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115-431: Sheldan Nidle claims he had extraterrestrial and UFO experiences shortly after his birth on November 11, 1946. Claiming he was contacted by ETs from the planet Sirius , Nidle stated that his experiences consisted of such events as telepathic communication , being taught aboard spacecraft, and gaining knowledge from ‘direct core implants ’. In 1994 he published a book You’re Becoming a Galactic Human in which he describes

230-486: A boyhood encounter with extraterrestrials who landed in his backyard. Since 1955, he has claimed to be in regular communication with ETs through telepathy and ‘direct core knowledge inserts’. However, he states that when he was 14 years old, he put an end to extraterrestrial communication because he was expected to fulfil his mission as a 'star seed from Sirius', and there was too much conflict between terrestrial and extraterrestrial knowledge. He then became vice-president of

345-560: A bright giant). It is still around 25 times more luminous than the Sun. The closest large neighbouring star to Sirius is Procyon, 1.61 parsecs (5.24 ly) away. The Voyager 2 spacecraft, launched in 1977 to study the four giant planets in the Solar System, is expected to pass within 4.3 light-years (1.3 pc) of Sirius in approximately 296,000 years. Sirius is a binary star system consisting of two white stars orbiting each other with

460-400: A core group of devotees. But earlier text can be altered or deleted. Helland observes that the movement's most notorious period of failed prophecy is no longer on line, and new members may never be exposed to this component. This online, millenarian narrative functions so like fiction that Palmer and Helland have devoted an article to a literary/aesthetic analysis of the religion rather than

575-464: A distance of 2.6 parsecs (8.6 ly), the Sirius system contains two of the eight nearest stars to the Sun, and it is the fifth closest stellar system to the Sun. This proximity is the main reason for its brightness, as with other near stars such as Alpha Centauri , Procyon and Vega and in contrast to distant, highly luminous supergiants such as Canopus, Rigel or Betelgeuse (although Canopus may be

690-411: A final summary in 1926. He cited not only Ptolemy but also the poet Aratus , the orator Cicero , and general Germanicus all calling the star red, though acknowledging that none of the latter three authors were astronomers, the last two merely translating Aratus's poem Phaenomena . Seneca had described Sirius as being of a deeper red than Mars . It is therefore possible that the description as red

805-509: A paper and spoke at a meeting of the Royal Society in London in 1760. The existence of other stars changing in brightness gave credibility to the idea that some may change in colour too; Sir John Herschel noted this in 1839, possibly influenced by witnessing Eta Carinae two years earlier. Thomas J.J. See resurrected discussion on red Sirius with the publication of several papers in 1892, and

920-404: A parallax of nearly 0.4 arcseconds . The Hipparcos parallax for Sirius is only accurate to about ± 0.04  light years , giving a distance of 8.6 light years . Sirius B is generally assumed to be at the same distance. Sirius B has a Gaia Data Release 3 parallax with a much smaller statistical margin of error, giving a distance of 8.709 ± 0.005 light years , but it

1035-547: A peaceful future. The membership must also participate in creating a 'network of light', expand the teachings, and link with similarly positioned new age groups. The December 1996 mass landing failed to eventuate - but Nidle continued to spread 'messages' from the Galactic Federation that the spaceships would appear soon. Further dates that were named and did not deliver a landing were the Gregorian New Year, and

1150-409: A planetary transformation of Earth. He claimed to be leading a mission on Earth for the “Galactic Federation of Planets,” in order to prepare the world for this coming transformation supposed to occur as the planet passes into the path of a cosmic ‘photon belt', an area of outer space that he claimed had high energy properties similar to the plasma in the atmosphere of stars. His narrative stated that

1265-410: A real change in the Sirius system over the past two millennia, of which the most widely discussed is the proposal that the white dwarf Sirius B was a red giant as recently as 2000 years ago. Extrinsic theories are concerned with the possibility of transient reddening in an intervening medium through which the star is observed, such as might be caused by dust in the interstellar medium , or by particles in

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1380-439: A separation of about 20 AU (roughly the distance between the Sun and Uranus ) and a period of 50.1 years. The brighter component, termed Sirius A, is a main-sequence star of spectral type early A , with an estimated surface temperature of 9,940  K . Its companion, Sirius B, is a star that has already evolved off the main sequence and become a white dwarf. Currently 10,000 times less luminous in

1495-443: A superior alien technology into involved participants” who form committees of activists helping Mother Earth and humanity. Helland states that due to the virtual nature of the group, and the lack of observable and empirical data, it is impossible to accurately account for the membership which may have declined drastically with the failed 1996-7 predictions. The group has, however, generated sufficient income to maintain its website and

1610-430: A third star or a planet. An apparent "third star" observed in the 1920s is now believed to be a background object. In 1915, Walter Sydney Adams , using a 60-inch (1.5 m) reflector at Mount Wilson Observatory , observed the spectrum of Sirius B and determined that it was a faint whitish star. This led astronomers to conclude that it was a white dwarf—the second to be discovered. The diameter of Sirius A

1725-401: A third star sufficiently luminous to affect the visible colour of the system in recent millennia is inconsistent with observational evidence. Intrinsic theories may therefore be disregarded. Extrinsic theories based on reddening by interstellar dust are similarly implausible. A transient dust cloud passing between the Sirius system and an observer on Earth would, indeed redden the appearance of

