Olbers’ Paradox and Black Holes

Unless you are blind, it’s obvious to the rest of us that there is quite a difference between daytime and night-time. At night, the sky is dark! Why? Well, it’s obviously dark at night because the Sun isn’t shining in our night sky – wrong answer. In fact, if you stop to think about it, the night sky should be as bright as the daytime sky. That it’s not means there’s a paradox, usually referred to as Olbers’ Paradox (after German astronomer Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers). Resolutions have been around for yonks; I introduce another one here. 

Olbers’ Paradox: Why is the night sky dark? In our vast Universe, assuming it is static and infinite in space and time, with an infinite number of stars (or galaxies or some sort of radiating objects) in it, it would seem that no matter in what direction you looked, sooner or later your line of sight would intersect or intercept a star or galaxy or some sort of radiating object. Thus, the night sky should be as close to infinitely bright as makes no odds. Of course you know and I know that’s not the case. 

Perhaps there are massive interstellar clouds of gas and dust which, like window blinds blocking out sunlight, block out the stars, galaxies and related. Trouble is, you can only absorb radiation for just so long before the substance doing the absorption can’t absorb any more before reradiating it. Your window blinds eventually feel the heat and you will too when you touch them. However, there’s one exception to that rule and the point of this revisitation – see below.

The most logical resolution to the paradox is that there’s only a finite number of radiating objects out there and thus our line of sight could extend out to infinity and not intersect or intercept any radiating objects.

Then too, our Universe is expanding and therefore many astronomical objects (distant galaxies mainly) exhibit Doppler Effect red-shifts. This is just the Doppler Effect for an emitter of light that’s receding from us as opposed to the more familiar shift in sound to lower frequencies such as a train blowing its whistle drops in pitch as it passes and recedes away from us: same principle. Anyway, their visible light is red-shifted into the infrared which we can’t see and so therefore our line of sight assumes there’s nothing there. Two problems: firstly that just substitutes heat for light so the sky should be hot; secondly, radiation at shorter wavelengths than visible light, like ultraviolet, should be red-shifted down into the visible range.

Since our Universe is expanding, maybe the light from vastly distant objects hasn’t had time yet to reach our eyeballs and telescopes, so we can’t yet intersect or intercept their light. In fact, over time, because our Universe is expanding, distant cosmic objects are constantly slipping beyond and over our observable horizon, just like a ship at sea sailing away from us disappears over the observable horizon.

The Exception to the Rule: Here’s my new explanation, which is a supplement, not a substitute, in explaining the paradox. It’s a variation on those massive interstellar clouds of gas and dust which block out the stars, galaxies and related. In our Universe there are two kinds of astronomical objects. There are cosmic faucets like stars and anything else that gives off or reflects electromagnetic (EM) waves. That’s the cosmic “In Tray”. Then there are cosmic sinks and drains that absorb electromagnetic waves – Black Holes, the cosmic “Out Tray”.

It would seem to me that over the course of 13.7 billion years, an awful lot of EM (light, IR, UV, radio, microwave, gamma-ray, etc.) photons, not to mention neutrinos and cosmic rays, would have gobbled up and removed from the Universe’s inventory by being sucked into and forever residing in the insides of Black Holes. Since all astronomical observations, hence conclusions about the state of the Universe, rely on the detection of that which is emitted or reflected by cosmic faucets, then it stands to reason that in order to arrive at valid conclusions, what cosmic sinks and drains remove from the Big EM Picture must be taken into account. But is it? I’ve never read any account where the removal of EM photons from the Universe’s inventory has been considered. Maybe I haven’t read widely enough – maybe. 

One example that springs to mind of the possible significance of Black Holes is the minor temperature variations in the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR), that leftover heat from the Big Bang event 13.7 billion years ago – perhaps those slightly cooler spots in the CMBR are due to large Black Holes between our measuring devices and the CMBR that is sucking up those CMBR microwaves before they reach our measuring telescope or space probe or high altitude balloon. I seem to recall cosmologist George Gamow back in the 1940’s making a theoretical prediction that the (then undetected) CMBR would be somewhere between 5 to 7 degrees Kelvin, instead of the roughly 2.7 degrees Kelvin that eventuated. Perhaps, the overall cooler CMBR was due to Black Holes sucking up lots of those CMBR photons over all those billions of years.

So another reason why the night sky is dark is because in many cases when you look outwards, you intersect or intercept a Black Hole in your line of sight that’s between you and some sort of cosmic faucet further on.

Some Bits & Pieces That Are Out of This World

Orion’s Belt: It consists of the three bright stars Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintake The stars are more or less evenly spaced in a straight line, and so can be visualized as a belt. For some mysterious reason, several archaeological sites exhibit or mirror the positions of the trilogy of stars that make up the Belt of Orion. The most famous is the trilogy of those massive ancient Egyptian pyramids on the Giza plateau. The second is seen at Teotihuacán’s central pyramid complex in Mexico. The third is a trilogy of Hopi Mesas in Arizona. Okay, Orion’s Belt, that trilogy of stars, is fairly prominent in the night sky, but then too so is a lot of other star patterns. What makes these special to our ancient ancestors? A big deal of this is made by ‘ancient astronaut’ theorists. Somehow that trilogy of stars must be special, like perhaps home turf to ET. Alas, that doesn’t seem all that plausible. Alnitak (Zeta Orionis), Alnilam (Epsilon Orionis) and Mintake (Delta Orionis) are very bright stars (to the naked eye), but they are also very, very far away. That alone suggests that they are very un-Sun like. Alnitak is 736 light-years away and 100,000 times our Sun’s luminosity; Alnilam is 1340 light-years distant and 375,000 times as luminous as our Sun; and Mintake is 915 light-years away as the crow flies and is a whopping 900,000 times the Sun’s luminosity. Mintaka is also a double star system. Translated, the trio of stars that make up Orion’s Belt don’t seem to be likely candidates for extraterrestrials that would come a-calling as ‘ancient astronauts’. I very much doubt SETI scientists would target these stars as likely candidates to point their radio telescopes at.

