rose!

Orion’s Belt

Three of the easiest stars to find in the night sky, visible from both Northern and Southern hemispheres, the 3 stars that make up the Belt of Orion make up one of the most important parts of our night sky, so much so, some scholars believe the Ancient Egyptians believed it was Heaven and tried to create it on Earth in the positioning of the Great Pyramids at Giza. Either way, the impact on our shared cultures and history, it also holds some of the most recognizable nebula.

At the top is Mintaka ( δ Orionis ), the dimmest and slightly offset of the 3. Mintaka is a beautiful system of 3 main stars, with two (type O and B) closely orbiting and a slight further out type B, there is additionally 2 other stars involved in the system much dimmer. O and B type stars live short lives, 100-250 million years at most. The name Mintaka is derived from the Arabic ( منطقة) meaning Belt.

Next we have Alnilam ( ε Orionis), is the most massive and brightest in the belt, despite being slightly further out at 2000 light years. It’s the only single system star in the Belt, a supergiant type B star 40 times the mass of our Sun, it will almost certainly go supernova when it’s hydrogen runs out. The name Alnilam is derived from the Arabic ( النظام) string of pearls. 

Finally, the brightest but closest of the stars in Orion’s belt, Alnitak ( ζ Orionis) is a 3 star system and the brightest of this System Aa is the brightest O type star in the sky, the other two companions B type stars. Alnitak is taken from Arabic ( النطاق) meaning the Girdle ! 

The nebula’s around the belt are sadly are not visible with the naked eye, but only just, and a stead arm with binoculars or a small telescope will reveal a very faint view (remember, most pictures are long exposures designed to capture as much light as possible, so don’t reflect what they look like when viewed through telescopes).

You are searching for energy. 

For a cheat code, for a pocket between the worlds, for how this is all possible. 

Of course, there are any number of perfectly reasonable explanations, many of which you have already found. But when have you really been a fan of reasonable? 

When have you looked for the simple answer? 

Today, I dare you. 

What kind of energy is strong enough to reach across thousands of years? When you think of a daffodil, whose name sits on your lips? 

What kind of energy can reach across thousands of miles? 

What kind of energy could, perhaps, even reach across worlds? 

Stories are magic in the alchemical sense, as in, they are transformative. You are not the person you were a week ago- in fact, I hardly recognize you. There’s a wildness in your eyes now, something that dares the world to come and play. There is a sharpness- you know how to take things apart, to reform them into a shape you recognize- or perhaps, one you don’t. You are a little emptier and a little freer, closer to a ghost and closer to a phoenix. One foot in this world and one in the next. 

And so, my little hunters, the clock is ticking. You have almost all you need now, but you will need to be brave: no monsters come your way, no, it is bigger than that. You will have to fight the years of weight of a world that has told you to be reasonable, to be grounded, to be tethered. If you want to understand what has happened here, you will have to look first at yourselves: 

What has changed, in the alchemy of your very bones? 

What have you, all of you, my army of unchained minds, done in this week? 

And, perhaps, if you were capable of that, what else are you capable of? 

You now have 24 hours: 

In that, you must answer 3 questions- this is a fairytale, after all. 

Where did Kennedy go? 

How did Kennedy get there?  

What have you really been looking for? 

- Nikita Gill

1.

Fly into the sun, defy anyone who tells you that you cannot love Him.

The ocean will break your fall. even if it is by drowning you.

(You knew he would burn you, Icarus you simply thought he was worth the risk)

2.

Get stolen by a God away from the meadows you once knew, wood nymph.

Become Queen of the Underworld. Turn the land of the dead into home.

(You knew didn’t you, Kore? How to survive you would become Persephone?)

3.

Turn yourself into an echo of the person you used to be, then fall in love with him.

And when he doesn’t notice you Instead falls in love with himself, pine away.

(Narcissus could never love you, dear Echo. Not the way he loved himself.)

4.

Become an indestructible monster. Become the thing that warriors speak of in hushed breaths in terror.

When you finally do die at someone’s hands make sure it is glorious.

(Theseus was the only end worthy of you, Minotaur.)

5.

When the Sea God assaults you, turn people into stone. Turn Gods into stone.

Turn anything that threatens you ever again into stone.

(Medusa, Athena turned you monster to protect you. She took your beauty to give you power.)

6.

Adore her so much that the world grieves with your broken heart’s song.

Almost save her from the Underworld. Almost.

(Orpheus, all you had to do was not turn to look at her.)

7.

Marry a God King.

Watch him betray you over and over again. Become bitter and cruel.

Recognise he will never respect you. Promise to make him suffer till he does.

(Hera, I know why you couldn’t leave him, it was all for love, it was all for love)

8.

Become an undefeated warrior in a war where you lose everything you love.

Even the one you love most of all. Don’t realise it. Keep fighting.

(Achilles, Patroclus’ love would have made you immortal anyway.)

9.

Be unhappy in your marriage. Find a dangerous Prince who promises you a real love.

Run away with him

Do not think of the consequences.

(Helen, you didn’t just launch a thousand ships you set kingdoms ablaze.)

10.

Destroy everyone you love in a murderous rage.

Go on a journey hoping it will kill you

(Hercules tell the truth, you hoped those tasks would be your destruction didn’t you?)

Addendum:

Don’t become a myth. Stay human.

Stay mortal.

It is less wounds.

The Curious Case of the Cold Quasar

Quasar’s are the most powerful known objects in our universe, they can give off up to 100,000 more energy than our entire Milky Way. 

The cause of this are supermassive black holes, similar to the one at the centre of our galaxy, but far larger and more importantly, constantly feeding on gas, dust, stars and anything else that falls within its grasp.

Most Quasars exist in Elliptical Galaxies, in fact, the theory states they are the cause of the Elliptical galaxy, a galaxy where star birth has long since stopped, leaving a bright orb of stars with no obvious dust or gas lanes or arms as is common in Spiral galaxies

As the supermassive blackhole grows, it begins to interact with more and more of the galaxy, heating up the gas which then hinders the process of star formation, so much so, it stops it completely. 

QC 4479 is a Quasar galaxy 4.5 billion light years from Earth however seems to be bucking this trend, it has a very bright quasar at the centre, but also still seems to be generating a large amount of star birth. 

Researchers believe the galaxy has entered a quiet period, the gas and dust that has been feeding it has temporarily reduced significantly, and so the heating process has reversed and cold hydrogen source has restarted the star birth process again, rather like a mid-life crisis before the process returns and then snubs out the final star birthing process.

Source : https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/11/201130113555.htm

bo: don’t stab them