1840-484: A very advanced extraterrestrial civilization from the Arcturus star system who wish to share their knowledge and wisdom with the citizens of Earth . They are described as other- dimensional , advanced star beings. Arcturians are said to be loving and peaceful beings who are willing to communicate and work with any soul that wishes to travel with them to a higher level of consciousness . Currently, they are said to guard

1955-510: A vitally important planet in the universe due to the exalted role of humanity. It was a special ‘showcase’ that would act as a switch in the spiritual transformation of the Milky Way. Helland notes that the concept became so anthropocentric it included a special day count for humanity on the Earth, instituted by the galactic "Time Keepers". Despite the failed prophecies, by the year 2000 the movement

2070-688: A white dwarf around 120 million years ago. Sirius is colloquially known as the " Dog Star ", reflecting its prominence in its constellation , Canis Major (the Greater Dog). The heliacal rising of Sirius marked the flooding of the Nile in Ancient Egypt and the " dog days " of summer for the ancient Greeks , while to the Polynesians , mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, the star marked winter and

2185-472: Is designated α  Canis Majoris , Latinized to Alpha Canis Majoris , and abbreviated α  CMa or Alpha CMa . With a visual apparent magnitude of −1.46, Sirius is almost twice as bright as Canopus , the next brightest star. Sirius is a binary star consisting of a main-sequence star of spectral type A0 or A1 , termed Sirius A, and a faint white dwarf companion of spectral type DA2, termed Sirius B. The distance between

2300-443: Is 25 times as luminous as the Sun , but has a significantly lower luminosity than other bright stars such as Canopus, Betelgeuse , or Rigel . The system is between 200 and 300 million years old. It was originally composed of two bright bluish stars. The initially more massive of these, Sirius B, consumed its hydrogen fuel and became a red giant before shedding its outer layers and collapsing into its current state as

2415-457: Is 25,200 K. Because there is no internal heat source, Sirius B will steadily cool as the remaining heat is radiated into space over the next two billion years or so. A white dwarf forms after a star has evolved from the main sequence and then passed through a red giant stage. This occurred when Sirius B was less than half its current age, around 120 million years ago. The original star had an estimated 5  M ☉ and

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2530-401: Is a poetic metaphor for ill fortune. In 1985, German astronomers Wolfhard Schlosser and Werner Bergmann published an account of an 8th-century Lombardic manuscript, which contains De cursu stellarum ratio by St.  Gregory of Tours . The Latin text taught readers how to determine the times of nighttime prayers from positions of the stars, and a bright star described as rubeola ("reddish")

2645-482: Is a relatively low 16 km/s, which does not produce any significant flattening of its disk. This is at marked variance with the similar-sized Vega , which rotates at a much faster 274 km/s and bulges prominently around its equator. A weak magnetic field has been detected on the surface of Sirius A. Stellar models suggest that the star formed during the collapsing of a molecular cloud and that, after 10 million years, its internal energy generation

2760-476: Is classed as a type Am star , because the spectrum shows deep metallic absorption lines , indicating an enhancement of its surface layers in elements heavier than helium, such as iron. The spectral type has been reported as A0mA1 Va, which indicates that it would be classified as A1 from hydrogen and helium lines, but A0 from the metallic lines that cause it to be grouped with the Am ;stars. When compared to

2875-506: Is depicted as a white horse. In Chinese astronomy Sirius is known as the star of the "celestial wolf" ( Chinese and Japanese : 天狼 Chinese romanization : Tiānláng; Japanese romanization : Tenrō; Korean and romanization: 천랑 /Cheonrang) in the Mansion of Jǐng (井宿). Many nations among the indigenous peoples of North America also associated Sirius with canines; the Seri and Tohono Oʼodham of

2990-450: Is flagged as having a very large value for astrometric excess noise, which indicates that the parallax value may be unreliable. In a letter dated 10 August 1844, the German astronomer Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel deduced from changes in the proper motion of Sirius that it had an unseen companion. On 31 January 1862, American telescope-maker and astronomer Alvan Graham Clark first observed

3105-522: Is now so entered in the IAU Catalog of Star Names. Sirius has over 50 other designations and names attached to it. In Geoffrey Chaucer 's essay Treatise on the Astrolabe , it bears the name Alhabor and is depicted by a hound's head. This name is widely used on medieval astrolabes from Western Europe. In Sanskrit it is known as Mrgavyadha "deer hunter", or Lubdhaka "hunter". As Mrgavyadha,

3220-516: Is now sometimes known as Sirius A. Since 1894, some apparent orbital irregularities in the Sirius system have been observed, suggesting a third very small companion star, but this has never been confirmed. The best fit to the data indicates a six-year orbit around Sirius A and a mass of 0.06  M ☉ . This star would be five to ten magnitudes fainter than the white dwarf Sirius B, which would make it difficult to observe. Observations published in 2008 were unable to detect either

3335-665: Is the bright star, named Mirzam Al-Jawza' (Sirius), which a group of Arabs used to worship". The alternate name Aschere , used by Johann Bayer , is derived from this. In theosophy , it is believed the Seven Stars of the Pleiades transmit the spiritual energy of the Seven Rays from the Galactic Logos to the Seven Stars of the Great Bear , then to Sirius. From there is it sent via

3450-470: Is visible from almost everywhere on Earth, except latitudes north of 73° N , and it does not rise very high when viewed from some northern cities (reaching only 13° above the horizon from Saint Petersburg ). Because of its declination of roughly −17°, Sirius is a circumpolar star from latitudes south of 73° S . From the Southern Hemisphere in early July, Sirius can be seen in both

