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Sources/First blue source in Boötes

The first blue source in Boötes is unknown.

This is a lesson in map reading, coordinate matching, and searching.

It is also a project in the history of blue astronomy looking for the first astronomical blue source discovered in the constellation of Boötes.

Nearly all the background you need to participate and learn by doing you've probably already been introduced to at a secondary level.

Some of the material and information is at the college or university level, and as you progress in finding blue sources, you'll run into concepts and experimental tests that are an actual search.

To succeed in finding a blue source in Boötes is the first step. Next, you'll need to determine the time stamp of its discovery and compare it with any that have already been found. Over the history of blue astronomy a number of sources have been found, many as point sources in the night sky. These points are located on the celestial sphere using coordinate systems. Familiarity with these coordinate systems is not a prerequisite. Here the challenge is geometrical, astrophysical, and historical.

Control groups
A control group for this experiment may be a blue source observed by ancient hominins in their version of the constellation Boötes.

Astronomical blue sources
The image at right shows the blue light, towards the lower right, due to synchrotron radiation, of a jet emerging from the bright active galactic nucleus (AGN) core of Messier 87.

First sources
The "earliest known astronomy anywhere in the world [is] that of the Australian Aborigines, whose culture has existed for some 40,000 years".

"The Aranda tribes of Central Australia, for example, distinguish red stars from white, blue and yellow stars."

Backgrounds
To introduce yourself to some aspects of the challenge may I suggest reading the highlighted links mentioned above, and if you're curious, those listed under the section "See also" below.

Blue rays are a form of radiation that is currently part of the electromagnetic radiation intersecting the Earth. More information about the radiation of astronomy is in radiation astronomy and blue astronomy.

Constellations
The Wikipedia article about the constellation Boötes contains a high school level description. The figure at right shows the sky map of Boötes. Around the edges of the map are coordinates related to longitude and latitude, but with the Earth rotating on its axis every 24 hours the celestial coordinates must remain fixed. How has this been accomplished?

Boötes was one of the 48 constellations described by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy and is now one of the 88 modern constellations.

In ancient Babylon the stars of Boötes were known as SHU.PA. They were apparently depicted as the god Enlil, who was the leader of the Babylonian pantheon and special patron of farmers.

The second image at the right is Boötes as depicted in Urania's Mirror, a set of constellation cards published in London c.1825. In his left hand he holds his hunting dogs, Canes Venatici. Below them is the constellation Coma Berenices. Above the head of Boötes is Quadrans Muralis, now obsolete, but which lives on as the name of the early January Quadrantid meteor shower. Mons Mænalus can be seen at his feet.

Also, in the Wikipedia article is a list of stars in Boötes.

From the Wikipedia article on the Zodiac, is Boötes a zodiacal constellation?

Earlier versions of the stars that now compose Boötes may occur in astrohistory as they are found or rediscovered.

Testing a source
There are many web sites that may have a blue source listed for the constellation Boötes.

Wikipedia sources
A. Constellation article

Under "Notable features" in the Wikipedia article on the constellation Boötes is the list of stars in Boötes. Click on this link. In the table of this Wikipedia article is α Boo. To the right are coordinates:
 * 1) [Right ascension] (RA): 14h 15m 40.35s and
 * 2) [Declination] (Dec): +19° 11' 14.2".

Find these coordinates on the Boötes map at the right. Is alpha Boötis really inside the boundaries of the constellation?

To evaluate the star as a blue source, skip ahead to the section "Blue source".

B. Wikipedia search

Another way to look for blue sources in the constellation is to perform a search on Wikipedia. Try "Boötes blue" without the quotes. This yields 2,236 possible astronomical blue source candidates.

To evaluate a blue source, skip ahead to section "Blue source".

SIMBAD sources
Another way to find possible blue sources in Boötes is to use search queries on SIMBAD.

Click on the SIMBAD link under "External links" below, then click on "Criteria query" or "by criteria".

