Are you prepared for action at any time like the legendary SWAT Team? If yes, you have something to do with the star Merak, a fabulous star in the north-eastern sky ever so present to keep you ever so prepared. In this blog post, I examine the star Merak in terms of Astronomy, Asterism and Cosmics and outline recommendations for improving your life.

Astronomy

Merak is a bright hot star beaming with white colour tinged in green shade in the north eastern sky. The word Merak comes from Arabic “Al-Maraak Al- Dubb Al- Akbar” meaning “the Loin of the Great Bear”. It is located in Ursa Major constellation or simply “Great Bear” constellation. Merak is a part of seven star combinations known as Big Dipper Asterism. Fabulously dazzling in colour, Merak is the fifth brightest star in the Great Bear constellation, even though Astronomer Bayer in his classification gave the second place to the star by allotting the Greek letter Beta.

Merak is astronomically referred to as “Beta Ursa Major“. It is classified as A1V indicating it is white dwarf main sequence star like our Sun, fusing hydrogen to helium in its core. A third magnitude star in brightness in the scale of at 2.3, Merak is located in Right Ascension (Celestial Longitude) 11 hour 2 minutes and 27 seconds and Declination (Celestial Latitude) 56 degree 19 minutes and 41 seconds. Merak has surface temperature of 9,600 Kelvin and is about 70 times luminous than the Sun. It is about 70 light years away and about 3 times the size of the Sun. It is fairly a northern star and is moving away from earth at a speed of 7.5 miles per second. Merak is known for various features:

1. As a Pointing star: if you draw an imaginary line from Merak thru Dubhe and go up North you would arrive at the Polar Star

2. As a star with a Disk: Like the planet Saturn, the star Merak has a cooling disk surrounding it; It gives an excellent colour combination of white with greenish tinge. Various theories abound for this phenomenon. One is that the surrounding area has heated dust that gives infra-red light translating into a fascinating colour; the other is that the star Merak might have a planet orbiting it

3. Merak is located 56 degree north; therefore it is a circumpolar star that is, never setting for those who live in areas 30 degrees north

4. In close proximity to Merak, but towards the west there is a planetary nebula known as “Owl Nebula” classified as NGC 3587 or Messier Object M 97.

Asterism

Merak is a part of the Big Dipper Asterism, the most famous out of all asterisms. Big Dipper is also known as Wagon in USA and Plough in UK. The appropriate word is ladle because all the seven stars in the asterism form a ladle. This asterism is noted in astronomy because the seven stars in the asterism are related to each other in terms of speed; motion and the direction towards these are moving away from earth. This remarkable fact is known as “Ursa Major Moving Group”. The seven stars in the asterism are: Dubhe, Merak, Megrez, Phekda, Alioth, Mizar and Alkaid. In Hindu mythology the asterism is called Saptha Rishi (Seven Stages) and they are represented as stars in the following manner: Kratu as Dubhe; Pulaha as Merak ; Atri as Megrez; Pulastya as Phekda; Angiras as Alioth; Vasishta as Mizar; Bhrigu as Alkaid. Out of these sages, Pulaha personified as Merak was born from the Navel of the God Brahma.

Cosmics

Merak does not figure as a birth star, sighted by the Moon or lucky star sighted by other six planets because it is far away from the ecliptical plane. Hence, Merak can influence your life as a rising star or a culminating star only. However, the effect of the star Merak is not much pronounced in cases of persons who are born in locations above 30 degree north in latitude or below 30 degree south in latitude. This is because for those who are born in locations above 30 degree north the star Merak never sets and to those who are born in locations below 30 degree south the star Merak never rises.

Positive Cosmics

1. Merak girds up your loin; you are always ready for action; you are blessed with the ability to take stock of the situation, develop your strategies and tactics, implement these in optimum manner and go towards your stated goals

2. Merak gives you uncanny wisdom appropriate for those who are to make decision at the spur of the moment like members of the legendary SWAT Team, Commandos, Business Negotiators and CEOs of large corporations

3. Merak also gives you smart look; bright in outlook; taking responsibility and always moving forward

4. Merak gets you the pleasures of life but as you start to enjoy there is a call from your boss or office to handle another assignment. Like James Bond in the movie you have little time to enjoy the plums of life that is spread all over you.

