#AR Scorpii

[mylonelylittlestar]

XAVIER: THE SUN

Xavier is the sun, but not in the way people think. People hear "sunshine character" and think of clear skies during spring. Of flowers and beaches and singing birds. But that's not Xavier. Xavier is the sun in a different way.

(This is all based on my own knowledge/memory of stars, and it's probably not perfectly accurate because I tend to forget things quickly. I'm also oversimplifying and heavily romanticizing this. This is not an academic paper. It's a silly little post about Love and Deepspace!)

The sun is an average size star compared to other stars in the universe. There are billions of smaller stars and billions of larger stars. Compared to stars like Rigel and Betelgeuse, the sun is just a speck of dust in space, and stars like Teegarden's Star and other red dwarfs are grains of sand compared to the sun. It's not particularly special in size.

It's classified as a yellow dwarf star. Yellow dwarf stars don't "go supernova". They don't turn into black holes or neutron stars. They are simply too small.

They burn out of their hydrogen supply over millions of years, collapse, then expand, turning into "red giants". They stay that way until they become unstable, shedding their outer layers in form of large clouds made up of dust and gas (called planetary nebula).

What is left afterwards is the core, a white dwarf. White dwarfs are very dense and do not produce heat. Instead they spend millions of years slowly cooling down. When they completely cool down they turn into black dwarfs, but we will never see one because the universe isn't old enough for a white dwarf to completely cool down and actually turn into one.

It's not special. Even its death will be slow and anticlimactic. It won't collapse into a supermassive black hole after a giant supernova. It will just fade away slowly and quietly after its life as a red giant is over.

What makes the sun special is not itself, but its perfect proximity to earth. The sun makes life here possible because its mass and distance to our home planet gave us a chance to exist and observe it. Nothing else. It is perfectly average in its size, luminosity, and mass.

The sun is also lonely. More than half of the stars that we have observed share a solar system with at least one other star. They orbit each other as they travel through the universe. We can also observe triple star systems (the nearest star to the sun, Proxima Centauri, is part of a triple star system as far as I remember), quadruple systems, and possibly even septuple star systems (Nu Scorpii and AR Cassiopeiae). I've even seen things about possible octuple and even nontuple star systems.

But the sun is alone. It has a lot of planets surrounding it, but no other stars accompany it. There's a chance that it has siblings though, stars that formed in the same nebulae/gas cloud, but we have trouble finding them because we don't even truly know in what nebulae the sun was "born" in.

We have theories, but it's hard to do anything except guess because our sun is quite old and therefore far away from its birthplace (which has probably stopped existing by now). We're looking for stars with similar compositions and ages as our sun, and we look at their orbits and compare them to the orbit of our sun to see if they could be related, all in hopes of finding out more about our star through them, but the search takes a lot of time. We might never find its siblings. Maybe they're just too far away. Or there are no siblings. Maybe the nebulae only gave birth to one star, our sun, and no others.

Maybe our sun was always destined to be alone, from the very beginning of its life to its end. And maybe Xavier is destined to be alone too.

[quiltofstars]

Antares, α Scorpii // Aarni Vuori

Note the much more distant globular cluster, NGC 6144, towards the upper left!

The name "Antares" comes from the Ancient Greek, Ἀντάρης, meaning "rival to Ares", due to the similarity of its red color to the planet Mars.

[historicrad39a]

3. Frontier Rescue Rangers

Previous

Unnamed system - 135ly from Earth

Frontier Rescue Rangers Carrier Zuikaku after action report: July 13th 2538

It had been a month since the Human-Tathrax alliance had been attacked by an unknown alien civilization (henceforth known as the “Theta Aliens”). Whilst there was an initial panic about possible follow up attacks, it wasn’t until yesterday that we had any further contact. A small exploration vessel surveying systems just outside of Alliance space had been ambushed and captured by the Theta Aliens. Due to the proximity to frontier space, and the fact that this was a rescue mission, the Frontier Rescue Rangers were dispatched.

Two months ago, had you told me I would make history by being the first half-human half-Tathrax to command of one of the admiralty’s newest and largest carriers, with two brand new Kongō-class Fast Battleships (specifically modified for Frontier Defense fleet use) in tow as the head of a squadron with more firepower than the entire Frontier Defense Fleet up until that point - especially for a rescue mission of all things - I would have called you crazy. In fact, once the FDS Frontier’s captain, Zack, told me he was planning to request the admiralty’s newest toys, I called him an idiot. He had asked me if, assuming he succeeded, I would want to command one of the new ships - and if so, which type. I told him, somewhat jokingly, that I wanted to be in command of a massive voidcraft carrier. Come two weeks later and the Shōkaku-class carrier Zuikaku has been delivered to us direct from Akatsuki Shipyards, with myself named as her captain.

Unlike most people in the Frontier Defense fleet, I was here willingly. My parents were explorers, and when I was a young girl I frequently accompanied them on their journeys. On one such journey, we were in the AR Scorpii system preparing to return home when one of the relativistic beams from the system’s White Dwarf just barely skimmed by our ship. The hyperdrive went haywire and within a matter of seconds we ended up at the outer edge of the MilkyWay - having just travelled some 26,300ly in under 20 seconds. Hyperspace has a maximum speed limit of ~1 light year per second, most ships can only manage a light year per ten seconds at most. Yet somehow we managed to move at some 1,000 light years per second.

We were stranded for around a week in a near functionless ship slowly starving to death before we heard the distinct roar of a large vessel approaching in hyperspace. The Rescue Rangers had successfully requisitioned the Casablanca-class carrier ship Gambier Bay and made the week-long trip out here non-stop. Needless to say I was greatly inspired by their bravery and decided I would become a Rescue Ranger when I grew up.