3565-545: The Jerusalem Post . This "Galactic Federation" would keep itself secret to avoid hysteria until humanity would be ready. NASA released a statement after these claims went viral, writing that no extraterrestrial life has yet been found and that the search for extraterrestrial life is ongoing. Beginning in November 1996, Nidle ‘channeled’ a narrative that was an urgent call to humanity and involved an imminent apocalypse due to

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3680-609: The Bering Strait called it "Moon Dog". Several cultures also associated the star with a bow and arrows. The ancient Chinese visualized a large bow and arrow across the southern sky, formed by the constellations of Puppis and Canis Major. In this, the arrow tip is pointed at the wolf Sirius. A similar association is depicted at the Temple of Hathor in Dendera , where the goddess Satet has drawn her arrow at Hathor (Sirius). Known as "Tir",

3795-506: The Cape of Good Hope (4 seconds); by Piazzi (the same amount); using Lacaille's observations made at Paris , more numerous and certain than those made at the Cape (no sensible parallax); by Bessel (no sensible parallax). Scottish astronomer Thomas Henderson used his observations made in 1832–1833 and South African astronomer Thomas Maclear 's observations made in 1836–1837, to determine that

3910-512: The Hyades and the Pleiades , and each of these clusters consists of hundreds of stars. In 2017, a massive star cluster was discovered only 10  arcminutes from Sirius, making the two appear to be visually close to one other when viewed from the point of view of the Earth . It was discovered during a statistical analysis of Gaia data. The cluster is over a thousand times further away from us than

4025-801: The Marquesas Islands , Rehua in New Zealand, and Ta'urua-fau-papa "Festivity of original high chiefs" and Ta'urua-e-hiti-i-te-tara-te-feiai "Festivity who rises with prayers and religious ceremonies" in Tahiti. In 1717, Edmond Halley discovered the proper motion of the hitherto presumed fixed stars after comparing contemporary astrometric measurements with those from the second century AD given in Ptolemy's Almagest . The bright stars Aldebaran , Arcturus and Sirius were noted to have moved significantly; Sirius had progressed about 30 arcminutes (about

4140-541: The Spiritual Hierarchy , Angelic Realms, the Galactic Federation of Light, Ascended Masters , and our space brothers and sisters.” All earthly weapons would be first neutralised then beamed up to the ships; and all mechanical devices would be shut down. World government would be taken over by the Spiritual Hierarchy and all communication systems replaced by their advanced technologies. Attractive accounts of

4255-548: The precession of the equinoxes . At the time of the introduction of the Gregorian calendar in the year 1582, its culmination occurred 17 minutes before midnight into the new year under the assumption of a constant motion. According to Richard Hinckley Allen its midnight culmination was celebrated at the Temple of Demeter at Eleusis . Arcturians (New Age) According to the beliefs of certain New Age movements, Arcturians are

4370-594: The sacred texts of the Avesta , the Avestan language Tishtrya followed by the version Tir in Middle and New Persian is also depicted in the Persian epic Shahnameh of Ferdowsi . Because of the concept of the yazatas , powers which are "worthy of worship", Tishtrya is a divinity of rain and fertility and an antagonist of apaosha , the demon of drought. In this struggle, Tishtrya

4485-401: The terrestrial atmosphere . The possibility that stellar evolution of either Sirius A or Sirius B could be responsible for the discrepancy has been rejected on the grounds that the timescale of thousands of years is orders of magnitude too short and that there is no sign of the nebulosity in the system that would be expected had such a change taken place. Similarly, the presence of

4600-418: The universe , the community most similar to the divine . The star Arcturus was mentioned by Cayce in more than 30 of his psychic readings, beginning in 1928. He saw Arcturus as a "gateway" to higher realms of consciousness that can have a profound effect on people's lives. In the book The Keys of Enoch , Arcturus is described as an intermediate station used by the physical "brotherhoods of light" to oversee

4715-449: The "dog days", the hottest days of the summer. The Romans knew these days as dies caniculares , and the star Sirius was called Canicula, "little dog". The excessive panting of dogs in hot weather was thought to place them at risk of desiccation and disease. In extreme cases, a foaming dog might have rabies, which could infect and kill humans they had bitten. Homer , in the Iliad , describes

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4830-575: The 7th century BC in Hesiod 's poetic work Works and Days . In 2016, the International Astronomical Union organized a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) to catalog and standardize proper names for stars. The WGSN's first bulletin of July 2016 included a table of the first two batches of names approved by the WGSN, which included Sirius for the star α Canis Majoris A. It

4945-610: The Amateur Astronomers Club and worked on a film on Nikola Tesla . He attended Ohio University and University of Southern California, graduating with an M.A. in Southeast Asian government and an M.A. in American politics and international public administration. After beginning a PhD program, he left this to research alternative energy sources. He claims he was contacted again in the mid-80s by extraterrestrial forces, namely

5060-422: The Earth transformation included the use of telepathy, airborne transport instead of cars and special photon energy generators for domestic appliances. This religious ufology belongs to the “ cargoistic ” genre, because the ascension of humans is believed to be brought about by superior alien “cargo” in this case comprising incredible new technologies and ecologically harmless energies. The "Ground Crew" refers to