Negative Cosmics

1. You need to put lot of acting under pressure or under a guise; hence real love and fondness escape from you

2. You can be caught in a web of deceit

3. You will also develop erratic behaviour pattern in sex, family and business relations as time goes on.

Improving Your Life

The following are few recommendations to improve your life:

1. You should select white, green and light colours for your dress

2. Numbers 2, 5 & 8 do wonders for you

3. You must sleep, keeping your head towards the south -west

4. You must join special services in the armed forces

5. Marriage through love at first sight is shown, but bewares of it

6. Any business where quick decision making is involved could fit your bill

7. You should use the combination of alphabets “S “and “L” in your name

8. You must develop lifestyle to go with “on the job and always moving scenario”

9. During leisure, be homely as far as possible because you are having enough out door activities; now is the time to look at the home front and to look after the welfare of your family.

Muthu Ashraff

Cosmic Adviser

Mobile : +94 777 265677

E-mail : cosmicgems@gmail.com

Web : http://www.cosmicgemslanka.com

Blog : http://cosmicgemslanka.com/blog/

Are you born with a silver spoon in your mouth? You are if you satisfy one of the three conditions the English idiom sets for a person born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Either you are born into wealth and privilege or have good fortune that you did not earn but inherited from your family or simply you have every good thing happening around you with least efforts on your part. In all these cases there is the influence of the great star Megrez up on you. In this blog post, I examine the Star Megrez in terms of Astronomy, Asterism, Constellation and Cosmics and outline recommendations to improve your lifestyle.

Astronomy

Megrez is a bright hot star beaming with bluish-white colour in the northern sky. The word Megrez comes from Arabic “Al-Meghrez Al Dhaneb Al- Dubb Al- Akbar” meaning “the base of the tail of the Great Bear”. Al-Meghrez also means Buttocks. It is located in the constellation known as Ursa Major or in simple language “Great Bear”. Megrez is a part of seven star combinations known as Big Dipper Asterism. The other stars are Dubhe, Merak, Phekda, Alioth, Mizar and Alkaid all in the Great Bear. Beautiful star Megrez is the faintest amongst the seven stars. Its strategic position in the Asterism and the fact that to the north of the star there lies a starless sky except for the Messier 40, a Deep Sky Object of unusual and curious nature has made Megrez a legend in the sky.

Megrez is astronomically referred to as “ Delta Ursa Major“. It is classified as A3 V indicating it is blue-white dwarf with a variable brightness. It is a star of fourth magnitude in brightness with 3.3 visual magnitude. Megrez though ranked fourth as Delta in Greek alphabet, is the last in terms of brightness amongst the seven stars in the Big Dipper asterism. It is located in Right Ascension (Celestial Longitude) 12 hour 15 minutes and 25 seconds and Declination (Celestial Latitude) 57 degree 01 minutes and 57 seconds. A hydrogen fusing star, Megrez has surface temperature of 8,600 Kelvin; though the radiation is lesser than the Sun its higher internal compression makes Megrez 20 times luminous than the Sun. It is about 81 light years away and about 2.5 times the size of the Sun. It is fairly a northern star and is moving away from earth at a speed of 8.4 miles per second. Megrez has two companion stars: Delta Ursa Major B an 11 th magnitude star and Delta Ursa Major C a 10 th magnitude star both are located about three arc-minutes away from Megrez. The companions are too faintest to be seen without the aid of a telescope. Moreover, Megrez shares equidistance from the North Pole with the star Caff ((Beta Cassiopeia) which has led Megrez to be called as “ Kaffa “ by some writers erroneously.

I am reproducing a drawing made by Abu’l-Husayn Abdu’r-Rahman as-Sufi (Azophe), 10 th Century Persian Astronomer in his book

"Suwarul-Kawakib", (Uranometry) of the Great Bear below:

Drawing : Great Bear by Azophe

Credit: http://www.icoproject.org/img/ss83.jpg

I have rotated the drawing to align it to the north. To trace the stars in English language, I give below a star map:

Star Map : Ursa Major

Credit: http://www.greatdreams.com/constellations/ursa-major-lrg.jpg

You can observe the following: the strategic position of the star Megrez in the middle of the spoon linking the handle to the bowl; the star-less region above the star Megrez; the double star optical illusion north of Megrez lying between Alioth and Megrez known as Deep Sky Object Messier 40. In the above sky map M 40 is not typed.

Asterism

Megrez is a part of the Big Dipper Asterism, the most famous out of all asterisms. Big Dipper is also known as Wagon in USA and Plough in UK. The appropriate word is ladle because all the seven stars in the asterism form a ladle. This asterism is noted in astronomy because the seven stars in the asterism are related to each other in terms of speed , motion and the direction towards these are moving away from earth. This remarkable fact is known as “Ursa Major moving Group”. In Hindu mythology the asterism is called Saptha Rishi (Seven Stages), who incant the name of Vishnu in unison.

Constellation

Megrez belongs to the constellation Ursa Major. In Greek mythology, the legend of Ursa Major the Great Bear goes like thus: Callisto daughter of King Lycaon, king of Arcadia, became a companion of Artemis (Diana) Goddess of Hunting, after taking a vow to remain as chaste nymph. Zeus known for ravishing virgins had his sight on Callisto and eventually seduced her. Callisto became pregnant; on finding this Artemis became wild and chased Callisto away from her group. Later Callisto gave birth to a son who is called as Arcas. Enraged that Callisto gave birth to a child, Artemis turned Callisto into a bear to be hunted by her. Zeus thought otherwise and sent Callisto the bear to the heaven in the northern sky. Forever, the mother bear lurks in this region bestowing blessings to those who love her, albeit evading her hunters.

Cosmics

On the positive side Megrez is a star of great fortune. The star gives you the silver spoon from the time you are born till your end, put it in other words milk and honey for you in your entire life span. Megrez provides you with wealth, happiness, success and quiet type of life. It makes you a prudent and cautious person, sometimes hesitating initially or postponing matters, but later taking full responsibility and completing the task in hand. If you are under the influence of Megrez you are basically diminutive in nature, with a medium height but with an over-developed buttock. You generally shy away from public cynosure; you are not the kind of party types with lots of friends; you will have chosen friends, colleagues and relations upon whom you spend lavishly. You will always enjoy higher life style than your parents. You are not a great talker, but a quiet doer and a smart worker. You have equanimity in belief, attitude, composure and behaviour.

Equally important are the negative comics: In most cases you prefer being silent than to say a firm No. This could be misinterpreted by people around you. Their subsequent actions might embarrass you and you will regret why you have not spoken with a firm voice initially. You will continue to face the same situation over and over again. Though you are quiet in outward appearance internally your mind works in stereographic manner. Consequently, anyone who brushes you will get slithered by the bear’s claws that you possess.

Improving Your Life

The following are few recommendations to improve your life:

1. You should select blue, white and light colours for your dress; always opt for two – piece dress

2. Numbers 2 and 7 do wonders for you

3. You must sleep, keeping your head towards the North

4. You must select business management course for your studies

5. You should select your spouse with lower living standards than  yours

6. Any business that borders on buying and selling especially across the oceans will take you to the top.

7. You should use the alphabet “Z” in your name or sound similar to it; for example if your name is Cynthia you pronounce it as “Zynthia”

8. On your study or work table keep a model of steering wheel of a ship

9 During leisure, watch action or sport films where there is car race, car-chase, horse-race or Ice-skating etc.; Watch films with children (they know better) space cartoons where the movement is fast and thrilling

10. The effect of the star Megrez is not much pronounced in cases of persons who are born in locations above 33 degree north in latitude or below 33 degree south in latitude.

You can contact me via E-mail:cosmicgems@gmail.com or Webpage http://www.cosmicgemslanka.com

Muthu Ashraff

Cosmic Adviser