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There’s nothing too controversial about the idea that other universes in a Multiverse could have differing laws, relationships and principles of physics than our own. It’s one way of explaining why our Universe is a Goldilocks Universe. If you have billions and billions of universes each with a unique or differing set of laws, relationships and principles of physics, well probability suggests that one universe should just right for life – a Goldilocks Universe. Since we can only exist inside a Goldilocks Universe, well that explains that. But what if the laws, relationships and principles of physics in our Universe changed over time, or over space, or both! Then it’s probably time to turn out the lights, shut and lock the lab door and go home. It’s time to find a new career. But amazingly, there is (controversial) evidence that that is just that. Physical constants aren’t. 

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If whatever powers-that-be are simulating our universe, then they could be simulating others as well – a simulated Multiverse! And each and every simulated universe of that Multiverse could have simulated parallel universes. That’s a simulated Megaverse!

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One of the 64,000 $64,000 questions: Can you pour stuff down a Black Hole indefinitely, or does the Black Hole have a finite capacity and ultimately or eventually will have to spew stuff out the ‘other side’ (i.e. – producing a White Hole) as you keep pouring in more and more and more? I’d wager the conservation relationships and principles of physics and chemistry hold sway here. What goes in ultimately comes out. That doesn’t mean there’s not a temporary holding vessel. Or, in more human terms, you fill what’s empty; you empty what’s full, but in-between those two there’s storage in the stomach and the intestines; the lungs and the bladder.

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What lies at the heart of a Black Hole? The traditional answer is a ‘singularity’ – a point of (near) infinite density and (close to) zero volume, matter crushed down to the final, ultimate limit – or maybe not.

Start with a hunk of matter. Keep on keeping on adding more and more and more matter (mass) to it. Your original hunk grows larger, ever denser; its gravity swells in proportion. Finally it’s just a fraction away from achieving Black Hole status – meaning its gravity is so strong not even light can escape from its grasp.

So you are a thimbleful of salt away from crossing the not-quite-yet a Black Hole to an actual Black Hole boundary. You can (barely) still see your now super-sized hunk of stuff. Now toss in that final thimbleful of stuff onto the hunk. No light now reaches you – you’ve crossed the threshold or boundary and have got a Black Hole. But do you doubt that lurking on the other side of the not-quite-yet a Black Hole to an actual Black Hole boundary, though unseen, you still have that super-sized hunk of stuff, not a singularity, but a really real solid 3-D hunk of stuff? Or, in other words, if the escape velocity of your hunk is 185,999 miles per second, no Black Hole and no singularity, but if it climbs to 186,001 miles per second you have a Black Hole and your hunk morphs into a singularity? A two mile a second difference makes that much difference? I don’t think so.

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You are all no doubt well aware of the General Theory of Relativity which holds that light (in a pure vacuum) always travels at constant velocity (300,000 km/sec), no matter what frame of reference you are viewing that light in – totally contrary to experience and expectations, but true nevertheless. That translates into length and mass and rate-of-change (time) all being variables, variations depending on what frame of reference you are in. Light of course is one manifestation of the electromagnetic force. That suggests to me that magnetism must also propagate at 300,000 km/sec. Two north magnetic poles or one north and one south magnetic pole, suddenly brought into existence, 300,000 km apart, won’t feel any mutual repulsion or attraction respectfully until one-half of one second after-the-fact, when the two forces meet in the middle and start doing their thing.

But that constant speed of a force, must equally apply to gravity. If the Sun were to suddenly in a split of a split of a split second vanish, it would be eight minutes before Planet Earth would be rudderless, or rather orbitless. No matter what your frame of reference, you’d ‘see’ gravity propagate outwards at 300,000 km/sec. The same must apply to ‘dark energy’, that anti-gravity force. I imagine the same would apply to the propagation of the strong and the week nuclear force as well.

Of course one cannot turn on and turn off gravity (or the strong and weak nuclear forces) like you can a light (or radio, UV, IR, etc.) beam or magnetic field, which is a bit of a bummer in testing the relativistic properties of a gravity beam.

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Gravity; it’s what holds you firmly to Terra Firma. If I ask you what holds you firmly to Terra Firma you’d answer “gravity”. But if then asked to explain exactly what it is and how it works you’d be stumped. Giving the Newtonian equations makes predictions but doesn’t give explanations.

However, there are two explanations for gravity if I read the textbooks correctly.

Gravity Is Just Another Force: Firstly, there are in this worldview four fundamental forces: the electromagnetic force, the strong and weak nuclear forces, and gravity. Forces have accompanying elementary particles witch convey the force. In the case of the electromagnetic force, the particle is the photon. The particle associated with gravity has been dubbed the graviton. Unfortunately, it has never (to date) been detected. Now the central issue here is try as they might, physicists cannot unify the four forces into one whole, called a Theory of Everything or TOE*. Since everything should be related to everything else, gravity should be, if not a brother or sister to the other three force-related siblings, at least a kissing cousin. Alas, it’s an unrelated hermit that wants no ancestry with the other three.

Gravity Is Just the Geometry of Space-Time: The second is that mass ‘tells’ space-time how to warp, and warped space-time ‘tells’ mass how to move – seemingly experimentally verified more than several times over. The movement of mass in warped space-time is what we interpret as the ‘force of gravity’, but gravity is actually the actions of mass moving in space-time geometry. If gravity is just geometry and mass deviates from the straight and narrow path because lots of other mass has warped space-time from the flatland Great Plains to the peaks and valleys of the space-time Rockies, then there’s no apparent need or reason that I can see to unify gravity with the other forces and their particles. There is no graviton. If there is no causality link with the other three (quantum level) forces, there’s no need for a TOE. There’s no need to reconcile the 98 pound of weakling gravity with the Atlas physiques of electromagnetism, etc. 