5175-427: The Earth's atmosphere are better supported by available evidence. Scintillations caused by atmospheric turbulence result in rapid, transient changes in the apparent colour of the star, especially when observed near the horizon, although with no particular preference for red. However, systematic reddening of the star's light results from absorption and scattering by particles in the atmosphere, exactly analogous to

5290-528: The Earth, helping heal the planet while raising its vibrational energy . Emotional, mental, physical and spiritual transformation are among their primary goals. It has also been suggested that Arcturians regularly incarnate on Earth, meaning they would have been involved in Earth's evolution . There are said to be communities similar to the Arcturians on Sirius , Andromeda , Orion , Pleiades , Lyra and Antares . The ideas about Arcturians are based on

5405-582: The Federation remained “dedicated to massive first contact as soon as possible” but the spiritual transformation of the human being into the divine form was now the main focus. The Earth rulers were identified as a secret cabal who have negatively directed humanity for millennia, but would be slowly removed by the Federation. ‘Star Gates’ were being placed in the upper atmosphere to aid transformation, and special ‘Galactic and Medical Teams’ were assisting people when they slept. The narrative now portrayed Earth as

5520-424: The Galactic Federation. It was set up as a hierarchical, bureaucratic system, and small Planetary Activation Groups were established. Nidle then began to create a “Web of Light” to unite similarly minded groups concerned with the environment, government conspiracies and UFOs. New narratives emerged concerning the spiritual evolution of humanity and the role of Planetary Activation. According to Nidle's channelling,

5635-533: The Ground Crew website, posting channelled messages with a UFO content which included the Galactic Federation. However the website focussed on personal spiritual transformation and came from a more new age angle: angels, fairies, telepathy, communing with plants, etc. Nidle then founded the Planetary Activation Organisation, and restructured this organisation as the only source for messages about

5750-399: The Ground Crew's chief administrator, for reasons that weren't clear as both parties posted alternative accounts of the schism. However, Donna appeared a rather “comic character” whose postings undermined the “more lofty, aesthetic standards of Nidle’s prose”. But she also took the rights to the Ground Crew name and website with her, forcing Nidle to start a new organisation. Donner maintained

5865-627: The Hubble Space Telescope ruled out the existence of a stellar mass sized Sirius C, while still allowing a substellar mass candidate such as a lower mass Brown dwarf . The 1995 study predicted an astrometric movement of roughly 90  mas (0.09 arcsecond), but Hubble was unable to detect any location anomaly to an accuracy of 5 mas (0.005 arcsec). This ruled out any objects orbiting Sirius A with more than 0.033 solar mass (35 Jupiter masses) in 0.5 years, and 0.014 (15 Jupiter masses) in 2 years. The study

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5980-631: The Polynesian night sky into two hemispheres. Just as the appearance of Sirius in the morning sky marked summer in Greece, it marked the onset of winter for the Māori , whose name Takurua described both the star and the season. Its culmination at the winter solstice was marked by celebration in Hawaii , where it was known as Ka'ulua , "Queen of Heaven". Many other Polynesian names have been recorded, including Tau-ua in

6095-620: The Roman period, mapped the stars in Books ;VII and VIII of his Almagest , in which he used Sirius as the location for the globe's central meridian. He described Sirius as reddish, along with five other stars, Betelgeuse , Antares , Aldebaran , Arcturus , and Pollux , all of which are at present observed to be of orange or red hue. The discrepancy was first noted by amateur astronomer Thomas Barker , squire of Lyndon Hall in Rutland , who prepared

6210-573: The Sun to the god of Earth ( Sanat Kumara ), and finally through the seven Masters of the Seven Rays to the human race. The midnight culmination of Sirius in the northern hemisphere coincides with the beginning of the New Year of the Gregorian calendar during the decades around the year 2000. Over the years, its midnight culmination moves slowly, owing to the combination of the star's proper motion and

6325-415: The Sun's, has an age that is only half this, making it too young to belong to the group. Sirius may instead be a member of the proposed Sirius Supercluster, along with other scattered stars such as Beta Aurigae , Alpha Coronae Borealis , Beta Crateris , Beta Eridani and Beta Serpentis . This would be one of three large clusters located within 500 light-years (150 pc) of the Sun. The other two are

6440-419: The Sun, the proportion of iron in the atmosphere of Sirius A relative to hydrogen is given by   [ Fe H ] = 0.5   , {\displaystyle \textstyle \ \left[{\frac {{\ce {Fe}}}{{\ce {H}}}}\right]=0.5\ ,} meaning iron is 316% as abundant as in the Sun's atmosphere. The high surface content of metallic elements is unlikely to be true of

6555-593: The United States and Israel over the years. During an interview with the Hebrew-language newspaper Yediot Aharonot , the professor and retired Israeli general said that humanity is not yet ready for contact with extraterrestrials. Eshed told the newspaper that aliens are already among us on Earth, and that different species have formed a "Galactic Federation," akin to those in Star Trek , according to translations from

6670-554: The ambassadors. After the mass suicide of Heaven's Gate members, Valerie Donner, a core member, distanced the Ground Crew from such “ridiculous acts of self-destruction”. Two days before the scheduled event, Nidle posted that instead of a mass landing, a meeting between a shuttle from the comet and a shuttle from the “Galactic Federation Fleet” had taken place just south of Ayers Rock in Australia. A special ceremony had been conducted and vital papers had been exchanged. After May 10 there

