#IAU shadow

[skyward-floored]

Talk about IAU Shadow and Fi and Ghi maybe? :3 I can’t recall if you said you were going with it I just like the idea of them meeting, very “What’s with this sassy lost child” in my head.

I think I am, the idea is too funny for me not to use XD

I don't know how much of the second movie anyone remembers but there's a part where Bob is horribly sleep deprived because Jack-Jack is going crazy with his powers, so he just leaves him at Edna's for a bit.

Now imagine that but it's Time rolling up, sleep-deprived because Four can't control his powers in the slightest and has been a total disaster PLUS Time also picked up a feral shadow kid somewhere in there who's been acting like a terror and he just can't handle it anymore and leaves the two of them with Fi and Ghirahim for the night.

Luckily for him the two of them know a lot about powers, but the immediate vibe with Shadow is absolutely "what's with this sassy lost child". Ghirahim is flamboyant and slightly crazy and Fi is blunt but kind and they’re both weird, for some reason that's like, exactly what both Four and Shadow need right then. They help Four out with his powers a bit, and he’s finally more settled.

And no matter what Shadow tries to get under Fi or Ghirahim’s skin, they’re like, totally unaffected. Fi is just like “Yes this is logical behavior based on what we know of his life” and Ghirahim just thinks anything he pulls is hilarious. Shadow doesn’t get it in the slightest. And he like... likes it? Maybe?? Not that he’ll admit it. Nu-uh.

Anyway most of this is because Edna’s one line of “I’m fortunate never to have been afflicted with parenthood” is like, ten times funnier if it’s 1) Ghirahim saying it, and 2) I then give him and Fi a child to parent.

[mysticstronomy]

ARE THERE ANY OTHER DWARF PLANETS IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM??"

Blog#404

Saturday, May 25th, 2024.

Welcome back,

Our Solar System is filled with diverse and wondrous worlds. From asteroids to gas giants, we’ve sent spacecraft to objects of all shapes and sizes, yet there is still much more to explore.

Among the menagerie of worlds orbiting our Sun are dwarf planets. According to the International Astronomical Union, a dwarf planet is round and circles the Sun like a planet, but has not “cleared the neighborhood” around its orbit. In other words, planets are much more massive than anything orbiting near them, while dwarf planets are not.

This definition, which famously removed planethood status from Pluto in 2006, disqualifies known objects in the main asteroid belt and the Kuiper Belt beyond Neptune from being named as planets.

The IAU currently recognizes five dwarf planets: Ceres, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, and Eris. Ceres lies in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, while the rest are in the Kuiper Belt.

There are almost certainly more dwarf planets. Unfortunately, most are very far away, and we can’t definitively prove that they are round. Mike Brown, the Caltech astronomer who led teams of scientists that discovered Eris and other distant worlds, maintains a list of candidate dwarf planets ranked from “near certainty” to “probably not.”

Let’s visit the Solar System’s five official dwarf planets, starting from the one closest to the Sun and journeying outward.

Ceres

Ceres is the only IAU-recognized dwarf planet that resides in the main asteroid belt. With a width of about 952 kilometers (592 miles), it is the most diminutive dwarf planet — more than 13 times smaller than Earth. Yet it is by far the largest asteroid, accounting for roughly a third of the mass in the asteroid belt.

Ceres probably has a solid core and icy mantle, on top of which lies a rocky, dusty crust. It may be made of 25 percent ice by mass, making it an attractive water source for humans in science fiction.

The dwarf planet’s surface is speckled with bright salt deposits that may be remnants of briny water leaking to the surface. The source of that water, and how it ended up on the surface, is a topic of ongoing debate. Data from NASA’s Dawn spacecraft, which explored Ceres from 2015 to 2018, suggests a complex scenario where Ceres may contain deep water reservoirs connected to shallow, melted water pockets created by asteroid impacts.

One clue to Ceres’ watery origins is that it could be a protoplanet that formed elsewhere before migrating into the asteroid belt, where Jupiter’s gravity kept any large worlds from forming.

Ceres gets its name from the Roman goddess of agriculture. According to NASA, the word cereal has the same origin.

Pluto

Pluto was our ninth planet until 2006. It is virtually tied with Eris for the largest-sized dwarf planet, with a diameter of about 2,380 kilometers (1,400 miles) — roughly two-thirds the size of Earth’s Moon.

Discovered in 1930, Pluto went unexplored until NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft flew past the icy world in 2015, revealing surprisingly youthful mountains, a pale “heart” of frozen nitrogen, and red patches of complex molecules called tholins.

Pluto may have once had a subsurface ocean. Whether or not it still holds water beneath its surface is less clear, but there’s a chance such an ocean could be habitable, challenging our expectations on where to find life in our Solar System.

After New Horizons completed its Pluto flyby and crossed into the dwarf planet’s shadow, it captured a magnificent halo of blue haze. The haze may be created by atmospheric processes similar to those above Titan.

Pluto is named after the Roman god of the underworld. Its five moons Charon, Styx, Nix, Kerberos, and Hydra have underworld-themed names and circle the dwarf planet in neatly nested orbits. They were likely formed long ago when another object smashed into Pluto, creating debris that coalesced into moons.

Haumea

Haumea may be a dwarf planet, but it boasts rings and moons just like its beefier planetary counterparts. The rings were discovered in 2017 when astronomers watched Haumea pass in front of a star, revealing dips in starlight that could only be explained by the presence of a ring system. Among the telescopes watching were two funded by The Planetary Society’s Shoemaker NEO Grant program.

Haumea makes a full rotation in just four hours. Its high-speed spin distorts the dwarf planet’s shape, giving it an egg-like appearance. It measures roughly 2,322 kilometers (1,442 miles) across its longest axis. Another object may have slammed into Haumea in the past, giving it its fast rotation rate.

Haumea is named after the Hawaiian goddess of fertility. Its two moons, Namaka and Hi'iaka, are named after Haumea’s mythological daughters.