Gravity is highly anomalous. Apart from the fact that gravity is the 98 pound weakling of all the forces (you can pull a paperclip up into the air with just a tiny magnet even though the entire Planet Earth’s gravity is tugging back); and that the graviton hasn’t been spotted anywhere, anytime, anyhow; and that TOE is a no-go; but lastly there are those cosmic twin anomalies, Dark Matter and Dark Energy.

We can’t see, or even detect directly, 96% of the Universe! We have no idea what 96% of the Universe is composed of. If that’s not anomalous, I don’t know what is. Both however have revealed themselves indirectly via their gravity (in the case of Dark Matter) or their antigravity (in the case of Dark Energy). Some of that ‘missing’ part of the Universe is matter of unknown composition, but like all good matter, has gravity. It’s the gravitational effect on matter we can see that gives the game away. Some more (way more) of that ‘missing’ part of the cosmos is Dark Energy which is that unknown stuff which is accelerating the expansion rate of the Universe and if that’s not anomalous, I don’t know what is since by rights the expansion rate of the Universe should be decelerating under the force of gravity. The fact that it’s accelerating suggests that Dark Energy is a form of antigravity, a repulsive force driving things apart at ever faster and faster rates. Though antigravity is really outside the accepted realm of physics (though not sci-fi), there is a symmetrical parallel with the electromagnetic force, which is both attractive like gravity (north pole to south pole) and repulsive (north pole to north pole, or south pole to south pole).

So, gravitational anomalies abound.

*The exception is that the highly theoretical (read purely mathematical) String Theory, Superstring Theory or M-Theory can produce a TOE. The downside is that it takes a whole potful of highly theoretical (read purely mathematical) extra dimensions of which we have no awareness of and can’t (yet) detect. That’s just a bit too ad hoc for me, though many a theoretical physicist goes to sleep by counting their strings instead of their sheep.

UFOs: The Stellar Rainbow Connection: Part Two

It’s pretty much common knowledge that most scientists reject the reality of UFOs, at least in terms of UFOs being something ultimately anomalous, like extraterrestrial spaceships. Eyewitness testimony doesn’t cut their mustard. Photographs don’t hack it. What they demand is something nuts-and-bolts that they can study, put under a microscope, pound with a hammer, pour acid on, etc. No actual body on the lab’s slab equals no actual evidence one can study therefore there is no reality to the nonexistent body and no correspondence will be entered into on the matter. I smell a double-standard rat!

Continued from yesterday’s blog…

If you say you’ve seen a rainbow, you can’t prove that to me since you can’t bring the rainbow, or any part of it (like say the associated pot-of-gold), into my lab and place it on the slab for me to hammer away at or put under the microscope. You obviously believe in the reality of rainbows, yet you can’t put the one you see in the sky on your lab’s slab either. Okay, you know and I know that rainbows exist, but the critical point is that you cannot prove to me (or anyone) that you saw a rainbow. We all know eyewitness testimony, ain’t worth the price of spit in a bucket. As for photographs, being the grand skeptic I am, no doubt your photographs of rainbows are fakes, pure and simple. I REQUIRE PROOF of rainbows and you can’t provide it.

Can you capture and put an actual rainbow in the sky into a laboratory environment and subject it to cruel and unusual punishments?  You can artificially create one in the lab, but that’s not quite the same thing – it’s not the real McCoy. And what about that associated physical trace – the pot-of-gold at the end of the rainbow? I’ve yet to read of any laboratory analysis of that pot and that gold. How do we know it’s really gold without slab-in-the-lab analysis? Maybe its fool’s gold! And just like Pandora’s ‘box’ is really a jar and not a box, maybe the ‘pot’ is really a bowl! Of course the scientists can’t quite get at the pot-of-gold since it’s guarded by a leprechaun, and no scientist is going to admit being thwarted by a little green man (or abducted by a little grey one either for that matter).

Okay, I would be foolish not to believe your observation and to deny the reality of rainbows, yet its okay for scientific skeptics to ignore the rainbow parallel when it comes to UFOs. Eyewitness testimony regarding UFO sightings isn’t worth the cost of the paper it’s printed on; photographs of UFOs are indeed pure Photoshop fakery.

But in fact, UFOs offer up way more physical evidence than the rainbow. Despite that pot-of-gold at the end of a rainbow legend, rainbows leave behind no physical traces; no physiological effects, and no electromagnetic effects; they make no sounds, etc. UFOs are not so hampered. So, if crunch-comes-crunch, the reality of UFOs have a lot more going for them in terms of physical evidence than the reality of rainbows. Of course no scientist in their right mind would exhibit scepticism of the existence of rainbows even without any physical evidence backing them up, but when it comes to UFOs, that’s a different horse of another colour – but is it really a different horse, and is it really of a different hue?

Of course one reason physical scientists accept the reality of the rainbow is that they’ve seen one themselves (many most likely) and seeing is believing as long as it’s they who are doing the seeing. If they themselves had witnessed a UFO event they (and their colleagues) could not identify then I’m sure they would be much more open and inclined to accept another’s eyewitness testimony. A bit of a double standard there of course but that’s human nature and scientists aren’t exempt from that weakness. Unfortunately, UFOs tend to be a rarer commodity than rainbows and therefore witnessed way less often, including viewings by scientists. 

