Little Dipper Series - Pherkad Major Traditional Cache
Garrett-n-Grampa: Since this one seems to be gone, we're archiving it. We have moved away from the area and find it increasingly difficult to maintain these caches. Bye
Little Dipper Series - Pherkad Major
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A small cache with logbook and pencil. Room for small tradeables. Terrain has lots of cactus, so watch your step. Also please observe all area usage signs and rules.
Congratulations to Team Tuxawuxa and Rio on their stellar performance in getting the FTF!!
Little Dipper Series – Pherkad Major
Pherkad (Gamma Ursae Minoris γ UMi, γ Ursae Minoris; also 13 UMi) is a star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor. It has the traditional name Pherkad, which derives from the Arabic فرقد farqad "calf", short for aḫfa al farkadayn "the dim one of the two calves", Pherkad and Kochab. (The full name Ahfa al Farkadain is now applied to Zeta Ursae Minoris.) Gamma Ursae Minoris is sometimes called Pherkad Major to distinguish it from 11 Ursae Minoris Pherkad Minor. Together with Beta Ursae Minoris, or Kochab, Gamma forms the end of the dipper pan of the "Little Dipper", which is a colloquial name for the constellation. Pherkad and Kochab are sometimes called the "Guardians of the Pole", as they appear to circle around the north star Polaris as the Earth rotates.
Gamma Ursae Minoris has apparent magnitude +3.05 and can be readily observed with the naked eye even in a city-lit night sky. Based upon parallax measurements, it is approximately 487 light-years (149 parsecs) from Earth, giving it an absolute magnitude of –2.84. Indications are that this is an intermediate luminosity supergiant star, with the effective temperature of the star's outer envelope is 8,280 K, giving it the typical white hue of an A-type star. It is 1100 times more luminous than the Sun, and possesses a radius 15 times that of the Sun. It is rotating rapidly, with the projected rotational velocity of 180 km s–1 providing a lower limit on the azimuthal velocity along the star's equator.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Pnzb'q Ybpx & Ybpx haqre n fznyy gerr. Cnl nggragvba gb gur Terrx.
Treasures
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