#IAU Sky

[skyward-floored]

I’ve been in a Sky mood lately lol. So for prompts maybe something angsty with him? Like him getting used to life after being trapped on the island for years? Or one of the boys trying to reassure themselves that he’s actually back?

I saw this prompt and went HEHEHE I do enjoy me my angst. Especially Incredibles au Sky angst (sorry Sky bdhdbdbdhd)

I sort of mixed your two prompts together? It’s mostly the first one, but there’s hints of the second. And also a different thing entirely XD Enjoy!

(Also warning for a character getting a flashback. It’s seen from an outside perspective, but here’s your warning just in case.)

————————————————————

Sometimes Warriors still couldn’t believe Sky was back.

After over a year of trying to come to terms with his disappearance, wrestling with hope and denial and grief, going to his funeral for Hylia’s sake— having him suddenly come back was... earth-shattering. In a good way, of course, but sometimes Warriors caught himself falling into the pattern of endless questions on what had happened, and had to remind himself that he knew now.

Sky had been tricked, lured away, fought for survival while being hunted within an inch of his life, and then finally made it home alive. Though... not without scars.

Ones that sometimes caught Warriors off guard.

The afternoon it happened, Warriors had stopped at Sky’s to drop off some things he’d borrowed, and ended up staying and talking much longer than he’d intended. He wasn’t complaining though. After thinking he’d never get moments like this again, he’d spend every waking hour with his brother if he could.

“...So then Aryll told me she made a new friend, and asked me if I wanted to meet her, and of course I said yes. I should’ve known better, because five seconds later she whistles, and this huge vulture lands in front of me,” Sky said with a wave of his hand, and Warriors laughed. “I know! Where did she even meet a vulture?!”

“Probably the same place she met those geese that one time,” Warriors said with a grin, and Sky joined his laughter that time.

“Oh I’m sure. She has plenty of bird connections,” he chuckled, leaning back with his wings stretched out on either side of himself. He picked up his glass of water and drank some of it before he continued. “I’m sure she’ll have quite the message system worked out when she’s older.”

“I wouldn’t put it past her,” Warriors smirked. “Heck you won’t even need the mail service if she keeps up like this, just ask her to send letters via pigeon.”

“Hm that’s true... I’d never have to buy stamps again,” Sky said thoughtfully.

“Hey now, don’t forget those stamps help pay my salary,” Warriors grinned. A truck outside beeped as it backed up, and Warriors glanced out the window, before looking back inside. “If I didn’t know better I’d say you were trying... Sky?”

Sky had completely frozen in place, his glass of water slipping from his hand.

Warriors quickly shot out a hand as it hit the floor, freezing the puddle before it could spread, then got off his chair and hurried to Sky’s side. The cup hadn’t broken so he left it where it was, and he looked worriedly at his brother.

“Sky? Are you okay?” he asked urgently, and a tremor wracked through Sky, his eyes glazing over. He’d been fine literal seconds ago, what was wrong? “...Sky?”

“We need to hide,” Sky whispered, his voice hoarse.

Warriors blinked. “What?”

Sky swallowed, shaking as he stared into the middle distance. “We need to hide, they’re coming,” he stressed in a croak, his breathing starting to pick up. “Guardians, they’re close.”

“Sky... there are no guardians here,” Warriors said in confusion, and Sky shook his head, ears twitching.

“There’s one right over there,” he gasped, his breath trembling. “We need to hide, it’s going to—”

“Sky, no there isn’t,” Warriors said slowly, sitting down beside his brother. “There’s nothing there.”

“B-but—” Sky stuttered, twisting his head around to look at the wall. A bead of sweat trailed down his brow. “Yes it is. It is, it’s coming, we need to hide now.”

Sky pulled his wings in close to his body, feathers puffing up, and Warriors looked at him in dismay, unsure of what to do. He knew enough to recognize Sky was having some sort of flashback, but he didn’t know how to help him out of it.

The truck outside beeped again, and Sky violently flinched, nearly falling off the couch as his feathers puffed out even more. Warriors looked between him and the window, then carefully stood and walked over to it, closing it and blocking out the sound. Sky didn’t visibly react to the quiet, and Warriors went back over to him, watching as he trembled in place.

“Sky, we’re not on the island,” Warriors began carefully as he sat back down. “You haven’t been there for weeks now. And I wasn’t ever on the island. How can I be here with you if we’re on the island?”

“I-I...” Sky stammered, his voice faltering. Then he suddenly snatched Warriors’ wrists, eyes huge. “Wars they got you too, you shouldn’t have come, it’s going to be like everyone else,” he choked out, still shaking. “We have to hide!”

Sky began tugging at his wrists, but Warriors resisted the movement, staying where he was. “Sky, there’s no danger.”

“Yes there is! I have a base right over there, we can get to it if we hurry, we can’t let him—”

“Sky, we’re not on the island,” Warriors repeated, slipping his wrists out of Sky’s hold and taking his hands instead. His skin felt clammy. “I promise you we’re not. We’re in your house. We’re safe.”

Sky kept shaking, but he didn’t argue the point, and Warriors felt a flicker of encouragement when he didn’t keep tugging on his hands.

“You’re not back there,” Warriors repeated, and Sky squeezed his eyes shut, another bead of sweat trailing down his brow. “You’re in your house, on the couch in your living room. Sun is at work, and Aryll is taking a nap. Nobody is in any danger.”

Sky trembled in his seat, his eyes still closed tight, and Warriors lightly squeezed his hands, waiting for him to come back. His eyes reopened, still looking glazed, but less so than before.

“Come on Link,” Warriors whispered, looking into Sky’s eyes. “You’re safe here, I promise. Nothing is trying to hurt you.”

Sky swallowed, and Warriors stayed beside him, watching as his feathers slowly began to smooth. Warriors repeated the reassurance that they weren’t on the island, and he kept it up as Sky’s frantic breathing started to even out, and his eyes gradually cleared.

It felt like a long time before Sky’s shoulders slumped, his wings falling limp as he took in a shaky breath. He was still trembling, but much more lightly, and Warriors studied his face.

“You back?” Warriors asked carefully, and Sky looked at his lap, shame coloring his face.

“I... I think so. Sorry,” Sky whispered.

“Nothing to be sorry for,” Warriors said easily, but Sky kept looking at his lap, ears red.

Warriors looked at him worriedly, then lightly squeezed his hands, pulling back so he could deal with the frozen puddle on the floor. He easily pried it up and shaped it into a small ball, then set it on the table, looking back at Sky again.

“Hey. I mean it,” Warriors said when he saw his expression, lightly touching Sky’s shoulder, light enough that he could pull away if he wanted. Sky didn’t, and so Warriors held it a bit tighter. “You have nothing to be sorry for. It’s not your fault.”

“I was the one stupid enough to go there,” Sky muttered under his breath, and Warriors frowned.

“Sky, you were tricked. You thought you were doing something good, it’s not your fault,” Warriors repeated, and Sky didn’t meet his eyes. Warriors sighed. “That looked pretty rough. Do you want some water?”

“I’d appreciate that,” Sky said quietly.