In the tan box, type in "region(05 45 08.9173 -16 42 58.017, 10m)", without the quotes. This tells the SIMBAD computer you are interested in a circular region of the celestial sphere centered on the coordinates for alpha Boötis, with a radius of 10 arcminutes (m).

Notice on the page over at the right from the tan colored box: "Return". The default is "object count". Click on "submit query". In a few moments a result something like "Number of objects:            9" should appear. Click "Back" to see the tan box again.

To see if you have found at least one object, change "Return" to "display" by clicking on the circle to its left, then "submit query".

SIMBAD should display a list of objects. Read through the resource blue astronomy for clues that may indicate whether a particular spectral type (Sp type) is a blue source. If none of the objects listed seems to be described as a blue source, try going "Back" and increasing the arcminutes from "10m" to "20m", and repeat until a blue source is found.

Once you believe you have discovered a blue source, proceed to the section "Blue source".

A blue source
There are several ways to evaluate a blue source for the constellation Boötes.

Stellar classifications
Stellar classification places the range of effective surface temperatures for conventional color blue, bluish, or blue white stars as the class K stars as class O ≥33,000 K blue, 10,000-33,000 K blue to blue white, and 7,500-10,000 K to white, or white to blue white (apparent color).

Some of the effective temperatures for the standard stars are fairly recent.

The Planckian radiator peak wavelength for any effective surface temperature in K may be found using your handheld calculator with the formula:

 * y=(1.48833/(0.0000495*6060))*exp(1.48833/(0.0000495*6060))/(exp(1.48833/(0.0000495*6060))-1)-5.

Depending on the internal software, ask it to print or display y. Iteratively enter different temperatures (e.g. 6060 in the equation) and wavelengths (e.g. 495 nm as 0.0000495 in the equation) to see how close to zero you are.

For the temperature, wavelength pair (6060 K,495 nm), the value is -3.419065E-03. This is close in the third digit.

The temperature, wavelength pair (3800 K,690 nm) gives an equation of

 * y=(1.48833/(0.0000690*3800))*exp(1.48833/(0.0000690*3800))/(exp(1.48833/(0.0000690*3800))-1)-5, with a value of 0.695831, which is not as close, and suggests an error in the first digit.

When the temperature is higher than the minimum for a specific wavelength, the value of the equation is negative. When the wavelength is shorter than the minimum for a specific temperature, the value of the equation is positive.

Wikipedia source
Click on the link to the Wikipedia article. After you've enjoyed reading about the source, use the 'find' command of your browser to see if this Wikipedia page mentions anything about "blue" or "blue rays". Does the article mention whether or not the source is a blue source?

What is the current time stamp for the Wikipedia article on the source? [Hint]: look for something like "This page was last modified on 12 January 2012 at 06:47." very near the bottom of the page. For now this is an adequate time stamp.

From reading the Wikipedia article on the source, if you believe the text demonstrates that the source is not a blue source in Boötes edit the "Non-blue source in Boötes" section near the bottom of the page with an entry similar to "# Alpha Boötis 12 January 2012 at 06:47 Wikipedia article "Alpha Boötis".", without the outer quotes, and finish the entry with four "~"s without the quotes after the period. The date included with your designation or username is a time stamp for the entry. The last portion of the entry is the source of your information.

On the other hand, if there are one or more sentences in the article that you believe demonstrates that the source is a blue source in Boötes edit the section below "Blue source in Boötes" with a similar entry.

Go to the section entitle, "Challenging an entry".

SIMBAD source
To check any source (even one from Wikipedia) on SIMBAD, click of the "External link" to the "SIMBAD Astronomical Database".

At the lower right side of the SIMBAD Astronomical Database page is a "Basic search" box. There are several ways to try your target:
 * 1) source name: without the quotes or
 * 2) source coordinates: without the quotes, for example, "05 45 08.9173 -16 42 58.017".

If you are looking at a SIMBAD generated table which lists possible targets, click on one.

On its SIMBAD page move over to the right side until you see an Aladin visual photograph of the object. Is it a blue source?