While UFOs have a higher physical evidence quota than rainbows, they also have a higher strangeness quota too, which is not to say that rainbows don’t have a strange mythological aura about them. I wonder if the scientist who accepts the reality of the rainbow also accepts that the rainbow is a bridge to heaven (Asgard) according to Norse mythology and made famous in the conclusion to Richard Wagner’s first “Ring Cycle” opera “Das Rheingold”. Christian mythology has the rainbow as a sign that at least the next time God lays waste to the world it won’t be via the Big Wet, though I doubt you’ll find that in any textbook on optical and atmospheric phenomena. And if you’re into cryptozoology, the Australian aborigines have a Rainbow Serpent (which doubles as a creator deity), but then again, scientists aren’t noted for their curiosity into the actual existence of unknown mega-fauna or polytheistic creator deities** either for that matter. In fact, you name the culture; you’ll find a rainbow mythology contained within. Rainbows are associated with spirits and demons and all manner of omens from the good, to the bad and the ugly that scientists will reject as part and parcel of their belief system.

So, where do scientists draw the line? Rainbows – yes; rainbow serpents and rainbow bridges – no. And this distinction is rightly so, IMHO. But when they reject out of hand a phenomenon that actually has more and better evidence than say rainbows (auroras and sprites would be other cases in point) then eyebrows must be raised and questions asked – like please explain your logic.

While on the subject of things mythological, let’s go harking back to the stars and planets and other celestial objects. There’s a massive mythology from many ancient cultures that usually goes hand-in-hand with how those celestial objects and night sky patterns came to be. Astronomers don’t support those tall tales either since they have other more scientific theories that explain the origins of stars and constellations. Still, its two competing theories of how to account for say, the Pleiades star cluster. Once upon a time it was Zeus. Today it’s astrophysics. Who’s to say since neither scenario can be subjected to a definitive WE REQUIRE PROOF slab-in-the-lab test.

By the way, as a final counterattack, I haven’t yet seen any SETI scientist come up with proof positive on ET, so IMHO it’s still a tied ball game. But rather than have two opposing teams, SETI scientists may as well study UFOs as well since SETI to date has a batting average of zero. Perhaps that’s what comes from scientists putting all their ET eggs in just the SETI basket. 

*And the Sun can’t have sunspots since we all know that the Sun is perfect; meteorites can’t exist since we all know stones can’t fall from the sky;

**Though faith in the reality of God is hardly unknown to exist in some physical scientists, though like stars and rainbows, they can’t put God on the slab in their lab either. Somehow the WE REQUIRE PROOF criteria don’t matter in this case.

UFOs: The Stellar Rainbow Connection: Part One

It’s pretty much common knowledge that most scientists reject the reality of UFOs, at least in terms of UFOs being something ultimately anomalous, like extraterrestrial spaceships. Eyewitness testimony doesn’t cut their mustard. Photographs don’t hack it. What they demand is something nuts-and-bolts that they can study, put under a microscope, pound with a hammer, pour acid on, etc. No actual body on the lab’s slab equals no actual evidence one can study therefore there is no reality to the nonexistent body and no correspondence will be entered into on the matter. I smell a double-standard rat!

A senior SETI (Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence) astronomer recently posted an essay on UFOs in the Huffington Post where he first stated:  “Allow me to first note that this is a phenomenon worthy of attention. If aliens are really hanging out in our 'hood, it's hard to imagine any other fact more worthy of study.” Then he concludes with: “The fact is, if you're certain that our planet is hosting alien visitors, the way to gain acceptance for your point of view is to prove it, not insist that the problem lies with third parties. The blame game is a cop-out.”

WTF is this guy saying? UFOs are important but it’s up to others to do all the hard yards and prove that UFOs and aliens are related. You can just about hear the writer scream out WE REQUIRE PROOF as long as the burden is on others to come up with the smoking gun!

WE REQUIRE PROOF! That’s all fine, well and good in theory, an in an ideal world, except the average member of the great unwashed doesn’t have the name-brand, academic bona-fides or resources required. No matter what ‘proof” the great unwashed offer up, the WE REQUIRE PROOF demands of the many (scientists) outweigh the abilities of the few (the great unwashed) to proved the required goods. If I ring up a top scientist at a top university and say I have a piece of an alien spaceship, do you honestly think they will listen to me or slam down the phone uttering “another bloody wacko wasting my time”! So the ‘blame game’ is perhaps more a plea for those with the scientific bona-fides, and the resources and the credibility and respected home institutions to take the great unwashed a tad more seriously when it comes to UFO experiences and get their hands dirty studying the subject.

I play the blame game. I put blame on those who could, but won’t get their hands dirty. It’s intellectual cowardice pure and simple. The fairly obvious if unstated message is I’m interested in ET, I’m a SETI scientist by profession, but I’m not interested in UFOs unless someone else provides the proof that there is an actual alien connection. I’m not interested in UFOs because I won’t get external funding to study them. That’s because I’ve got too much on my plate already. That’s because I’d rather sit on my ass and let the great unwashed do the dirty work. That’s because someone might make fun of me, like my professional colleagues. The sociology (office politics) of the science community usually runs something along the lines of don’t stray beyond the mainstream; don’t think out of the box; don’t rock the boat or you’ll end up like Jonah and tossed overboard without a whale in sight.

So holier than thou essays like that posted by ‘Mr. SETI’ aren’t really helpful; relevant scientists need to put up some legit science or shut up since if they are clearly not part of the solution, they are part of the problem standing in the way of a solution!

Let’s forget the great unwashed for the moment; let’s talk nerdy talk and deal with evidence, not proof, just evidence, that something strange is afoot via observations from astronomers,  professional colleagues of SETI scientists, and their reported anomalous observations that are in the scientific literature. Now albeit it’s ‘colleagues’ from several generations ago and way before modern SETI times, but that doesn’t alter their academic bona-fides nor what they reported in the professional literature.