Warriors nodded and stood, giving his shoulder a squeeze before he grabbed Sky’s glass and headed to the kitchen to refill it. It only took him a moment, and when he returned, Sky hadn’t moved, still staring at his lap, faintly trembling, wings lightly wrapped around himself.

Warriors passed him the cup, and Sky silently took it, sipping without a word.

“You need anything else?” Warriors asked, and Sky shook his head. Warriors hummed in reply, then paused as he thought of something. It wasn’t Warriors’ go-to, but Sky usually appreciated physical contact much more than him, especially since he’d been back. “...maybe a hug?”

Sky finally looked up, still shaky and pale, and gave a tiny nod.

Warriors gave him a sad smile, then leaned in, wrapping his arms around his brother.

Sky was stiff for a moment, then practically melted into the touch, a wavering sigh coming from him. He pressed his face against Warriors’ shoulder, and Warriors lightly rubbed his back, feeling equally reassured by the touch. He knew Sky had been through a lot, but the blatant show of it had been a bit frightening.

Oh Sky.

“I’m such a disaster,” Sky said in a wobbly voice, and Warriors sighed.

“Anyone would be. Truth be told, I think most of us became disasters while you were gone, so you’re in good company.”

Sky let out a wet snort, and Warriors squeezed him, Sky still shaking just a little.

“Has this happened before?” Warriors asked after a minute, pulling back so he could see Sky’s face, and Sky shrugged.

“Not... to that extent,” he admitted quietly. “There’ve been... things, but not...”

He trailed off weakly, and Warriors nodded. That was about what he’d figured.

“Okay. We’ll figure this out. Just like old times, huh?” Warriors said with a faint smile, and Sky huffed.

“Yeah. Can’t say I miss that side of things,” he mumbled, and Warriors squeezed his arm again.

“I’ll stay until Sun comes back,” he reassured quietly, and Sky nodded, silently resting his head against Warriors’ shoulder again.

Neither of them said much else after that, and Warriors idly played with the piece of ice on the table, Sky watching him quietly as he shaped it into a small bird. Warriors added some ice to it, and worked on shaping it into a slightly bigger one.

Sky stayed silent as he leaned against him, and Warriors tried not to stare, worry clenching in his stomach. Nightmares were common enough between them, though they’d gotten better as the years had gone on. Warriors had practice with those, and panic attacks, and a small list of the other crap they all dealt with after their superhero careers, but this... felt way out of his league.

We’ll figure this out, he promised silently, adding small feathers to the bird he was shaping in his palms. Sky breathed out a weary sigh, and Warriors swallowed.

We will. We’ll figure it out.

[milkyplier]

Febuwhump Collab Day 10: Killing in Self Defense

Go read Peggy’s story right here! :D!

[thepastisalreadywritten]

Do you know the names of some of the brightest stars?

Featured here in true color are the 25 brightest stars in the night sky, currently seen by humans, coupled with their IAU-recognized names. 🔭✨

📸: Tragoolchitr Jittasaiyapan

[mysticstronomy]

WHY IS PLUTO NOT A PLANET ANYMORE??

Blog#399

Wednesday, May 8th, 2024.

Welcome back,

Textbooks had to be rewritten. Members of the public were outraged. Our understanding of the solar system itself was forever changed on Aug. 24, 2006, when researchers at the International Astronomical Union (IAU) voted to reclassify Pluto, changing its status from a planet to a dwarf planet — a relegation that was largely seen as a demotion and which continues to have reverberations to this day.

Today, the debate about Pluto exposes difficulties in the definition of "planet." The IAU defines a planet as a celestial body orbiting the sun, with a nearly spherical appearance, and that has (for the most part) cleared debris from its orbital neighborhood. But even this set of metrics is not universally agreed upon.

Earth, and even Jupiter, have not cleared many asteroids from their orbital regions despite their large size. Moreover, there are small worlds that are circular and that orbit the sun and yet are not considered planets, such as Ceres.

Pluto's so-called demotion from planetary status raises larger issues about how to define any object in the solar system, or even in space more generally. It shows that science cannot, sometimes, slot objects into easy categories. Because if the definition of a planet once again widens, it is unclear how to assess the numerous non-circular objects that circle our sun. This may even put the asteroid belt into question, referring to the huge band of small objects between Mars and Jupiter. Or what happens if a planet is somehow broken up into pieces?

All the same, as the Pluto debate took place almost 20 years ago, many still don't quite understand all the fuss, nor why Pluto was knocked from its planetary position. But the solar system's transformation from nine planets to eight (at least by the standard IAU definition) was a long time in the making and helps encapsulate one of the greatest strengths of science — the ability to alter seemingly steadfast definitions in light of new evidence.

The word planet (in English) stretches back to antiquity, deriving from the Greek word "planetes," which means "wandering star."

The five classical planets — Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn — are visible to the naked eye and can be seen shifting in strange pathways across the sky compared with the more distant background stars.

After the advent of telescopes, astronomers discovered two new planets, Uranus and Neptune, which are too faint to spot with the naked eye

(Note that this definition of "planet" is following the Greco-Roman tradition on which the International Astronomical Union or IAU's community definitions are based. The names of planets vary by culture and the naked-eye planets were observed around the world during antiquity.)

When astronomers discovered Ceres (today considered a dwarf planet), they initially categorized it as a "planet" among scientific communities of the day. But that began to change as further measurements showed it was smaller than other planets ever seen at the time. Eventually, Ceres was lumped into a group of rocky bodies, called "asteroids", of which we now know of hundreds of thousands of these in the asteroid belt alone.

Pluto was found and classified as a planet in 1930 (note the IAU was formed in 1919) when astronomer Clyde Tombaugh of the Lowell Observatory in Arizona compared photographic plates of the sky on separate nights and noticed a tiny dot that drifted back and forth against the backdrop of stars. Right away, the solar system's newest candidate was considered an oddball, however. Its orbit is so eccentric, or far from circular, that it actually gets closer to the sun than Neptune for 20 of its 248-years-long trip. It also is tilted to the ecliptic, which is the plane upon which the other solar system planets orbit.

Originally published on www.space.com

COMING UP!!

(Saturday, May 11th, 2024)

"THE UNIVERSE COULD BE FILLED WITH ULTRALIGHT BLACK HOLES THAT CAN'T DIE??"

[santoschristos]

25 Brightest Stars in the Night Sky

Image Credit:: Tragoolchitr Jittasaiyapan

Explanation: Do you know the names of some of the brightest stars? It's likely that you do, even though some bright stars have names so old they date back to near the beginning of written language.

Many world cultures have their own names for the brightest stars, and it is culturally and historically important to remember them. In the interest of clear global communication, however, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) has begun to designate standardized star names.

Featured above in true color are the 25 brightest stars in the night sky, currently as seen by humans, coupled with their IAU-recognized names. Some star names have interesting meanings, including Sirius ("the scorcher" in Latin), Vega ("falling" in Arabic), and Antares ("rival to Mars" in Greek). It's also likely that other of these bright star names are not familiar to you, even though familiar Polaris is too dim to make this list.