By the time I was of eligible age to join the Rescue Rangers, things had rapidly deteriorated. When I was a child, the hyperdrive was just barely 50 years old. But by the time I had joined it was nearing 70 years old. Consequently, random failures, mis-jumps, and fuel exhaustion due to unpredictable fuel usage were all but things of the past. The Rescue Rangers weren’t nearly as crucial anymore, and as a result in my 2nd year the Rescue Rangers were disbanded as an independent branch and the remnants were folded into the Frontier Defense Fleet. Along with our independence, almost all of our ships were taken - including the carrier Gambier Bay I so desperately wanted to serve on.

Eight years later and the Frontier Rescue Rangers did little more than refuel stranded ships that had misjudged their remaining fuel. That is, until a month ago, when the Frontier Rescue Rangers were suddenly given 30 modified Fletcher class destroyers along with the promises of several capital ships and a massive budget increase. In addition to our normal duties, we were to combat the alien threat and rescue any individuals captured by them.

My first mission in command of the FDCV Zuikaku was to lead a task force of 18 vessels to rescue some captured explorers. As it would turn out, this was overkill. In addition to the Zuikaku we had the FDBB Hiei and Haruna - two modified Kongō-class battle cruisers which had been re-designated as Fast Battleships - and fifteen Ted Fujita-class Destroyers (modified Fletcher-class). While the main armament on the Kongōs and the torpedo launchers on the Ted Fujitas were of Alliance design, the 23cm double-barreled turrets were created using borrowed technology from the Theta Aliens.

The aliens, on the other hand, had a mere five cruisers guarding the transport vessel holding the captured explorers. The 40cm guns on the Hiei and Haruna and the Samuel B. Robert’s four 720mm torpedos practically atomized the cruisers. The Hiei’s 76cm “crew incapacitation” rounds also proved to be complete overkill. Of the three rounds fired at the transport, one hit the engines, one atomized the fuel tanker behind the transport, and the third round penetrated into the reactor room before detonating. We had included extra oxidizer in the bursting charge in case the ship’s atmosphere limited the spread of fires.

This turned out not to be the case, as the third shell set almost the entire ship’s insides on fire - killing 60% of the crew instantly. Frankly, we got lucky. Via neural implants on one of the explorers we knew they were locked inside a holding cell of sorts, but it’s very likely that had the “crew incapacitation” round been any more powerful there may have been no explorers left to rescue. Needless to say I’m prohibiting the use of these rounds until they can be fixed.

The boarding action was also very successful - there was not a single Alliance casualty during the firefight. One of the commandos transferred from the Anti-piracy force was quite amused at the 600 year old M2 Browning machine guns the Frontier Defense Force had been issued, and apparently thought it would be hilarious to bring it as his primary weapon. As it turns out, despite being 600 years old at this point, the M2 Browning was extremely effective - so much so that we have received no fewer than twenty requests to make the M2 Browning part of the standard loadout.

In terms of our primary objective, we were a bit too successful. Our orders were “to rescue as many of the five captured individuals as possible from the Theta Aliens.” When all was said and done, we had achieved a 1700% success rate - having rescued 85 of the 5 individuals captured. In addition to this, we had made first contact with three additional alien species aside from those comprising the Alliance. As it had turned out, the explorers we were sent to rescue had made friends - and upon being rescued, they demanded that we take on all 80 of the other individuals onboard the vessel. Leave it to the humans to make friends wherever they go…

Naturally, I was opposed to this request - we had nowhere near the resources necessary to care for 80 additional people, let alone 80 individuals from a variety of species we knew nothing about. It wasn’t until the explorers’ captain, Hanako, threatened to refuse rescue that I finally relented. Such is the stubbornness of humans. This is the same species that, upon seeing my Mother’s (recent) ancestors in person for the first time - a species known for being an apex predator - said “Awww, they look like kitties!” Before attempting to pet their heads, followed by sulking when my mother’s ancestors refused to allow it. I suppose it’s the human blood that flows through my veins that makes it hard to be too mad at them.

In any case, one individual was of particular interest to us due to Hanako’s claims that she had communicated with them. Naturally, we were skeptical. We had barely made any progress on decoding the Theta Aliens’ language after a month, it seemed impossible that a human could communicate with a completely different alien species after less than a day. Imagine our surprise when the alien spoke (admittedly limited, and broken) English.

I quickly discovered the secret behind their supernatural ability to learn languages, it was quite literally “supernatural” in nature. They are capable of communicating telepathically, and on rare occasions they can communicate with individuals from different species. This ability is extremely limited however, as there are many complications associated with communicating with an individual who does not share a language, and most individuals are not compatible. We had the individual attempt to communicate with everyone on the Zuikaku, and of the Human and Tathrax crew, only Hanako could hear them.

Despite this limitation, this individual would likely be very useful. According to Hanako, the individual served as a diplomat for some time, and knew many languages as a result. In addition to this, they knew a lot about the Theta Aliens (who they referred to as something like K’Lagreth). This would no doubt be extremely useful, both for information gathering, and for deciphering the Theta Aliens’ language. Given how none of the 1,500 some crew on the Zuikaku were compatible with the individual’s ability, it’s nothing short of a miracle that any of the five captured explorers were compatible.

