Stellar
Evolution
Welcome to my 18th cache... My second mystery cache, and
this time i chose a topic very close to my heart, Astronomy..... A
little bit of background. Astronomy has been my hobby since i was a
small boy, about 7 years old in fact, a total of 28 years now. I
met my best friend Geoff through Astronomy, and it has taken me
many many places and let me see many many wonderful
events.
Now that i have Geocaching as my second big hobby, i have been
able to successfully combine the two, combining Geocaching and
Astronomy trips, for even more fun and excitement. Geocaching has
taken me and my astro gear many new and wonderful places.
So, what better than to set up an Astronomy puzzle cache. This
cache, aptly named, Stellar Evolution, will involve some serious
internet research, which is why i have rated it as quite hard. It
you happen to have an astronomy background, knock a few difficulty
points off, if not, you will have some fun and work to do solving
and chasing this one.
On to the puzzle....
Below you will see an image. The image is of a diagram called
the "HR" or Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram. This diagram plots a stars
absolute magnitude (luminosity) against its temperature-colour.
Basically (there are exceptions), the more massive (not always
larger) a star is, the brighter it is.
Stars are given a spectral classification based on the above
relationship, which is of course determined by the mass of the
star. On the diagram below, you will see a continuous band of stars
that appears to run from the top left corner to the bottom right
corner. This is called the Main Sequence. During the life of a
star, it will spend most of its life in this part of the HR
diagram. The more massive a star is, the faster it uses its
hydrogen fuel and the less time it will spend on the "Main
Sequence". The less massive a star is, the longer it will spend on
the "Main Sequence". As a star becomes old it moves off the main
sequence, and depending on its mass, in very basic terms, will
either become a white dwarf star, or a supernova-exploding star
(leading to a neutron star or black hole).
That is the short short version. Check the Wiki links below to
read up more on the HR diagram and the Main Sequence.
HR_Diagram
Main
Sequence
Image of a HR Diagram
The Puzzle....
Ok, the puzzle, is going to be tricky. Have a close look at the
HR Diagram above to see what it represents. You have read the
information above. The clues are.....
Delta Canis Majoros
Beta Centaurus + 1
Alpha Piscis Austrinis + 1
Alpha Leonis + 2
Wolf 359 - 1
Alpha Centaurus A - 2
Also, you will need to subtract 2 minutes from the south
coords.
Thats it. Time to put your thinking cap on. The information you
seek will need some internet research. The above info gets you
started.
Further Notes On This
Cache....
Ideally this cache should be done as a night cache. Why you may
ask. Well i have included a special treat in the cache box. There
are two items in the cache WHICH MUST NOT BE REMOVED. These are a
pair of BINOCULARS and a MINI STAR ATLAS. This cache if done at
night, on a clear night, will give you the opportunity to use the
chart to identify one or more astronomical objects in the night sky
and look at it/them with the binoculars. You may just want to find
a constellation.
As of 23/07/2011 with the replacement cache, the binoculars are
gone. They were stolen when the cache was muggled. I will get a
replacement pair eventually.
While it is not a logging requirement, it would be great to see
someone get a little pleasure from looking at the night sky, like i
do. Have a go, you may be surprised by just how much beauty is up
there.
The container you are looking for at GZ is a larger sized Ammo
container hidden in a standard Geocache manner. Please re-hide this
as found, as i have seen a few muggle farmers in the area. Bonus
points for those who can spot the Star Trek reference in this
cahce, for a few giggles of course.
You can check your answers for this puzzle on
Geochecker.com
As of 23/07/2011 the cache has been
replaced and moved. The puzzle has been edited to reflect the new
coordinates. For those who have done it, you may log a new find in
the new location, as it is quite a few kilometers away, and
hopefully more muggle free. Be careful of snakes in the Aussie bush
and keep and eye on the kids.