6785-466: The ancient Polynesians for navigation of the Pacific Ocean. They also served as latitude markers; the declination of Sirius matches the latitude of the archipelago of Fiji at 17°S and thus passes directly over the islands each sidereal day . Sirius served as the body of a "Great Bird" constellation called Manu , with Canopus as the southern wingtip and Procyon the northern wingtip, which divided

6900-405: The appearance of Sirius as the morning star heralded the hot and dry summer and feared that the star caused plants to wilt, men to weaken, and women to become aroused. Owing to its brightness, Sirius would have been seen to twinkle more in the unsettled weather conditions of early summer. To Greek observers, this signified emanations that caused its malignant influence. Anyone suffering its effects

7015-476: The approach of Achilles toward Troy in these words: Sirius rises late in the dark, liquid sky On summer nights, star of stars, Orion's Dog they call it, brightest Of all, but an evil portent, bringing heat And fevers to suffering humanity. In a little-attested Greek myth, the star-god that personified Sirius fell in love with a fertility goddess named Opora , but he was unable to have her. Thus he began to burn hot, making humans suffer, who prayed to

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7130-522: The arrival of the Hale-Bopp comet on 5 May, 1997. According to the channeling, the comet was a large spaceship containing “cloaking and holographic systems that imitate what a comet should look like”. It contained a crew of over 200,000 sentient beings and bore 10,000 ambassadors who would initiate humanity into the Galactic Federation. This would coincide with the mass landing by the Federation involving millions of ships. A special delegation would meet with

7245-464: The attitudes of humans. It was also claimed that the potential for disaster had been altered by the ‘turning to the light’ of the human population. A more spiritual content, referring to such beings as the Ashtar Sheran, Aaron Alaje, Megha Alcorn, Merku Alcorn, Great White Brotherhood, Ascended Masters, and archangels also appeared. In December 1997 Nidle split with Valerie Donnell, his secretary and

7360-405: The colour of Sirius preferentially when it was situated low in the sky (and therefore apparently red). In several Mediterranean cultures, the local visibility of Sirius at heliacal rising and setting (whether it appeared bright and clear or dimmed) was thought to have astrological significance and was thus subject to systematic observation and intense interest. Thus Sirius, more than any other star,

7475-427: The consciousness of humanity using their advanced technology. This would achieve a paradise of sociological and ecological evolution – a galactic and divine society - by 2012. It was claimed the landing would represent hundreds of advanced races including Pleiadians, Sirians, Cassopeans, and Arcturians , who will fan out across the globe to meet and placate human populations. “We are being assisted by all of Creation –

7590-447: The diameter of the Moon) to the southwest. In 1868, Sirius became the first star to have its velocity measured, the beginning of the study of celestial radial velocities . Sir William Huggins examined the spectrum of the star and observed a red shift . He concluded that Sirius was receding from the Solar System at about 40 km/s. Compared to the modern value of −5.5 km/s, this

7705-452: The entire star; rather the iron-peak and heavy metals are radiatively levitated towards the surface. Sirius B, also known as the Pup Star, is one of the most massive white dwarfs known. With a mass of 1.02  M ☉ , it is almost double the 0.5–0.6  M ☉ average. This mass is packed into a volume roughly equal to the Earth's. The current surface temperature

7820-567: The evening where it sets after the Sun and in the morning where it rises before the Sun. Along with Procyon and Betelgeuse , Sirius forms one of the three vertices of the Winter Triangle to observers in the Northern Hemisphere . Sirius can be observed in daylight with the naked eye under the right conditions. Ideally, the sky should be very clear, with the observer at a high altitude,

7935-490: The failure of predictions, the emphasis became more spiritual. This obliged the Ground Crew to play a salvific role before the landing could take place. They were asked to help raise humanity spiritually, and to assist in the ecological restoration of Mother Earth. In fact this was a “graduation exercise” for the crew. Humanity must be gathered, for example by world meditation days, to accrue enough ‘critical mass of spiritual energy' so that vibrations may be harmonised towards

8050-487: The faint companion, which is now called Sirius B, or affectionately "the Pup". This happened during testing of an 18.5-inch (470 mm) aperture great refractor telescope for Dearborn Observatory , which was one of the largest refracting telescope lenses in existence at the time, and the largest telescope in the United States. Sirius B's sighting was confirmed on 8 March with smaller telescopes. The visible star

8165-455: The full gamut of the ‘vocabulary of temporality.’” In general, Nidle has managed the failed prophecy by engaging in what J Gordon Melton states is a reconceptualization through the process of spiritualisation: a UFO landing with advanced technology is changed into a need to raise humanity spiritually by humans themselves. In the case of the Ground Crew, Nidle “refashions his following from a passive audience of ‘netheads’ waiting to be ‘zapped’ by

8280-481: The gods. The god of the north wind, Boreas , solved the problem by ordering his sons to deliver Opora to Sirius, while he cooled down the earth with blasts of his own cold wind. In Iranian mythology, especially in Persian mythology and in Zoroastrianism , the ancient religion of Persia , Sirius appears as Tishtrya and is revered as the rain-maker divinity (Tishtar of New Persian poetry). Beside passages in

8395-527: The mass of Jupiter at 1–2 AU distance, and down to around 4 times the mass of Jupiter at 10 AU distance. Similarly, Lucas and colleagues did not detect any companions around Sirius B. Sirius A, also known as the Dog Star, has a mass of 2.063  M ☉ . The radius of this star has been measured by an astronomical interferometer , giving an estimated angular diameter of 5.936±0.016  mas . The projected rotational velocity