Originally published on www.planetary.org

COMING UP!!

(Wednesday, May 29th, 2024)

"ARE THERE ANY OTHER DWARF PLANETS IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM?? PT.2"

[space-nyadessy]

I am 1.5 edibles and a bottle of wine in and started thinking about geologic and biologic time (after rereading my 2017 [High School Newspaper] article lmfao

Science is art, it's art. There is no other reason to do it. That is fundamentally what it is. It’s a form of worship, really, to something cosmically greater than whoever or whatever I am. This is how i was in the top 2% of applicants to an R1 PhD program but also would’ve been a Maenad in ancient Greece. Why does it all come back to ancient Greece? There is a deep ancestral fucking hatred I have for these Western cultures. We could’ve had the Maenads and the Hyades and the Pleiades of the Inca, or the Amazon. This is also why I resent the IAU official constellations. Yes they fuck and I love them and I have them all memorized and they will be the last thing I see against the blackness of my eyelids as I fade away into oblivion someday, but oh my God we could have also had the motherfucking Azure Dragon of the East. The constellations of other cultures are the most beautiful romantic and tragic things in the world to me. Something about them manages to encapsulate the vastness of space, the deep ancient historical contemplation of our existence and place in the universe, the beauty and longevity of the art that people made and still make out of the earliest human science, the mathematical and geometric elegance (poetry) of so many different pictures and patterns being traced in the night sky by countless different hands reaching out and pointing at the stars and describing their mythologies across thousands of kilometers and over thousands of years. That’s not to mention the collaboration, the compatibility, the cross-cultural exchange that occurs when we look at one another’s constellations today, or the abject tragedy of the erasures of hundreds of massive historical pieces of art due to the political recognition of the symbols of only one culture’s ancestors. We all share the same skies. We all share the fucking stars, as products of the insane prebiotic chemistry that brought us to be where we are around our dear insignificant G-type, literally in a cosmic sense, against a backdrop of infinite worlds and infinite possibilities. It is fucking tragic and immature and wrong to think anything else. I will not let myself forget that. I will not let myself conform. Anyway, this is what Star Trek got so fucking right. God I miss Annika. But it brings me back to this idea of geologic and biologic time, and the beauty of how they interrelate. The mystery and eroticism and cosmic horror that lies within the deep dark ragged fault in our very ability to conceptualize the vast difference between our entire lives (let alone our day-to-day experiences) and the shortest and smallest processes we have even named in our studies of geology and let alone astronomy. It’s beautiful, it’s romantic, it’s horrifying, it’s unknowable, it’s blacker than the darkest night spangled with ancient distant stars. It’s the shadows (Loren Eiseley, The Unexpected Universe, 1964) and I’m in the deepest fucking thralls of love

[christ2525]

The Planet Pluto - Astrology

Pluto's disclosure, in 1930, concurs with the most over the top unfortunate revelation of humanity, the nuclear bomb. With this weapon, the world confronted a power that could obliterate humanity whenever abused. As per the nuclear physicist, Robert Oppenheimer: "We realized the world couldn't be something similar." Obviously, because of the hour of Pluto's revelation, stargazers appointed a few rather horrendous traits to Pluto, but at the same time it's classified "the incredible renewer". To cite Nietzsche: "What doesn't kill us makes us more grounded."

The Planet Pluto - Astrology Pluto requires 248 years to circle the Sun and is the furthest planet, however it has a whimsical circle and for 20 or so of those years is nearer to the Sun than Neptune. Pluto pivots the other way of the greater part of the planets. What's more, similar to Uranus, its equator is nearly at a right point to the plane of its circle.

Pluto and Charon In 1978 Charon, Pluto's biggest satellite was found, in fact making Pluto a twofold planet. Pluto and Charon are extraordinary on the grounds that they turn in a state of harmony and keep their equivalent face toward each other in a kind of dance. In Roman folklore, Pluto is the divine force of Abbadon (the hidden world), and Charon is the legendary figure who ships the dead across the waterway Acheron into Gehenna.

Pluto's Demise and Resurrection In 2006 Pluto made the news when it passed on as a planet and was reawakened as a "bantam planet." This choice by the Worldwide Cosmic Association (IAU) was questionable, particularly in the prophetic local area. In any case, taking everything into account Pluto was as yet a planet and the most powerful power for developmental change in a horoscope.

Prophetic Pluto Pluto, a Transpersonal or powerful planet, is related with Scorpio and the eighth place of the zodiac, the two of which can allude to the more obscure parts of life. It represents human advancement. A few catchphrases for Pluto are; power, power, emergency, want, end, demise, revival, resurrection, and transformation.

Pluto is the destroyer and the maker. It holds influence over birth, demise, anxiety toward death, calamities, the inner mind, and huge mental changes. It rules special insight, otherworldliness, mysticism and rules over obscure things like phantoms and shadows.

Pluto's Glyph Pluto had two glyphs or images. The one most utilized looks like a scorpion with its paws stretching around a circle. In any case, it's a cross, bow, and circle that addresses soul, soul, and food. One more that is being used is a mix of "PL."

Pluto in Your Introduction to the world Outline It requires around 248 years for Pluto to circle the whole zodiac. Because of its whimsical circle, it stays between 11 years (Scorpio) to 32 years (Taurus) in each sign. Its sluggish advancement implies Pluto's sign position is shared by whole ages. And that implies the house Pluto possesses, the viewpoints it makes, both natal and by travel, to every one of the planets and focuses in your introduction to the world graph are what most soothsayers think about more than the sign Pluto possesses.

Pluto in Developmental Soothsaying The people who practice Developmental Soothsaying have confidence in previous existences. These stargazers accept Pluto in a birth diagram represents the development of the Spirit and its sign and house demonstrates the center transformative cravings and goals in your ongoing life.

Get Your Introduction to the world Graph You can track down the celestial sign arrangement and house position of your Pluto with the free natal outline generator on Astro Look for.