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Dark Energy Camera probes the Coma Cluster, an inspiration for the theory of dark matter

The Dark Energy Camera has captured an image of the dazzling Coma Cluster, named after the hair of Queen Berenice II of Egypt. Not only significant in Greek mythology, this collection of galaxies was also fundamental to the discovery of the existence of dark matter.

The theory emerged in 1937 when Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky noticed that the Coma Cluster galaxies behaved as if they were under the influence of vast amounts of unobservable "dark" matter.

This densely populated image showcases an enormous cluster not of individual stars, but of entire galaxies, known as the Coma Cluster. The Coma Cluster is named for the constellation in which it lies, Coma Berenices. It is the only one of the 88 IAU constellations to be named after a historical figure. Its namesake is Queen Berenice II of Egypt, or more precisely her hair, with "coma" meaning "hair of the head" in Latin.

Berenice famously cut her hair off and presented it as a votive offering to the gods when her husband returned safely from war. The hair was placed in a temple, but went missing soon after. The court astronomer, Conon of Samos, claimed to identify Berenice's lost tresses in a rather unlikely spot—the night sky—suggesting that the goddess Aphrodite had catasterized (literally turned into a constellation) the queen's locks. This all took place around 245 BCE, meaning that Berenice's hair has enjoyed celestial recognition for an extraordinarily long time.

The data used to build this detailed picture were collected by the Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera (DECam), which is mounted on the U.S. National Science Foundation Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab.

The 570-megapixel camera was built to carry out the Dark Energy Survey (DES)—an amazing 758-night run of observations between 2013 and 2019. DES was conducted with the intention to better understand the nature of dark energy—the unknown entity that is causing the expansion of our universe to accelerate.

The Coma Cluster is closely associated with dark energy's equally mysterious counterpart: dark matter. Nearly a century ago, in 1937, Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky observed several galaxies within the Coma Cluster. He calculated an approximation of the cluster's mass based on its luminous—in other words, observable—structures.

But he encountered something strange: the cluster seemed to be missing mass. In fact, the galaxies within the cluster were behaving as though the cluster contained 400 times more mass than his estimates suggested.

Zwicky reached this conclusion by observing how fast the galaxies within the cluster were moving. To explain this further, it is helpful to briefly revisit a key point about the nature of gravity. Gravity is one of the four known fundamental interactions that exist between all entities with energy or mass. The more mass that an object has, the stronger the gravitational pull it will exert. Therefore, less massive objects that are within a certain distance to a more massive object will be pulled uncontrollably towards it.

However, there is an additional factor to consider: velocity. If an object is moving fast enough, it can escape the gravitational pull of other objects. It is this principle that enabled Zwicky to infer that the Coma Cluster appeared to be "missing" matter.

He found that the galaxies were moving so fast that they should be escaping the cluster if it were being held together only by the observable mass. This led him to postulate that the cluster must be held together by vast amounts of unobservable "dark" matter, though this suggestion seemed far-fetched to much of the astronomical community.

It took until the 1980s for the majority of astronomers to be convinced of the existence of dark matter. The consensus moved as several studies came out reporting the same curious mass inconsistency that Zwicky observed, but on the scale of single galaxies rather than entire galaxy clusters.

One such study was done in 1970 by U.S. astronomers Kent Ford and Vera C. Rubin, who found evidence of invisible matter in the Andromeda Galaxy. And in 1979, astronomers Sandra Faber and John Gallagher performed a robust analysis of the mass-to-light ratio for over 50 spiral and elliptical galaxies, which led them to conclude that, "the case for invisible mass in the universe is very strong and getting stronger."

The existence of dark matter and dark energy is now widely accepted, and understanding their elusive nature is a main focus of modern astrophysics. A deeper understanding may be on the horizon with the upcoming 10-year Legacy Survey of Space and Time, which will be conducted by NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory, named after the inspirational female astronomer who helped show the world that there is so much more to the universe than meets the eye.

[deeisace]

Instead of doing immediately-useful things, my evening's been spent using my 1950s Welsh dictionary to try and work out what the month words mean

Not all of them do, Ebrill is just April

And actually idk what April is from either, maybe I should get my 70s English dictionary out next

But uhhh a bit of a list?

I couldn't find anything for January/Ionawr, except that ion is Lord

Mawrth/March is after Mars, the god

Mai just says May, but there's a listing above that says "mai - that it is"

Gorffennaf/July - gorffen is "end", so gorffen af, gorffen haf, "end of the summer"??

Medi/September - medi is "to reap" - harvest month!

Hydref/October - autumn!

The closest I got to December, Rhagfyr is rhagof, "before thee" - the. The one before January?? Idk my Welsh isn't good enough I can speculate on centuries-old word mutations

Days of the week, I had a look for too

They're mostly named for gods, same as the English ones

Tuesday/Mawrth, Mars (same as March) - in English this is for Tyr

Wednesday/Mercher, Mercury - in English this is for Odin, Woden's Day - the Welsh is cognate (???) with Romance languages tho, like Mercredi an such

Thursday/Iau, Jove or Jupiter - in English this is for Thor

Friday/Gwener, Venus - in English this is for Frigg

Saturday/Sadwrn, Saturn (same in English)

I haven't a listing for Sul/Sunday tho

Monday, tho, idk if this is the right root, doubt it, but Llun is "shape" "figure" or "form"

I've looked up them on Wikipedia, and that says that all these Norse gods in the Welsh are associated with the Roman gods the English ones are named for, which is interesting

Idk how much this is cs the book I'm looking at is 73 years old, but y'know

It's not quite exact, I spose

Like, Friday/Gwener is for Frigg (goddess of marriage), or Venus (goddess of love)

Tuesday is for Tyr (god of single combat) or Mars (god of war)

Thursday, Jove/Jupiter (sky and thunder), or Thor (thunder etc) - this one matches!

Wednesday doesn't quite tho, Mercury is a messenger, god of trade, and Odin is like wisdom and battle, so far as I can tell

This is not really very interesting, unless you like etymology

I'm gonna track down my English dictionary to find out what the English months etymologies are now, cs that's like. Super useful.

[l0ustganymedes]

Its all ganymedes over here!

Info about this blog:

☆ clearly, this is my sideblog where i post anything related to ganymedes from greek mythology. Iv wanted to make a blog centered around a character for a long time, and recently i fell into ganymedes madness, so naturally, i mades this blog

"Wait, who the hell is Ganymedes??"

☆ From the website theoi: "GANYMEDES was a handsome Trojan prince who was carried off to heaven by Zeus in the shape of an eagle where he was appointed as cup-bearer of the gods. Ganymedes was also placed amongst the stars as the constellation Aquarius, his ambrosial mixing cup as Crater, and the eagle as Aquila. Ganymedes was often portrayed as the god of homosexual love and as such appears as a playmate of the love-gods Eros (Love) and Hymenaios (Hymenaeus) (Marital Love)."