8510-407: The narrative on at least a weekly basis, claiming that huge underground chambers were being drilled, and massive spaceships were being prepared to house humans who would join a deep space brotherhood. The narrative stated that during Earth's entry into the photon belt and no later than December 17, 1996, a mass landing of 15 million star ships of the “Galactic Federation” would complete the raising of

8625-447: The next 60,000 years to reach a peak magnitude of −1.68. Coincidentally, at about the same time, Sirius will take its turn as the southern Pole Star, around the year 66,270 AD. In that year, Sirius will come to within 1.6 degrees of the south celestial pole. This is due to axial precession and proper motion of Sirius itself which moves slowly in the SSW direction, so it will be visible from

8740-454: The normal sociological discussion. Following the literary critic Austin Wright, they explore the discourse as a literary art form. Virtual reality is the vehicle of the myth - which conveys “a vivid imaginary world [and]… an intense mood of apocalyptic expectancy” for its participants. They also show how Nidle moves from the self-generated fictional world to the narrator-controlled fictional world as

8855-452: The onset of the annual flooding of the Nile during antiquity. Owing to the flood's own irregularity, the extreme precision of the star's return made it important to the ancient Egyptians , who worshipped it as the goddess Sopdet ( Ancient Egyptian : Spdt , "Triangle"; Ancient Greek : Σῶθις }, Sō̂this ), guarantor of the fertility of their land. The ancient Greeks observed that

8970-440: The past, would regain its galactic ability to rejuvenate itself, overcome illness and aging, and become telepathic. The channelling claimed that human structures would be destroyed in the process of photon belt activation, and the only safe places would be underground or inside spaceships. According to the early channellings, only extraterrestrial intervention by the Galactic Federation could save most of humanity. Nidle channelled

9085-410: The photon belt would aid Earth’s transformation into a pristine state and restore the superhuman abilities of humanity by gradually transforming the genetic codes of all humanity from a double-helix DNA to a 12-helix DNA pattern. The “dormant” pineal gland would be activated and an immediate healing process would take place. It was expected that the human body, having lost certain cosmic capabilities in

9200-446: The prophecies fail. They comment that the instant inception, rapid evolution and spectacular metamorphoses of religions on the internet will continue to dazzle scholars who surf the web. Sirius Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky . Its name is derived from the Greek word Σείριος (Latin script: Seirios ), meaning lit. 'glowing' or 'scorching'. The star

9315-403: The readings of Dolores Cannon , an American hypnotherapist , and Edgar Cayce , an American psychic . Cannon is a well-known figure in the American pseudoscience scene. Her work on starseeds , the idea that humans may be reincarnations of beings from other galaxies, goes back to Brad Steiger 's ufology classic Gods of Aquarius . Cayce called the Arcturians the most advanced community in

9430-441: The redness of the Sun at sunrise and sunset . Because the particles that cause reddening in the Earth's atmosphere are different (typically much smaller) than those that cause reddening in the interstellar medium, there is far less dimming of the starlight, and in the case of Sirius the change in colour can be seen without the aid of a telescope. There may be cultural reasons to explain why some ancient observers might have reported

9545-412: The relevance of any specific arrival date and talked about “the right divine time”. The second a half of 1997 heralded an important shift in focus as the messages began to require humans to assist the transformation of the planet in an interim period before any galactic intervention took place. Salvation became a two-way street. The channelling stated that the ‘right divine time’ may now be determined by

9660-481: The southern hemisphere only. After that time, its distance will begin to increase, and it will become fainter, but it will continue to be the brightest star in the Earth's night sky for approximately the next 210,000 years, at which point Vega , another A-type star that is intrinsically more luminous than Sirius, becomes the brightest star. Sirius A is about twice as massive as the Sun ( M ☉ ) and has an absolute visual magnitude of +1.43. It

9775-559: The southwest note the star as a dog that follows mountain sheep, while the Blackfoot called it "Dog-face". The Cherokee paired Sirius with Antares as a dog-star guardian of either end of the "Path of Souls". The Pawnee of Nebraska had several associations; the Wolf (Skidi) tribe knew it as the "Wolf Star", while other branches knew it as the "Coyote Star". Further north, the Alaskan Inuit of

9890-450: The spring of 1997. Delays were blamed on a solar storm and the instability of the planet. Many attractive glimpses of life in the new cosmic environment continued to be channeled. In February 1997, amazing details about the comet Hale-Bopp were communicated, and in March 1997 the number of space ships in the landing fleet was increased to 25 million. A new landing date was set to coincide with

10005-415: The star passing overhead, and the Sun low on the horizon. These observing conditions are more easily met in the Southern Hemisphere, owing to the southerly declination of Sirius. The orbital motion of the Sirius binary system brings the two stars to a minimum angular separation of 3  arcseconds and a maximum of 11 arcseconds. At the closest approach, it is an observational challenge to distinguish

10120-527: The star represents Rudra ( Shiva ). The star is referred to as Makarajyoti in Malayalam and has religious significance to the pilgrim center Sabarimala . In Scandinavia , the star has been known as Lokabrenna ("burning done by Loki", or "Loki's torch"). In the astrology of the Middle Ages , Sirius was a Behenian fixed star , associated with beryl and juniper . Its astrological symbol [REDACTED]