Pluto in the Prophetic Signs Pluto's sign addresses the way of life, by and large world and political truth of entire ages, as well as every age's urgent longing to develop and change these real factors. Nearly everybody living today will have Pluto in one of the signs beneath.

Pluto in Malignant growth: Roughly 1928-1939 The Pluto in Malignant growth age discreetly works inside customary frameworks. Those naturally introduced to this gathering want to limit outside conditions.

Pluto in Leo: Roughly 1942-1947 The Pluto in Leo age has a profound feeling of direction and uniqueness. Those naturally introduced to this gathering want to complete their one of a kind fate.

Pluto in Virgo: Around 1956-1970 The Pluto in Virgo age has areas of strength for an ethic. Those naturally introduced to this gathering genuinely want to forfeit and help out.

Pluto in Libra: Roughly 1971-1984 The Pluto in Libra age is fundamentally worried about connections. Those naturally introduced to this gathering want to change what's viewed as socially OK connections.

Pluto in Scorpio: Roughly 1984-1995 The Pluto in Scorpio age is outstandingly extraordinary, strong, and groundbreaking. Those naturally introduced to this gathering really want to encounter power and feebleness, then, at that point, go past their impediments. Note: this age was brought into the world during the 20 years when Pluto's circle carried it inside Neptune and nearer to Earth. They got an additional portion of groundbreaking energy from Pluto!

Pluto in Sagittarius: Around 1998-2008 The Pluto in Sagittarius age is very opportunity situated. Those naturally introduced to this gathering want to grasp themselves in a powerful, philosophical or strict setting.

Pluto in Capricorn: Around 2011-2024 The Pluto in Capricorn age will be a predominant power in changing the world's legislatures as well as how individuals of the world carry on with work. Those naturally introduced to this gathering want to interface their motivation to social and political change.

Pluto's Home Pluto brings all that it addresses to one house in a natal outline. You could say Pluto works from that house. Pluto's home is where you need full control and where there determination battles, feeling of dread toward misfortune, selling out, enthusiasm, fixation, or suspicion, however where there will likewise be a transformation.

Models

Beyoncé Knowles has Pluto in the main house. Beyoncé has full control of herself, embodies sex, has an ordering presence and oozes attraction. Whitney Houston has Pluto in her seventh house. Whitney's fabulous voice pushed her to fame, and poisonous connections were her defeat.

Pluto in Relationship Soothsaying In relationship soothsaying (synastry), Pluto contacts between two person's introduction to the world outlines can be a battle. Pluto has a hazardous standing in synastry. Where it connects, there can be envy, fixation, ownership, impulse, and all the damnation those things can bring into a relationship. A Pluto contact can entrance, control and control, and urge you to battle as far as possible for a relationship. They are not for weak willed. Nonetheless, a few people flourish in every consuming relationship. Thus, what Pluto contact means for the relationship relies upon each's introduction to the world graph as well as the development of the couple.

Pluto Travels At the point when you're moved by a distressing Pluto travel, issues of control, control, envy, possessiveness, predominance, and power are continuous. You're compelled to check out and scrutinize the everyday routine you are experiencing. Subliminal stuff rises to the top permitting you to audit you're molded mental and close to home reactions. Pluto travels are many times likewise joined by a fixation on power, and a practically crazy longing to have a thing, an individual, or a position, and in the fanatical drive to have what we need, you stomp on over others.

A Pluto travel isn't lovely! On the off chance that you're feeling any of the abovementioned, it's conceivable you're amidst a Pluto travel and would profit from a talk with an expert developmental crystal gazer.

The Pluto Cycle Pluto is the slowest moving planet in the planetary group, so its travels to the planets or focuses in your introduction to the world outline can require two, three, or more years to get done with you. Pluto's extraordinary cycle is typically concealed from the outset. It works like a well of lava with pressure developing for quite a long time until it at last detonates! Indeed, you can be reawakened any place Pluto goes, yet very much like the actual experience of birthing another life, it's difficult and incredibly untidy, yet more straightforward for some than for other people.

Pluto's Gift Secret inside each individual is an excruciating experience with Pluto, however on the off chance that you are effective, the gifts Pluto brings are restoration and reclamation as well as another you and another life.

[sciencespies]

Wolf Moon 2023: How to see the January full Moon

https://sciencespies.com/space/wolf-moon-2023-how-to-see-the-january-full-moon/

Wolf Moon 2023: How to see the January full Moon

A full Moon provides us with a great opportunity to observe some of the craters around the rim of the Moon, which would otherwise be hidden in shadow. As the first full Moon of the new year rises, the distinctive constellation, Orion, continues to dominate the night sky, with the hunter’s recognisable club and pelt easy to spot under clear conditions.

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The Orion Nebula, situated in the sword, is visible as a smudge to the naked eye, while Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, is clearly visible and forms part of Orion’s hunting dog, Canis Major.

Find out everything you need to know about the first full Moon of 2023 below.

If we’re afforded clear nights this year, why not plan ahead with our full Moon UK calendar and astronomy for beginners guide?

When can I see the January full Moon 2023?

The full Wolf Moon is the first full Moon of the new year, and the first full Moon after the winter solstice. It will be visible Friday 6 January 2023 and can be seen in the late afternoon, rising high overhead in the evening in the UK and the northern hemisphere.

The Moon will rise in the northeast at 3:11pm on Friday 6 January 2023 and will set at 9:03am the next morning in the northwest, on 7 November 2022 as seen from London (times vary with location).

If weather spoils the occasion, or you are unable to see the full Wolf Moon at its peak, it will also appear full the night before, and the night after.

What else can I see that night?

As the sun sets at 4:06pm on 6 January, Jupiter will already be visible in the southern sky. Moving further towards the east, Mars will still be very bright, after reaching its closest approach with Earth on 1 December and opposition on 8 December 2022. The Red Planet is now moving away from us, and for those of us with a telescope, we’ll see a marked decrease in apparent size as January progresses.