Beside the greek mythology ganymedes, i also post about:

♡ The deity: i practice hellenic polytheism (beginner) and so i also post the deity version of Ganymedes and not just the greek mythology version (if that makes sense)

♡ The moon ganymedes: ganymedes is an icy moon of Jupiter and is the largest moon in the solar system, named after the greek mythology character

♡ aquarius constellations: from the wbesite space: "Aquarius is a constellation in the Western Zodiac and one of 88 official constellations according to the International Astronomical Union (IAU). The constellation describes a large group of stars that ancient Greek astronomers saw as a picture in the night sky. Aquarius was said to represent a "cup bearer" or "water bearer," which is what its name means in Latin." The constellations is based off Ganymedes and his myth

Note: i find astology really instering and love to look into it, but i dont 100% believe in it

♡ Oc: i have an oc based off the zodiac/greek myth aquarius (along with the rest of the zodiacs, i have a story about the zodiacs that is part of a bigger story but thats not importin rn haha) so i might post him here, thought honestly i dont like posting oc stuff that often so idk

♡ literally anything: anything that reminds me of Ganymedes i will post/reblog here

tag guide

#📜 𝙼𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚜: post about Ganymede specifically about greek mythology

#🏺🏛 𝙳𝚎𝚒𝚝𝚢: post about Ganymedes specifically about hellenic polytheism

#♒️ 𝚉𝚘𝚍𝚒𝚊𝚌: post about the constellation

#🌕 𝙰𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚘: post about Ganymedes specifically about the moon

#⭐️ 𝚊𝚚𝚞𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚞𝚜/𝚐𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚖𝚎𝚍𝚎𝚜: post about my zodiac oc

#🖼𝚐𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚛𝚢: art others have done

#🎨 𝙰𝚛𝚝𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔: my art tag

#🪶𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚜: written post, text

#🪷 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚌: miscellaneous; things that reminds me of ganymedes

NOTES

☆ unless i say otherwise in a post, i depict/think of Ganymedes as around 13-15 years old. That being said i dont ship Zeus and Ganymede and will not show them as a romantice couple

☆ i am laughably bad at handling more then one active social, let alone another account, just a heads up

☆ people who are proshipers, terfs, homophobes, transphobes, ableist and racists can kindly fuck off

☆ info about me here

[spacenutspod]

With ‘Thousand Sails,’ China joins the race to fill up Low Earth Orbit with mega-satellite constellations. It’s getting crowded up there in Low Earth orbit (LEO). By now, flocks of Starlinks have become a familiar sight, and the bane of astrophotographers as the ‘vermin of the skies.’ Now, several new competitors have joined the fray, with more waiting in the wings. Perhaps, you’ve seen one of these curious-looking ‘satellite trains,’ and wondered what they were. Certainly, the advent of satellite trains courtesy of Starlink have added to the annals of purported UFO videos shot via smartphone across YouTube. Now, more agencies worldwide are getting into the game in 2024, assuring that the next ‘star’ you wish on at dusk may, in fact, be an artificial satellite. Approaching An Artificial Sky Streaks and trails due to the increasing number of Starlinks in orbit have also become a standard feature in modern deep sky images. While techniques to remove these have been pioneered by astrophotographers, these will continue to impact deep sky astronomy. This impact extends to sky surveys soon set to come online such as the Vera Rubin Observatory, set to see first light early next year in 2025. The first batch of Thousand Sails satellites in orbit, shortly after launch. Credit: Nick James. SpaceX has implemented mitigation plans in response, including use of sun visors on first generation satellites, diffuse ‘dielectric mirror’ material on newer Version 2 (V2) platforms, and angling solar arrays. These have seen some success. Certainly, spotters have noted that the new Version 2’s have a bluer tint, and seem to shine at magnitude +7 once they’re boosted into their respective orbital slots. This is near the +7 magnitude threshold called for by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Radio noise from these new communications satellite constellations is also an issue that astronomers now have to contend with. LOFAR (The Netherlands Institute for Astronomy’s Low Frequency Array) notes that “new observations with the LOFAR radio telescope…have shown that the second generation ‘V2-mini’ Starlink satellites emit up to 32 brighter unintended radio waves than satellites from the previous generation.” Enter China’s ‘Thousand Sails’ Initiative China also recently joined the competition in LEO, with the launch of a Long March-6 rocket from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center with 18 satellites for Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology (SSST). This is part of the company’s ‘Thousand Sails’ initiative. The first batch of Thousand Sails satellites head to orbit. Credit: CNSA. Dubbed China’s answer to Starlink, This will see an initial 1,296 satellites for the constellation placed in orbit by 2027. The company also has plans to expand the network to 12,000 satellites into the 2030s. This first batch went into a polar (sun-synchronous) orbit, and the resulting satellite train was spotted in orbit shortly after launch. The Long March 6A booster fuel dump from the first Thousand Sails deployment, shortly after launch. Credit: Dan Bush/Missouri Skies. And there’s more in store. China also launched a Long March 6 rocket on September 5th, with 10 new satellites for Geely Group Automotive. These are part of the company’s effort to build a communication network for autonomous vehicles. An artist’s impression of Geely Group satellites in orbit. Credit: Geely Group. As a follow-on this month, China also launched a Long March-6 rocket on October 15th with another batch of 18 satellites headed into a polar orbit. This group is also part of the Thousand Sails constellation. Satellite spotters have already tracked these in orbit, with an estimated brightness of up the +4th magnitude when near the zenith on a visible pass. Keep in mind, China isn’t beholden to any obligations to mitigate the impact that satellite constellations might have on the night sky…nor do any formal international standards exist. More Mega Satellite Constellations to Come Not to be outdone, SpaceX is putting up more than just Starlink. Last month, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket on September 12th, with the first five Bluebird satellites. These are ASTMobile’s follow-on to the BlueWalker-3 test satellite, still in orbit. With a phased-array antenna 10-meters across when deployed, BlueWalker-3 reaches magnitude 0. The company plans to put 110 of these potentially brilliant Bluebirds in orbit over the next few years. A Bluewalker antenna unfolded on Earth. Credit: ASTMobile. OneWeb is also still putting satellites in orbit. The ongoing Russia-Ukraine War has forced the company to forego Soyuz launches. Instead, OneWeb now relies on competitor SpaceX to get into orbit. The OneWeb satellite constellation currently hosts 660 satellites in orbit, right around the initial target number set by the company Eutelsat-OneWeb for nominal operation. The company began offering services through residential providers last year, including Hughesnet, Viasat and ironically, Starlink. Starlink’s current status is 7,125 satellites in orbit, with 23 more planned tonight with the launch of Starlink Group 6-61 from the Cape. 12,000 satellites in orbit are planned for in the coming years, and the constellation could extend to a total of 34,400 satellites in future years. Not to be outdone, the Unites States’ Department of Defense is putting its own dedicated satellite constellation in space. Dubbed Starshield, the network already has 73 satellites in orbit, and a total of more than a 100 are planned. As expected, the DoD is already shaping up to be Starlink’s (and SpaceX’s) biggest customer. Hunting Satellite Trains Other bright reflectors are making themselves seen in the night sky as well. ACS-3 (the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System) was launched this past April on a Rocket Lab Electron rocket. The mission successfully unfurled this summer on August 29th. ACS-3 is the latest in a batch of satellites to attempt to test solar sail technologies in orbit. Mission planners could use this tech on future missions for maneuvering, propulsion or reentry disposal. Previous missions, including NanoSail-D2 and Planetary Society’s Light Sail have struggled with this tech, demonstrating just how difficult it’s turning out to be. ACS-3 is definitely tumbling: we’ve seen it flare up to 0 magnitude (as bright as Vega) on a good pass. This seems to be very angle dependent. You can track these missions and more on Heavens-Above. The leaders for the first two batches of respective Thousand Sail groups are 2024-140A and 2024-145A. Plus, Heavens-Above tracks Starlink batches (which are once again going up at a furious rate) on a dedicated page. We saw the most recently launched Starlink Group Batch 8-19 this past weekend… and that was from under the bright lights of downtown Bristol, Tennessee. The Promise and Peril of Mega-Sat Constellations To be sure, we’re a huge consumer of roaming WiFi. If we can continue our career and online exploits from a remote basecamp, then that’s a good thing… but there also needs to be oversight when it comes to what we’re collectively doing to our night sky as a resource. Are we headed towards a future where artificial stars in the night sky outnumber real ones? Perhaps, the best thing that amateur satellite trackers can do now, is to chronicle what’s happening, as the Anthropocene era leaves its mark on a brave new night sky. The post China’s ‘Thousand Sails’ Joins Starlink as the Latest Mega-Satellite Constellation in Orbit appeared first on Universe Today.

