Constellations+and+Stars

=__Constellations and Stars__= __**Jocelyn and Lynette**__

//Hey guys, feel free to make any change to this page and PLEASE PLEASE put in your questions and answers and any other research you have done into the wiki! As you must have already read from Miranda's email, the username is Group-17, the password is spaceresearch, and the wiki is Space-Research-G17.// //Please write it down somewhere as to not forget it like many of us must have forgotten our own wiki's username and password! >..< THANKS!//

__Questions__

- a woman looking for love who found it 2 weeks after wishing on a shooting star - a person who has family involved with NASA and who has seen more than his fair share but, none of his wishes have come true - a mother whose family were in financial trouble and it seemingly worked out after wishing on one of these
 * 1. Why is it believed that a wish will come true when wished upon a star?**
 * Shooting stars don't have magical powers that make your wishes come true.
 * For centuries people believed that rare phenomenons like shootings stars were signs from their God or gods, predicting events in the near future.
 * don't make wishes come true
 * wishing is linked though to the fact it rarely occurs, its beauty and the human fascination with the heavens
 * **__Evidence of people’s experience with wishing on shooting stars__**

[] <<website of Greek myths about constellations
 * 2. What effect do the Greek and Roman mythology have on stars?**
 * Greek and Roman mythology is generally based on the same gods and goddesses, but with different names. (eg. Aphrodite=Venus)
 * Constellations have been named after Greek myths and people/creatures related to those myths. (eg. Orion/Orion's belt)
 * Greek astronomer, Ptolemy, around AD 127 to 151 wrote that the Gods occasionally, out of curiosity, even boredom, peer down at the earth from between the spheres, and stars sometimes slip out of this gap, becoming visible as shooting or falling stars. Since the Gods are already looking at us at such a time, they tend to be more receptive to any wishes we make!
 * Greeks believe they are rising or falling human souls


 * 3. How have comets and shooting stars affected human beliefs?**
 * =====believe they are symbols of hope=====
 * believe they are associated with divine powers
 * some think they're angels
 * some believe they bring luck
 * people wish on shooting stars, thinking their wish will come true
 * comets and shooting stars bring hope into humans' lives
 * possible that when people wish they are pushing themselves to believe what they want most in life
 * might cause people to work harder for what they want
 * In Chile, you must pick up a stone as you make a wish
 * In the Philippians, you must tie a knot in you handkerchief
 * In Egypt, Ptolemy wrote that it was thought to have affected the weather
 * **__The Mayans:__**
 * looked out for shooting stars
 * Meteors were related to obsidian, death, human sacrifice and war.
 * Meteors were often known as the excretion of star themselves
 * Obsidian was said to be the droppings of meteors
 * The Tzotzil (a Mayan group) describe shooting stars as "torches" and believe that an evil person's soul may take the form of a shooting star.
 * If a shooting star is spotted at dusk, the leg will swell, but when seen after midnight, it marks the location of hidden treasure.
 * Generally, sky wonders that happened for a short period of time were thought to be bad-natured, because they were unpredictable.
 * Comets are called "star of the night", "windy tail", "fire-ill-omened star", and were omens of a horrible disease called pestilence.
 * Tzotzil call comets yol, which can be translated as 'arrow, 'bow' or 'crossbow'.
 * Halley's comet described from accounts as the comet with a 'long tail'
 * Chinese- comets brought the death of their emperors, uprisings among people, floods, drought and diseases
 * Roman writers said they caused war, appeared when kings and princes died
 * Halley appeared in 1066, at the time of the battle of hastings, Harold died
 * comet appeared during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, a volcano that destroyed the roman city pompeii
 * people thought comets were good sign, celebrated when a comet in 44BC Europe appeared and roman leader Julius Caesar died
 * people stared selling charms to keep away from the evil influence of comets
 * they also sold comet eggs,normal eggs with the marking of comets
 * comets would bring plague


 * 4. When and why do shooting stars and comets appear?**

There are thousands and thousands of small bits of rock in space. They are all differentiate in size, from a golf ball to a grain of dust. While the Earth orbits the Sun, it will go through some of these rocks, falling into the atmosphere at amazing speeds. As the travel through the atmosphere, they will start to heat up and glow, and then burn down. This is why shooting stars, or meteors, the scientific term they are known by; appear.Millions of shooting stars appear throughout the entire day, however we can only see them at night. Also, you can only see a small section of the sky, which also limits the likelihood of seeing one. If stargazing on a normal night, you may be able to spot a shooting star every 10 to 15 minutes. However, if there is a meteor shower, then you will be able to see about twice as many shooting stars before dawn.

- beautiful streaks of light are tiny bits of rock called meteorites, falling from the earth’s atmosphere and burning up - no solid evidence of where wishing on them originated - scientists believe that meteoroids(shooting stars) drive from asteroid or comet matter - made of particles from a asteroid or comet that orbited the sun, matter that survived passed through the earth’s atmosphere - meteoroid turns into a meteor by burning up, leaving behind a bright streak of light - can be seen on clear nights - about a dozen times a year meteor showers occur - showers occur when the earth orbits the sun and moves through a stream of comet and asteroid debris - comets and asteroids lose debris and these are meteoroids - shooting stars occur when meteors have survived its decent into the earth - many meteoroids are tiny and can’t be seen with the naked eye, often vaporizes before they can make their decent through earth - they occur on any given night - visible every 10 to 15 minutes just before dawn - it may have an unusual orbit that brings it closer to the sun, making it visible to the naked eye - visible comets usually have tails/comas that reflect the light of the sun, enhancing its visibility - usually seen when it passes between the sun and earth - short period comets takes 200 years or less to orbit the sun - long period comets take more than 200 years to orbit the sun - Halley’s comet comes every 75 years - Halley last appeared in 1986, set to appear again in 2061 - Halley last appeared in 1986, set to appear again in 2061 - Halley first recorded in 240BC - shooting stars travel up to 32km per sec

**Bibliography**
Jocelyn [] [] [] 23/11/2010 Comets and Meteors Author: Robin Kerrod Publisher: Belitha Press Limited Publication Date: 2000 23/11/2010 The Universe:Comets, Asteroids and Meteors Author:Dr Raman K Prinja Publisher: Heinemann Publication Date:2002

Lynette [] [] [] []