From Our Sun to Canis Majoris

Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology: From Our Sun to VY Canis Majoris

Anthropocentricrefers to the human being focused view, as if everything revolved around humans,just as anthropomorphic means humanizing inanimate objects or ascribing human qualities to other sentient beings. Although we tend to think of our planet, our continent, our country, our state or province, our city, town or village, or even our house or room, as the center of the world, on a stellar bodies and celestial objects scale, the Earth is quite tiny. For example, with Pluto gone, the Earth is 4th in size among the planets of the Solar System.

However,the relative sizes of rock and gas planets differ. Conversely to Earth’s structure of a core, mantle and crust, massive planets such as Jupiter are made entirely of gas and contain no solid core whatsoever. Nonetheless, these planetary masses still generate combustion and are likewise hotter at the center.

Jupiter and its satellites. Approximate, estimated relative sizes of gas planet Jupiter, the Sun, and Sirius, a star outside the Solar System, one of the brightest stars in the night sky, and part of the Canis Majoris constellation. Image: © Elena (Megan Jorgensen)

Moreover, satellites such as the Moon are numerous, with Jupiter counting up to 64 moons in orbit. Curiously, Saturn’s moon Titan, hosts a lake composed of liquid methane.

Starsakin to our Sun, vary in size, mass and power. Alike many mammals, the lifecycle of a star, from birth to supernova or implosion, goes through different stages. Stellar conglomerations cover redhypergiants and orange giants, as well as, degenerate white dwarfs – the termused to refer to a dying star. Furthermore, large gaseous planets such as Jupiter couldpotentially be brown dwarfs, if their internal combustion and mass were higher.

The largeststar known to man in the Cosmos is VY Canis Majoris, in the Canis Majoris Dwarf Galaxy. Still, Pollux, Aldebaran, Arcturus, Rigel, Sirius, Binary Cephei VV,Antares and Betelgeuse are all larger than the Sun. Despite this, other starsare naturally smaller, such as Wolf 359. Notwithstanding, some of the mostmysterious phenomena in cosmology and astronomy pertain to black holes.

Copyright © 2011 Megan Jorgensen (Elena). All rights reserved.