Even if the source does not look blue, look down the left hand side of the page for "Spectral type:". From your reading of blue astronomy, do you believe the source is a blue source, or not? Noting that SIMBAD does, or does not consider the source to be a blue source is important, so skip down to the "SIMBAD time stamp" section.

If you have already found a blue source (or a table of them) using SIMBAD, click on the blue link identifier for the first.

SIMBAD time stamp
Peruse the SIMBAD page for a time stamp or date of last revision. [Hint: it may look something like "2012.01.09CET20:10:02" and be in the upper right.]

If the entry at SIMBAD convinces you that the source is not a blue source, edit the "Non-blue source in Boötes" section near the bottom of this page and type in an entry similar to "# Source Name 2012.01.09CET20:10:02 SIMBAD article "SIMBAD source name".", without the first set of quotes, followed by four ~s.

If your SIMBAD analysis convinces you that you have found a blue source in Boötes (did you check the coordinates vs. the map of Boötes?), make an entry something like the ones in the section "Blue source in Boötes".

Challenging an entry
Any entry in either the section "Blue source in Boötes" or "Non-blue source in Boötes" can be challenged. The time stamp may be challenged to see if there is an earlier one. The source may be challenged by an earlier source.

Wikipedia challenge
Is Wikipedia a 'primary source', or does the Wikipedia article cite a source?

Even though Wikipedia has an article on the source, is it a good place to stop in testing whether the source has been detected as an astronomical blue source?

If the Wikipedia article cites a primary source, skip down to the section on "Primary sources".

SIMBAD challenge
Is SIMBAD a 'primary source'?

SIMBAD is an astronomical database provided by the Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg. It is an authoritative source, but they do occasionally make a mistake.

If you find a blue source within the constellation on SIMBAD, the next step is to find the earliest time stamp of discovery.

Wikipedia test source
For a Wikipedia article that cites a primary source, scroll down to the reference and open the reference. Read through the article looking for where the source mentioned in the Wikipedia article occurs. Some primary source authors may use source designations that are not mentioned in the Wikipedia article. To look for other designations, click on the link to SIMBAD in the "External links" on this page, enter the source name from the Wikipedia article, and see if other names are mentioned in the article.

When none of the names are mentioned, click on the link for "Google Advanced Search" in the list of "External links", enter the source name or designation(s) such as "Gliese 866", with "blue" to see if the source has a reference indicating it is a blue source. And, look for the earliest one. Compose an entry using the primary source.

SIMBAD test source
Further down the SIMBAD page is a list of "Identifiers". Click on the blue bold portion.

On the page that appears, there should be a primary source listed after Ref:. Click on the blue link with the oldest year. This yields an earlier time stamp and entry citation like the current one in the section "Blue source in Boötes". If you find another source or an earlier time stamp, compose a similar entry and edit the section. Additional information to add into the reference can be found by clicking on "ADS services" from the SIMBAD page.

Changing an entry
From your analysis of the source so far, is it a blue source?

If you have found an earlier time stamp for the source than the one listed in the section below "Non-blue source in Boötes" and the answer to the above question is "no", you can edit the section with your result. Or, you can leave the entries as is and try another star or object.

If you have found an earlier time stamp for the source than the one listed in the section below "Blue source in Boötes", edit the section with your result. Or, if you found another blue source with a comparable or earlier time stamp, edit the section with your result.

Blue sources in Boötes

 * 1) NGC 5548 is a Type I Seyfert galaxy with a bright blue/white core. It is in the constellation Boötes. This galaxy was studied by the Multicolor Active Galactic Nuclei Monitoring 2m telescope. --Marshallsumter (talk) 02:31, 17 August 2012 (UTC)
 * 2) Pi Boötis, specifically HR 5475, the brighter component is a blue-white B-type main sequence dwarf. --Marshallsumter (talk) 02:56, 17 August 2012 (UTC)

Non-blue sources in Boötes

 * 1) Arcturus, or alpha Boötis, is an orange-yellow, spectral type K1.5IIIFe-0.5 or K1.5 IIIpe orange giant star. --Marshallsumter (talk) 01:42, 17 August 2012 (UTC)

Hypotheses

 * 1) The first blue source in Boötes was likely observed over 42,000 b2k.

