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.

Welcome Home essays

Welcome Home essays Nikki Yolande Giovanni is one of Americas most recent poets who gained fame as a writer during the 1060s. Nikki Giovanni, better known as the poet of the people wrote in hopes of influencing the Civil Rights Movement and the womens movement. Later on in her writing career, her areas of writing spread to politics and childrens books, allowing a greater audience to relate to what she had to say. Her African-American heritage has greatly influenced her writing, leading her to be one of the most widely read poets of today. She was not an author who wrote to entertain, but rather an author who wanted her voice to be heard. Before Nikkis birth, Nikkis family had to flee their home in Albany, Georgia to Knoxville, Tennessee in order to flee persecution by whites because of something her grandmother had said. She went to school in a segregated school for girls. Nikki played small roles in the Civil Rights Movement by doing small things as marching with other blacks to protest a recent hate crime. In reading Nikki Giovanni's, Love Poems, I felt that she has been tricked or mistreated with men in her lifetime. But on the other hand, I believe she was also in love. Her poems inspire young people to watch who they are dating and what could happen while being with someone special. Giovanni talks about things that could lead up to sexual intercourse, also. However, men in her life may have cheated and lied to her. In addition, maybe she was deeply in love with a man that just did not treat her like a woman. In one way or another, Giovanni is smart, straight to the point and has emotionally candid poems. But she turns somber and reflective as she expresses the love at a daughter and mother, and how a woman's deep down love for a man that far outlasts the giddy romp of romance. Donna Seaman from Booklist states, "Giovanni is one of ...