Before returning to the Frontier to refuel and rearm, we decided to ask the individual for their name, as referring to them as “the/that alien,” or “the/that individual” was quite tiresome. Unfortunately, neither human nor tathrax vocal chords could actually pronounce their name, and I’m not certain that letters exist in any alliance language that could accurately transcribe it. In addition, their name was long, very long. Assuming that any of us could even pronounce it, most would struggle to remember. However, humans will do as humans will do, and upon hearing a part of their name that sounded vaguely like “Gregg,” the humans immediately took to calling them by that name. I suppose referring to them as “Gregg” is easier than referring to them in the 3rd person all the time…

After (slowly) providing basic accommodations for the numerous species onboard, we prepared to depart on the return journey to the Frontier. Due to the limited bandwidth for FTL communications, our transmission to the Frontier was extremely limited (speeds capped out at around 12 bits per second). This meant that most of the details regarding our new guests could not be included. I’m sure that Zack will be happy to hear that he’ll need to fill his precious space station with a wide variety of flammable gases, toxic gases, and strong oxidizers in order to provide for our unexpected rescuees.

Moving forward, the admiralty will need to make a decision on how to proceed from here. Clearly, the Alliance aren’t the only ones threatened by the Theta aliens. If Gregg’s reports are to be believed, the Theta Aliens have subjected no fewer than ten different civilizations, possibly more. They also noted that the exact location of the Theta Aliens’ homeworld is unknown to most, if not all outsiders. Originally our goal was to protect Alliance interests from the Alien threat, and negotiate a ceasefire as soon as possible. However, I now feel this is unlikely to work. The Mylr’s (Gregg’s species) were supposedly able to fend off the Theta Aliens for some time, but eventually, they too fell.

I feel a military campaign is necessary. There is much we could learn from these captured civilizations, and depriving the Theta Aliens of their resources, both living and non-living, would make it very unlikely that they could continue to attack us. In addition, it would ultimately be beneficial for us to free those countless individuals who are suffering at the hands of the Theta Aliens… Y’know, from a objective standpoint of course. Definitely nothing as ambiguous or illogical as feeling moral obligation to help them just because they’re in need. Nothing like that at all.

In any case, the sooner we can get the individuals we rescued back to their homeworlds, the better. While it’s true they were no longer in what could only be described as slavery, they hadn’t exactly returned to a normal life either. It would be best for them to return to their homeworlds. But as those homeworlds were supposedly under occupation, it would be hard to just bring them back and expect things to turn out fine.

I’ll chat with Zack about this once we return. I’m unwilling to just abandon the individuals we rescued today, and I’m sure Zack will feel the same (once he’s done complaining about having to fill the Frontier with a variety of dangerous gases). I don’t care how long or what it takes, but I swear on my ancestors that we will wage total war against the Theta Aliens - and we will free those unduly oppressed by them. Even if the admiralty refuses my plan, I will not allow the Theta Aliens to exploit any civilization any longer. The Theta Aliens’ empire’s collapse begins today.

Log end

Hey y’all. So as it turns out I’m physically incapable of sticking to schedules, so here’s this entry a day or so early. The next entry will probably be from Gregg’s perspective and may end up being a bit shorter (although I’ve thought this about literally every chapter so far) as it won’t be as focused on the larger plot. It will be a little more in the spirit of “humans are fucking weird” as it deals with Gregg adapting to the *ahem* oddities of living with humans.

Depending on how long it is, the next chapter/intermission may come out as early as next week. Like I said, apparently I’m incapable of sticking to a schedule. In the meantime, thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it. See y’all in anywhere from a few days to two weeks!

~Rad

[cosmonautroger]

AR Scorpii (binary pulsar)

[silmarildust]

[neutronstcr]

STARMAP OF MUSES — santa guadalupe edition.

A starmap is a celestial map that gives the positions and magnitudes of the stars. They are used to identify and locate constellations, stars, nebulae, galaxies, and planets. Celestial maps have been used for human navigation since time immemorial.

(insp)

✦ FOLLOW THE STARMAP.

Tiago Henrique McGowan is Fùěr (also known as Sigma Tauri) meaning Whisper, because this star is marking itself and stands alone in the Whisper asterism of the Net mansion. The Net mansion is one of the western mansions of the White Tiger, his representative animal.

Marcos Gabriel dos Santos is Sabik (also known Eta Ophiuchi), from the Arabic السابق al-sābiq "the preceding one". He's the love Auramere that came right before Tiago.

Helena Mariano is Antares (also known as Alpha Scorpii) meaning "rival to-Ares". Antares is the brightest star in the constellation of Scorpius. She was Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons, until she found out about the Red Cult's true intention and fought against them.

Caetana Nascimento is Alkafzah (also known as Kappa Ursae Majoris), from the Arabic القفزة al-qafzah "the leap". She's the youngest of her friendgroup, and even when things are hard, she has a lot of faith that things will get better.

Brandon Mastriani is Achernar (also known as Alpha Eri) meaning "End of the River". Achernar is the brightest star in the constellation of Eridanus. Considering his presumed death and water deity, some part of his personality really did die. After his return, he connected with the air deity and became the eye of a storm above the river he once was.

Harriet Coleman is Electra (also known as 17 Tauri). Named after one of the seven Pleiades, Electra is also the designation of a comet. By way of explanation for the fact that only six of the seven stars in the constellation were readily visible, it was said that Electra, unable to behold the destruction of Troy, hid her eyes, or turned away; or, in another version, Electra, in mourning, let down her hair, and left her sisters altogether and became a "long haired star" (i.e. a "comet"). Harry has a lot of talents that she keeps hidden behind her "cool girl" mask.

Daniel Soares Prado is Aldebaran (also known as Alpha Tauri) meaning "the follower". The star comes right after the Pleiades cluster, and it's the brightest star in the constellation Taurus. Daniel follows truth wherever he goes, not caring about the consequences.

