Saturday I went to the lake with a friend. The park rangers are familiar
with us and when they were making their closing rounds they told us that a
college professor was putting on an astronomy program in the park. We attended
and it brought my attention to the Big Dipper because it has
seven stars like the seven words of GN 1:1.
Also, the Big Dipper is featured in the state flag for Alaska - Sarah Palin is
the Governor of Alaska.
The center star of the
seven is located where the pot meets the handle. It is the
brightest star of the seven and is named
'Megrez'. The sum of the ASCII codes for 'Megrez' is 618. Point
618 is the Golden ratio. The center word of
Genesis 1:1 is the 'Aleph' and 'Tav'.
A line drawn from 'Merak' through 'Dubhe' points to
the North Star - Polaris. The sum of the ASCII codes for 'Merak' is 496. 496 is
the third perfect number.
The seven stars are called:
|
1 |
Dubhe |
|
2 |
Merak |
|
3 |
Phecda |
|
4 |
Megrez |
|
5 |
Alioth |
|
6 |
Mizar |
|
7 |
Alkaid |
Not only are the stars in the Big Dipper easily found themselves, they may also be used as guides to yet other stars:
- Polaris, the North Star, is found by imagining a line from Merak (β) to Dubhe (α) and then extending it for five times the distance between the two Pointers.
- Extending a line from Megrez (δ) to Phecda (γ), on the inside of the bowl, leads to Regulus (α Leonis) and Alphard (α Hydrae). A mnemonic for this is "A hole in the bowl will leak on Leo."
- Crossing the top of the bowl from Megrez (δ) to Dubhe (α) takes one in the direction of Capella (α Aurigae). A mnemonic for this is "Cap to Capella."
- Castor and Pollux (α and β Geminorum) can be located by crossing the bottom of the bowl from Phecda (γ) to Merak (β) and continuing onward.
- By following the curve of the handle from Alioth (ε) to Mizar (ζ) to Alkaid (η), one reaches Arcturus (α Boötis) and Spica (α Virginis). A mnemonic for this is "Arc to Arcturus then speed to Spica."