10235-612: The star system, but given its size it still appears at magnitude 8.3. The proper name "Sirius" comes from the Latin Sīrius , from the Ancient Greek Σείριος ( Seirios , "glowing" or "scorcher"). The Greek word itself may have been imported from elsewhere before the Archaic period , one authority suggesting a link with the Egyptian god Osiris . The name's earliest recorded use dates from

10350-427: The star to some degree, but reddening sufficient to cause it to appear similar in colour to intrinsically red bright stars such as Betelgeuse and Arcturus would also dim the star by several magnitudes, inconsistent with historical accounts: indeed, the dimming would be sufficient to render the colour of the star imperceptible to the human eye without the aid of a telescope. Extrinsic theories based on optical effects in

10465-600: The star was portrayed as the arrow itself in later Persian culture. Sirius is mentioned in Surah , An-Najm ("The Star"), of the Qur'an , where it is given the name الشِّعْرَى (transliteration: aš-ši'rā or ash-shira ; the leader). The verse is: " وأنَّهُ هُوَ رَبُّ الشِّعْرَى ", "That He is the Lord of Sirius (the Mighty Star)." (An-Najm:49) Ibn Kathir said in his commentary "that it

10580-501: The system, which is considered somewhat unusual for a binary star. The Chandra X-ray Observatory image shows Sirius B outshining its partner as an X-ray source. In 2015, Vigan and colleagues used the VLT Survey Telescope to search for evidence of substellar companions, and were able to rule out the presence of giant planets 11 times more massive than Jupiter at 0.5 AU distance from Sirius A, 6–7 times

10695-579: The two stars are believed to be too far apart for it to occur, even if Sirius A swells into a red giant . Novas , however, may be possible. Since 1894, irregularities have been tentatively observed in the orbits of Sirius A and B with an apparent periodicity of 6–6.4 years. A 1995 study concluded that such a companion likely exists, with a mass of roughly 0.05 solar mass—a small red dwarf or large brown dwarf , with an apparent magnitude of more than 15, and less than 3 arcseconds from Sirius A. In 2017, more accurate astrometric observations by

10810-471: The two varies between 8.2 and 31.5  astronomical units as they orbit every 50 years. Sirius appears bright because of its intrinsic luminosity and its proximity to the Solar System . At a distance of 2.64 parsecs (8.6  ly ), the Sirius system is one of Earth's nearest neighbours . Sirius is gradually moving closer to the Solar System; it is expected to increase in brightness slightly over

10925-410: The value of the parallax was 0.23  arcsecond , and error of the parallax was estimated not to exceed a quarter of a second, or as Henderson wrote in 1839, "On the whole we may conclude that the parallax of Sirius is not greater than half a second in space; and that it is probably much less." Astronomers adopted a value of 0.25 arcsecond for much of the 19th century. It is now known to have

11040-485: The virtual congregation who choose to join the mission. Members of the Ground Crew were told via the internet that at the time of the landing they would be assisting humanity and the extraterrestrials as councillors and ambassadors, respectively. Sophisticated technology would initially be used by the space forces to train the members while they slept, and this would be followed by the use of implants. Members were encouraged to recruit as many people as possible. Later, with

11155-433: The visual spectrum, Sirius B was once the more massive of the two. The age of the system has been estimated at 230 million years. Early in its life, it is thought to have been two bluish-white stars orbiting each other in an elliptical orbit every 9.1 years. The system emits a higher than expected level of infrared radiation , as measured by IRAS space-based observatory. This might be an indication of dust in

11270-432: The white dwarf from its more luminous companion, requiring a telescope with at least 300 mm (12 in) aperture and excellent seeing conditions. After a periastron occurred in 1994, the pair moved apart, making them easier to separate with a telescope. Apoastron occurred in 2019, but from the Earth's vantage point, the greatest observational separation occurred in 2023, with an angular separation of 11.333″. At

11385-741: The “Galactic Federation”, whom he now represents as a lecturer. The Galactic Federation is a supposed alliance of extraterrestrial civilizations within the Milky Way . This intergalactic council was allegedly revealed through a few well known people in their networks. It was through channeling that Nidle revealed his awareness. The idea that such a federation would exist is popular within UFO religions and certain New Age movements. This federation also appears in many science fiction stories. In 2020, former head of Israel's military space program Haim Eshed has claimed that aliens have made contact with representatives of

11500-412: Was a B-type star (most likely B5V for 5  M ☉ ) when it was still on the main sequence, potentially burning around 600–1200 times more luminous than the sun. While it passed through the red giant stage, Sirius B may have enriched the metallicity of its companion, explaining the very high metallicity of Sirius A. This star is primarily composed of a carbon–oxygen mixture that

11615-639: Was a member of the Ursa Major Moving Group , based on his observations of the system's movements across the sky. The Ursa Major Group is a set of 220 stars that share a common motion through space. It was once a member of an open cluster , but has since become gravitationally unbound from the cluster. Analyses in 2003 and 2005 found Sirius's membership in the group to be questionable: the Ursa Major Group has an estimated age of 500 ± 100 million years, whereas Sirius, with metallicity similar to