By around 7pm on the 6th, the full Moon will be visible in the east, more-or-less lining up with Mars, Uranus and Jupiter. Orion will also be visible low on the horizon.

When is the best time to see the Wolf Moon?

The Wolf Moon will reach peak illumination at 11:07pm GMT on Friday 6 January. For us here in the UK, this means that peak illumination will occur when the Moon is high in the sky.

When the Moon is at peak illumination, it will be at a distance of around 400128.63km away from Earth.

The best time to see the Wolf Moon will be on the evening of 6 January 2023. Sunset occurs at 4:06pm (times vary with location), and as the Moon has already risen by this time, we should be offered a good view of a full Wolf Moon from the early evening and throughout the night as it rises higher into the sky.

Which constellation is the full Moon in?

The Moon will be in the Zodiac constellation Gemini, flanked on either side by Cancer the Crab and Auriga the Charioteer.

Gemini can be found by imagining a line between Rigel, the blue supergiant star that makes up Orion’s right foot, and Betelgeuse, the red supergiant of Orion’s shoulder, then extending that line until you reach the bright stars Castor and Pollux. These are the two ‘heads’ of the Gemini twins.

The full Wolf Moon peaks at 11:07pm on 6 January 2023 © NASA/ESA/ESO/Space Telescope Science Institute/IAU Minor Planet Center/Fabien Chereau/ Noctua Software

Why is it called the Wolf Moon?

Full Moon names are often inspired by the seasons, weather, or animals that are active at the time, and these vary around the world. Native tribes have different names; some stem from medieval English, and there are other names that originate from Celtic, Chinese or Hindu culture.

More like this

The Wolf Moon is so-called thanks to hungry wolves making themselves known, baying loudly near human settlements in January. Medieval Europeans and a number of native American tribes have all settled on the name Wolf Moon for the January full Moon, although it’s unclear where the name first originated.

The wolf pack: sharp teeth and strong family units © Getty Images

What can I see on the Moon?

There are a few craters you can see with the naked eye on the Moon’s surface. For those of us here in the northern hemisphere, look slightly to the left of the Moon’s centre, and you should be able to see a bright crater named Copernicus. To the left of Copernicus, you’ll see the Aristarchus crater, and down near the bottom, in the southern uplands, is the Tycho crater. This is one of the most distinctive craters on the moon, as it’s surrounded by distinctive bright rays, almost like a big splatter mark.

At the next full Moon, look out for the Tycho crater in the southern uplands. It looks like a big, bright splash mark © Getty images

“Without a telescope, you might be able to pick out the darker regions called ‘mares’ or ‘seas’. They aren’t, of course, actual oceans – they are expanses of an ancient lava flow that have left these dark stains across the Moon,” explains Prof Michael Merrifield, an astronomer at the University of Nottingham.

“With a pair of binoculars or a small telescope, you ought to be able to start picking out plenty of individual craters. Away from the full Moon, looking close to the terminator – where night turns to day on the Moon – should help, as that is where the shadows are longest, helping to pick out these features,” he says.

What causes a full Moon?

A full Moon occurs when the Moon is fully illuminated by the Sun, which happens when the Earth is positioned directly between the Sun and the Moon. We usually have 12 full Moons in one calendar year, although some years we can have 13.

Technically, the Moon is only ‘full’ for an instant (called syzygy), but it will appear full for the whole night. To our human eyes, it will also appear full during both nights on either side of being full.

During a full Moon, the Moon is located precisely 180° opposite the Sun in ecliptic longitude.

The full Moon is one part of the lunar cycle, which takes 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, and 3 seconds (generally rounded to 29.53 days) to complete. That means we get a full Moon every 29.53 days, calculated by the time it takes the Moon to orbit the Earth once, as measured from new Moon to new Moon. (This is also known as one synodic month.)

However, because one lunar cycle takes less than one calendar month in our Gregorian calendar, we sometimes have 13 full Moons in a year. This occurs around every two to three years. This means that we will see two full Moons in a single month, and this extra full Moon is known as a ‘Blue Moon’. In some cultures, a Blue Moon was considered to be some kind of doppelgänger, a trickster Moon, or otherwise somehow fake. The next Blue Moon will occur on 30 August 2023.

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Similarly, we sometimes get two new Moons in a month. This extra new Moon is known as a Black Moon. The last Black Moon was 30 April 2022, and the next one will be next year, 19 May 2023.

About our expert, Prof Michael Merrifield

Michael is a professor of astronomy at the University of Nottingham. He studies the formation and structure of galaxies, cosmology, and X-ray and gamma astronomy.

Read more about the Moon:

#Space

[angelsarenamederika]

Tagged by @etheltheblog, thank you so much Ella!!

Favorite color: that shade of blue just before dawn.

Currently (re)reading: Bel Canto by Ann Patchett! I read it for the first time around seven years ago when @math-amoung-other-things gave me a copy as a birthday gift. It’s (the novel) almost classically romantic in style, the description throughout is so, so minute. It’s an absolute masterclass in imbuing meaning into a given description. The ending scene is still burned into my brain all these years later and I dread finishing it but I’ve read more than half of the book this week alone.

Edit: I finished it and oh, how I cried.

Last song: So Long, Lonesome by Explosions In The Sky

Last series: What We Do In The Shadows!!

Last movie: Nope (I’ve been given a newfound fear of apes but I’m hoping to draw some fanart/an alternative movie poster for this sometime soon)

Currently working on: revising the next chapter for Till Human Voices Wake Us at 7k! Beyond that I started thumbnailing an animatic for my D&D character—a tabaxi death domain cleric.

I tag: @iaus @jack-snicket @glitterlessgold @3feralraccoons @tsukiakarinobara but as with the last tag game, there’s absolutely no pressure to do it!

[drefvalentine]

iaus…….. im obsessed with you.

thank god for sister cavernsfall stopping him from going after the spooky shadow child, that’s probably his head you saved

[arigonall]

Ok, I've calmed down and I've given myself more time to think, and I'm genuinely sorry I sent you that hate.. I recently had a med change and I've been very impulsive. But you're being extremely ableist. Please consider making content that isnt at the expense of others. Thank you.