I refer to the numerous historical sightings of Neith (reported satellite of Venus) and the intra-Mercurial planet Vulcan along with numerous other sightings of alleged planets inside the orbit of Mercury. Not one, or two but multi-dozens of reports are in the scientific literature for both. That’s in addition to those multi-dozens of sightings of unpredicted by uncharted and unknown objects that made unexpected transits of the Sun and Moon. So, professional astronomers are on record as having seen, for all practical purposes, unidentified ‘aerial’ phenomena. Now we know there is no Neith and there is no Vulcan, etc. so exactly what did scientists in the astronomical profession observe? A UFO by any other name is still a UFO. Okay, that’s just evidence, not proof. Still, UFO observations are not exclusively the property of the great unwashed.   

WE REQUIRE PROOF! Okay, even if scientists don’t want to actively participate, their demand WE REQUIRE PROOF (lay it on the slab in my lab) sounds reasonable, until you realise that those same scientists accept the reality of many other things that they equally can’t study on a slab in the lab, things that only can be seen or photographed.

An obvious case in point is those stars in the night sky. You see them; you can photograph them, but to date you can’t study the physical object in the laboratory! You can’t put a star on the slab. So, if stars are acceptable, why not UFOs? Well, stars can be therefore they are; UFOs can’t be therefore they aren’t*.

Scientists have a readymade excuse for not being able to verify the bona-fides of stars as laboratory specimens; they are out of reach – way too distant to grab hold of. But they still argue that stars aren’t illusions or misidentifications or all-in-the-mind or hoaxes because astrophysical theory supports stars being what scientists believe they are. Of course in a manner of speaking starlight can be ‘captured’ and analysed in the lab, and at least stars have the decency of making their appearance on schedule. Still, you cannot examine up close and personal the physical star itself.

So as a generality, in defence to an anti-UFO stance, scientists will say there are theoretical reasons for accepting the reality of things they can’t put their mitts on, implying that there are no theoretical reasons supporting the UFO ETH (ExtraTerrestrial Hypothesis). Alas and alack, as an additional counterattack, as stars (and rainbows - see below) are supported by astrophysics’ theory, there is also an actual theoretical scenario that nearly demands that there be UFOs and that UFOs be extraterrestrial spacecraft – it’s known as the Fermi Paradox. That just basically says that even if there is only one advanced technological civilization ‘out there’ with the ability to “boldly go”, then the time it would take to explore (even at low sub light velocities – say 1% to 10% the speed of light) and colonize end-to-end our galaxy is but a tiny, tiny fraction of the age of our galaxy. So where is everybody? They should, if they exist at all, by rights be here. Why would they pay special attention to the third rock from the Sun? While stars and planets are dimes-a-dozen, abodes with biospheres are probably as rare as hen’s teeth – that’s why. Planet Earth is a hen’s tooth! Alas, while astrophysical theory passes their muster, the Fermi Paradox doesn’t cut their mustard apparently.

Okay, for terrestrial scientists, physical star-stuff can’t be placed on the lab’s slab. But there are parallels much closer to home where that excuse of extreme distance falls far short. Now here’s a parallel. The rainbow is the case in point. If scientists can play UFO skeptic, I can play the role of rainbow skeptic.

To be continued…

The Mythology of the Night Sky: Part Two

We’re all quasi familiar with the stars in the night sky; some more than others which often depends on whether you’re in the centre of a brightly lit polluted city sky or out in the clear dark air of rural – wherever. To the ancients, those bright lights in the night sky weren’t just bright lights in the night sky, but actual representations of their myths and legends. Time and time again their gods rewarded various characters with immortality, not by turning them into deities, but by placing them forever and a night in the heavens for all to see and remember.

One of the highest honours any demigod, demigoddess, mortal male or female, or beast for that matter could be awarded in Greco-Roman times would be to immortalized as a star or a constellation in the heavens. Here’s a few of those that achieved that honour.

Continued from yesterday’s blog…

*Eosphoros [see] Venus.

*Eridanus [see] Auriga, the Charioteer.

*Equuleus, the Pony: In Greek mythology, Pegasus, the winged horse, had either a brother or son, the foal Celeris (meaning "swiftness" or "speed"). Celeris was given to Castor (one of the two Gemini twins) by Hermes (Mercury to the Romans). Another version has Equuleus as the horse struck from Poseidon’s trident during a pissing contest between him and the goddess Athena when contesting who would be the superior patron of Athens (that name gives away who won). Because Equuleus’s section of stars rises before the constellation of Pegasus, it is often called Equus Primus, or the First Horse. See also Pegasus.

*Ganymede [see] Aquarius, the Water-Carrier.

*Gemini, the Twins: The Dioscuri, the “Sons of Zeus” or the “Heavenly Twins” are better known as Castor and Polydeuces (who is even better known as Pollux). Despite the “Sons of Zeus” tag, Pollux was the son of Zeus and Leda, and Castor the son of Leda and her husband, the King of Sparta. However they were twins, and brothers to Helen (of Troy), daughter of Zeus and Leda. When Castor was fatally wounded, Pollux asked Zeus to let him die alongside his beloved brother. They were eventually placed among the stars as the constellation we know as Gemini.

*Hercules was finally undone by an act of deception. His wife without knowing the true facts of the matter had Hercules put on a poisoned robe, which was akin to him bathing in a tub of acid. In agony, the demigod builds his own funeral pyre and lays on it awaiting death. A passing King of Malis, a former Argonaut, Poias, lights the pyre. An almighty thunderclap booms out as the pyre started burning as Zeus took Hercules up to Olympus and made him an immortal god. Even his stepmother, Hera, finally give up her intense anger towards him and they were reconciled. To honour his son, Zeus set up the stars in the constellation now named for him. See also Draco, Hydra and Leo.  

*Hesperus [see] Venus.

*Hyades (star cluster) [see] Pleiades.

*Hyas [see] Pleiades.

