot.

2. Colour of a star

The colour of a star and its surface temperature are co-related. From ancient times colour of star was accorded great significance. Few examples are given:

· White – Deneb Adige ( alpha Cygnus) – denotes immense wealth

· Pale Yellow – Al-Gorab (delta Corvus) – denotes misery

· Blue – Denebola ( beta Leo) – denotes power & glory

· Red – Antares ( alpha Scorpion) – denotes bravery & victory

· Orange – Altarf ( beta Cancer) – denotes cold & calculated personality

3. Location of a star

Position of star is of prime importance. Greek astronomer Ptolemy discoursed on the subject of the cosmic relevance on the basis of each star’s location in a particular constellation. He identified more than 1000 stars in 48 constellations. Ptolemy used direction, part, limb or position to identify the location. For example, in the case of stars in Aries constellation, he employed head, mouth, back foot and tail as specific locations. Depending on this location, each star has different cosmic effect, he concluded. This leads us spontaneously to the subject of constellations.

4. Constellations

Basically, a constellation is a group of stars, seen from the earth as forming a particular pattern in the sky. In ancient times, constellations were named mainly after living beings: Greek Gods, Mythological figures, Heroes, men and women, animals, birds, Fish, serpents, dragons and many others. Virgo & Hercules are good examples. Very few of them were named after a device such as pair of scales as in the case of Libra. Of course, utility items such as sword, bow and arrow were in the list; mode of transport such as ships found their way to the heaven.

Arab and Greek astronomers were locating stars by observing the sky in the northern hemisphere by naked eye or using early telescopes. As the middle age passed, astronomers were travelling to continents in the southern hemisphere and by using modern equipments they were able to find several stars. By this time the life style has changed from agriculture to industrial age. Hence new found stars were grouped under constellations with such names as Circinus (comapss) and Telescopium (telescope), both of these formed by La Caille in 1752. Not that the astronomers were entirely mechanical in their mind-set. Still they had a sense of breathing in their thoughts. Pavo (peacock) constellation formed by Bayer in 1604 bears evidence to this.

As technology progressed, the need to re-capitulate constellations arose. Argo Navis (Ship), an ancient constellation was sub-divided into four individual constellations; Carina (Keel), Vela (Sails) Puppis (Stern) and Pyxis (Compass Box). In the modern times the International Astronomical Union has recognized 88 constellations to bring the burgeoning of constellations to an end.

It must be pointed out that these 88 constellations are now divided into eight constellation families. The Zodiac family consists of the 12 zodiacal constellations such as Aries. The Hercules family has 19 constellations the largest number for a single family whereas Orion family has only 5 constellations including the famous Orion the hunter. Astronomers Bayer added 11 new constellations while La Caille was proficient with 13 of the new ones.

5. Asterism

In addition to be grouped under a constellation, some of the stars get into prestigious clubs known as “asterism”. An asterism is technically a sub-group within a major constellation. The asterism is known for a particular pattern, or symbol or form. Few of these are explained below:

· Sickle of Leo: a sickle shape asterism traversing from head to the body of the lion. The stars are Regulus ( alpha), Algeiba (gamma), Aldhafara (zeta) & Al-Ras Al-Asad Australis (epsilon) all in the Leo constellation

· Belt of Orion: a belt shape asterism in the waist of the hunter. The stars are Mintaka (delta) Al Nilam ( epsilon) & Al Nitak ( zeta) all in Orion constellation

· Circlet of the Fish: a circle in the mouth of the western fish. The stars are Fom Al-Samakah ( beta) , gamma,, theta, iota, kappa, lambda and 19 Piscium all in the Pisces constellation

6. Formation

Stars do make a formation within and across constellation into various shapes such as triangle, square, round etc.

1. Within constellation: The stars located in the western and northern part of the Cancer constellation forms a Square. The stars are: eta, theta, zeta and mu Cancer. Incidentally all these stars are located between 8.12 hrs to 8.50 hrs of Right Ascension (RA)

2. Across constellation: The stars Markab (alpha) Scheat (beta) & Algenib (gamma) from the Leo constellation form a major Triangle by joining Alpharetz (alpha) of Andromeda constellation.

7. Lunar mansions

Stars find their home in Lunar Mansions, known in Arabic as Al-Manzil al-Kamar. There are 28 lunar mansions. The boundary line of each mansion is defined by several writers, such as Abneragel( Ali bin Ali-Rajal) , Dorotheos, Agrippa, Al-Biruni and Ibnu Arabi.

8. Zodiacal signs

Lastly, stars are also at home in a particular zodiacal sign. The ancient 12 signs are accepted without contest. Yet, it must be made clear, that the Sun travels in its ecliptical path across these 12 signs plus Ophiuchus ( Serpent carrier) & Cetus ( Whale) constellations as well.