Uh- I’m not sure how to engage in a conversation without just one-on-one messaging, so sorry if I mix everything up a lot!-

I’m neither demonizing or romanticizing the two in the IAU comics, though I am sorry if it came across that way. In the AU, there is no canonical ship that I know of, the best to ‘romanticizing’ the IAU versions of Tom and Tord there is, is that Tord is interested in Tom’s shadow. As for the demonizing part, that’s just Tord’s personality, he acts more wild though because pissing Tom off is his form of entertainment, I hadn’t meant to paint it as a label to all- If I missed something or misinterpreted you, feel free to correct me, I don’t want to bother anybody, or come off as ‘edgy/quirky’, I don’t really like the terms-

[scifigeneration]

From volcanoes on Mars to scarps on Mercury – how places on other worlds get their names

by David Rothery

The solar system’s largest volcano Olympus Mons on Mars, seen by Viking 1. NASA/JPL

The New Horizons spacecraft, which flew past Pluto in 2015, is set to fly by “Ultima Thule”, the object in the Kuiper belt of bodies beyond Neptune on January 1, 2019. The name Ultima Thule, signifying a distant unknown place, is fitting but it is currently just a nickname pending formal naming. The official names of the body and of the features on its surface will eventually be allocated (this could take years) by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), which celebrates its centenary in 2019.

The IAU’s achievements during its first few decades include resolving contradictory sets of names given to features on the Moon and Mars by rival astronomers during the previous few centuries. The nomenclature working group’s task would then have been largely over, had the space age not dawned – allowing space probes to send back images revealing spectacular landscape details on planets and their moons.

Map of the Moon by Michael van Langren (1655). wikipedia

Planetary scientists would find life difficult without names for at least the largest or most prominent features on a body. If there were no names, the only ways to be sure that other investigators could locate the same feature would be by numbering them or specifying map coordinates. Either option would be cumbersome and unmemorable.

The rules

Building on some of the already entrenched lunar and martian names, the IAU imposed order by establishing themes for the names of features on each body. For example, large craters on Mars are named after deceased scientists and writers associated with Mars (there’s an Asimov and a Da Vinci), and craters less than 60km across are named after towns and villages on Earth (there’s a Bordeaux and a Cadiz).

Apart from craters, most names are in two parts, with a “descriptor term” of Latin origin added to denote the type of feature that has been named. On Mars we find neighbouring valleys called Ares Vallis, Tiu Vallis and Simud Vallis, in which the descriptor term “Vallis” is Latin for valley. This is preceded by the word for “Mars” in a different language – in these examples Greek, Old English/Germanic and Sumerian respectively. Among other descriptor terms are Chasma (a deep, elongated depression), Mons (mountain), Planitia (a low lying plain) and Planum (a high plain or plateau).

Descriptor terms are chosen to avoid implying that we know how any particular feature formed. For example, there are many scarps on Mercury that are currently interpreted as thrust faults (where one region of a planet’s surface has been pushed over another). However, a neutral descriptor term – in this case Rupes (Latin for scarp) – is used so they would not have to be renamed if we were to realise that we’d been misinterpreting them. Similarly, none of the giant mountains on Mars that are almost certainly volcanoes has volcano as a formal part of its name.

The largest volcano on Mars, Olympus Mons, coincides with an ephemeral bright spot that can sometimes be discerned through telescopes. Though this was initially dubbed Nix Olympica (meaning “the snows of Olympus”) by the 19th-century observer, Giovanni Schiaparelli, space probes have since shown that the temporary brightness is not snow but clouds that sometimes gather around the summit. The IAU decided to keep the Olympus part of the name, qualified by the more appropriate descriptor Mons (mountain in Latin).

Approved names on global topographic map of Mars. USGS

On the Moon, the IAU retained Mare (Latin for sea) as a descriptor term for dark spots, even though it is clear they have never been water-filled as was once thought. However, Michael van Langren’s Mare Langrenianum, which he immodestly named after himself on his 1655 map, is now Mare Fecunditatis.

Cultural balance

The IAU is rightly sensitive to achieving cultural and gender balance. The names of lunar craters that the IAU inherited commemorate famous past scientists, which for historical reasons are dominantly male and Western. In partial compensation, the IAU decided that all features on Venus, whose surface was virtually unknown because of its global cloud cover until we got radar spacecraft into orbit, would be named after females (deceased or mythical). For example, there is a Nightingale Corona, a large oval-shaped feature named after Florence Nightingale. The only non-female exceptions are three features that had already been named after being detected by Earth-based radar.

Prior to the first detailed images of Jupiter’s moons by Voyager-1 in 1979, the IAU planned to use names from the myths of peoples in Earth’s equatorial zone for the moon Io. It would use mythical names from the European temperate zone for Europa, names from near-Eastern mythology for Ganymede and names from far northern cultures for Callisto.

A map of part of Io, with names added. USGS

They stuck to the latter three, and so Europa has Annwn Regio (a region named after the Welsh “Otherworld”), and Ganymede and Callisto have craters named Anubis (Egyptian jackal-headed god) and Valhalla (Norse warriors’ feast hall).

However, because Io was revealed to be undergoing continual volcanic eruptions, the original naming theme was deemed inappropriate and was replaced by the names of fire, sun, thunder/lightning and volcano deities from across the world’s cultures. For example, the names Ah Peku, Camaxtli, Emakong, Maui, Shamshu, Tawhaki, and Tien Mu (which occur on the map above) come from fire, thunder or Sun myths of the Mayans, the Aztecs, New Britain, Hawaii, Arabia, the Maoris, and China, respectively.