*Hydra, the Snake (or Water-Snake): After Hercules killed the Hydra (his second of twelve labours), the Hydra was placed in the firmament by Athena as the constellation Hydra, the Snake (or Water-Snake). See also Corvus, the Crow and Hercules.

*Ladon [see] Draco, the Dragon.

*Leo, the Lion: The first great labour of Hercules was to slay the great Nemean Lion who was invulnerable to arrows and spears and swords, etc. So, Hercules had to choke the beast to death. Hercules wore the skin of the lion as a cloak, and Zeus, to honour his son’s completion of his first Mission: Impossible task was to place the lion in the sky as a memorial – the constellation Leo. See also Hercules.

*Lyra: Orpheus, son of one of the nine Muses, was a highly skilled musician and singer who could charm the gods, mortals and beasts alike. However, when Orpheus eventually came to a sticky end, Zeus immortalized his music by placing his lyre among the stars as the constellation Lyra. Orpheus himself went to and stayed put in Hades, but that’s actually a happy ending, for he was forever reunited with his wife Eurydice, who he earlier, when alive, tried to rescue from the underworld, but failed to do so.

*Orpheus [see] Lyra.

*Ophiuchus, the Serpent Bearer: Asclepius, the son of Apollo and a mortal woman, turned out to be an extremely skilled physician. So skilled was he than he actually brought a corpse back to life! This was frowned on by Zeus as it got into deity only abilities, so Zeus smote him with his thunderbolts (and the now alive corpse as well). Now this pisses off Apollo, so in turn he smites the Cyclopes, the makers of those lethal thunderbolts. Now this as you would expect pisses off Zeus, so he forces Apollo into servitude to a mortal for one year as punishment. Meantime, as Asclepius was depicted with a staff with a snake coiled around it, he was immortalised as the eternal symbol in the heavens, the constellation Ophiuchus, the Serpent Holder (or Bearer). See also Sagitta.

*Orion: Orion, the mighty hunter, lusted after the Pleiades (the seven sisters) and their mum, so Zeus put the lot of them in the heavens thus out of Orion’s and harms way. Orion finally met his doom by boasting once too often about hunting and killing the wildlife, and so his was stung to death by a giant scorpion by orders of the earth goddess Gaia. On behalf of several of the gods or goddesses (Artemis and Leto) Zeus placed Orion too in the heavens, behind and forever chasing after those Pleiades sisters. The scorpion, for services rendered was also places in the heavens as the constellation Scorpio, still in pursuit of Orion! As an almighty hunter, Orion was accompanied by a hunting dog, the constellation Canis Major which includes the brilliant Dog Star, Sirius. 

*Pegasus: Pegasus, the winged horse was the offspring of the god of the sea, Poseidon (often identified with all things equine) and the gorgon Medusa, born when Perseus sliced off Medusa’s head. Pegasus was caught and tamed by Bellerophon, the two of which made a good team when Belleraphon slew the Chimera from the air and out of harms way.  But, he became unstuck when he tried to use his aerial transport and fly Pegasus to Olympus uninvited. Zeus, furious at the presumption that Bellerophon could just waltz into the abode of the gods any old time, sent an insect to sting Pegasus, causing the winged horse to throw off its rider, Bellerophon, who, without benefit of a parachute eventually went splat. Though Bellerophon survived the crash, he was crippled for life. Zeus then utilized Pegasus to draw his chariot filled with his thunderbolts, and as a final reward, placed Pegasus among the stars. See also Equuleus, the Pony.

*Perseus, who killed the gorgon Medusa, also rescued the lovely Andromeda from a sea monster, Cetus. Perseus and Andromeda of course married and had a son, Perses, but Parses was entrusted to and raised by King Cepheus (father of Andromeda) who needed a male heir to his throne (in Ethiopia). Now King Cepheus was married to the vain Cassiopeia (mother of Andromeda) who bragged she was better looking than the sea nymphs, the Nereids. The Nereids complained to their boss, Poseidon, the god of the sea who spat the dummy and demanded that her child, Andromeda of course, be sacrificed to Cetus, the sea monster, as retribution. That’s when Perseus happened by. All five, after they died their natural deaths, were placed among the stars as the constellations named after them. But Cassiopeia was placed upside down in the heavens to teach her some humility.

*Phaethon [see] Auriga, the Charioteer.

*Phosphorus [see] Venus.

*Pleiades (star cluster): The Pleiades, seven sisters all, were born of the Titan god Atlas and the Oceanid, Pleione. Prior to that Titan mated via the Oceanid Aithra producing a son, Hyas and his sisters, the Hyades. Thus the Pleiades were half-sisters to Hyas and the Hyades. Now one day Hyas was out hunting and was killed in the process by his prey, probably a boar. His sisters, the Hyades, died in turn from grief suffered by the loss of their beloved brother. In a triple-hankie story, their half-sisters, the Pleiades, also died, one and all, out of grief. Zeus, out of sympathy, immortalised the lot of them. Hyas and the Hyades as the star cluster Hyades; close in the sky to that of the Pleiades star cluster. The alternative version is that the hunter Orion had the hots for the seven sisters so Zeus intervened and transferred them to the sky where Orion couldn’t bother them. Of course later on, Orion too gets placed among the stars in the sky and to this day endlessly chases after the Pleiades. See also Orion.

*Pollux [see] Gemini.

*Sagitta, the Arrow: In ancient Greece, Sagitta was regarded as the weapon that Hercules used to kill the eagle (Aquila), an eagle that Zeus employed that perpetually gnawed at Prometheus’s liver. That was punishment for Prometheus’s ‘gift of fire’ to mankind, in defiance of Zeus’s instructions to the contrary. Another version believes the Arrow to be the one shot by Hercules towards the Stymphalian birds, his sixth labour. Those winged creatures had claws, beaks and wings of iron, and they lived on human flesh. Hercules got rid of the lot of them. Yet another version claimed it as the arrow with which Apollo exterminated the original trio of Cyclopes because the Cyclopes forged the thunderbolts for Zeus which Zeus used to kill Apollo’s son, Asclepius. See also Ophiuchus.