Bloom Seong is Mukokseong (also known as Alkaid, Eta Ursae Majoris and the Seventh Star of the Northern Dipper) meaning "the most corner star". Alkaid derives from the Arabic phrase meaning "The leader of the daughters of the bier", also known as the mourning maidens. By being the seventh and youngest sacred flame priestess at her temple, she is represented by this star.

Elisa Topaz is Meissa (also known as Lambda Orionis) meaning "the shining one". She's the youngest of her friend group and her energized personality is represented by this star.

[antimonyantigone]

Uzumaki // Binary Star System AR Scorpii// Whirpool Galaxy M51

[millieefashion]

SCORPIO (october 23 - november 21)

passionate ~ brave ~ authentic

Scorpius, (Latin: “Scorpion”) also called Scorpio, in astronomy, zodiacal constellation lying in the southern sky between Libra and Sagittarius, at about 16 hours 30 minutes right ascension and 30° south declination. Its brightest star, Antares (Alpha Scorpii), the 15th brightest star in the sky, has a magnitude of 1.1. Its name comes from the Greek for “rival of Ares” (i.e., rival of the planet Mars) and was probably given because of the star’s red colour and brightness. The brightest X-ray source in the sky, Scorpius X-1, is found in this constellation.

In astrology, Scorpius (or Scorpio) is the eighth sign of the zodiac, considered as governing the period from about October 24 to about November 21. Its representation as a scorpion is related to the Greek legend of the scorpion that stung Orion to death (said to be why Orion sets as Scorpius rises in the sky). Another Greek myth relates that a scorpion caused the horses of the Sun to bolt when they were being driven for a day by the inexperienced youth Phaeton.

Zodiac sign and it’s traits

Tarot card ~ death

The Death card represents transformation and growth. As we all know, Scorpio is the only zodiac sign who easily evolves with times and wants to change throughout the stages of their life.

Planet ~ Pluto

Pluto is the planet of transformation, power dynamics, and all that’s hidden beneath the surface.

“Passionate. independent. and unafraid to blaze their own trail no matter what others thimk. Scorpienneke artateorconthorergy.”

The Scorpio personality is often misunderstood due to their intensity and their tendency to be harsh. However, Scorpios are extremely emotional, and crave intimacy. They have a powerful presence and demanding personalities, and their penchant for mystery is what makes them one of the most interesting signs.

[gaetaniu]

I ricercatori realizzano misure astrometriche di interferometria a lunghissima linea di base sulla pulsar nana bianca AR Scorpii

Le mappe VLBI della nana bianca pulsar AR Sco a 5 GHz (in alto) e a 8,6 GHz (in basso). Il fascio sintetizzato è mostrato nell’angolo in basso a sinistra di ciascun pannello. I contorni iniziano a tre volte il livello di rumore delle immagini e aumentano di un fattore 2. Un team di ricerca internazionale guidato dal dottor Cui Lang dell’Osservatorio astronomico di Xinjiang dell’Accademia delle…

[scifipoetry]

COSMIC APOCALYPSE

(em construção)

Lena Alba sabia que no fim não seria capaz de evitar a guerra, a destruição final de tudo que existia no universo. Mesmo que parte das massas a considerasse fraca por sempre adiar qualquer conflito, sempre priorizando a paz em todos os aeons de sua Camelot celestial, essas mesmas massas resmungonas que se autoproclamavam rebeldes eram no final tudo aquilo por que ela sempre lutou e também seriam sua derrocada. O Fim fermentava dentro de tudo e de todos, ela podia sentir. Todos os instintos se instrumentalizavam para a morte. Era com lágrimas nos olhos que ela se aproximava do planeta escondido na órbita de Tau Scorpii que já havia sido seu paraíso em tempos de paz. Um azul tão quente e amoroso emanava desse planeta onde a vida não havia criado animais, apenas plantas. Nada do círculo sangrento de presas e de dor, um planeta em que a evolução deu às plantas sensciência e elas a usaram para criar os frutos mais maravilhosos para boca alguma comer. Ou para Lena e sua gang do espaço? Um azul tão profundo, tão quente e infinito. Ela queria morrer ali mesmo.

Ela guiou sua nave silenciosamente para o antigo lugar de pouso, as luzes da Pirâmide Negra evidenciando a névoa perfumada na qual Lena sentia o delicioso amor de seu planeta favorito. Ela sequer o havia nomeado. O planeta tinha permanecido um mistério seu e dos seus durante todo seu reinado. Um oásis no espaço onde ela havia se deleitado quase até a morte com seus amantes, seus séquitos de anjos negros, a Rainha da Noite em seus dias de glória. Ela que deu às trevas um nome delicioso, que fez a glória da noite dos amantes, ela que criou cultura na decadência final, e que agora já não tinha mais força para evitar a peste da barbárie que se espalhava por todos os mundos.

Talvez fosse para ser assim. Ela e os seus eram os estranhos no universo. Os párias, os banidos. O povo do culto da beleza e do amor, da racionalidade leve, da sexualidade livre, amantes de flores e de pássaros e de meteorologias estranhas em planetas desconhecidos. O povo que veio para amar, não para destruir. Esses eram os improváveis, os erros de cálculo da natureza. Em toda parte Lena havia visto violências inomináveis. Por isso amava aquele planeta pacífico, casa de seus desejos satisfeitos, e não deu a ele um nome para que ninguém jamais soubesse nada sobre ele.

A nave pousou docemente, e por um longo tempo Lena ficou perdida no silêncio e na paz daquilo que podia chamar de lar. Era a hora do por do Sol mas Al Nyiat era uma estrela gigantesca e o por do Sol em seu planeta igualmente gigantesco durava algo como três dias na Terra. A luz agora era amarelada, dourada de eras há muito passadas, e Lena chorou lágrimas igualmente amarelas durante algum tempo. Depois ela se despiu e se ajoelhou diante dessa Luz Amarela Ancestral, saudando com todo o amor de seu ser a vida daquele sistema maravilhoso.

