"Antares - 02 - Antares Passage" - читать интересную книгу автора (McCollum Michael)

CHAPTER1
ANTARES PASSAGE

A Novel By

Michael McCollum

Sci Fi Ц Arizona, Inc.
Third Millennium Publishing
An Online Cooperative of Writers and Resources


PROLOGUE: THE BIRTH AND DEATH OF A STAR

The star was a relative newcomer to the galactic scene. It had begun life as a
vast cloud of interstellar hydrogen which over the millennia had collapsed in
upon itself, pulled together by gravitational attraction. As the cloud
coalesced, the gas at its center grew hotter. After awhile, the interior began
to glow with a visible light. Then one day, the temperature at the cloud's
center reached the level where hydrogen fuses into helium. On that day, a new
star blazed forth to illuminate the blackness of the interstellar night.
For millions of years the star shone with a luminosity equal to that of several
thousand of its lesser brethren. Indeed, the star's radiance made it a beacon
visible across the length of the galaxy. However, such profligacy is not without
its costs. Where smaller suns took as long as 10 billion years to consume their
available supplies of fusible hydrogen, the giant star managed the same feat in
less than a single gigayear. About the time the first apelike prehumans ventured
forth onto the savannas of Africa, the star ran low on hydrogen fuel, and as
quickly as it had flamed alight, the nuclear fire at its heart was snuffed out.
The end of fusion brought with it a resumption of the contraction that had
molded the primordial cloud. As the core fell inward, its temperature rose
precipitously. Within seconds, the temperature at the star's center reached the
point where helium fuses into carbon. The nuclear fire flamed anew, this time
powered by the helium ash of the previous cycle. Since the new fire was hotter
than the old, the star wasted energy even more lavishly than before. It expanded
as well, providing a larger surface area from which to radiate the vigorous new
energy to surrounding space. Along with the expansion came cooling of the star's
outermost layers, and a change in color. Where before the star had radiated a
brilliant blue-white light, its visible surface was now a bright yellow-green
color.
The star continued on the quick burning helium-carbon cycle until the time when
the first agricultural settlements began to appear on Earth. Then, having
depleted its supply of helium, the inner fire failed, triggering yet another
cycle of contraction and heating. This time it was the turn of the carbon atoms
to provide the star's new source of energy. Once again, the new fuel produced
more energy than previously, forcing the star's surface to expand to provide
sufficient area to radiate the heat. By the time the star stabilized at 400
solar diameters, its hue had shaded down from yellow-green to a deep red-orange.
The star was well into its dotage when the first human telescopes were turned
its way. The first starships to arrive at the star made note of this fact a few