Rigel (dog)

Rigel was a large black Newfoundland dog who was said to have saved some of the survivors of the sinking of the RMS Titanic. One account of the story was published in the New York Herald, April 21, 1912, the other was the book Sinking of the Titanic and Great sea disasters by Logan Marshall, published 1912. However, although the story has been widely reproduced, there is certain doubt about whether the dog actually existed.

Dog

Rigel was said to have been owned by William McMaster Murdoch, the First Officer of the Titanic. Murdoch died in the sinking, but Rigel swam away, and stayed close to one of the lifeboats. When RMS Carpathia arrived on the scene looking for survivors, Rigel began to bark. The lifeboat had drifted under the bows of the Carpathia, and was at risk of being run down, but the people in the boat were too exhausted to make themselves heard. Rigel's barks alerted Captain Arthur Rostron, who ordered the engines stopped and began the search for survivors. Everyone in the lifeboat was saved, and Rigel was pulled from the icy water after three hours, unaffected by the experience. The dog was too large to be pulled from the water by hand, but Jonas Briggs managed to get a canvas sling under its belly, with which it was hauled aboard.

Rigel

Rigel, also known by its Bayer designation Beta Orionis (β Ori, β Orionis), is the brightest star in the constellation Orion and the seventh brightest star in the night sky, with visual magnitude 0.13. The star as seen from Earth is actually a triple star system, with the primary star (Rigel A) a blue-white supergiant of absolute magnitude −7.84 and around 120,000 times as luminous as the Sun. It has exhausted its core hydrogen and swollen out to 79 times the Sun's radius. An Alpha Cygni variable, it pulsates periodically. Visible in small telescopes and 500 times fainter than Rigel A, Rigel B is itself a spectroscopic binary system, consisting of two main sequence blue-white stars of spectral type B9V that are themselves estimated to be 2.5 and 1.9 times as massive as the Sun.

Visibility

The apparent magnitude of Rigel is listed in the astronomical database SIMBAD at 0.13, making it on average the seventh brightest star in the celestial sphere excluding the Sun—just fainter than Capella. It is an irregular pulsating variable with a visual range of magnitude 0.05–0.18. Although Rigel has the Bayer designation "beta", it is almost always brighter than Alpha Orionis (Betelgeuse). Since 1943, the spectrum of this star has served as one of the stable anchor points by which other stars are classified. Rigel is the third most inherently luminous first magnitude star after Deneb and Betelgeuse. Rigel has a color index (B–V) of −0.03, meaning it appears white or lightly blue-white.

Rigel (rocket)

Rigel is the name of an Argentinian sounding rocket. The double stage Rigel (first stage Canopus 1, second stage Orion-2) was launched seven times between 1969 and 1973. The Rigel rocket has a maximum altitude of 310 km, a launch mass of 300 kg, a diameter of 0.228 metres and a length of 6.30 metres.

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List of Foundation universe planets

This is a list of Foundation universe planets featured or mentioned in the Robot series, Empire series, and Foundation series created by Isaac Asimov.

61 Cygni

The star system 61 Cygni, in the Sirius Sector, is advanced by Lord Dorwin as the potential site for a planet of origin for the human species. Lord Dorwin cites 'Sol' (meaning Earth's Sun) and three other planetary systems in the Sirius Sector, along with Arcturus in the Arcturus Sector, as potential original worlds. (This fact seems to be contradicted by information given in Foundation and Earth). Claims were made as early as 1942 that 61 Cygni had a planetary system, though to date, none has been verified, and Asimov was aware of these claims.

Alpha

Alpha is a fictional planet orbiting the larger of the two stars in the Alpha Centauri system.

In Asimov's Foundation Series, Alpha Centauri is cited by Lord Dorwin as one of the solar systems where humankind potentially originated. The others are Sol, Sirius, 61 Cygni and Arcturus. Beyond mentioning that it is in the Sirius Sector, Dorwin gives no further details.

Dogū

Dogū (土偶)(meaning "clay figures") are small humanoid and animal figurines made during the late Jōmon period (14,000–400 BC) of prehistoric Japan. Dogū come exclusively from the Jōmon period. By the Yayoi period, which followed the Jōmon period, Dogū were no longer made. There are various styles of Dogū, depending on exhumation area and time period. According to the National Museum of Japanese History, the total number found throughout Japan is approximately 15,000. Dogū were made across all of Japan, except Okinawa. Most of the Dogū have been found in eastern Japan and it is rare to find one in western Japan. The purpose of the Dogū remains unknown and should not be confused with the clay haniwa funerary objects of the Kofun period (250 – 538).

Origins

Some scholars theorize the Dogū acted as effigies of people, that manifested some kind of sympathetic magic. For example, it may have been believed that illnesses could be transferred into the Dogū, then destroyed, clearing the illness, or any other misfortune.

Dog (zodiac)

The Dog (狗) is one of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar. The Year of the Dog is associated with the Earthly Branch symbol 戌. The character 狗 refers to the actual animal while 戌 refers to the zodiac animal.

Years and the Five Elements

People born within these date ranges can be said to have been born in the "Year of the Dog", while also bearing the following elemental sign:

Basic astrology elements

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References

Dog in Chinese mythology

Dogs are an important motif in Chinese mythology. These motifs include a particular dog which accompanies a hero, the dog as one of the twelve totem creatures for which years are named, a dog giving first provision of grain which allowed current agriculture, and claims of having a magical dog as an original ancestor in the case of certain ethnic groups.

Myth versus history

Chinese mythology is those myths found in the geographic area called China, which of course has evolved and changed throughout its history. These include myths in Chinese and other languages, as transmitted by Han Chinese as well as other ethnic groups (of which fifty-six are officially recognized by the current administration of China). (Yang 2005:4)

In the study of historical Chinese culture, many of the stories that have been told regarding characters and events which have been written or told of the distant past have a double tradition: one which tradition which presents a more historicized and one which presents a more mythological version.(Yang 2005: 12-13) This is also true of some accounts related to mythological dogs in China.