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Cultural Encounters/Relationships

Introduction
The following study was conducted within the context of the Erasmus IP Summer School in Scotland (2012), Wales (2013) and Newcastle-upon-Tyne (2014). The aim of the first two groups was to gain insight into the differences and similarities between the participating countries in the area of dating and romantic relationships. From initial discussions, it was theorised that the countries represented had similar cultural patterns of behaviour concerning meeting potential partners. The 2014 group focused on interpersonal relations among people of participating countries in a broader sense. The research put stress on different views on family in terms of defining the family, individuality, friendship and the structure of relationships in general.

The research of the 2013 group would be incomplete with only the knowledge of the five international student researchers and online resources. A pole containing four questions was sent to friends in the respective countries; thus giving the thoughts of many, rather than the judgement of one. The following four questions were included:

 * Where was the last place you met somebody with whom you started a successful/serious relationship?
 * Are your parents still married?
 * What is the longest relationship you have had?
 * Do you feel uncomfortable demonstrating your sexuality in public, e.g. holding hands and kissing?

There were additional questions asked to members of the homosexual communities in the five countries represented. The two questions were:
 * Do you feel excluded from the places your heterosexual friends would socialise?
 * Have you found a specific place to socialise within the gay community?

The additional questions were used to gain insight into the minority of the gay sub-culture of each country. Each contestant who took part in the survey answered the first four questions.

The 2013 group questioned 83 people in total, between the ages of 20 and 34, with most participants being in their early 20’s. There were 15 participants in Ireland and Slovenia, respectively. Germany had 13 participants, whilst Croatia had 18 and Portugal had 22. There were 10 participants of the survey who answered the additional questions on the gay community in their country.

This article has been divided into five sub-topics:

 * 1) Relationships in the Family
 * 2) Meeting Potential Partners
 * 3) Being in a Relationship
 * 4) Marriage and Divorce
 * 5) Friendship

The findings will be dispersed across these five sub-topics, allowing readers to understand the different stages of relationships. In each sub-topic, there is an additional paragraph on the gay community in each culture, also giving insight into the different stages of those relationships, as well as the legalisation and statistics.

Meeting Potential Partners
Meeting new people and being able to find someone who has the same interests and goals is not always easy. However, there are many ways to meet potential partners, including going to bars and pubs, blind dates, dating websites, hobbies, holidays, office romances, social networking, among others.

The participants from all countries were questioned on the subject of meeting potential partners and listed dating locations. 46% of participants who answered the questionnaire in Germany and 40% of the Irish participants met their partners in clubs, bars or pubs, as well as 11% of participants in Croatia and 13% of participants in Portugal, only 1 participant from Slovenia listed bar. Furthermore, 33% of Croatians and 20% of the Irish and Slovenians find schools and universities as frequent places to meet their potential partners, whereas 18% of Portuguese and 23% of German couples met at more uncommon places, such as beaches or on holidays abroad. Some couples in Slovenia met at a piercing studio or at the same student residence where they both live. Students report that Internet dating platforms could also serve as a good place to find a partner, because 23% of Germans, 11% of Croatians, 6% of the Irish, and 4% of Portuguese found their dates that way. In the same way, hobbies can be an informal way for people to meet; for example, 4% of people from Portugal met in parks while running or cycling. Only a few people from Croatia and Portugal met their partners at work. In contrast, house parties are very popular among 22% of Croatians, 13% of the Irish, and 9% of Portuguese participants.

Once a person has met someone they like, an appropriate venue must be chosen for a date. This is where certain differences in the customs of the countries were encountered. From the personal experiences of the representatives from each country on the research teams, it was concluded that cafés and pubs are a good place to get a drink, a coffee and to engage in private conversation. While Croatians and Slovenians prefer not to go to restaurants on their first dates, Germans and Portuguese find this to be very common in their countries. Germans and the Portuguese also commonly go to the cinema on their first dates. Geert Hofstede noted that Ireland is a country with a high rate of uncertainty avoidance, which means that the country in general avoids the types of conversation in which the certainty would be founded ("National Cultural Dimensions", n.d.). This relates to romantic relationships in Ireland due to couples avoiding the conversation about their status.

