Old Antares System

An ancient image of Antares A from Earth

An ancient star map from Earth of the Old Antares System as viewed from Earth

The Old Antares System or Orginal Antares is a binary star system colonised by humans in the 22nd century. The fate of these colonies is currently unknown. It is the fifteenth brighest star visable from the human homeworld of Earth.

## Nomenclature

The name Antares erives from the Ancient Greek Ἀντάρης, meaning "rival to-Ares" ("opponent to-Mars"), due to the similarity of its reddish hue to the appearance of the planet Mars. The comparison of Antares with Mars may have originated with early Mesopotamian astronomers. Some scholars have speculated that the star may have been named after Antar, or Antarah ibn Shaddad, the Arab warrior-hero celebrated in the pre-Islamic poems Mu'allaqat.

## Cultural and Mythological Impact

Being visable from Earth, Antares has had several mythological and cultural impacts throughout human history.

In the Babylonian star catalogues dating from at least 1100 BCE, Antares was called GABA GIR.TAB, "the Breast of the Scorpion".

In ancient Mesopotamia, Antares may have been known by various names: Urbat, Bilu-sha-ziri ("the Lord of the Seed"), Kak-shisa ("the Creator of Prosperity"), Dar Lugal ("The King"), Masu Sar ("the Hero and the King"), and Kakkab Bir ("the Vermilion Star").

In ancient Egypt, Antares represented the scorpion goddess Serket (and was the symbol of Isis in the pyramidal ceremonies). It was called *tms n hntt* "the red one of the prow".

In Persia, Antares was known as *Satevis*, one of the four "royal stars". In India, it with σ Scorpii and τ Scorpii were Jyeshthā (the eldest or biggest, probably attributing its huge size), one of the *nakshatra* (Hindu lunar mansions).

The ancient Chinese called Antares 心宿二 (*Xīnxiù'èr*, "second star of the Heart"), because it was the second star of the mansion *Xin* (心). It was the national star of the Shang Dynasty, and it was sometimes referred to as 火星 (*Huǒxīng,* 'fiery star') because of its reddish appearance.

The Māori people of New Zealand call Antares *Rēhua*, and regard it as the chief of all the stars. Rēhua is father of *Puanga/Puaka* (Rigel), an important star in the calculation of the Māori calendar.

The Wotjobaluk Koori people of Victoria, Australia, knew Antares as *Djuit*, son of *Marpean-kurrk* (Arcturus); the stars on each side represented his wives. The Kulin Kooris saw Antares (*Balayang*) as the brother of *Bunjil* (Altair).

## Astrography

The Old Antares System is a binary star system. Antares-A (also known as α Scorpii A) is a red supergiant while Antares-B (also known as α Scorpii B) is a smaller blue-white main-sequence star.

## Human Colonisation

In the early 22nd century nations from Earth began efforts to colonise the system via the use of artifical wormholes. By 2159 these colonies were begining to become self-sufficent and the Earhart Colonization Program was lauched to bring a second wave of colonists to the system. These colonists never arrived and instead found themselves in a new unkown system which they named Antares in honour of their orginal destination. The fate of the orginal Antares Colonies is unkown.

## References

1. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antares#Nomenclature
2. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antares#Etymology\_and\_mythology
3. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antares#Stellar\_system
4. ↑ https://youtu.be/LeYU\_F0pT8Q