Boötes+-+Evan+Langlois

Evan Langlois Adkins Astronomy April 30, 2015 __Boötes: The Herdsman __  Boötes, also known as “The Herdsman”, is a constellation located in the third quadrant of the Northern Hemisphere and belongs to the Ursa Major family of constellations. It occupies 907 square degrees in the sky, making it the 13th largest constellation, and it can be seen at latitudes between 90° and -50°. The best time to view Boötes is in June at around 9 pm. It was first documented in the 2nd century by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy. It got its title from a Greek word meaning “plowman” or “herdsman” hence the nickname it still has today. The Greeks once called the constellation Arctophylax which translates as “bear-watcher” or “bear keeper”. Typically, Boötes is seen as a herdsman holding a staff, with two dogs on leashes that are believed to be chasing Ursa Major around the pole.  While the actual origin of the name is uncertain, Boötes is involved in many different myths and legends. In one myth the constellation is viewed as a ploughman who continuously drove his oxen that were tied to the polar axis. In other words, Boötes’ responsibility, according to this belief, was to keep the skies rotating. Another myth associates Boötes with Atlas due to the arms positioning, and how close they are to the pole star. The reason the Greeks once called it Arctophylax, or “bear-watcher”, was because of another myth that there was a man named Arcas who was the son of Zeus and Callisto. Zeus’ wife Hera got jealous and turned Callisto into a bear. Arcas saw the bear in the forest and chased it not knowing that it was his transformed mother. Callisto was able to escape and hid in a temple that was not to be dishonored under the punishment of death. Zeus then decided to place Callisto in the sky with her son so she became Ursa Major and Arcas became Boötes. Another Greek legend viewed Boötes as Icarius, who was a grape grower that the God Dionysus had educated in wine making. The story goes that Icarius had made some wine for his friends that had gotten them so intoxicated they thought he had poisoned them so they killed him. Icarius’ dog, Maera, then went and found Icarius’ daughter, Erigone, and brought her to the body. She was so distraught by the death of her father that she hanged herself and his dog passed away from grief shortly after. Zeus then decided to turn them all into constellations making Icarius into Boötes, Erigone into Virgo, and Maera into Canis Major or Canis Minor depending on the source of the story. It is believed by some that Boötes is one of the most ancient constellations in the sky. Even the Greeks themselves were unsure of its history. The first recorded mention of Boötes was by Homer in The Odyssey.  Boötes’ most significant star is Arcturis, also known as alpha Boötis, which is the fourth brightest star in the sky. The orange giant Arcturus is just over 36 light years away and is over 100 times more luminous than our sun. The proper motion of the star is larger than that of any other first magnitude star, other than alpha Centauri. The name Arcturus is derived from the Greek word “Arktouros” which translates to “guardian of the bear”. In Greek mythology Zeus specifically placed this star in the sky in order to give protection from the Goddess Hera’s jealousy towards Callisto and Arcas, hence the bear reference in its name. The Greeks also believed this orange giant was able to foreshadow turbulent weather. This star also holds great importance in many other cultures. Some cultures view this star as heavenly and have given it names like Azimech, Arimec, and Haris-el-sema which all roughly translate to “the keeper of Heaven”. In Hawaii it is considered the zenith star, and the ancient Polynesian sailors named it Hokulea, which means the “star of joy”. The Chinese also have their own name and meaning for it, calling it Da Jiou which means “great horn”. The ancient people of the Thule culture that emerged from Alaska called this star “the Old Man”.  This constellation being as large as it is holds many other stars as well, none of which though hold as much significance as Arcturis. Some of the more well-known stars are Beta Boötis, also known as Nekkar which means “cattle driver”, is over 200 lights years away and is a yellow G-type giant. Gamma Boötis, also called Seginus, has an apparent magnitude between 3.02 and 3.07 and is a Delta Scuti type variable star. Epsilon Boötis, or Izar meaning “veil”, is composed of an orange giant and a main sequence star making it a binary star. Eta Boötis, sometimes called Saak and Murphid which means “the single one of the lancer” is the closest star to Arcturus than all the others and is a spectroscopic binary which has a notable excess of elements that are heavier than hydrogen. Mu Boötis, which also goes by Alkalurops which translates as “shepherd’s staff, has a yellow-white F-type sub-giant as its primary component and is a triple star system. The last of the more significant stars is Kappa Boötis, which is also called Asellus Tertius which means “third donkey cult”, and this star has a binary system for a primary component and a Delta Scuti type variable star as its companion. Since Boötes is part of the Ursa Major family of constellations it is joined by Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Canes Venetici, Corona Borealis, Coma Berenices, Camelopardalis, Leo Minor, Draco, and Lynx. **__Bibliography __** 1. "Bootes." Constellation on Top Astronomer. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 May 2015. . 2. Author Uri. "Boötes Constellation." Constellation Guide. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 May 2015. . 3. Ridpath, Ian. "Star Tales – Boötes." Star Tales – Boötes. Ian Ridpath, n.d. Web. 05 May 2015. . <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">4. "Boötes." Boötes. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 May 2015. <http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/constellations/Bootes.html>. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">5. Digest, Chandra. "Chandra :: Photo Album :: Constellation Boötes." Chandra :: Photo Album :: Constellation Boötes. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 2 Dec. 2013. Web. 05 May 2015. <http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/constellations/bootes.html>.