Where Do Gay People Meet Potential Partners?
Further questions were asked to ten openly gay individuals, whose places to meet people do not differ much from those where heterosexual people met their partners. They met their partners online, at parties/night clubs, at work and in college. Five of them go to specific gay places, clubs and bars to socialize and meet people; the others use gay portals on the Internet or just go out at regular places with heterosexual friends.

Being in a Relationship
When a relationship is established, it takes on certain characteristics that can vary across countries. One of the characteristics the 2012 study dealt with is the question of exclusiveness, i.e. whether or not the partners are allowed to date other people. The findings showed that in Croatia, Germany and Portugal, this matter is discussed at the start of the relationship or shortly after. In Portugal, a relationship would be considered casual if exclusiveness was not explicitly stated. In Ireland and Slovenia, relationships would be assumed to be exclusive from the very beginning and the matter would not be discussed. The 2013 group, on the other hand, believes there are no significant differences between the countries as regards this question, as it depends entirely on the personal preferences of the partners.

Another question is whether or not couples express their affection in public. Public displays of affection are generally accepted in all the examined countries, as long as it is restricted to holding hands and moderate kissing. Couples may be frowned upon when a certain line is crossed; the opinions of the participants vary as to what actions exactly breach this unspoken rule, but there is no indication of any country-specific rules. The 2012 group stated that in Ireland, the smallest public display of affection is frowned upon and commented with “get a room”. Results of the 2013 survey disprove this claim, as the vast majority of Irish participants stated they were completely comfortable with kissing and holding hands in public, which makes them no different from participants of other nationalities. The 2012 study also established a time frame for when the physical aspect of a relationship usually comes into play: after 1–2 months in Croatia, 4–5 months in Germany, 2–4 months in Portugal and 1–3 months in Slovenia.

In 2012, the participants examined when partners meet each other's parents. It was established that this happens after 3–6 months in Croatia, Germany and Slovenia; whilst in Ireland and Portugal, parents are introduced as late as possible. Ireland seemed to stand out as the only country where partners occasionally do not meet the parents at all. The 2013 group's experience, however, suggests that the time of meeting the parents is not fixed, it depends on factors other than nationality, and there are no observable differences between these nationalities.

In 2013, the length of relationships was also examined. Participants included were asked to provide the approximate durations of the longest relationships they have had. This method yielded the following average durations:
 * 2 years and 10 months for Croatians,
 * 3 years and 7 months for Germans,
 * 1 year and 5 months for the Irish,
 * 2 years and 11 months for the Portuguese,
 * 1 year and 10 months for Slovenians.

Even though the research sample is too small for the results to be conclusive, it is interesting that in Croatia and Portugal, which are Mediterranean countries, relationships seem to be significantly longer than in Ireland and Slovenia. This is in opposition with the stereotype of Mediterraneans being promiscuous people.

Being in a Gay Relationship
The longest gay relationship one participant from Croatia had was 8 years. The length between the others varied between 6 months and 4 years.

The results show that out of the 10 people asked, 6 gay people answered the question if they are uncomfortable showing their sexuality in public – whether it is kissing or holding hands – with “no”, the 4 other respondents answered with the argument that they make the decision depending on the situation they find themselves in. One German respondent, for example, stated that on holidays in Turkey, she noticed how she tried to not act too “male” or “Lesbian”, while she normally does not feel uncomfortable displaying her sexuality. The question whether they felt excluded from places where heterosexual people would socialize was unanimously answered with “no”. While this cannot be seen as a representative survey, it showed that none of the ten gay people who were asked felt particularly uneasy while living their sexuality in their home countries.

