I've had this idea for a few years that I would like to adopt a star. This will be my "favourite star," and I will keep maybe a journal, a blog or something. Some kind of collection of all the information and facts about this particular star.
But there are a few elements of it that I haven't been able to settle on just yet. So I haven't picked a favourite. I think the initial instinct is to go with maybe one of the more well-known stars, like Betelgeuse or Polaris. Maybe you'd go down the popularity/luminosity list to a Pollux, Deneb or Omicron Persei.
But I feel there are already large collections about stars like that. There are whole YouTube videos on them. I need to go a bit smaller. The kind that doesn't have a proper name yet. Named something like NCCD22234_a*.
That's not to say I want a star that's invisible to me. It doesn't need to be the third star from the left of the Andromeda galaxy, and I'll never get a good look at it in my lifetime. Something that I can still see with my naked eye, but really, maybe only when I'm out in a really dark area. I have terrible eyesight, so it needs to be visible and easy to locate. Binoculars are a consideration.
I would go back to one of those more common stars I wrote about earlier. Use it as an anchor star to find my favourite. Something that I can see year-round is best, but I'd be ok with just in the summer. February stars need not apply.
I think a star system would be cool to follow because there are actual changes visible. Double (or more) interacting stars would actually be cool. I think it increases the chance you get to see something happening. Exoplanets are a plus, habitable ones are better.
Appearance in fiction would also be a bonus if that's possible. I've eyeballed Deneb for appearing in Star Trek and Omicron Persei because of Futurama. Maybe there's some start that appears in a weird space opera rag. Or maybe Navigator just starts writing a fiction around it for me.
I know that data folks could just slam all of these links and criteria into a number machine and it would spit out an answer - or a list of answers. But I suppose I hope to find it a bit more organically. But in preparing this blog post, I think I've come much closer to an answer.
The family has been ordered out to the star party this summer, so I've set myself a deadline to have the star picked by then. Or at least a Top 5 or 10, or whatever, and use the time there to lock it in. Toss any suggestions you have into the comments. Especially around fiction or an exoplanet story.
The family has been ordered out to the star party this summer, so I've set myself a deadline to have the star picked by then. Or at least a Top 5 or 10, or whatever, and use the time there to lock it in. Toss any suggestions you have into the comments. Especially around fiction or an exoplanet story.