Depois disso ela apertou o botão do estacionamento e a Pirâmide Negra desapareceu entre as trepadeiras e os cipós.

Lena Alba estava em casa.

O silêncio era profundo ali. Gostava de chegar em casa lentamente. Desceu as escadarias negras e apertou o botão da escotilha que se abriu sem qualquer som. A Pirâmide Negra era uma nave muito antiga, mas havia sido fabricada de maneira tão perfeita que preservava sua característica intacta mesmo depois de séculos de viagens. E ela tinha um charme antiquado que Lena amava. Suas meias luzes, seus abajures verde-água. Suas mesas de mogno e carvalho. Tudo feito para parecer um navio pirata do século XVII na Terra, algo de milênios atrás.

Abaixo dela a abertura triangular revelava, iluminado pelos poderosos holofotes de pouso, um lago de águas azul turquesa, escondido dentro das pedras. Lena deixou que o calor entrasse pelo buraco da escotilha, pois era verão e ela amava sentar na beira e cheirar o ar perfumado pelo calor, pela água e pela atividade sexual de trilhões e trilhões de plantas. Logo porém ela levantou-se e já estando nua, mergulhou nas águas puríssimas. Ao voltar para a superfície deu um grito de prazer. Era sempre assim.

Nadou entre as pedras um longo tempo até chegar à beira de uma imensa praia dentro da caverna. Enquanto nadava sentiu ondas de euforia de diversas cores invadindo seu peito, seu ventre, suas coxas. Era o planeta dando a ela as boas vindas. Lena e aquele planeta existiam em uma simbiose de amantes. Quando ela saiu da água, debaixo do arco imenso de pedra e da cratera que o encimava, um vento quente e carregado soprou sobre Lena e ela disse rindo:

"Eu senti tanto sua falta também!"

Deitou-se sobre uma pedra e ficou ali respirando todas aquelas falas amorosas. Seu corpo se arqueava e suas costelas pulsavam suavemente enquanto ela deixava a substância entrar por suas narinas, invadir seu corpo, dançar dentro dela. Era como se infinitas mãos a buscassem ao mesmo tempo, todas com insuportável doçura. Em segundos ela gemia, ria e gritava com o prazer insano que invadia seu sangue. Bolhas de champagne subiam de sua vulva e inundavam seu coração. Suas veias se acendiam como fogueiras pagãs em uma montanha. Ela se entregava e se entregava. Caía e caía.

Depois do que pareceu um tempo infinito de loucuras, orgasmos como contas em um colar, Lena se levantou e nadou para sua casa, construída em uma caverna mais profunda, atravessando alguns buracos submersos. A casa se conectava com a nave, formando um complexo energético que em troca alimentava a caverna inteira. Quando entrou em seus aposentos Lena desabou em um sono profundo.

Quando despertou era noite, como ela esperava. Sentia uma fome monstruosa. Caminhou pelos corredores para fora de sua casa e começou a colher os frutos cálidos da ventoeira gigantesca que havia plantado no portal há tanto tempo que parecia outra vida. Meteu os dedos dentro da casca escura de uma venta e enfiou uma mão inteira de suas sementes na boca. Comeu doze frutas inteiras de uma só vez. Desejava sentir esse gosto há anos e pensou que talvez nunca mais fosse fazê-lo. E talvez agora fosse a última vez. Aquele fruto maravilhoso só existia neste planeta. Lena sentia pena de quem nunca havia conhecido seu sabor.

A noite de verão era tão silenciosa naquele planeta. Quando nenhum vento movia nenhuma folha, era como se nada jamais tivesse existido. E Lena pensava: para que voltar e liderar exércitos em batalhas que seriam perdidas. Porque não se deixar ficar ali, morrer ali de amores venenosos, ser assimilada pelas trepadeiras, e mesmo se viessem atrás dela... Tudo seria aniquilado em breve. Toda a beleza, a graciosidade, a gentileza e a ingênua dedicação daquele planeta não eram poderosas o suficiente para deter o espírito horrível do invasor que estava a caminho.

O planeta sabia daquilo e tentava consolar Lena. Falava a ela da imortalidade, da doce escuridão da consciência, da inexistência sensível do vazio, se ela apenas comesse esse fruto...

'Eu estou bem. Eu não vim aqui em busca de visões. Eu vim para estar aqui uma última vez. Eu vim porque não podia morrer sem fazer amor com você de novo. Você foi a melhor coisa que existiu na minha vida. Meu paraíso perdido, esquecido nas dobras da civilização. Eu vim porque eu quero morrer aqui. Eu não posso, mas é tudo que eu quero. Deitar em teus braços e afundar em tua terra. Me tornar uma com teu coração de fogo."

O planeta suspirou e uma ventania momentânea sacudiu as árvores em volta. Depois ele a chamou para ver uma coisa. Lena caminhou divertida até uma clareira, e levou um susto porque havia ali uma outra mulher. Ela estava sentada, imóvel, no meio do terreiro iluminada pela luz das luas. Lena rapidamente percebeu que aquilo era uma ilusão. Ela se aproximou e tocou a pele grudenta da mulher. Ela era feita de resinas e de flores. Dentro de Lena o planeta disse que se se parecesse com ela, gostaria de ser assim. Lena olhou para aquele rosto. Seu queixo caiu ao vê-la. Era belíssima, talvez um pouco como a própria Lena, mas seus cabelos caiam cacheados e suas formas voluptuosas eram delicadas, pequenas. Seus lábios perfeitamente abertos revelavam dois preciosos dentinhos e Lena aproximou-se e aspirou seu hálito. Era adocicado e tinha cheiro de chuva. Seus olhos se fecharam e quando seus lábios finalmente pousaram nos dela após um longo momento, a imagem a beijou de volta.