Relationships in the family
The 2014 group examined interpersonal relations among people of participating countries in a broader sense. The research focused on different views on family in terms of defining the family, individuality and its structure. Participants of all countries consider family an important part of people’s lives, but the interpretation of the word itself slightly differs across cultures. The Slovenian, Croatian and German and Irish definition of the nucleus of a family normally includes parents, children, and sometimes grandparents, depending on the circumstances. It is not uncommon for the people in Croatia and Slovenia for two generations to live under the same roof. For the Portuguese, the word ‘family’ carries a slightly different connotation. They usually interpret the word in a broader sense that also includes their aunts, uncles and cousins and not just the parents and children. As for the family gatherings and personal contact, the Portuguese generally seem to be the most tactile people and keep the most intimate relationship with the family. The Germans and the Irish are considered the most reserved when it comes to expressing emotions and physical contact, while Croatians and Slovenians seem to be somewhere in between. If we compare our findings to Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory, Ireland and Germany are considered the most individualistic countries with relatively high scores of 70 and 67 respectively, followed by Croatia with the score of 33, Portugal 31 and Slovenia 27. It was not surprising that Ireland and Germany are at the top of the list, since the participants of the summer school described themselves as rather individualistic societies where people mostly rely on themselves. There is a considerable gap between Ireland and Germany and the rest of the participating countries on the scale dealing with individualism. This is reflected in the fact that Croatians, Slovenians and Portuguese find family not only important, but an integral part of life. The Portuguese participants furthermore consider themselves a closely connected society with strongly collectivist values where family plays an essential role in personal development.

Marriage & Divorce
Divorce was rare before the second half of the twentieth century in the EU, but during the seventies the rates started to increase rapidly. The marriage rates have also been falling since the sixties, according to Wilson and Smallwood (29). According to Hofstede (2010), a society can have different degrees of independence amongst its members. It has to do with “people’s self-image defined in terms of ‘I ‘or ‘we’ (Hofstede, 2010). Individualist societies, like Portugal and Germany, have higher divorce rates, while the collectivist societies, like Croatia and Slovenia, have the lowest divorce rates. Although Ireland is considered to be an individualistic society, its lowest rates amongst the five countries have likely to do with strictness of the divorce laws and with religion. The results of Hofstede's research (2010) correlate to the survey which was undertaken. Participants were asked whether their parents were married or divorced. Among the eighteen Croatians examined, all the parents were married, unlike in Portugal, where the roughly half, 57%, were divorced. Furthermore, in Germany there were 61% of parents that were married. Ireland and Slovenia have the same ranking, 86% married parents.

The graphic below shows the marriage rates of the five countries according to the. In ascending order Slovenia has the lowest marriage rates, followed by Porugal, Ireland, Germany and finally Croatia with the highest rate. The rates given can be seen in corrolation to different factors: It appears that economic factors and the religiousness of the countries inhabitants play an important role in deciding whether or not to get married.

Wedding customs
There are some curious differences to note when it comes to gifts to be received at a wedding in the respective countries. For example: Irish brides and grooms receive no material gifts at their wedding; instead, they commonly receive approximately 50€ per guest in a greeting card to pay for food and drink and to add a little extra money, if the couple and the guests are closely related. It is similar in terms of monetary gifts in Croatia; in addition, the bride receives gifts like jewellery from the groom's parents before the ceremony. German wedding couples mostly receive monetary gifts as well. There is no fixed price but the wedding invitation already kindly states, often in form of a poem, for what purpose the received money is to be spent, e.g. honeymoon or wedding party. Banknotes are usually creatively folded and wrapped up; putting the money in envelopes or greeting cards is considered very impersonal in German customs. Wedding gifts for the couple's home are often given at Slovenian weddings. In Portugal, the godparents of the couple to be wed traditionally help the parents of the bride and groom financially in the planning of the wedding ceremony. At the wedding itself, material gifts like decorative objects or household goods or even money are to be received from the wedding party.

These different customs could potentially cause problems if, for example, a person from Slovenia would go to a wedding in Ireland not knowing about the custom of giving money instead of material objects. Therefore, it is a good idea to inquire in advance about wedding customs in the area.