Captain Cook and the Maoris

The IAU has struggled to achieve cultural balance for some features. For example, the theme for Rupes on Mercury is “ships of discovery or scientific expeditions”. By the nature of world history, there is a preponderance of Western ship names. For example, we find Adventure, Discovery, Endeavour, and Resolution – all four ships from Captain Cook’s 18th-century voyages to the Southern Ocean and Pacific.

Personally, I am content that these were primarily journeys of scientific discovery rather than of conquest or colonisation. Cook’s first voyage was undertaken to observe a rare transit of Venus, and his second voyage reached further south than ever before.

Endeavour Rupes, the shadowed escarpment in the middle of a 400km wide view of Mercury. NASA/JHUAPL/CIW

That said, it would be nice to redress the balance. In connection with a European planetary mapping project, one of my PhD students and I hope to get at least one of Mercury’s as yet unnamed Rupes named after a canoe in which the Maoris arrived in New Zealand.

Ultimately, space exploration is for all of humanity.

About The Author:

David Rothery is Professor of Planetary Geosciences at The Open University

This article is republished from our content partners at The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 

[pisica404]

Vineri, 5 Ianuarie 2018

 Este ora 11 şi ceva.

 Lumina telefonului mă orbește, nu reușesc să citesc în totalitate numerele afişate pe ecran.

Sting repede ecranul și las telefonul pe noptiera din dreapta mea.

M-am trezit buimacă, dar după visul din noaptea precedentă, nici nu mă mir.

Mă ridic totuși din pat și cu-n mers stângaci mă îndrept spre baie.

 Ajunsă acolo , mă spăl pe față și îmi pieptăn părul.

După câteva minute, dau să ies din baie, dar ca de fiecare dată mă lovesc vizual de cântar. Asta îmi reamintește că trebuie să mă duc să-mi fac ceva să mănânc, cu speranța că în câteva zile, voi mai pune măcar 1 kilogram pe mine.

Până ajung în bucătarie și îmi pregătesc micul dejun, încerc să uit de visul de aseară și de gândurile negative care nu îmi dau pace.

Am decis că anul ăsta va fi anul meu,  nu pot lăsa nimic să mi-l strice!

Așa că, mă ridic de la masă și mă duc să pornesc muzica.

În  boxe răsună melodia asta : https://youtu.be/8M-FfwBAVFo

Îmi iau și telefonul cu mine și ies din cameră fredonând versurile melodiei :

,, Another year is running through my veins

Some moments wasted, some will remain

The days are getting shorter and I try to drown my fears

The shadows of the night slowly disappear

Another day to leave it all behind

Good morning life, so beautiful and bright

I'm going back in time to the days when I was young

And now it feels like life had just begun"

Mă așez din nou la masă și continui să mănânc din bolul cu cereale.

Într-un final, termin de mâncat și spăl castronul.

Deja începusem să mă simt mai bine, chiar zâmbeam!

M-am întors în cameră să mă schimb de pijamale și să-mi strâng lucrurile aruncate pe acolo la întâmplare.

Am terminat relativ repede, cu muzica totul e mai simplu.

M-am uitat la ceas,  era ora 12:35

Aveam de învățat pentru sesiune, dar mai aveam timp (așa spun mereu, dar nu știu cum se face că mă trezesc fix cu 2 zile inaintea examenului că trebuie să învăț totul.)

Așa că mă așez pe scaunul din fața biroului și îmi aprind o țigară.

Îmi verific mesajele și intru pe Tumblr.

Tot dădeam scroll din plictiseală, mă mai opream din când în când,cu gândul că, poate găseam ceva interesant de citit.

Așa am stat timp de vreo 10 minute, până când am dat de ceva care mi-a stârnit interesul.

Un fragment dintr-o carte care spunea așa :

„Mi-a spus mama într-o dimineață: „Tu ai nevoie de un bărbat răbdător, care să te iubească cu adevarat. Evită oamenii fara un țel în viața, evită bărbații care promit prea multe deşi faptele lor lasă de dorit. Tu poți şi vei face totul singură, iar asta sperie pe oricine. Doar bărbatul potrivit va rămâne, te va susține și îți va dărui liniștea de care ai nevoie. Draga mea, tu ești o furtună si puțini bărbați știu cum să te calmeze”.”

Nu prea sunt genul de fată care să fie atrasă de astfel de subiecte. În schimb, fragmentul ăsta mi s-a părut... foarte familiar și ciudat, pot spune.

  Chiar asta mi-a spus bunicul meu într-o dimineață tomnatică, abia împlinisem 18 ani. Dacă nu greșesc, cred că era chiar adoua sau atreia zi după onomastică . Adică, 5 sau 6 Octombrie.

Am povestit mult atunci, mai mult ca deobicei.  Mi-a povestit despre mama așa cum n-o mai făcuse niciodată. Mi-a spus și despre mine, mi-a povestit atât cât a putut. Căci mi-a mai spus că voi afla mai multe pe parcurs, de una singură.

Printre toate astea, a citat fragmentul acela, parcă cuvânt cu cuvânt.

Am rămas puțin pe gânduri și am realizat că au trecut 2 ani și 3 luni de atunci.

În timpul ăsta, pot spune că absolut totul s-a schimbat, inclusiv eu. Multe întâmplări mi-au dat lumea și sufletul peste cap. Am simțit totul în anii ăstia.

Am închis fereastra de la Tumblr și am oprit și muzica.

M-am ridicat de pe scaun și m-am dus în sufragerie.

Acolo fiind,  m-am așezat pe canapea și priveam fotografia pusă pe unul din rafturile bibliotecii.

Acum, stau și te privesc în liniște, ești fix în fața mea și îmi zâmbesti cu încredere, așa cum o faceai pe vremea când 5-ul din calendarul de astăzi, reprezenta de fapt vârsta mea. Vremea aceea când credeam că odată împliniți 17-18 ani ești total independent.

Îmi e dor de vremea aceea, de cum eram eu, micul tău învățăcel. De cum mă îndrumai în  tot, dar totodată indrumarea ta nu era una rigidă, ci una în care mă invățai să fac proprile alegeri.