[zukkacore]

TAG GAME

Rules: Go to your (current/main) AO3 account and find the following:

Thanks for the tag @billdenbrough this was fun to do!!!

What ratings do you write most of your fics under?

To my surprise! T and E are like. Evenly tied with 7 each.... Genuinely was expecting E to eek out the others bc nearly EVERYTHING i've been writing these days is kind explicit lol (except for Tell Me How) and i've been writing a LOT more than i used to. But i guess in the past i have more like tame stuff, makes sense, some of it is Reddie some of it is DR so...

What are your top three fandoms?

Dimension 20 (7) (wow!! lol!)

IT - Stephen King / It (movies) (3) (i'm lumping them in together)

DanganRonpa (2) (i'm lumping together DR series total and DR: trigger happy havoc)....

there's another thing i've written for that also is tied w two works but... i shan't say

What is the top character you write about?

Jace Stardiamond (7)!

Hysterical, considering how nothing he is, but also. Completely unsurprising considering how much i've been gripped by that piece of sopping wet cardboard of a man and his "I can't, I tried" that has compelled me all summer long..... But also, some of the times im tagging Jace its actually in the place of his clones who are technically canon but do not have personalities or names and therefore do not have ao3 tags.... Porter is second at (6), which does make sense bc.... like.... Jace has superceded him... who is porter... my new hyperfixation LJ3 has practically nothing to do with Porter, no i will not elaborate

What are your top three pairings?

Porter Cliffbreaker / Jace Stardiamond (6), Ben/Hanscom/Beverly Marsh (3) (????? surprising??? i've never written anything that is JUST them but they have taken SOME precedence in a way that isn't completely sidepairing coded in my reddie phase, im thinking specifically in Sky High AU), and Eddie Kaspbrak / Richie Tozier (3)

Unsurprising i guess. Starbreaker has ruined my life (positive). and i did have a good reddie kick. the Benverly feels wrong tho.

Since Benverly feels like a copout i will add. After that we have Kuwata Leon / Sayaka Maizono at 2 bc i love mess, i love the way they love (trying to kill each other with kitchen knives) and.... Jace Stardiamond/Jace Stardiamond at 2. Which is a cypher for LJ3

What are the top three additional tags?

Campaign 01 Season 3: Fantasy High Junior Year (7)

Alternate Universe (6)

Anal Sex (5)

THE LAST ONE.... Anyway. Ok so. The dimension 20 tagging system is weird b/c all the campaigns are lumped together so the additional tags if how you differentiate which campaign. I guess not surprising? I did a sky high AU, i've written a Talent Swap, and i have smaller AUs with smaller divergences... Tbh the whole Porter/cloneverse thing is ALSO an AU so like... those should probably count too but i guess i didn't tag them

If you want an additional Gimme, I have Power Imbalance (4)

Does any of this surprise you?

Not really? Idk i don't think i write enough to have many surprises on my ao3, like i knew Starbreaker was the most i'd written for in a long time and i was right. I was surprised i have the same amount of T and E fics.... but to be fair before this summer most of the things i wrote were like. Ambitious multichap stuff that were full on AUs or sometimes took place in high school so i guess that makes sense.... Its just, in my mind my stupid hornyposting has eclipsed everything else. I WAS surprised abt the benverly thing, that's a total fluke. It feels wrong that I technically have more benverly than LJ3

I really shouldn't be surprised by how Jace Stardiamond is my favorite sopping wet beast. And yet.

TAGGING: hmmm.... @iaus, @hauntedwizardmoment, @delinquentbookworm, @jadeandquartzes @toziers (@ everyone feel free to answer this on main or not.. or not at all!!)

[zhuhongs]

蓮花空行身染愛（Liân-hue Khong-hīng sin jiám ài）

Lotus Dakini Dyed in Love by Collage

又閣是彼个 無代無誌想著的形影 iū-koh sī hit ê, bô-tài-bô-tsì siūnn tio̍h ê hîng-iánn There it is again, that figure I remembered out of the blue 親像一陣風 吹落來 是春風少年 tshin-tshiūnn tsi̍t tsūn-hong, tshue loh lâi, sī tshun hong siáu-liân It came over me like a passing breeze - that unfettered youth 坐嘛是思念 坐袂牢 真無聊的思念 tsē mà-sī su-liām, tsē bē tiâu, tsin bô-liâu ê su-liām I sit here and reminisce, but it doesn’t linger - such a restless thought 倒咧眠床頂 予月娘 笑規个暗暝 tó leh bîn-tshn̂g tíng, hōo gue̍h-niû tshiò kui-ê àm-mî Laying on the bed, making the moon laugh until late into the night

我行過你的世界 guá kiânn-kuè lí ê sè-kài I’ve moved past your world 啥物我攏無愛 siánn-mih guá lóng bô ài And I don’t want anything 只想欲佇你心內（寫一條歌） tsí siūnn beh tī lí sim-lāi（siá tsi̍t tiâu kua） only your heart (to write a song)

車行過 *𪜶的期待 tshia kiânn-kuè in ê kî-thāi Cars passed by your expectations 這站閣無落來 tsit tsām koh bô loh-lâi And didn’t stop at this station 無想欲對誰交代（心內驚驚） bô siūnn beh tuì siáng kau-tài（sim-lāi kiann-kiann） Without offering an explanation (hearts unsteady)

想起我彼暗小可仔歹勢 siūnn-khí guá hit-àm sió-khuá-á pháinn-sè I realize I feel sorry about that night 予你揣著我 hōo lí tshuē-tio̍h guá I made you realize that I 規身軀藏無好勢的委屈 kui-sing-khu tshàng bô hó-sè ê uí-khut Can’t properly hide my misgivings