Gay marriages
Between the five countries, there are few significant differences in marriage rights for gay people. Even though the rights and restrictions granted, for example, by the governments of Portugal and Slovenia are the same, one country terms it “marriage”, the other calls it a “union”. The governments appear to be reluctant to use the term “marriage” in referring to a lawfully wedded homosexual couple, and full adoption rights are not granted in any of the five countries this group has evaluated, as it is often a sensitive topic which touches core family values. Some of the Constitutions in these countries do not allow the term to be used. It may be questioned why gay couples want to get married, after all, it is not only a matter of a personal bond or making the relationship “official”, but also has a lot to do with state restrictions that do not grant the same right to same-sex couples as to heterosexual couples – for example, when it comes to not being allowed to see the partner in the hospital in a case of emergency, not having the benefits heterosexual couples have in terms of tax, pension, inheritance or property rights or not being granted any adoption rights in some countries. Same-sex couples Same-sex marriage in Portugal can get married in Portugal, even if they do not have permanent residency in the country or their home country does not allow gay marriage. Adoption is only granted if the partner intends to adopt the other partner's child – a step-child adoption. Germany, Slovenia and Ireland recognize same-sex unions, or registered partnerships. Slovenia grants full marriage rights to gay couples, except in terms of adoption, only step-child adoption is allowed. In June 2013, Germany granted almost full rights for gay couples in same-sex unions; the last step was concerning equal tax benefits, and the last remaining step would be to grant full adoption rights as well, which the conservative party is refusing. The Irish Constitution makes granting equal rights to gay couples a bit more complicated, as a special paragraph about family rights is included in it. Gay unions in Croatia are officially termed “Unregistered Cohabitants”, Croatian gay couples can only apply for similar rights as heterosexual couples in terms of financial and inheritance rights if they have lived together (are cohabitants) for more than 3 years. No other rights are granted.

In terms of numbers, Germany has 34.000 registered partnerships (2012), Ireland has 734 (2012), Portugal 277 (2010) and in 2011, Slovenia only had 17 registered partnerships in total, but with a population of just 2 million inhabitants. There is no data to be found on Croatia.

All of these countries hold annual Gay Pride Parades, which are also used by equal-rights supporters to underline the need for extended gay rights and abolish restrictions in the respective countries. For example: the 2013 Gay Pride parade in Zagreb protested against a new referendum put forward by an anti-gay group to change the Croatian constitution to define marriage between a man and a woman, which gathered 700.000 signatures.

Friendship
Friendship is an essential part of everyone’s lives, regardless of the culture a person originates from. Participants of all countries stated that friendships are mostly formed in primary schools, secondary schools or at the faculties. There are some differences among friendships across the participants’ countries, though. Slovenians, Croatians and Portuguese tend to socialise with a large group of people. However, they will form a close friendship only with a few of them whom they consider trustworthy. As far as Germans and the Irish are concerned, it seems that they prefer smaller groups of people with whom they establish close ties. If we take a look at Hofstede’s (2010) graph, which compares individualistism as opposed to collectivism of the participating countries, the conclusions drawn once again overlap to a great extent with his findings (see graph in section Relationships in the family).

Conclusion
The research conducted confirms the initial thesis that the nations in question do not differ greatly in their dating habits, viewes on family and romantic relationships. There are some minor cultural differences among the participating countries when it comes to divorce rates, which rise in more individualistic societies as opposed to the collectivist societies. Furthermore, homosexuals who travel from their own countries and seem to be more open to their community might find conflicting views in other countries, as there are still tensions in countries like Croatia (at gay pride parades, for example. Finally, it was concluded that most dating and relationship habits are similar across Europe and that they they mostly depend on individual experience, rather than being culturally defined. Concerning family and friendship, there are noticable differences between cultures in terms of defining those relationships. While everyone considers family as well as friendship to be an important factor in life, some countries seem to be more individually-based and do not rely too strongly on personal relations. It is of course essential to bear in mind that there are exceptions for the conclusions given.

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