ABOUT ARCTURUS

 

Before we travel through the Corridor, allow us to share some information about our world. Arcturus is a red supergiant star 36.7 light years from Earth in the constellation of Bootes. 

 

It is believed to be one of the first stars to be named by your ancient observers, likely because it is the fourth brightest star in the sky, outshone only by Sirius, Canopus and Alpha Centauri. In your language, the name Arcturus is translated as “Guardian of the Bear” due to our nearness to the sky Bears, Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. 

 

Arcturus was once the name used for our entire constellation of Bootes.

For many of your millennia Arcturus have been identified as a beacon of light. Your ancient Egyptians called Bootes “Smat,” which means, “one who rules, subdues, and governs,” as well as ”Bau,” which means “the coming one.” Arcturus was worshiped in Nile temples, as it was in the temple of Venus at Ancona in Italy. In 13th century India, Arcturus was named “Svati,” “the Good Goer.” An early Arabic name for Arcturus was, “Al Haris al Sama,” the “Keeper of Heaven.” Arcturus has been identified with the Chaldaeans’ Papsukal, “the Guardian Messenger.” In the Euphrates, Arcturus was the “Shepherd of the Heavenly Flock,” or the “Shepherd of the Life of Heaven.”

In your mythology, Bootes is the Ploughman who drives the Bears, Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, around the Pole Star, Polaris. 

 

The Bears, tied to the Polar Axis are pulling a plough behind them, tilling the heavenly fields “in order that the rotation of the heavens never ceases.” Arcturus is easily found by noting that the curve of the handle of the Big Dipper is part of a circle, or arc, then follow the arc to Arcturus. 

 

From the northern hemisphere Arcturus is visible in the evening from about March to early summer. 

 

Red-supergiant stars, such as Arcturus, are precursors to super-novae, neutron stars, and black holes. Therefore, Arcturus is in the last stages of its life in which it can be perceived from a third dimensional reality. Since Arcturus is the brightest star in the constellation of Bootes it isalso called Alpha Bootes. The pattern of stars in our constellation forms the shape of a kite with Arcturus being the star at the base of the kite.

 

Arcturus is a giant with a diameter about 18 times greater than Earth’s Sun, with four times the Sun’s mass and a surface temperature that is about 1500 degrees lower, but its much greater surface area results in an outpouring of energy at a rate that makes it 105 times as luminous as Earth’s Sun. 

 

Arcturus was formed about 10 billion years ago, in the halo of the Milky Way in a generation of star formation prior to that in which your Sun was formed. This makes us about twice as old as Earth’s solar system and the oldest object easily visible to the naked eye.

From Journey through the Arcturian Corridor