4 ms·
There is an interesting theory about the Pleiades star cluster [1]. The Pleiades are somewhat unique in that they are a prominent feature of the sky and close
by antognini 3y ago
There is an interesting theory about the Pleiades star cluster [1]. The Pleiades are somewhat unique in that they are a prominent feature of the sky and close to the celestial equator. Because of that, they are visible to every population on Earth, and every culture has developed a story around them.
Around 2/3 of cultures have a story in which there are seven things (seven sisters, seven boys, seven chickens, and so forth.). The other 1/3 of cultures have a story in which there are six things. And a surprising number of them have a story in which there were originally seven, but one got lost (like in the Greek myth of Electra).
The interesting thing is that two of the stars in the cluster are quite close together and can't be distinguished by eye. A pair of astronomers looked at the proper motions of the stars in the cluster and figured out that tens of thousands of years ago these two stars were far enough apart that they could have been distinguished by eye. So it seems that early humans recognized the Pleiades as having seven stars and this persisted in the myths of most cultures for tens of thousands of years, even when the seventh star was no longer visible.
[1]: https://arxiv.org/abs/2101.09170 https://arxiv.org/abs/2101.09170
- Amezarak 3y agoAlthough I like the idea, there's no reason to posit the preservation of the myth of a lost star for tens of thousands of years. People can still see all Seven Sisters under the right conditions, and the right conditions were probably much more prevalent back before the insane degree of light and air pollution that exists today. https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/many-pleiades-can-see10222014/ https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/many-pleiades-can...
- dharmab 3y agoWould this have been true in a society without optics and therefore corrective lenses?
- calamari4065 3y agoWhen I was young, I was told a story about how native tribes used the star as a vision test for warriors. Only people with excellent vision could discern the second star. No idea if there's any truth in the story, but I wouldn't be surprised
- antognini 3y agoYou're probably thinking of Mizar and Alcor, which are at the middle of the handle of the Big Dipper. This was used as a vision test in ancient times and in the middle ages. A fun fact is that it is actually six stars. Alcor is a binary star system and Mizar is a quadruple star system.
- calamari4065 3y agoThat might be it. I was probably 10 at the time so I don't remember the details
- Amezarak 3y agoYes, nearsightedness is much worse in modern times. Many less people needed corrective lenses, even as they got older.
- calamari4065 3y agoThis is one of my favorite stories. One of the best parts is the legend of the seven sisters in Australian aboriginal tradition. Theory goes that the legend far, far predates first contact with Europeans, so it must have come with the first aboriginal settlers when they sailed from Africa. Which would make it one of (if not the) oldest stories in history.
- tmnvix 3y agoSailed from Africa? I always thought they crossed the Torres Strait. On a related note, something that has always intrigued me is why there is no historical record of Polynesian arrival on the east coast of Australia.
- calamari4065 3y agoI admit I don't really know. The story I read suggested that settlers sailed from Africa directly. But I don't know what the actual scientific consensus is on this. Really I don't find it particularly interesting as it's mostly guesswork about something 65000 years ago
- joshuahedlund 3y agoGenome sequencing of ancient human bones has revealed a ton of interesting evidence about ancient human migration patterns! See the book Who We Are and How We Got Here
- Amezarak 3y agoConsidering all Seven Sisters are visible to people with good vision in sufficiently remote areas of Australia today, I don't know how one can draw any conclusions about how old the story is. Indeed, with sufficiently good conditions and good vision, you can see more than seven. The Seven Sisters are just the brightest of the Pleiades.
- calamari4065 3y ago
- tsimionescu 3y agoThat's a cute idea, but it's extremely unlikely to be true. If nothing else, the human fascination with 7 is a much more likely explanation, especially since 6 is nowhere near as important a number in this way (1,2,3 and 7 are much more common in myths and fairytales).
- throwaway8877 3y agoAustralian natives have stories than originate over 10000 years ago that have been proven to be factual.
- tsimionescu 3y agoThat's still 90,000 years younger than the supposed story of the 7 Pleiades. Also consider that no myths survived of much more interesting and recent astronomical phenomena, like the supernova that was visible for a few weeks even in full daylight [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SN_1054 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SN_1054].
- explaininjs 3y agoHumans have made stories about the stars for as long as there have been humans. Why do you think this is unreasonable?
- xigency 3y agoIt’s not unreasonable per se but seems a weak hypothesis without more supporting evidence.
- globular-toast 3y agoI don't know. When I look at Pleiades I can see how you could see 5 (the brightest ones) or 8-9 (the best brightest ones), but not 6 or 7.
- gitaarik 3y agoAre you looking at pictures, or actually in the sky with naked eyes?
- globular-toast 3y agoIn the sky. I thought it was well known that whatever number of stars you can see in Pleiades it probably isn't 7. I can see 5 with my eyes and more like 10 with binoculars.