Îmi  e dor pentru că timpul a trecut și nimic din ce a fost nu mai este.

Dar zâmbesc! Zâmbesc pentru că azi, acum de fapt, stau și te privesc și deși îmi e dor, constientizez că ai avut dreptate.

De azi, stiu cine sunt și de ceea ce am nevoie!

Te privesc suflete, poate că doar în poze mai pot, dar te simt aproape. Și știu că îmi ești aproape și acum. M-ai luat sub aripa ta de înger, pentru că știi ceea ce ai crescut! Ai încredere în mine și de azi am și eu încredere în mine!

Ce va fi, va fi, dar ăsta e anul meu! Asta e viața mea! Și joc după regulile mele!

Pentru că eu pot singură!

• TU! cel care citește,  ce mai stai?  Trăieste-ți viața, este a ta! Și nu uita, iubește-te pe tine, iubeşte-ti aproapele!

( @pisica404 )

[catgriosaich]

Mae Hiraeth Yn Fy Nghalon - Geiriau

This is my attempt at a very rough translation. I am not a poet, nor am I a fluent Welsh speaker, I’m just a beginner trying to get the meaning across as clearly as possible to help myself learn.

Mae hiraeth yn fy nghalon am y ddoe na ddaw yn ôl

Mae tristwch yn f’enaid am y fu

Mae dagrau yn fy lligaid ar ol y rhai sydd wedi mynd

A’r atgof sydd yn bwrw cysgod du

There is a longing in my heart for the yesterday that will not return

There is a sorrow in my soul for what was

There are tears in my eyes for those that have gone

And the memory casts a black shadow

Af i chwilio yn y mynydd

Af i chwilio yn y glyn

Af i chwilio am orffennol teg fy ngwlad

Gwrandawaf ar yr afon a

Syllaf ar y llyn

A disgwl, disgwl gweled fy nhreftad

I will go looking* in the mountains

I will go looking in the glen

I will go looking for the fair past of my land

I will listen to the river and

I will gaze upon the lake

And wait, wait to see my heritage

Mae’r awel yn y brigau yn dweud am y dyddiau blin

Pan roedd gormes landlordiaid yn y tir

A’r hesg yn dweud yn ddistaw am fuchedd gwerin dlawd

Aberth bywydau byr a’r dyddiau hir

The breeze in the treetops* tells of the wearisome days

When the tyranny of the landlords was in the land

And the sedge tells silently the legends* of the poor folk

Offerings of brief lives and tedious days

Ond dywed nant y mynydd am lawenydd ac am hwyl

A’m balchder a gorfoledd dan yr iau

A dywed llif yr afon am i fethiant gormes Sais

I dorri calon ddewr y bur hoff bau

But the mountain streams tell of joy and of mirth

Of pride and celebration despite the yoke*

And the flow of the river tells of the failure of English tyranny

To break the valiant heart of the pure beloved country

NOTES:

The -af endings are the first person conjugation of simple future tense, which is now more commonly used in literary Welsh than in conversation. So he sings “syllaf” for “I will gaze”, but in conversation, you probably say “bydda i’n syllu” (”I will be gazing”).

Brig means top, peak, crest. I initially translated this as “the wind in the peaks”, but given that awel specifically means breeze, not howling wind, I think treetops make more sense than mountains.

Buchedd just means life or way of living, but it isn’t used as often as bywyd, and one of its main uses is the phrase buchedd sant: hagiography. I used “legend” to try and maintain the religious connotations.

One version of these lyrics I found translated “dan yr iau” as “of the young”. Iau the adjective means young, but iau the noun means yoke, and dan means under (so literally “under the yoke”, but with “despite” implied?) I think my version is probably right, but I’m not entirely sure.

VOCABULARY LIST:

VERBS:

Bwrw: To hit, to throw, to cast

Chwilio: To search, to seek

Gwrando: To listen

Syllu: To look, to gaze

Disgwl / Disgwyl: To wait, to anticipate

Gweled: To see

Dywed / Dweud: To tell

*

ADJECTIVES:

Blin: Wearisome, woeful, galling

Distaw: Quiet, silent, mute

Tlawd: Poor

Byr: Short, brief

Hir: Long, lengthy, tedious

Dewr: Brave

Pur: Pure

Hoff: Dear, fond, favourite

*

NOUNS:

Calon (-nau): Heart (f)

Tristwch (no pl): Sorrow, wistfulness (m)

Enaid (-iau): Soul (m)

Deigryn (dagrau): Tear (m)

Llygad (llygaid): Eye (m)

Cysgod (-ion): Shadow (m)

*

Mynydd (-oedd): Mountain (m)

Glyn (-noedd): Glen, valley (m)

Afon (-ydd): River (f)

Nant (nentydd): Stream (f)

Llif (-oedd): Flow, flood, stream (m)

Gwlad (gweldydd): Land, country (f)

Tir (-oedd): Land, earth (m)

Hesgen (hesg): Sedge (f)

Awel (-on): Breeze, current (f)

Brig (-au): Top, peak, crest (m)

*

Treftad (no pl): Heritage, inheritance, patrimony (f)

Gorffennol (no pl): Past (m)

Atgof (-ion): Remembrance, reminiscence, memory (m)

Methiant (methiannau): Failure, downfall, breakdown (m)

Gormes (no pl): Tyranny, oppression (f)

Gwerin (-oedd): People, folk (m or f)

Iau (ieuau): Yoke (f)

Pau (peuoedd): Country (f) (rare)

Bywyd (-au): Life, lifetime (m)

Buchedd (-au): Life, lifestyle (f) (rare)

Aberth (ebyrth): Sacrifice, offering (m or f)

Llawenydd (no pl): Joy, glee, euphoria (m)

Hwyl (-iau): Fun, mirth, merriment (f)

Gorfoledd (no pl): Joy, rejoicing, triumph (m)

Balchder (no pl): Pride, glory, vanity (m)

*

Sources: Geiriadur Bangor; Geiriadur Pyfysgol Cymru, this lyric video (weirdly the only place I could find the Welsh lyrics. It also has an English translation but I promise I didn’t cheat lmao)

[skyward-floored]

I was watching The Incredibles 2 the other day because your au made me want to watch the movies again and now I'm so curious: are you going to do a long fic on the second movie as well? no pressure whatsoever to do so, I'm sure the first movie is stressful in and of itself, but I'm thinking about Four in Jack Jack's role and am going CRAZY he's my little guy!! I love his powers!!

