Arcturus

“ In a manner more consistent with oriental than with either Greek or Roman mythology, Arcturus represents himself as mingling with mankind during day, in order to observe their actions, [pg 153] and as presenting a record of their good and evil deeds to Jupiter, whom the wicked in vain attempt to appease by sacrifice—
“Atque hoc scelesti in animum inducunt suum,
Jovem se placare posse donis, hostiis:
Et operam et sumptum perdunt.” —— Arcturus having thus satisfactorily accounted for his knowledge of the incidents of the drama, proceeds to unfold the situation of the principal characters. ”

“ It appears from the whole of the observations, that, of all the stars, Arcturus is carried with the greatest celerity, by his own motion, westward; since the same attendant, which in Flamstead’s time, on the 14th of February, 1690, preceded Arcturus 5′′ in time, now enters the meridian 6′′ after him. From the diminished difference also, of declination between Arcturus and his attendant, it is evident, that Arcturus progresses annually, by his own appropriate motion, nearly 2′′ in a circular course, towards the south. ”

“ I believe Webster's Dictionary is correct in this matter, and I believe the Revised Version translates Job's Hebrew phrase more correctly when it says, "Canst thou guide the Bear with her train?"
Anyhow, Arcturus is a splendid star—the brightest in the constellation called the "Herdsman" or Boötes. It is not worth while to trace the Herdsman, but here is an interesting question. Is Arcturus really red? The books mostly say he is yellow. They say he looks red when he is low in the sky, and yellow when he is high. How does he look to you? More yellow than red? ”

“ A line drawn from the Pole-Star to Arcturus forms the base of an equilateral triangle, the apex of which, situated opposite the Great Bear, is occupied by Vega, or α of the Lyre, a splendid diamond of ideal purity scintillating through the ether. This magnificent star, of first magnitude, is, with Arcturus, the most luminous in our Heavens. It burns with a white light, in the proximity of the Milky Way, not far from a constellation that is very easily recognized by the arrangement of its principal stars in the form of a cross. ”

“ Arcturus is not the only star which has been observed in this way; in another star, Vega, which is brighter than Arcturus, it has been demonstrated that the amount of heat which it gives out, when at an altitude of 60°, is equal to that from the same cube at 600 yards, so that Mr. Stone shows beyond all question, that Arcturus gives us more heat than Vega. ”

“ The [AN] Motion of Arcturus seems further confirmed, from the Observations of Tycho Hevelius and Flamstead; for Hevelius sets down the Distance of that Star from Lyra 4′ greater than Tycho had observed it seventy-two Years before him, and Flamstead twenty-two Years after measured - 55 - the Distance betwixt the same two Stars, still 3′ greater than Hevelius found it; so that if Lyra had stood still all that while, there was an Appearance of Arcturus's having gone 7' out of his Place in the Space of an hundred Years. See Dr. Long's Astronomy, p. ”

“ Beneath its coils the giant Claws are found:
Few are their stars—for splendour unrenown'd. 80
Hard on the traces of the greater Bear
Presses Bootes in his swift career.
'Mong many gems more brilliant than the rest
Arcturus glows upon his belted waist.
Through the long day he drives the Arctic Wain,
And sinks reluctant in the western main. ”

“ Where Scorpio to the south his claw expands,
Burning with constant fire an Altar stands.
Few are the hours it shines to mortal eye—
Short is its passage through the wintry sky—
Long as Arcturus o'er the ocean rides,
So long the darksome wave the Altar hides. 420
Primeval Night, who with the God of day
O'er earth and ocean holds divided sway,
Pitying the toils and dangers of the brave
Adventurous sailor through the pathless wave,
By certain signs the coming tempest shows,
While Zephyr breathes, and smoothly ocean flows. ”

“ His vision is one of transcendental perspectives, in which this earth and its people sink almost to the vanishing point. Some of the stars—such as Arcturus, Canopus and Betelgeuse—which he regards merely as minute and insignificant units, are many times more massive than our entire solar system. ”