"Eu não estou pronta ainda. Espere por mim em sua casa, eu vou te buscar em breve..."

"Quem é você?"

"Você vai saber quando eu for para tua casa."

Lena caminhou de volta para sua casa hipnotizada, drogada, possuída por aquele beijo, aquela boca, aquele hálito divino de vida e frescor, de tempestades, de raios cósmicos, delicada e deliciosa. Tudo que ela podia pensar era em estar com ela. Ansiava por esse momento com toda sua pele.

Ao entrar em sua casa caminhou de olhos vidrados até a sua nave e passou a checar os dados que ela recebia de uma fonte tênue na escuridão do ventre do planeta. Olhou com certa indiferença para o terror que aquelas imagens comunicavam. Sistemas solares inteiros sendo dizimados. Planetas infectados que a Irmandade da Estrela Vermelha tinha que exterminar.

Suas últimas amigas provavelmente estavam mortas agora. Ela não teria como saber. Planejava um último ataque suicida contra a força inominável, e logo estaria com elas no Vazio Absoluto. Lena mal era capaz de perceber o quanto já estava drogada pelo planeta, o quanto a morte de todo o seu mundo não a afetava mais tanto assim. Caminhou até a cozinha da nave e fez café. Bebeu seu café sem pensar em um instante em tudo que havia visto e o café ativou algo dentro dela. Como se pequenos cafezais começassem a brotar de suas artérias.

"O que você está fazendo?" Lena disse como se sentisse cócegas.

O planeta respondeu dentro dela que só estava checando uma coisa. Estava ansioso para mostrar a ela o que tinha criado, seu presente. Se arrependeu de ter mostrado a ela antes da hora, antes dela estar pronta. Estava muito ansioso. E no final era como se ele dissesse:

"Nesta noite você vai fazer amor com meu corpo diretamente. Eu criei um corpo usando o DNA humano de todas as lindas pessoas que você trouxe aqui, mas principalmente de você. Eu serei uma mistura de todos nós, seus corpos, meus fluídos, e farei amor com você como uma mulher feita de flores, e você irá conhecer o máximo que o prazer do amor pode conceber em um corpo humano... Se você não morrer de prazer esta noite, nunca mais irá morrer..."

Lena não foi mais capaz de tomar seu café.

Ela não era capaz de perceber também a verdade final do discurso do planeta dentro de seu sangue. Mesmo naquele momento o planeta a estava enredando em um caramanchão de substâncias e controlando cada um de seus atos. Dentro dela crescia um calor delicioso, entre o umbigo e o coração. Seu ventre se tornava oleoso, mel inchava sua vulva, serpentes elétricas despertavam em suas coxas. Os pensamentos desapareciam, apenas um fluxo morno de contentamento. Apenas um deslisar pela noite. Lena saiu para olhar as estrelas. Uma deliciosa brisa quente ía e vinha. Era o planeta se concentrando, trabalhando. Ela não sentia medo de que aquele lugar fosse destruído com todo o universo. Ela não sentia medo de nada. Sentia a vida. Seu corpo era um catalizador de vida. Seu magnetismo manteria sua alma inteira, independente da corrupção cósmica de almas no espaço, por algum tempo. Ainda teria tempo em seu planeta oculto.

Ela sentia cheiro de chuva se anunciando. Sentia cheiros de telhados molhados há muito tempo atrás, em sua infância. Desejos repletos de barro começavam a formigar em sua pele. Suas axilas emanavam um forte cheiro de seiva.

Ela acendeu novamente as luzes de pouso da Pirâmide Negra e mergulhou mais uma vez no lago subterrâneo. Nadou durante horas, tão presente em seu corpo que era como se todos seus músculos fossem feitos de água. A água naquele lago tinha uma distante e frágil presença de uvas, um sabor imperceptível, mas que às vezes se tornava mais forte. Lena sabia que o lago amava sua beleza e que toda vez que ela mergulhava ali ela recebia essa golfada de vinho, como um hormônio de desejo secretado pelas pedras cobertas de algas cor de rosa. Quão mais ela se movia mais a sua própria beleza se tornava clara a ela por um olho interior que só parecia existir naquele planeta, certamente um efeito de suas inúmeras substâncias alucinógenas. Ela se regozijava em uma explosão de beleza que era quase insuportável. E ao mesmo tempo, o planeta usava seus próprios hormônios para terminar seu trabalho.

Lena saiu da água e ficou sentada sobre uma pedra, respirando o perfume de sua pele que secava na noite infernal. Era tão delicioso o cheiro da sua pele. Lembrou-se de seu caso de amor com Johnny Lesath em uma lua oásis nas proximidades de Paikauhaule, onde ficavam horas se bronzeando nús e ouvindo música cósmica antiga. O cheiro que se desprendida de seus corpos extasiados era muito semelhante ao que sentia agora.

[ceyrann]

熒惑守心 - Mars in Antares

Random post on Mars —— 熒惑守心

熒惑 (yíng huò) is a rather archaic term for Mars. Mars is red, like fire, as in the character 熒, which consists of three fires, and it’s brightness is often changeable when seen from Earth. Not to mention its transit, where it may be direct or in retrograde, can be confusing to us, depicted in the word 惑, which means confusion. 