*Sagittarius: While undertaking his fourth labour, Hercules accidentally hit the centaur Chiron with one of his arrows that had been tipped with poison from the Hydra he killed earlier. Because the centaur was immortal and couldn’t die, he was doomed to be forever in agony. Zeus relieved him of his immortality, allowing Chiron to pass away, but Zeus in one manner restored Chiron’s immortality when he placed the centaur in the sky as the constellation Sagittarius. See also Centaurus.

*Scorpio [see] Orion.

*Sirius [see] Orion.

*Taurus, the Bull: When the king of the gods, Zeus, had his wicked way with Europa, he did so by shape-shifting into the form of a bull and carried Europa across the sea to Crete in that form, where they ‘did it’ (presumably Zeus shape-shifted back to human form before they ‘did it’). Since that time Crete (known as the Minoan culture or civilization) has had a long association with bulls or a bull-cult, like the sport of bull-jumping (grabbing the horns and somersaulting onto the back of the animal) and hosting half-a-bull as in the Minotaur. Because the bull-form suited Zeus so well, he immortalized the animal as the constellation Taurus.

*Ursa Major, the Great Bear: Callisto was the daughter of the King of Arcady, and she had the misfortune to have Zeus fall for her. Callisto was associated with the virgin goddess Artemis. When Zeus raped Callisto, she got in a family way (in mythology, every rape results in a pregnancy otherwise there’s no point to the rape in the first place). This rape ultimately produces a son, Arcas. Artemis, being the virgin, was livid and banished Callisto from any further association with her. Hera (Mrs. Zeus) in the meantime assumed Callisto was a willing partner to her wayward hubby and in revenge turned Callisto into a bear. Years later, Arcas, out hunting, ran across that bear and not realizing that it was mom, shot her dead. Zeus then placed Callisto into the zodiac as Ursa Major, the Great Bear (or the Big Dipper); Arcas ultimately got his place in the heavens too as the Little Bear (or the Little Dipper).

*Ursa Minor [see] Ursa Major

*Venus: Eos (Dawn) or to the Romans Aurora, born to Astraios all of the stars in the sky, of which two were most notable: Phosphorus (or Eosphorus), the Morning Star, and Hesperus, the Evening Star. In reality, both ‘stars’ are one and the same ‘star’ and not stars at all but the planet Venus.  

*Virgo [see] Bootes.

It’s a pity all that came to an end. If you were living way back then, perhaps you too might have been immortalised as a star, a star cluster or perhaps even as a constellation to be recorded for posterity, seen and talked about by millions for generations upon generations to come.

The Mythology of the Night Sky: Part One

We’re all quasi familiar with the stars in the night sky; some more than others which often depends on whether you’re in the centre of a brightly lit polluted city sky or out in the clear dark air of rural – wherever. To the ancients, those bright lights in the night sky weren’t just bright lights in the night sky, but actual representations of their myths and legends. Time and time again their gods rewarded various characters with immortality, not by turning them into deities, but by placing them forever and a night in the heavens for all to see and remember.

One of the highest honours any demigod, demigoddess, mortal male or female, or beast for that matter could be awarded in Greco-Roman times would be to immortalized as a star or a constellation in the heavens. Here’s a few of those that achieved that honour.

*Andromeda [see] Perseus.

*Aquarius, the Water-Carrier: In Greek mythology, a young handsome lad was known as Ganymede. Ganymede is carried up in a whirlwind to Olympus by the gods to be a cupbearer for Zeus, or, in a more erotic version, a servant of Zeus kidnaps him, or Zeus himself did the deed disguised as an eagle. The erotic upshot was that though Zeus favoured the ladies, goddesses, demigoddesses, even mortal women, for a catamite change of pace now and again… Ganymede was rewarded for his services by eternal youth and immortality, eventually placed in the sky as the constellation Aquarius, the Water-Carrier. See also Aquila.   

*Aquila (the constellation) was once an eagle owned by the Greek/Roman god Zeus/Jupiter who performed many useful tasks for the King of the Gods, such as carrying his thunderbolts and kidnapping the young and handsome lad Ganymede. See also Aquarius.

*Ara, the Alter: In ancient Greek mythology, Ara was identified as the altar, made by the trilogy of Cyclopes, an alter where the Olympian gods first made offerings and formed an alliance when they were about to fight the original Titans in order to become masters of the universe, or at least masters of third rock from the sun – well, would you believe a local region of the Mediterranean anyway.

*Arcturus, the Bear-Guardian [see] Ursa Major.

*Aries, the Ram: A young lad, Phrixos (or Phrixus), son of the King of Thessaly, became an unpopular stepchild after his natural mother died and the King remarried, a woman by the name of Ino. Ino had it in for Phrixos, and his sister (Helle) too. Ino arranged for the grain harvest to be ruined, resulting in a famine. She then bribed the Oracle at Delphi to predict that only the sacrifice of Phrixus to the gods would end the famine. Just before the fatal throat cut, a marvellous flying and talking ram appeared, a gift by Hermes to Phrixos’s natural mother, who I gather was able to send it from her place in the afterlife. The flying ram spirited Phrixos (and his sister) away in the nick of time (but unfortunately the sister fell off in mid-flight and perished). When safely deposited in a new land, the local king welcomed Phrixos and of course he eventually married the king’s daughter. In gratitude for his salvation, Phrixos sacrificed the ram to Zeus, who then immortalised it in the heavens as the constellation Aries. The ram’s golden fleece was given to the king who hung it up in a tree guarded by a dragon, which leads to another rather famous tale in Greek mythology – the quest for the golden fleece.