風 中的飛龍咧吼 hong-tiong ê pue-liông leh háu The dragon amidst the clouds is roaring 聲 聲予天搖地動 siann-siann hōo thinn-iô tē-tāng Causing the earth to shake 愛你的傳說寫佇頂懸 ài lí ê thuân-suat siá tī tíng-kuân The legend of our love is written in the sky 感情紲來愈飛愈懸 kám-tsîng sua-lâi lú-pue lú-kuân Feelings also grow the higher it flies

花 開佇你蹛的樓 hue khui-tī lí tuà ê lâu Flowers bloom at your doorstep 想 當時欲綴你走 siūnn tong-sî beh tuè lí tsáu Almost as if they intend to go with you 多情的雨崁著目睭 to-tsîng ê hōo kham tio̍h ba̍k-tsiu The passionate rain conceals your eyes 你的代誌講袂清楚 lí ê tài tsì kóng bē tshing-tshó Your affairs are can’t be told clearly*

看你行過千山萬水 khuànn lí kiânn-kuè tshian-san-bān-suí Watching you traverse a thousand mountains and ten thousand waters 手內薔薇微微仔芳 tshiú-lāi tshiông-bî bî-bî-á phang The rose at hand lightly fragrant 行踏輕鬆跤步的我 (恬恬佇遮攏無出聲) kiânn ta̍h khin-sang kha-pōo ê guá (tiām tiām tī tsia lóng bô tshut-siann) And I light on my feet (am here quietly, without a sound)

日子過一工閣一工 ji̍t-tsí kuè tsi̍t-kang koh tsi̍t-kang Days pass, one after another 你的一切攏猶未放 lí ê it tshè lóng iá-buē pàng And you still have not let it go 越頭欲揣過去的我 ua̍t thâu beh tshuē kuè-khì ê guá A turn of the head, and you want to find the departed me 煞來袂記家己的名 suah-lâi bē kì ka-kī ê miâ How could you have forgotten your own name

是我欲陪你流浪 sī guá beh puê lí liû-lōng It is I who wants to lead you astray 長路終點滿天花雨 tn̂g-lōo tsiong-tiám muá-thinn hue-ú At the end of the long road are clear skies, flowers, and rain 雺霧內底戇神 bông-bū lāi-té gōng-sîn Dazed in the middle of the fog 千年流轉你的世界 tshian-nî liû-tsuán lí ê sè-kài Your world is a cycle of death and rebirth* 自作多情的人 tsū-tsok-to-tsîng ê lâng Before a self indulgent person 眼前地獄家己揀的 gán-tsiân tē-ga̍k ka-kī kíng ê Is a hell of their own choosing 天上 地下 人間 thian-siōng, tē-hā, jîn-kan Above heaven, below hell -- the mortal world 四方妖孽請恁退下 sù-hong iau-gia̍t tshiánn lín thè-hā Quartet of demons*, please back down

這繁華世間 tse huân-hua sè-kan This prosperous world 眾生有情人 tsiòng-sing ū-tsîng-lâng Where everyone has loved ones 有情生煩惱（甘願受罪） ū-tsîng senn huân-ló（kam-guān siū-tsuē） As such are troubled (yet willing to suffer)

心狂閣火著 sim-kông koh hué-to̍h They set their hearts ablaze 明知會艱苦 bîng tsai ē kan-khóo Knowing it will one day bring unhappiness 千錯萬錯 （攏佮你無關） tshian-tshò-bān-tshò（lóng ka̍h lí bô-kuan） Tens of millions of faults  (all have nothing to do with you)

* - the original phrasing is in reference to concepts/phrasing that exist in reference to religion that I have only found information on in very formal Chinese, however I am not skilled enough to translate properly, as such the translation is lacking.

[skyward-floored]

Hello !! For your IAU requests, either Sky being a good uncle and babysitting the younger Links, or some kind of angst involving Four?

No pressure if you don't want to ! And please remember to take it easy if requests get overwhelming-

Don’t mind me answering this rather late lol, it took me a while to figure out where I wanted to take this! I already did some Four angst, so here’s some Sky babysitting when the kids are all a bit younger :)

————————————————————

“Yes, Sky babysitting!” Wild yelled, jumping on the couch. “Now we can stay up all night!”

Sky watched his nephew bounce around, the rest of his brothers all equally excited as their parents drove away to have a night for themselves for once, and chuckled. Warriors was busy, and Sun was feeling under the weather, so Sky was babysitting all six of his nephews alone.

Which he could handle. For sure.

“Sorry Wild,” Sky apologized, nudging him with a wing to get him to stop bouncing. “No staying up all night I’m afraid. Your parents said bedtime was eight o’clock, sharp.”

“Did they really mean sharp though?” Legend piped up, smiling innocently. “Maybe Mom said ‘shark’. And sharks don’t ever have to go to bed.”

“Never, huh?” Sky said, and Legend hesitated for a second, then nodded confidently.

“Yeah, never.”

“Never ever. They’d just bite anyone who told them to! RAAAWR!” Wild roared, and leapt off the couch and right onto Wind. His little brother yelled in protest, and Sky quickly pulled Wild off, his nephew still making biting noises and chomping his teeth.

“Why don’t we bite some dinner instead?” Sky said, and Wild paused in his biting, looking hopefully up at him.

“Dinner?”

“Yep. How does mac and cheese sound?” Sky asked, and Wild let out an excited whoop.

“YESSSSS! Can I help?” he begged, and Sky nodded.

“Me too!” Wind shouted, and Twilight wagged his tail where he was sitting with Hyrule on the couch.

“You all can help,” Sky said patiently, scooping up Four and heading into the kitchen. “But you’ve got to listen to my instructions, all right?”

“Yessir!” Wild chirped, and zipped over to the cabinets and began pulling out utensils.

Sky chuckled as his siblings followed, and then got to work on dinner.

Mac and cheese wasn’t hard to make, especially with multiple eager helpers, and everything was going fine as the cheese was added and the pot was stirred. There was a minor hiccup when Hyrule almost added twice as many noodles as were needed, but Twilight managed to stop him at the last second, and dinner was finished with no further problems.

All until his nephews realized mac and cheese wasn’t the only thing they were eating for dinner.

“Peas?!” Wind said in dismay, and Sky nodded as he got Four settled in the booster seat they had for his chair.

“Yep. That’s what vegetable your mom left me to cook.“

“But... peas?” Wind repeated, his face screwed up, and Sky raised an eyebrow.

“What’s so bad about peas?” he questioned, and Wind let out a loud blegh noise, face disgusted.

“Peas are gross,” he stressed, crossing his arms with a pout. “They’re are yucky an’ bad.”

“Wind, they’re not so bad, the rest of your siblings are eating them,” Sky chided, and Twilight suddenly squirmed in his seat, looking uncomfortably at his plate.

“Yeah, even Twilight, and he hates peas!” Wild said cheerily, and Twilight sank in his chair a bit.

“If you eat them with the mac and cheese they just taste like cheese,” Hyrule said helpfully, and Wind looked over at his plate, wrinkling his nose at the way Hyrule had mashed everything together.

“That’s yucky. I don’t wanna,” Wind pouted, putting his face on the table.

“I didn’t even give you that many. At least eat some of them Wind,” Sky pleaded, and Wind blew a loud raspberry, making Four laugh. “...Wind.”