Hence, ancient Chinese referred to Mars as 熒惑. 

Excerpt from Baidu with my own input.

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Now. With the above explained, I would like to move on to my main topic of this post: 熒惑守心, a phenomenon in the skies that have been deemed inauspicious, and Chinese Emperors usually go chaotic when they see this. 

The term 熒惑守心 means that Mars in Antares, and Antares, in both Latin and Arabic, means Heart of the Scorpion. The direct translation for the term 熒惑守心 also refers to “Mars guarding the heart”, which definitely fits the theme.

Let’s talk more about Antares. This name in Greek means rival of Ares, which means Antares is the rival of Mars (I believe y’all know that Mars is the Roman equivalent of Ares, aka the God of War). According to myths (and google), this rivalry stems from the colours of Mars and Antares. Both are red in colour, and, for a few months every couple of years Mars is much brighter than Antares. It can be seen as an act of taunting the star, as Mars passes Antares.

Coming back to Mars. Mars is also called The Red Star, The Star of Punishment, and The Enforcer. It is also known as a malefic planet even in ancient China, where it rules over the wrongs of the people, as well as draughts, famine, wars, deaths, evil, etc. This planet, may it be in Western or Chinese astrology (I don’t dare say Eastern cuz I honestly don’t know much about the other branches hshshshs), is a symbol of war and chaos, and deaths usually follow after them. For some reason I am once again reminded that Mars is the traditional ruler of Scorpio, and Scorpio is generally related with themes like change, death, rebirth. And Antares is the brightest star in this constellation. This star is in 9 degrees Sagittarius tropically and can be found in astro.com as well!

In terms of colour, both are red. And red generally means chaos, fights, passion, anger, etc. Which are also the themes Mars. With these two, Mars and Antares in red, I could see them fighting for dominance in the skies.

Another interesting point for the colour red is that although it is generally an auspicious colour for Chinese, especially during Lunar New Year, it is not lucky to see them in the skies or during the seventh lunar month. It usually means shit is about to go down and you should get away asap. (Special thanks to @sun-pluto for suggesting this cuz most people don’t know the other side of this colour.) 

Which is why when these two meet, 熒惑守心, chaos is bound to happen. In Chinese astrology, astrologers who work in the imperial court will be concerned when they see this phenomenon, as it usually means either the prime minister will be changed or the emperor will die, causing the regime to be shaken at its very foundation. This is because Antares represents the emperor. And with Mars in retrograde or by the star’s side, it is seen that the emperor and his regime is being challenged, which is why the emperor’s death may be a possibility.

Fun fact and explanation on why Antares represents the emperor! There’s something known as the Heart Mansion in the Chinese constellation, and it consists of three of the brightest stars (system) in Scorpio: Sigma Scorpii, Alpha Scorpii (Antares), and Tau Scorpii. They represent the Crown Prince, the Emperor, and the Concubine’s Child.

This is similar to the Northern Pole constellation, which consists of 5 stars, representing the Crown Prince, the Emperor, the Concubine’s son, the Concubine, and the Celestial Pivot. (A post may be done on 紫微垣 to further explain this. Maybe. This is too much work)

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There are also cases in the past that were recorded. However, the records may not actually be Mars staying at Antares as there may be chances where the times were recorded wrongly, the aspects may be mistaken, astrologers confusing Jupiter as Mars, misunderstanding the other constellations as the Heart Mansion, wrong words, etc. Some people also presume that it was not Mars staying at Antares, but may be a supernova, as there was no reason to make up stories on star signs.

There’s also this case, where Mars moved back so that calamity would not fall. 

When Song Jing Gong was on the throne (BC480), Mars had entered the area of Heart Mansion. According to the position of the stars, the Heart was facing directly at the Song Empire. This meant that there would be disaster falling upon Song, and the emperor was very worried and concerned about this.

The astrologer, Zi Wei mentioned that he could come up with something to push this bad omen onto the minister, to which the emperor refused, stating that the minister was like his limbs, helping him to govern the country. Zi Wei then said again to transfer this to the people, and the emperor refused again, stating that as a king, it was his duty to love and care for the people, which is just unfair for the people to bear the calamity. Zi Wei proposed a third time to transfer the bad omen onto the crops for the year, to which the emperor refused the third time. Song Jing Gong said that the people rely on the crops to live. If there were no crops, there would be no people, and who’s king shall he be? 

Zi Wei then said, “The heavens may be high above, but they still could hear the voices of man on earth. The three lines your majesty has mentioned are recognized as the words of a noble king, which would affect the planetary movement of Mars.” Upon observation, Mars moved three degrees away, leaving the area of the Heart Mansion. There were no calamities or wars during that year in the Song Empire.

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Tl;dr: In Chinese astrology, Mars generally represents war and everything that’s not nice, while Antares represents the Emperor. When Mars meets Antares, the emperor’s regime is bound to be shaken and changes affecting the empire will happen. There are records but there may be some discrepancies based on the limitations of technology and knowledge.

Honestly I just have no idea why am I making this post when I’m obviously not an astrologer. I got to know about this when I was reading a web novel and decided to check this up and learn something new lol. Not to mention the bliss you get when you put in the various current understanding on astrology with this. Just a random sharing lol hope y’all enjoy reading as much I enjoyed researching.

