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How did stars affect human history?

How stars have affected the sailors

How stars affect sailors

What the stars mean

What the stars mean

The stars have an enlightening effect on the sailors. Sailors have utilized the stars as a source of navigation since the ancient period. There are now 58 officially certified navigational stars in use. Rigel, Betelgeuse, Bellatrix, Vega, Arcturus, Antares, and a few others are among them. The first 19 stars are magnitude 1, while the remaining 38 are magnitude 2, and Polaris, the current north pole star, is also included in this phenomenal star group. Even the Greeks, Romans, Arabs, and Babylonians were aware of several of them, and they used them for navigation. Polaris, the north pole star, is probably the most well-known navigational star. This star has long been used as a reliable north compass. It's worth noting that the north pole star isn't always the same, when stars travel closer to the north celestial pole, they are given this title once every hundred years.

How sailors used the stars for navigation

How sailors used the stars for navigation

Sailors may determine their direction of travel based on the location of particular stars in the sky. Early navigators used the North Star as a guiding tool. When the sun set, sailors would often use these stars as navigation systems. These celestial objects would appear to migrate across the sky from east to west and would be separated into rising and setting stars. They'd all start their journey below the horizon. Sailors would chart their path by analyzing their own movement in the same way that the Sun's movement was studied. They would trace the progress of these bright stars by measuring their height. Sailors needed stars as well because their visibility varied with the seasons. Due to Earth's movement, some stars would fade away, while others would shine and take their place.

How stars have affected ancient beliefs

How stars affect ancient beliefs

Myths behind the stars

Myths behind the stars

Many societies have included stars in their myths and religions throughout history because they hold great significance for them. The Babylonians may have been the first society to divide the sky into regions and keep track of and interpret the positions of celestial bodies. Every constellation of stars has been linked to a myth, and this is still the case today. The constellation Ursa Major, for example, is linked to the legend of Princess Callisto and the goddess Artemis.

Pyramids facing stars for dead pharaohs

Pyramids facing stars for dead pharaohs

Egyptians built pyramids and temples facing north because they believed their pharaohs died and became stars in the northern sky. The pyramids were built pointing directly north, toward the "indestructible" stars, to ensure that a king would join the circumpolar stars. They believed that aligning the pyramids toward the north provided direct access to the northern sky for the dead pharaohs. The celestial pole that sat immediately between them was around 10 degrees away from each of the two stars. Astronomers could detect a line that headed directly north when one star was directly above the other in the sky. Around 2,500 B.C., that alignment was only true for a few years.

How stars have affected human history

How the stars have affected human history

According to my research stars are the most fundamental objects in the universe. In fact, we can't talk about navigation, spirituality, or even our own bodies without them since they're so essential and important to humanity. Early astronomers divided the stars into groups, which they later used to follow the Sun's and planet's movements. The movements of the stars over the course of a year assisted them in creating the first accurate calendars, which allowed people to know when to plant fields and when to harvest.

What could have been different

How life could have been different

If there were no stars, all humans would be exposed to cosmic radiation that falls from the atmosphere due to -100 degree temperatures. Sailors would have had a difficult time following directions in the past because there would have been no stars to follow. This would result in a lot of communication misunderstandings and lead to being lost. The pyramids and temples would not have faced the stars because, first, there would have been no stars, and second, they would not have thought that their pharaohs would become stars once they died.

Resources

Bibliography

1. https://nightskynerd.com/stars-useful/

2. https://www.formulaboats.com/blog/history-of-navigation-at-sea/#:~:text=Sailors%20measured%20the%20height%20of,the%20year%20in%20each%20hemisphere.

3. https://www2.nau.edu/~gaud/bio301/content/erlast.htm#:~:text=Early%20Interpretation%20and%20Belief%3A,toward%20the%20%22indestructible%22%20stars.

4. https://www.universetoday.com/25156/history-of-stars/

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