“ To distract resentful thought Wesley turned to his Adventure again, forgetting in the fascination of his third brochure that, for him, doom rhymed with June. The locale this time was a planet called Porizinia, circling Alpha Bootis—Arcturus. No life existed upon the surface of Porizinia because of her primary's tremendous heat, but the subterranean world below was something else again. The planet was largely igneous and so translucent, clear enough to let Arcturus light with fairy luminescence the endless labyrinth of caverns and tunnels that made up a nether environment all their own. ”

“ There are six small stars of the third magnitude in the constellation round its chief one—three of its stars forming an equilateral triangle. Arcturus is in the continuation of the curved line through the three tail stars of the Great Bear. The constellation has also been called Atlas, from its nearness to the pole—as if it held up the heavens, as the fable goes. ”

“ Similar observations to the above were made and frequently repeated on the stars Rigel, Aldebaran, Betelguese Cor-Leonis and other stars of the first magnitude, which gave nearly the same results. The stars Altares and Fomalhaut are not so easily distinguished, on account of their great southern declination, and consequent low elevation above the horizon. The following observation on Arcturus may be added. June 3rd, observed Arcturus very distinctly, a little before 7 in the evening, the sun being about 1h 40m above the horizon, and shining bright—with a power of 15 ”

“ In addition to first-magnitude stars the rhyme refers to the head of Capricornus, the Sea Goat, the Great Square of Pegasus, and Orion's Belt. All except Arcturus rise between 9 and 9.30 p.m. Arcturus rises at 10 p.m., February 1st.
Eight months of the year are identified by the position of the Dipper at 9 p.m. In April and May it is north of the zenith. During July and August it is west of north. In October and November it lies close to the northern horizon and in January and February it is east of north with the pointers highest. ”

“ She soon became homesick, however, and one day when White Hawk was absent she made a silver basket, and singing her magic chant was carried to the heavens, where she appears now as one of the bright stars near the Crown, the star Arcturus in the constellation Boötes. ”

“ Boötes, the constellation in which Arcturus lies, is usually described [Pg 96] as forming a kite-shaped figure of stars, which though faint, covers a great deal of sky. Boötes, as mentioned before, was a herdsman who invented the plow, and as a reward for this ingenious method of tilling the soil, was raised to a position below the stars of the Big Dipper. But according to another story, Boötes represents Arcas, the son of Callisto, whom Juno so cruelly turned into a bear. ”

“ It takes twenty-five years for the light from Arcturus to reach the earth. Contrast its color with Spica, Antares, and Vega. The trapezium β, γ, δ, and μ, was called "The Female Wolves," by the Arabians. ”

“ Krag detained him with one hand, while groping in his breast pocket with the other. He presently fished out what resembled a small folding lens. The diameter of the glass did not exceed two inches.
“First take a peep at Arcturus through this, Maskull. It may serve as a provisional sign. It’s the best I can do, unfortunately. I am not a travelling magician.... Be very careful not to drop it. It’s somewhat heavy.”
Maskull took the lens in his hand, struggled with it for a minute, and then looked at Krag in amazement. ”

“ The Arab name for Arcturus was "Al-símāk-al-Rāmih," meaning "the simak armed with a lance," also translated "the leg of the Lance-Bearer," and "the lofty Lance-Bearer." Gore states that according to the Persian astronomer Al-Sufi, who wrote a description of the heavens in the 10th century, the word simak means "elevated," referring to the high altitude the star attains above the horizon. Schjellerup however, thinks that the word refers to the brilliancy of the star and not to its altitude. The Arabs also knew Arcturus as "the Keeper of Heaven." ”

“ We have power, it is true, but in all other respects we are in no condition to meet an opponent having command of such resources as must certainly be possessed by those who attacked the Arcturus. Our detectors are inefficient, our system of vision is crude, to say the least, and many other things are still in the experimental stage. We have not the slightest idea whom or what we may encounter. It is all too probable that we would simply be throwing away uselessly the lives of more good men. ”

“ Maskull pulled out his watch automatically, and looked at the time. It was past six.... But he was thinking of Nightspore's words, and not of the time.
Night had already fallen by the time they regained the tower. The black sky was glorious with liquid stars. Arcturus was a little way above the sea, directly opposite them, in the east. As they were passing the base of the tower, Maskull observed with a sudden shock that the gate was open. He caught hold of Nightspore's arm violently. "Look! Krag is back."
"Yes, we must make haste to the house." ”

