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Aldebaran, the Fiery Orange-Red Eye of a Starry Bull

Aldebaran, the Fiery Orange-Red Eye of a Starry Bull Behind every star in the sky is a fascinating origin tale. Just as the Sun does, they shine by burning fuel in their cores and giving off light. And, like the Sun, many have their planets. All were born in a cloud of gas and dust millions or billions of years ago. And, eventually, all stars grow old and evolve. Thats whats happening to Aldebaran, a star that is practically a neighbor to our own star, the Sun, at 65 light-years distance. Youve probably seen Aldebaran in the constellation Taurus (which is visible to us at night from about October through March each year). Its the reddish-orange star at the top of the V-shaped face of the Bull. Observers in ancient times saw it as many things. The name Aldebaran is from the Arabic word for follower, and it does seem to follow along as the Pleiades star cluster rises higher in the sky late in the year. For the Greeks and Romans it was the eye or the heart of the bull. In India, it represented an astronomical house, and portrayed it a deitys daughter. Others around the world have associated it with the season to come, or even as an aid to the Pleiades (who, in some cultures, were seven women in the sky).   Observing Aldebaran The star itself is fairly easy to spot, particularly beginning in the evening skies of October each year. It also presents a remarkable  experience for skygazers patient enough to wait for it: an occultation. Aldebaran lies close to the ecliptic, which is the imaginary line along which the planets and Moon appear to move as seen from Earth. Occasionally, the Moon will slide between Earth and Aldebaran, essentially occulting it. The event is visible from northern hemisphere locations in the early autumn. Observers with a keen interest in watching it happen  through a telescope can see a detailed   view of the lunar surface  as the star slips slowly behind the Moon and then reappear a short time later. Why Is it in a Vee of Stars? Aldebaran looks like its part of a cluster of stars called the Hyades. This is a V-shaped moving association of stars that lies much farther away from us than Aldebaran does, at a distance of about 153 light-years. Aldebaran happens to lie in the line of sight between Earth and the cluster, so it appears to be part of the cluster. The Hyades themselves are fairly young stars, about 600 million years old. Theyre moving together through the galaxy and in a billion years or so, the stars will have evolved and grown older and scattered apart from each other. Aldebaran will have moved from its position, too, so future observers will no longer see an angry red eye at the top of a vee-shaped swarm of stars. What is Aldebarans Status? Technically speaking Aldebaran is a star that has stopped fusing hydrogen in its core (all stars do this at some point in their lives)  and is now fusing it in a shell of plasma surrounding the core. The core itself is made of helium and collapsed in on itself, sending the temperature and pressure soaring. That heats up the outer layers, causing them to swell. Aldebaran has puffed out so much that its now nearly 45 times the size of the Sun, and is now a red giant. It varies slightly in its brightness, and is slowly blowing its mass out to space. Aldebarans Future In the very distant future, Aldebaran may experience something called a helium flash in its future. This will happen if the core (which is made of helium atoms) gets so densely packed that helium starts trying to fuse to make carbon. The temperature of the core has to be at least 100,000,000 degrees before this will happen, and when it gets that hot, almost all the helium will fuse at once, in a flash. After that, Aldebaran will start to cool and shrink, losing its red giant status. The outer layers of the atmosphere will puff away, forming a glowing cloud of gas that astronomers refer to as a planetary nebula. This wont happen any time soon, but when it does, Aldebaran will, for a short time, glow even more brightly than it does now. Then, it will dim down, and fade slowly away.

Sports logo Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Sports logo - Essay Example It was established 54 years ago, and the present-day sports logo of the team did not undergo significant changes since then. Today Minnesota Vikings looks a little bit different from what it used to be in 1961, when the team was founded under its present name. However, the image of a Norseman or Viking, which is a core symbol of the team, has left untouched with minor changes being introduced since the day one of its existence. It was altered first in 1965, when the face of the Norseman was turned from left to right and new colors were added, not mention the slight change of the size of the image. The next time it was upgraded in 2013, when the shape of two horns on the helmet of the Norseman were slightly changed, as well as facial features that became a little bit more sharpened than before. The dominant colors of the present-day Minnesota Vikings sports logo are yellow, purple or velvet and white. The hair and the helmet of the Norseman are of yellow color, while the horns on the helmet are white with black tips. There is a velvet string on the helmet, which contrasts the dominant color wheel of the image to a certain extent. The gradation of direction of the image, obviously, aims at adding movement to the Norsemans shape. The oblique lines of the face might suggest the readiness for action; while a horizontal line that is seen in Norsemans helmet might suggest stability, which symbolizes self-confidence. The texture of the image is hard and rough. The sports logo containing the image of a Viking as a symbol of a Minneapolis football team was first used in 1960. The owners of the newly created American football team, Minnesota Vikings, decided to use this very logo as the image of a team mainly because Minnesota is a state being famous nationwide for a large portion of American population originated from Scandinavian countries. In fact, almost ten million