Both Lunar mansions and Zodiacal signs are given in zodiacal degree rather than in the astronomical measure of Right Ascension. At present time these two measures do not tally. The Vernal Equinox of 21^st March originally fell on the Aries sign. At present, it is in the Pisces sign. In time to come as we move on to the Aquarian age it would fall on Aquarius sign. This is due to what we call as the precession of the earth given as the difference between the solar time and the star time. Nothing to despair! We have two consoling facts:

1. Due to the tilt of the earth in its axis, at present 23 degree 44 minutes we have different set of circumstance. The tilt itself is variable and the International Astronomical Union periodically computes it. As a consequence we have differences in seasons and climate; more than that, the change of North star. Right now the North Star is Polaris. After 5000 years the North star would be Alderamain ( alpha Cepheus) and in 12000 years time it would be Vega ( alpha Lyra)

2. The Universe is on constant move. Our Solar System is moving. Milky Way Galaxy, to which our solar system belongs is moving. To cap it all, the Local Group of Galaxy to which the Milky Way belongs is also on the march.

Therefore, movement is a fact of life on earth and in the heavens. We can map the movement on the Lunar mansion as well as in the Zodiacal signs as well and get on with our work.

Though there are many other cosmic considerations, the above 8 items are the chief ones that need to be evaluated to find out the impact and influence of your Birth Star.

Muthu Ashraff

Cosmic Adviser

Mobile:   +94 777 265677

E-mail:    cosmicgems@gmail.com

Web:      http://www.cosmicgemslanka.com

Your Lucky Star – Astronomical Considerations

Every person is born under a celestial object. It might be a star, Cluster or Nebulae. The last two are referred to as Deep Sky Objects (DSO). In this Blog I am writing about stars only. Whether a birth star is a Lucky Star or not depends on two considerations: One relates to astronomy; the other relates to cosmics. Astronomy is based on observational and calculated data. Unlike in the case of other physical sciences it cannot be proved by exact evidence or precision. For example, the distance between the Earth and the Sun is about 93 million miles. Nobody ever did physically measure it anyway. However, astronomical data throws a lot of light and perhaps insight upon the impact and influence the stars have on you and me. The following are a broad brush stroke of the chief astronomical considerations about your birth star.

1. Visual Magnitude: It is also referred to as apparent magnitude. Conventionally written as lower case "m or V". This is a measure of brightness of a star as you see it from the earth. You can see stars up to 6^th magnitude by naked eye. Beyond 6^th magnitude you can see them using telescope only; hence the term telescopic stars. The scale of brightness runs from 0 to 25. As the scale goes higher the stars become dimmer and fainter. Sometimes we use the scale with minus value. This relates to extreme brightness. In the case of negative value as the value goes lower the extreme brightness shoots up.
   Visual magnitude ignores the distance of the star from the earth. As you are aware, the brightness of a star is the function of its internal energy generation and the quantum of light it emits into space. A good example is Sirius, the dog star, which is some 26 times brighter than the Sun, but being almost 9 light years way it appears to us dimmer than the Sun.
2. Absolute Brightness; In order to evaluate absolute brightness of stars, astronomers have set –up a standard. They place stars as if they were located 32.6 light years away. When we do this the scale of absolute brightness would read as follows: The Sun is 4.8, whereas Sirius 1.4 . Hence Sirius is about 3.4 times brighter than the Sun. Absolute Brightness is conventionally written as upper case "M or Mv". It is alternatively known as Real Brightness. For purpose of analysis absolute brightness is preferred over visual magnitude.

1. Spectral Class: This is a system of classification based on the spectrum of a star. Astronomers see a star and observe an emission line from which they can surmise the co-relation of the surface temperature with its colour. Generally we talk about 7 spectral types given as O,B,A, F,G,K,M. A useful mnemonics is Oh Be A fine girl And Kiss Me. I give below surface temperature, colour of each classes and a specimen star that goes with it.
   
   Class Surface Temperature (Kelvin) Colour Specimen
   O 30,000 to 50,000 Blue Alnitak
   B 10,000 to 30,000 Blue to White Rigel
   A 7,500 to 10,000 White Altair
   F 6,000 to 7,500 White to Yellow Pherkad
   G 5,000 to 6,000 Yellow Procyon
   K 3,500 to 5,000 Orange Altarf
   M Less than 3,000 Red Antares
   
   
   Each spectral class is further sub-divided into a scale of 0 to 9. For Example: the Sun is G2 star whereas Rigel is B8 star.
   