“ We observed nothing extraordinary with respect to the sun’s light about the shortest day; but as early as the 20th of November Arcturus could very plainly be distinguished by the naked eye, when near the south meridian at noon. About the first week in April the reflection of light from the snow became so strong as to create inflammation in the eyes, and notwithstanding the usual precaution of wearing black crape veils during exposure, several cases of snow-blindness occurred shortly afterwards. ”

“ Such is the solution given, but it is but a very rough approximation, and by no means always near to the truth. An example will shew why. Let Arcturus have the same altitude at 10 P.M. as at 2 A.M. In the first case the 4th of Sagittarius is ascending, in the second (with sufficient accuracy for our purpose) the 2nd of Aquarius; and the mean between these is the 3rd of Capricorn. ”

“ Colonel Harvey and Mr. Duneka came up to spend the night. Mr. Clemens had one of his seizures during the evening. They come oftener and last longer. One last night continued for an hour and a half. I slept there.
September 7. To-day news of the North Pole discovered by Peary. Five days ago the same discovery was reported by Cook. Clemens's comment: “It's the greatest joke of the ages.” But a moment later he referred to the stupendous fact of Arcturus being fifty thousand times as big as the sun. ”

“ The Luiseño of southern California name the most important stars. The associated stars form much larger groups than those common among us. The stars were chiefs among the first people. Those most frequently mentioned are Antares and Altair. Arcturus is the right hand of Antares, it rises before the latter and announces his coming, the other stars around Antares are his suite. Other chiefs are Spica, Fomalhaut, and the Pole-star. Orion and the Pleiades are always mentioned together; the latter were seven sisters, pursued by Aldebaran. ”

“ Joel snapped.
Southard stepped forward. "Constellation Boötis, Arcturus, planet IV. Preliminary analysis of ore-samples indicate rich lodes of mneurium-4, relatively close to the surface, and in unprecedentedly great number. Purity is unbelievably high, with—"
"All right, Southard, good report. Dobermann." ”

“ At the lowest window Krag went straight ahead without stopping, but Maskull clambered into the embrasure, in order to renew his acquaintance with the miraculous spectacle of the Arcturian group. The lens had lost its magic property. It had become a common sheet of glass, through which the ordinary sky field appeared. ”

“ Maskull was silent for a little while.
“How is it that your people are so unadventurous? I seem to be the only one travelling from curiosity.”
“What do you mean by ‘your people’?”
“True—you don’t know that I don’t belong to your planet at all. I’ve come from another world, Polecrab.”
“What to find?”
“I came here with Krag and Nightspore—to follow Surtur. I must have fainted the moment I arrived. When I sat up, it was night and the others had vanished. Since then I’ve been travelling at random.”
Polecrab scratched his nose. “You haven’t found Surtur yet?” ”

“ Well, if that journey were a possible one, and I were given the chance of making it, I would be willing never to come back. For twenty-four hours on that Arcturian planet, I would give my life. That is my attitude toward that journey.... Now prove to me that you're not talking nonsense. Produce your credentials. ”

“ But what is Surtur in this world?... How is he able to protect me against the blind and ungovernable forces of nature? Is he stronger than Nature?..."
Hungry as he was for food, he was hungrier still for human society, for he wished to inquire about all these things. He asked himself which way he should turn his steps. There were only two ways; along the shore, either east or west. The nearest creek lay to the east, cutting the sands about a mile away. He walked toward it.
The forest face was forbidding and enormously high. ”

“ Torlos of Nansal, that planet Arcot had discovered on his first voyage across space, far in another Island of Space, another Island Universe, was not constructed as are human beings of Earth, nor of Venus, Talso, or Ortol, but most nearly resembled, save in size, the Thessians. Their framework, instead of being stone, as is ours, was iron, their bones were pure metallic iron, far stronger than bone. On these far stronger bones were great muscles of an entirely different sort, a muscle that used heat of the body as its fuel, a muscle that was utterly tireless, and unbelievably powerful. ”