*Asclepius [see] Ophiuchus, the Serpent Bearer.

*Auriga, the Charioteer: Phaethon, son of the sun god Helios, tried to prove his manhood bona-fides by driving his father’s fiery chariot drawn by a team of highly spirited horses. He failed. When he ran out of control, Zeus had to shoot him down out of the sky. His lifeless body plunged into the River Eridanus. Phaethon was turned into the constellation of Auriga, the Charioteer; even the River Eridanus achieved constellation status under that name, stretching across the night sky west of Orion. 

*Bootes, the Ploughman: Dionysus, the god of wine and good times, gave a wine branch to a lowly farmer, Icarius, and taught him how to grow grapes and make wine. The farmer shared some of this wine with neighbouring shepherds, but they got so intoxicated they killed Icarius. His daughter, Erigone, led by Dionysus’s faithful dog, Maira, uncovered the site where the shepherds buried Icarius. The daughter distressed and in grief, hung herself. Even the dog died of sorrow. Dionysus cursed the locals. Many went mad and many women hung themselves in that state. When later they learned of the injustice that had prompted all of this, they lynched the original shepherds. Dionysus immortalized the farmer as Bootes the Ploughman. The daughter became the constellation Virgo, and Maira the dog – well he became Canis Minor, the lesser dog.  

*Callisto [see] Ursa Major.

*Cancer, the Crab: Hera (Mrs Zeus) hated Hercules since he was a constant reminder of her husband’s wandering ways when it came to the opposite sex. Hercules second great labour was to kill the multi-headed Hydra, but while that battle was raging a giant crab entered the fray and had a go at Hercules too. So, Hercules had to deal with the crab first. Hera was very pleased that the crab had attacked Hercules and thus she herself honoured the crab by placing it in the heavens as the constellation Cancer. I’ve seen an alternative version that had Athena place the crab in the firmament, but Hera seems the more logical choice.

*Canis Major, the Greater Dog [see] Orion.

*Canis Minor, the Lesser Dog [see] Bootes.

*Capricorn:  In Greek mythology, this constellation is sometimes identified as Amalthea, the goat that suckled the infant Zeus after his mother Rhea saved him from being devoured by his father Cronos by spiriting him off to Crete and out of harms way. The goat's broken horn was transformed into the cornucopia or horn of plenty.

*Cassiopeia [see] Perseus.

*Castor [see] Gemini.

*Centaurus, the Centaur: The ancient Greeks depicted the southern constellation as a centaur and gave it its current name. The name Centaurus however in mythology is often given not to an actual centaur but to that deformed human who would later mate with mares and spawn the centaur race. More commonly however, Centaurus is credited as being the first centaur. See also Sagittarius.

*Cepheus [see] Perseus.

*Cetus, the Sea Monster (or Whale) [see] Perseus.

*Chiron, the Centaur [see] Sagittarius.

*Corona Borealis: Ariadne aided Theseus when he entered the labyrinth to slay the Minotaur by providing him with a ball of string which he unravelled as he made passage in through the maze and thus could follow the trail out again. Of course he promised eternal love to Ariadne, but shortly after having set sail from Crete, he abandoned her on the island of Naxos, no doubt on command from the deity Dionysus who wanted Ariadne for himself. Rank has its privileges!  Dionysus duly carried her off to Olympus and made her an immortal and as a wedding gift gave her a golden crown. That crown was later placed in the heavens as the Corona Borealis.

*Corvus, the Crow: The crow or raven is Apollo’s sacred bird. When Apollo sent his raven to fetch some water in the god's cup (Crater), the raven took his damn sweet time about it. To cover for his laziness, and lateness, he blamed the water-snake (the Hydra) for making him tardy. Apollo however knew a fib when told one and saw through the raven’s tall tale. Since he saw through the fraud and was not tricked Apollo rather pissed that his sacred bird would lie, put the raven in the sky (Corvus) along with the water snake (the Hydra) and the cup (Crater). For another version of the fate of the Hydra, see also Hydra. To further punish the raven, Hydra the snake keeps water from the eternally thirsty raven, yet the raven always sees the water, just out of reach.

*Crater, the Cup [see] Corvus, the Crow.  

*Cygnus, the Swan: When the rash wannabe charioteer Phaethon (son of Helios) had to be dispatched by Zeus for reckless driving, a relative, Kyknos, mourned so greatly that the gods turned him into a swan. When it was time to die, Kyknos-the-swan sang all the way to the heavens to become the constellation Cygnus, the Swan. As an aside, when you know it’s time to face the end, you sing your ‘swan song’.

*Delphinus, the Dolphin: Poseidon, the god of the sea, had the hots for the Nereid, Amphitrite. Being a shy sort of lass, she made a beeline out to sea to escape (which seems to be an odd strategy seeing how she’s fleeing from the god of the sea). Be that as it may, Poseidon sends out all manner of his marine creatures to find her. A dolphin does so and talks Amphitrite into reconsidering and so to make a long story short, Poseidon and Amphitrite tie the knot. As a reward, Poseidon immortalises dolphins by casting one into the heavens to become the constellation Delphinus.

*Draco, the Dragon: Hercules was tasked with his eleventh labour to fetch the golden apples from the garden of Hesperides. The tree that bore the apples was well guarded by a giant serpent called Ladon. So, of course, Hercules, at least in some retellings, had to slay the serpent before nicking off with the fruit. The late and great Ladon was immortalized as the constellation Draco, placed next to the constellation of Hercules himself, club raised and poised to strike. Oh, once Hercules handed over the apples, they were returned to him; he dedicated them to the goddess Athena who returned them to their rightful place. Golden apples are far too powerful to be entrusted to the keeping of mere mortals. See also Hercules.

To be continued…