[tamacatleen]

🦉In the trilogy of fantasy novels His Dark Materials, by Philip Pullman, dæmons are the external physical manifestation of someone's "inner-self", someone's voice of reason, someone' soul taking the form of an animal. They have human intelligence and can talk regardless of the form they take. Children's dæmons can take any form, real or imaginary, and shapeshift as much as they want, instantaneously and voluntarily. During adolescence a person's dæmon settles, taking permanently and involuntarily the form of the animal that matches the most their human's personality. They usually behave as if they were independent of their humans.Dæmons resembles perfectly the animal they take the form of from their appearance to their behavior but they are not true animals, humans, other dæmons and true animals are able to tell them apart on sight. Most of the time a dæmon is of the opposite gender of their human. Dæmons often interact with each other mimicking their humans relationships. Human contact with someone else dæmon's is strictly prohibited, dæmon touching is taboo. 🦉I believe that if I was part of Lyra's world (His Dark Materials) my dæmon would have settled as a Eurasian eagle-owl (Bubo bubo), he would be named Antares and his nickname would be Nunki. Antares is the traditional name of Alpha Scorpii, the brightest object in the constellation of Scorpius, and derives from the Ancient Greek word that means "rival-to-Ares" (or "opponent-to-Mars") and Nunki is the traditional Assyrian or Babylonian name of Sigma Sagittarii from the constellation of Sagittarius. These names reference to my birthday, 22 November, I could be seen as a Scorpio or a Sagittarius.  (Those are theories or "headcanons" of course!)This is a watercolor painting. The picture I used as a reference is at the end. I used different calligraphies to write his names etc. ("The physical manifestation of a human soul " is the definition of a dæmon but I wrote it after because I forgot I wanted to write it 😭) Hope you like it! ❤️

[quiltofstars]

The Spider Globular Cluster (M4, center right) and a few stars of Scorpius // William Guyot-Lénat

Read below the cut for some info about the three brightest stars in this image!

Antares (α Scorpii, center left) is a red supergiant star. It might be part of a binary system, although the best calculated orbit for the pair is unreliable. Antares is expected to explode in about 1 million years. Its name comes from the Ancient Greek word Ἀντάρης meaning "rival to Ares" since its red hue gives it an appearance similar to the planet Mars (Greek god Ares).

Paikauhale (τ Scorpii, lower left) is a massive blue giant star. It is about 470 light years from Earth and is about 6 times larger than the Sun. Its name is a Hawaiian word meaning "vagabond owning no home; house-to-house wanderer."

Alniyat (σ Scorpii, above right of M4) is a blue giant star about 12 times the size of the Sun and 20 times the mass of the Sun. It is about 550 light years away. Its name comes from the Arabic word al-niyāţ meaning "the arteries", referring to its position near Antares, often called the scorpion's heart.

[foxgirlchorix]

general terms for groups of multiple genders by proportion

A discussion with @libragender led to the realization that there are several terms for multiple genders and for partial genders, but not many more granular terms for multiple genders or the combination of these.

My apologies for the extreme nerdiness inherent in this. I hope you will find the terms useful!

These can be used on their own or as adjectives for another term or system- it may also be useful to use shorthand terms from something like the alloy system, but I’m unsure if the creator of that system is okay with using them like that.

the list is organized like:

- identity (star namesake): explanation

dualgender:

- spicic (alpha virginis): when one has two genders of fairly similar proportions

- almazic (epsilon aurigae): when one has two genders but one is confusing or obscured

- siric (alpha canis majoris): when one has two genders of varying proportions

- procyonic (alpha canis minoris): see siric, but the proportions are counter to the standard assumption (perhaps use in conjunction with “libragender”, unless there’s a counter term?)

- miric (omicron ceti): when one has two genders that fluctuate in proportion

- cygnic (cygnus x-1): when one has either one or two genders, but a strong component of one’s gender identity is agender or demigender 

trigender:

- gliesic (gliese 667): when one has three genders of fairly similar proportion

- rigikenic (alpha centuari): when one has three genders, two of which are much more prominent than the third

- polaric (alpha ursae minoris): when one has three genders, one of which is more prominent than the other two

- fomalhic (alpha piscis austrini): when one has three genders of varying proportion

- algolic (beta persei): when one has three to four genders that fluctuate in proportion

- quvidelic (qv telescopii): when one has three to five genders with some components being agender or demigenders

tetragender:

- xitauric (xi tauri): when one has four genders of fairly similar proportion

- capellic (alpha aurigae): when one has four genders, two of which are major and two of which are minor

- mizaric (zeta ursae majoris): when one has four genders of varying proportion

quingender

- dabihic (beta capricorni): when one has five genders of fairly similar proportion

- mintakic (delta orionis): when one has five genders of varying proportion

- almachic (gamma andromedae): when one has five to six genders that fluctuate in proportion

hexagender

- betucic (beta tucanae): when one has six genders of fairly similar proportion

- castoric (alpha geminorum): when one has six genders of varying proportion

- sagatic (sagittarius a*): when one has six or more genders with some components being agender or demigenders

septegender+:

- djabbanic (nu scorpii): when one has seven or more genders of fairly similar proportion

- arcassic (AR cassiopeiae): when one has seven or more genders of varying proportion

- trapezic (trapezium cluster): when one has more than seven genders that fluctuate in proportion to each other, or if one has many genders of chaotic proportions

I’d love to hear your feedback, especially if you have suggestions for things I missed or if I misuse anything! @lgbtqiarchive @variant-archive

[alxndrasplace]

(ESA/Hubble)  This artist’s impression video shows the strange object AR Scorpii. In this unique double star a rapidly spinning white dwarf star powers electrons up to almost the speed of light. These high energy particles release blasts of radiation that lash the companion red dwarf star and cause the entire system to pulse dramatically every 1.97 minutes with radiation ranging from the ultraviolet to radio.

Credit: ESA/Hubble, L. Calçada, University of Warwick

About the Object

Name: AR Scorpii Type: Milky Way : Star : Type : Exotic Category: Stars Source