   
   
   
2. Luminosity: This is very much linked to Absolute Brightness. Luminosity stands for total brightness including the quantum of light and energy a star emits into the space, along with other aspects such as wavelengths and electro - magnetic radiation. Luminosity is given in Yerkes Class in Roman Numbers and was developed by the University of Chicago, Yerkes Observatory.
   Class Type
   I a Very luminous super giant
   I b Luminous super giant
   II Luminous giants
   III Giants
   IV Sub-giants
   V Dwarfs
   VI Sub-dwarfs
   VII White Dwarf
   
   Super giants are very large stars. Betelgeuse is an example. White dwarfs are smaller than our Earth. Sirius B and Ruiz are good examples.
   On the subject of spectrum there is one more thing must to be noted. Astronomers observe the line of emission carefully and describe peculiar details (if any) surrounding such line of emission. Usually, this peculiarity is given in lower case. The following are few of these:
   
   e for emission lines present
   k for intersteller absorption features
   m for enhanced metallic
   n for nebulous due to spinning
   p for peculiar
   q for red and blue lines present
   s for sharp absorption lines
   v for variable features
   w for weak lines
   
   
   Now you can read the notation of any star and find out what it means. Here are some examples:
   
   

• Deneb Adige, A2Iae : White 2 very luminous super giant, with emission lines present
• Castor, A2Vm : White 2 Dwarf with enhanced metallic
• Alpheratz, B8IVmnp : Light blue 8 sub-giant with enhanced metallic, nebulous due to spinning and peculiar emission

1. Light Year: Stars are too far away. Hence we use a system known of light years (l/y) to indicate their distance. A light year is the distance light travels in one year in a vacuum. It is estimated as a staggering 5,880,000 million miles. The closest star to our earth is Alpha Centauri C which is approximately 4.3 l/y away whereas. In contrast , Vega is about 25 l/y away.

1. Size of a star: This generally means the Radius of a star, which is presumed to be a function of luminosity and temperature. The radius of the Sun is 432,163 miles. The radius of Algenib is more than 2 million miles, which is about 4.5 times that of the sun. Hence we write it as "4.5 SolarR".
   
   

1. Mass of a star: This is arrived at after using the law of gravity. In order to attempt this analysis, we need to compare a star with its companion. Fortunately for us, majority of stars do have such companions. About half of the star population are binaries. Many others are double stars. The mass of stars vary in a scale from 0.08 of the Sun to more than 100 times of the Sun. For example, Mirzam has a mass of 15 times that of the Sun, conventionally written as "15M Sun".

1. Age of a star: The age of any star is just an estimate only. The Sun is approximately 4.5 billion years old. It has 5 Billion years left before its potential death as a star. Compared to this Alnitak is about 6 billion years old.
   
   
2. Companions: Stars like humans beings have never been single. They have relationship with one or more stars. Such relationship takes several forms:
   1. Double star: Two stars that appear to us on the earth as if close to each other. Acubens is a double star one is white and the other is red.
   2. Binary Star: A binary is two stars that rotate around a common centre. Alpha Centauri A & B are binaries
   3. Multiple star system: This consists of double stars or binaries or even ternary. There are two types. First, it may have physical relationship with a binary or a star that orbits it. Second, it may be an optical issue, that is we see them close to each other but there is no gravitational relationship established. Regulus is a multiple star system.

1. Variable stars: a star whose brightness varies regularly. This variation takes place once in few minutes or in months or in years. Algol for example varies every 2.9 days whereas Mira does so every 330 days.

1. Motion of a star: There are two types of motion.
   
   
   
   
2. Proper motion: Also known as Real Motion. All stars have motion in relation to each other in the space. Likewise our Milky Way also has motion. In fact the entire Universe and the Cosmos are in motion. We calculate proper motion of a star by observing its position over a period of time. Proper motion is generally given as units of arc second for year. The star with the fastest motion is Bernard's star with 10 seconds of arc per annum.
3. Radial motion: This motion relates to the position of the star to or from the Earth. Some stars proceed towards the earth. Example Mu Cassiopeia which approaches the Earth 61 miles per second. Many others move away from the earth. Aldebaran, for example, recedes from earth 30 miles per second.

1. Main Sequence star: This type of stars generates energy by converting hydrogen into helium at the core. Our Sun is a main sequence star. The hotter they are the brighter. Most of these are Dwarfs as per Yerkes classification given earlier. Those stars that are no longer main sequence stars are known as Post-main sequence stars. These stars burn helium and are at the end of their life span. After 5 billion years our Sun would also become a post-main sequence star before its eventual death.

Though there are so many other astronomical considerations, the above 12 items are the chief ones that need to be evaluated to find out the impact and influence of your Birth Star. 

Muthu Ashraff

Cosmic Adviser

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E-mail:    cosmicgems@gmail.com

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