“I don’t wanna!”

Sky looked at Wind, and Wind looked at Sky, neither of them willing to back down. The rest of his nephews watched in interest (all except Four who was throwing peas at Legend, much to his chagrin), and finally Sky leaned back in his chair with a casual shrug.

“Well... if you’re not going to eat them, then you’re not going to get dessert,” Sky said, casually folding his wings behind his back. “That’s a pity, too. I brought cupcakes.”

Wild gasped and shook Hyrule excitedly, and Wind narrowed his eyes, tilting his head up to look at Sky.

“...Cupcakes?”

“With blue frosting,” Sky added, and Wild let out an even louder gasp, nearly falling out of his chair.

“Upake!” Four yelled.

Wind pursed his lips, and looked down at the offending vegetable, obviously feeling rather conflicted. Twilight meanwhile, attempted to slip quietly out of his chair while everyone was distracted, his face strangely scrunched.

A wing stuck out and stopped him right as he began to walk away though, and Twilight froze as he looked up at Sky.

“All finished, buddy?” he asked, and Twilight cleared his throat, nodding. “You ate pretty quickly there. Don’t you want more mac and cheese?”

“No, I’m good,” Twilight said quickly, and tried to edge away from his feathers.

“What’s that in your pocket, Twi?” Wild asked loudly, and Twilight cringed, glancing at his bulging pockets.

“It’s... um... it’s just...”

Legend suddenly became visible behind him, and stuck a hand in his pocket, pulling out a handful of peas.

“Ah-HA!”

Twilight jumped, then gave Sky an extremely guilty look when he raised an eyebrow.

“Uh... how about that? I guess some just... fell in there...” he said with a hesitant smile.

Sky jabbed a thumb back at the table, and Twilight slunk back to his seat, more than one of his brothers giggling. Legend looked particularly smug, and Twilight shot him a foul look as he emptied his pockets back onto his plate.

“Okay. I’ll have peas. I’ll only eat some though,” Wind finally decided, and Sky nodded, inwardly relieved. He hadn’t been sure the dessert tactic would work.

“Thank you. How does five spoonfuls sound?”

“Five spoonfuls?!”

Sky sighed.

Dinner took another half hour to finish, Wild and Hyrule eating several more helpings of mac and cheese, Four throwing food, Twilight and Wind slowly eating their peas. Finally all the plates were empty though, and Sky went to grab the plate of cupcakes.

“Sky, can we watch tv and eat them?” Legend asked as he brought them over. “There’s a movie on tonight.”

Sky hummed thoughtfully. “Maybe... what movie is it?”

“Umm, I forget the title. But it’s the one where the guy has a talking hat and has to save the world with mice guys. And stuff,” Legend said helpfully.

“Four likes that one,” Twilight added, and Sky gave in with a little sigh.

“...Okay. But straight to bed afterwards, and you guys have got to use napkins,” he said, and Wild whooped for at least the third time that evening.

The napkins didn’t help a bit of course. Sky’s nephews got crumbs on the floor, crumbs on clothes, crumbs on furniture... not to mention the blue frosting, that Sky was really starting to regret bringing over. It was a very good thing Malon and Time’s couch wasn’t white.

The first hour of the movie was mostly talked over, sugar-fueled arguments and teasing and general chaos that happened whenever they all tried to sit and do something. By the time the sugar buzz finally wore off, Sky’s patience had grown rather thin, and he was exhausted.

Why did I agree to this again? he thought with a sigh, wiping fruitlessly at a smear of frosting on his shirt. There was big smear all over his sleeve, and it would take him ages to get all of the crumbs out of his feathers.

Before Sky could get any further with cleaning himself up (or griping), a hand pushed on his leg, and he looked down to see Four crawl into his lap.

He snuggled up to his chest, and Wind squished up next to him a few moments later, smile a bright blue. Legend noticed what was going on and wormed into the pile as a rabbit, and Hyrule settled himself under one of Sky’s wings, leaning on his shoulder. Finally Twilight and Wild sat themselves under the other, and they all watched quietly as the hero on the tv had a serious conversation with his talking hat.

Sky looked down at them all, sticky and covered in frosting and crumbs, Hyrule nestling tighter under his wing, Four resting his head back on his chest.

Then he sighed and gave them a soft smile, unable to hold on to any annoyance with six kids all snuggled around him.

Right. That’s why.

(...)

Late that evening, Time and Malon came home and found all six of their boys sound asleep in the living room under Sky’s wings, Sky himself snoring with a faint smile on his face.

...and blue frosting.

Lots of blue frosting.

[hauntedwizardmoment]

song tag game!! thank u @humanshapedstress for tagging me <3

just shuffled my driving playlist which is all either "divorced uncle" music or "teenager in 2004 who thinks theyre deep" music so this will be fun

Green River - Creedence Clearwater Revival

Heroes - David Bowie

Gold Dust Woman - Fleetwood Mac

Runnin' with the Devil - Van Halen

Killer Queen - Queen

Ballroom Blitz - Sweet

You Give Love A Bad Name - Bon Jovi

Bad Moon Rising - Creedence Clearwater Revival

The Great Gig in the Sky - Pink Floyd

Lithium - Nirvana

tagging uhhhh @t4tozier @iaus @zukkacore anddddd anyone else who wants to do this

[ryttu3k]

Sagittarius (derogatory) (affectionate)

Strictly speaking, I'm only a Sagittarius by the overly reductive and simplified tropical zodiac, which divides the sky into, conveniently, twelve segments of equal size! The actual constellations that appear in the sky over the course of the year using the IAU (International Astronomical Union) boundaries number thirteen, with Ophiuchus appearing between Scorpio and Sagittarius, and everything is offset by like, a month minimum.

The durations are very different, too! The sun is only 'in' (ie. appearing in front of from the perspective of Earth) Scorpio for nine days, for instance, with my birthday actually falling within that rarest of signs (yeah, I just missed Ophiuchus). I would also be considered Scorpio in sidereal astrology, which makes some sort of nod at attempting to offset them for the modern day, although that also makes the error of twelve equal sections. (Those in The Ophiuchus Zone (November 29-December 15) could have conceivably three different signs - Sagittarius by tropical, Scorpio by sidereal, Ophiuchus by IAU boundaries. Good times!)

Then, of course, there's the fact that I just don't fit Sagittarius or Scorpio, in terms of personality. Like if I do those bingo sheets, I'll often get lowest for Sagittarius or Scorpio. The ones I fit closest to, personality-wise, are Taurus and Virgo.

So! Sagittarius (derogatory) (affectionate) (inaccurate), tyvm~

[adapembroke]

Ask Ada: Which Asteroids Are Most Important?

Question: I am trying to incorporate ASTEROIDS into my astrology chart because there are a lot of them between Mars and Jupiter. I understand them to be geared more to the feminine energy. But there are 1000’s! I know the primary dozen or so, but how do you know when you have to go digging? Do you know of any astrologically oriented resources? Do you use asteroids?

Astrologers talk a lot about how much the discovery of Uranus shook up the astrological world, but I think the discovery of asteroids and dwarf planets might be even bigger.

