For sentimental reasons, my favorite star is Thuban. By no means the brightest star in the sky, Thuban is the third, and brightest, star of the constellation Draco, the dragon, third star from the end – on the tail. In fact, Thuban is one of the dimmest named stars in the sky. But looks, and positions of importance on the tail, can be deceiving! Because our planet, and this is my favorite part, actually wobbles on it’s axis. It suffers from a phenomenon called “gyroscopic precession, the slow movement of the axis of a spinning body around another axis due to torque. Because of this, from about 3000 to 1900 BC, Thuban was the closest to the North Pole. It was our polestar. Until it was replaced by Kochab, which held court until 1100 BC when our current polestar, Polaris, in the Little Dipper, took over. However, sassy little Thuban sat north during the times of the Ancient Egyptians. Astronomers discovered that apparent air shafts that bore out from burial chambers inside the Great Pyramid actually pointed to Thuban on one side, and the belt of Orion on the other.
Thuban’s time of importance is not over. The earth continues to wobble on it’s axis, true north will continue to shift and everything changes. By AD 12,000 our polestar will be Vega, of the constellation Lyra. And right behind it, Thuban will be waiting in the wings, ready to take over again, the dimmest named star in the sky, third star from the end of the dragon tail.
Wow. A. You are up late. B. That was a very educational post.
Ok, I had no clue that the North Star changed. I knew about the whole wobble (I blame that instead of the bourbon for my wobble), but it never occurred to me the implications.
Can you imagine the early scientist who did not know about the wobble, looking up that shaft and saying “Why the hell is THAT start so great?”
i learned about Thuban while accompanying Mr. Moon to the planetarium for an astronomy class of his many many years ago. For some reason, I just really liked the idea of this dim star being our North Star, and waiting n line to be so again.
“That was very educational” = my exact thought.
That’s not bad, or anything. I don’t even know enought stars to have a favourite star. But I do have a favourite star story.
My high school boyfriend and I were desperately trying to facilitate necking on a starry night many years ago. Looking into the heavens, he intoned: “Look at the marvellous constellations,” and reached around my back with him arm.
“Ah yes,” I hedged. “Such as…the Big Dipper over there.”
“Isn’t that the Little Dipper?” Hand moved upward.
“Uh. Well. Hmmm.”
“Forget it.”
That’s about as far as my astronomy got.
Hi. First time visiting your blog. Your vivid dreams, and Thuban. You have officially pole-vaulted to the upper limits of my esteem. Very cool post.