11730-414: Was also able to rule out any companions to Sirius B with more than 0.024 solar mass (25 Jupiter masses) orbiting in 0.5 year, and 0.0095 (10 Jupiter masses) orbiting in 1.8 years. Effectively, there are almost certainly no additional bodies in the Sirius system larger than a small brown dwarf or large exoplanet. In 1909, Ejnar Hertzsprung was the first to suggest that Sirius

11845-472: Was an important reference for their navigation around the Pacific Ocean. As the brightest star in the night sky, Sirius appears in some of the earliest astronomical records. Its displacement from the ecliptic causes its heliacal rising to be remarkably regular compared to other stars, with a period of almost exactly 365.25 days holding it constant relative to the solar year . This rising occurs at Cairo on 19 July ( Julian ), placing it just before

11960-551: Was an overestimate and had the wrong sign; the minus sign (−) means that it is approaching the Sun. In his 1698 book, Cosmotheoros , Christiaan Huygens estimated the distance to Sirius at 27,664 times the distance from the Earth to the Sun (about 0.437 light-year, translating to a parallax of roughly 7.5 arcseconds). There were several unsuccessful attempts to measure the parallax of Sirius: by Jacques Cassini (6 seconds); by some astronomers (including Nevil Maskelyne ) using Lacaille 's observations made at

12075-416: Was claimed to be Sirius. The authors proposed this as evidence that Sirius B had been a red giant at the time of observation. Other scholars replied that it was likely St. Gregory had been referring to Arcturus . It is notable that not all ancient observers saw Sirius as red. The 1st-century poet Marcus Manilius described it as "sea-blue", as did the 4th-century Avienius . Furthermore, Sirius

12190-491: Was consistently reported as a white star in ancient China: a detailed re-evaluation of Chinese texts from the 2nd century BC up to the 7th century AD concluded that all such reliable sources are consistent with Sirius being white. Nevertheless, historical accounts referring to Sirius as red are sufficiently extensive to lead researchers to seek possible physical explanations. Proposed theories fall into two categories: intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic theories postulate

12305-582: Was continuing to develop its membership base and claiming to have hundreds of Planetary Activation Groups in over 29 countries. The Planetary Activation Organisation is classified as a progressive millennialist group because it promises that all of humanity may achieve collective salvation and the attainment of a terrestrial paradise. Helland states that the Ground Crew resorted to “many of the classic strategies to avoid prophetic disconfirmation and [consequent] cognitive dissonance.” For instance, he employs face-saving strategies such as “disclaimers”, and “exploits

12420-466: Was derived entirely from nuclear reactions. The core became convective and used the CNO cycle for energy generation. It is calculated that Sirius A will have completely exhausted the store of hydrogen at its core within a billion (10 ) years of its formation, and will then evolve away from the main sequence. It will pass through a red giant stage and eventually become a white dwarf. Sirius A

12535-503: Was first measured by Robert Hanbury Brown and Richard Q. Twiss in 1959 at Jodrell Bank using their stellar intensity interferometer . In 2005, using the Hubble Space Telescope , astronomers determined that Sirius B has nearly the diameter of the Earth, 12,000 kilometres (7,500 mi), with a mass 102% of the Sun's. Around the year 150 AD, Claudius Ptolemy of Alexandria, an ethnic Greek Egyptian astronomer of

12650-449: Was generated by helium fusion in the progenitor star. This is overlaid by an envelope of lighter elements, with the materials segregated by mass because of the high surface gravity. The outer atmosphere of Sirius B is now almost pure hydrogen—the element with the lowest mass—and no other elements are seen in its spectrum. Although Sirius A and B compose a binary system that is reminiscent of those that can undergo Type Ia supernova ,

12765-446: Was listed by Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa . Many cultures have historically attached special significance to Sirius, particularly in relation to dogs . It is often colloquially called the "Dog Star" as the brightest star of Canis Major , the "Great Dog" constellation. Canis Major was classically depicted as Orion 's dog. The Ancient Greeks thought that Sirius's emanations could affect dogs adversely, making them behave abnormally during

12880-480: Was misty or faint then it foretold (or emanated) pestilence. Coins retrieved from the island from the 3rd century BC feature dogs or stars with emanating rays, highlighting Sirius's importance. The Romans celebrated the heliacal setting of Sirius around 25 April, sacrificing a dog, along with incense, wine, and a sheep, to the goddess Robigo so that the star's emanations would not cause wheat rust on wheat crops that year. Bright stars were important to

12995-418: Was no further mention of the comet or its occupants. Nidle and the Ground Crew blamed repeated failed prophecies on various external factors. By June 1997, other worldly and interstellar dark forces were said to have conspired with ‘planetary elites’ and held up the intentions of the Galactic Federation which had underestimated the situation, but could not be deterred. At the same time, messages began to deny

13110-449: Was observed and recorded while close to the horizon. Other contemporary cultures, such as Chinese, lacking this tradition, recorded Sirius only as white. With an apparent magnitude of −1.46, Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky , almost twice as bright as the second-brightest star, Canopus . From Earth , Sirius always appears dimmer than Jupiter and Venus , and at certain times also dimmer than Mercury and Mars . Sirius

13225-497: Was said to be "star-struck" ( ἀστροβόλητος , astrobólētos ). It was described as "burning" or "flaming" in literature. The season following the star's reappearance came to be known as the "dog days". The inhabitants of the island of Ceos in the Aegean Sea would offer sacrifices to Sirius and Zeus to bring cooling breezes and would await the reappearance of the star in summer. If it rose clear, it would portend good fortune; if it

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