Like you point out, there are thousands of asteroids. If you take them seriously, it’s no longer possible to pretend that we can understand everything there is to know about astrology. Even if you spend your whole life just reading the asteroids in your chart, you will never get through all of them—let alone understand the relationships between them. There will always be mysteries.

No matter what we do now, we are all specialists. Even those who focus on the 7 or 10 “major” planet are specializing in a tiny part of the sky. We know this is true, but the astrology community hasn’t begun to process what that means. We’ve seen the lightning, but we still haven’t heard the thunder.

Don’t take asteroids too seriously.

Between us, I think asteroids are the most fun topic in astrology. I love them because they don’t take themselves seriously. The people who discover asteroids are allowed to name them, so asteroids are named for all kinds of things.

There are the famous asteroid goddesses, of course, but there are also asteroids named Superbus (18596), Monty Python (13681), and Sherlock (5049). There’s even an Ada (523).

Sometimes the insights asteroids provide are as silly as their names. Other times, they hit with the piercing accuracy of a standup comic.

Asteroids are surprisingly insightful.

There is a good chance that there is an asteroid that shares your name or the names of your friends and family. Including asteroids in your chart can give you startling insight into your relationships.

In my chart, my father’s name is in Pisces, and my mother’s name is in Virgo. Seeing this helped me understand the role my parents played in teaching me how to manifest my dreams. My father (Sagittarius sun) taught me about dreaming, and my mother (Virgo sun) taught me critical thinking and the importance of keeping my feet on the ground.

As a polytheist, asteroids have given me a lot of insight into my relationship with the gods, too. I have Apollo (1862) conjunct my ascendant and Dionysus (3671) conjunct Chiron. Studying those asteroids has helped me to understand why I’ve been drawn to healing through theater and words but not a career in medicine.

Where do you get started with asteroids?

Astro.com allows you to choose from 23,838 (look under additional objects), and you have even more choices if you input asteroid numbers in the manual entry box using the minor planet names list from the IAU.

If you are just getting started with asteroids, I suggest starting with play. Look up your favorite people, characters, and snacks. (Potato is (88705). You’re welcome.) And consider what their house placement in your chart means to you.

Don’t worry about whether or not the asteroids you’re interested in are important enough. Your chart belongs to you, and the most important thing is that you find meaning in it. And you get to decide what that means.

If you enjoy Ask Ada, please subscribe and share it with your friends.

Have a question? Ask anonymously on my website.

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Queen Berenice II’s Hair Tied Together by Dark Matter

The Dark Energy Camera probes the Coma Cluster, a rich cluster of galaxies named for the hair of an ancient queen and an inspiration for the theory of dark matter

The Dark Energy Camera captures an image of the dazzling Coma Cluster, named after the hair of Queen Berenice II of Egypt. Not only significant in Greek mythology, this collection of galaxies was also fundamental to the discovery of the existence of dark matter. The theory emerged in 1937 when Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky noticed that the Coma Cluster galaxies behaved as if they were under the influence of vast amounts of unobservable ‘dark’ matter.

This densely populated image showcases an enormous cluster not of individual stars, but of entire galaxies, known as the Coma Cluster. The Coma Cluster is named for the constellation in which it lies, Coma Berenices. It is the only one of the 88 IAU constellations [1] to be named after a historical figure. Its namesake is Queen Berenice II of Egypt, or more precisely her hair, with ‘coma’ meaning ‘hair of the head’ in Latin.

Berenice famously cut her hair off and presented it as a votive offering to the gods when her husband returned safely from war. The hair was placed in a temple, but went missing soon after. The court astronomer, Conon of Samos, claimed to identify Berenice’s lost tresses in a rather unlikely spot — the night sky — suggesting that the goddess Aphrodites had catasterized (literally turned into a constellation) the queen’s locks. This all took place around 245 BCE, meaning that Berenice’s hair has enjoyed celestial recognition for an extraordinarily long time.

The data used to build this detailed picture were collected by the Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera (DECam), which is mounted on the U.S. National Science Foundation Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab. The 570-megapixel camera was built to carry out the Dark Energy Survey (DES) — an amazing 758-night run of observations between 2013 and 2019. DES was conducted with the intention to better understand the nature of dark energy — the unknown entity that is causing the expansion of our Universe to accelerate.

The Coma Cluster is closely associated with dark energy’s equally mysterious counterpart: dark matter. Nearly a century ago, in 1937, Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky observed several galaxies within the Coma Cluster. He calculated an approximation of the cluster’s mass based on its luminous — in other words, observable — structures. But he encountered something strange: the cluster seemed to be missing mass. In fact, the galaxies within the cluster were behaving as though the cluster contained 400 times more mass than his estimates suggested.

Zwicky reached this conclusion by observing how fast the galaxies within the cluster were moving. To explain this further, it is helpful to briefly revisit a key point about the nature of gravity. Gravity is one of the four known fundamental interactions that exist between all entities with energy or mass. The more mass that an object has, the stronger the gravitational pull it will exert. Therefore, less massive objects that are within a certain distance to a more massive object will be pulled uncontrollably towards it.

However, there is an additional factor to consider: velocity. If an object is moving fast enough, it can escape the gravitational pull of other objects. It is this principle that enabled Zwicky to infer that the Coma Cluster appeared to be ‘missing’ matter. He found that the galaxies were moving so fast that they should be escaping the cluster if it were being held together only by the observable mass. This led him to postulate that the cluster must be held together by vast amounts of unobservable ‘dark’ matter, though this suggestion seemed far-fetched to much of the astronomical community.

It took until the 1980s for the majority of astronomers to be convinced of the existence of dark matter. The consensus moved as several studies came out reporting the same curious mass inconsistency that Zwicky observed, but on the scale of single galaxies rather than entire galaxy clusters. One such study was done in 1970 by U.S. astronomers Kent Ford and Vera C. Rubin, who found evidence of invisible matter in the Andromeda Galaxy. And in 1979, astronomers Sandra Faber and John Gallagher performed a robust analysis of the mass-to-light ratio for over 50 spiral and elliptical galaxies, which led them to conclude that, “the case for invisible mass in the Universe is very strong and getting stronger.”

The existence of dark matter and dark energy is now widely accepted, and understanding their elusive nature is a main focus of modern astrophysics. A deeper understanding may be on the horizon with the upcoming 10-year Legacy Survey of Space and Time, which will be conducted by NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory, named after the inspirational female astronomer who helped show the world that there is so much more to the Universe than meets the eye.

Notes

[1] It is worth nothing that the 88 IAU constellations are just some of the imagined figures and shapes derived from the patterns of stars in the observable sky. Many more were invented by cultures throughout history.

IMAGE: The Dark Energy Camera captures an image of the dazzling Coma Cluster, named after the hair of Queen Berenice II of Egypt. Not only significant in Greek mythology, this collection of galaxies was also fundamental to the discovery of the existence of dark matter. The theory emerged in 1937 when Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky noticed that the Coma Cluster galaxies behaved as if they were under the influence of vast amounts of unobservable ‘dark’ matter. .Credit: CTIO/NOIRLab/DOE/NSF/AURA Image Processing: D. de Martin & M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab)