Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. It contains three age groups of stars: 4 billion year-old white dwarfs, 6 billion year-old white dwarfs and 8 billion year-old normal stars. p. 81. sang; the trees heard his song and were moved by his grief, and with their arms and their heads they showed him the way to the deep, deep cavern named Tainaron. The middle region is colored green; doubly ionized oxygen emits greenish-blue light. It has been called the Manger of the Infant Saviour, Praesepe Salvatoris. According to Eratosthenes, Orpheus failed to make a necessary sacrifice to Dionysus due to his regard for Apollo as the supreme deity instead. Part of the Orphic ritual is thought to have involved the mimed or actual dismemberment of an individual representing the god Dionysus, who was then seen to be reborn. It was the god Apollo who taught Orpheus how to play the lyre when he was an adolescent. [30], Another easy-to-spot variable is the bright R Lyrae, north of the main asterism. Such stars serve as standard candles, and thus are a reliable way to calculate distances to the globular clusters in which they reside. Orpheus was the son of the Thracian King Oeagrus and the muse Calliope. [63] Astronomers have determined that it is between 6,000 and 8,000 years old;[62] it is approximately one light-year in diameter. At first, his music charmed them as well, but eventually their numbers and clamor overwhelmed his music and he was hit by the spears. [22] Epsilon is a more famous wide binary that can even be separated by the naked eye under good conditions. [4], At one point, Orpheus married Eurydice, a nymph. Light Curves and Periods", "Spectroscopy and eclipse-mapping of the mass-exchanging binary star V361 LYR", "Late-type members of young stellar kinematic groups - I. [9] The constellation's boundaries, as set by Belgian astronomer Eugène Delporte in 1930, are defined by a 17-sided polygon. [77], One of the most-studied exoplanets in the night sky is TrES-1b, in orbit around the star GSC 02652-01324. In Greek mythology, Lyra represents the lyre of Orpheus. [79] Also discovered by the transit method is WASP-3b, with 1.75 times the mass of Jupiter. After presiding over the curious marriage of Iphis and Ianthe, veiled in a saffron mantle, Hymen, the Greek god of marriage, departed swiftly for the land of the Ciconians, located on the south coast of Thrace. Zeta forms a wide binary star visible in binoculars, consisting of an Am star and an F-type subgiant. According to some legends, Apollo gave Orpheus his first lyre. [54] Originally classified as a VY Sculptoris star due to spending most time at maximum brightness, since around 1979 the system has been dominantly at minimum brightness, with periodic outbursts. Unfortunately, before their wedding, Orpheus's brother, Aristaeus loved Eurydike and wanted to marry her. (Classical Myth & Legend) Greek myth a poet and lyre-player credited with the authorship of the poems forming the basis of Orphism. From fruits to winged sandals, test your knowledge in this study of Greek and Roman mythology. Orphic eschatology laid great stress on rewards and punishment after bodily death, the soul then being freed to achieve its true life. Based on the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, the show is filled with vibrant characters woven into a modern love story, thanks to the stage adaptation of the 2010 folk opera concept album by singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell. Lesley Brown: The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary. It is unique in that it is the only known Cepheid in the Milky Way to undergo periodic phase and amplitude changes, analogous to the Blazhko effect in RR Lyrae stars. [76] Just short of naked-eye visibility is HD 178911, a triple system consisting of a close binary and a visually separable sunlike star. View this essay on The Greek Myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. [4], Vega and its surrounding stars are also treated as a constellation in other cultures. From the equator to about the 40th parallel south it is visible low in the northern sky during the same (thus winter) months. Several million years ago, it collided with a smaller galaxy, which created a region filled with young, hot, blue stars. Apollo gave his son a lyre and taught him how to play. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... Who led the Argonauts in search of the Golden Fleece? Joining Jason and the Argonauts, his music was able to quell the voices of the dangerous Sirens, who sang tempting songs to the Argonauts. [69] The light curve observed over the next 100 days was consistent with that of a supernova or even a hypernova, dubbed SN 2005nc. Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. There, he was supposed to take part in the festivities of yet another famous wedding, that of the darlings of the Ancient world, Orpheus and Eurydice. Orpheus joined the expedition of the Argonauts, saving them from the music of the Sirens by playing his own, more powerful music. I. Orpheus's music was said to be so great that even inanimate objects such as trees, streams, and rocks could be charmed. Both components are themselves close binaries which can be seen with telescopes to consist of A- and F-type stars, and a faint star was recently found to orbit component C as well, for a total of five stars. [14] Similar bright orange or red giants include the 4th-magnitude Theta Lyrae,[39] Lambda Lyrae,[40] and HD 173780. It is also said that he took part in the Argonautic Expedition, playing the lyre on the way. The Am star has an additional close companion, bringing the total number of stars in the system to three. According to some legends, Apollo gave Orpheus his first lyre. Others, in Greek mythology, did make use of the lyre, and occasionally it is said that the lyre in the night sky belonged to one of these people, potentially Theseus, or Thamyris, the bard who foolishly challenged the Muses. A class of binary star known as 13 Lyrae, a nymph both them. Having travelled onboard the Argo, as Eurydice was bitten by a 17-sided polygon listeners far! Is one of the nebula appears red in photographs because of emission from ionized.! Their wedding, Orpheus failed to make a necessary sacrifice to Dionysus due to his regard Apollo. An oracle of Orpheus to tame lions and tigers with his music best., north of the nebula appears red in photographs because of emission from ionized.... 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