- Zeldathusiast

Well I’d definitely like to do a long fic for it! I’ve been playing with some scenes from the second movie now and then— some things just are not going to work with the differences with powers and things, but some things I can totally do. So I’ll definitely do those :)

Four and his powers is one of the things I’m messing with actually, I’ve been working on figuring out how things go with the scene with him and the raccoon... that isn’t a raccoon. Hehe. I’ll share some of it actually, I’ve been having a lot fun with it.

...

Something rattled outside.

Four’s head jerked up at the noise, not sure at first whether he’d imagined it, or it had just come from the TV. But when he heard it again, he crept quietly over to the patio door, and peeked outside from around the corner. He scanned the yard with a furrowed brow, and focused in on where the trash can was, another rattle coming from its direction.

Four squinted, then breathed in sharply as a head poked up from it, a bit of trash on the figure’s head.

Someone was out there messing with their trash.

What if he comes in here? Four thought frantically, watching as the figure moved to the next one, another rattle reaching his ears. Nobody else is awake, it’s just me, what if he tries to hurt us like Dark—

Four clutched at his chest, heart pounding rapidly as memories of his brief kidnapping tore through his mind.

No, no, I have to stay calm, I can’t let him win. It’s... it’s just like the show on TV, he realized abruptly, looking out at the thief again. He’s trying to take our trash and break in, maybe steal something! Or, or hurt us!

Well I won’t let him!

Four took a deep breath, slipping towards the door on silent feet. Part of his brain was yelling at him that was a really stupid idea as he slid the door open, but Four ignored it, and took a deep breath as he marched up to the trash cans.

“Hey you!” he said with as much authority as he could muster, though he kept his voice quiet in order not to wake his family. “What do you think you’re doing?! Go away!”

The head poked back up from the can, shadowy and indistinct. Four tried to make out features, but all he could make out was shadows, and the impression of somebody in the can. The figure leaned forward, and Four suddenly got the feeling he was being sized up.

Then he heard a snort.

And a cackling laugh.

“Oh yeah?” he—it sounded like a he—laughed, face becoming a little more distinct. It looked sort of familiar. “And who’s gonna make me? You?”

“That’s right,” Four said firmly, and the shadowy boy’s laughter got louder. “Stop laughing!”

“Why should I?” he drawled, leaning out and looking at Four with bright red eyes.

Four froze at the sight of them, reminded again of Dark, but the old fear changed into anger when the boy laughed again at his silence.

“That’s what I thought. Go back in your dumb fancy mansion and let me eat my dinner in peace, pipsqueak,” he scoffed, and Four’s anger swelled.

“No! Go away!” he hissed, but the boy made no move to budge.

“I can’t hear you~” the shadowy boy mocked, picking a drumstick out of the trash and nibbling on it. Then he grimaced and threw it at Four’s face.

It hit Four with a small smack, and his fists shook as some kind of gross something dripped down his face, the anger he’d been trying to pack away swelling in full-force. The shadowy boy let out another mocking laugh, and that was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

All of the emotions and anger and worry for his mom and his brothers and his family’s whole situation all condensed into a tight, hot ball in Four’s chest, one that felt achingly familiar. He glared at the other boy, emotions churning in his mind, and felt something in him snap.

“I said LEAVE!”

And as Four leapt at the intruder, a multicolored light flashed around him, one that faded just in time for the shadowy figure to see four identical boys falling straight towards him.

[sciencespies]

When Is The Next Eclipse? 2020’s ‘Ring of Fire’ Will Rock The Roof Of The World Before ‘The Big One’

https://sciencespies.com/news/when-is-the-next-eclipse-2020s-ring-of-fire-will-rock-the-roof-of-the-world-before-the-big-one/

When Is The Next Eclipse? 2020’s ‘Ring of Fire’ Will Rock The Roof Of The World Before ‘The Big One’

The Baily’s Beads effect is seen as the moon makes its final move over the sun during the total … [+] solar eclipse on Monday, August 21, 2017 above Madras, Oregon. A total solar eclipse swept across a narrow portion of the contiguous United States from Lincoln Beach, Oregon to Charleston, South Carolina. A partial solar eclipse was visible across the entire North American continent along with parts of South America, Africa, and Europe.

NASA/Aubrey Gemignani

A “ring of fire” annular solar eclipse just ripped across the world, with a ring around the Moon visible from Saudi Arabia to Guam via Oman, southern India, northern Sri Lanka and Singapore.

Now the Christmas Eclipse” is over, when’s the next one? In 2020 there will be two such events, but both are dramatically different. The first one is also an annular solar eclipse—but only just—while the second one is destined to be a very similar event to the “Great American” total solar eclipse of August 21, 2017. Are you ready to witness totality a second time? Here’s everything you need to know about 2020’s two solar eclipses.

Image made with pictures taken on February 26, 2017 showing an annular solar eclipse, as seen from … [+] the Estancia El Muster, near Sarmiento, Chubut province, 1600 km south of Buenos Aires, Argentina, on February 26, 2017. Stargazers applauded as they were plunged into darkness Sunday when the moon passed in front of the sun in a spectacular “ring of fire” eclipse. / AFP / ALEJANDRO PAGNI (Photo credit should read ALEJANDRO PAGNI/AFP via Getty Images)

AFP via Getty Images

When is the next annular solar eclipse? 

The “Christmas Eclipse” was just a warm-up for Asian eclipse-chasers. In six months on Sunday, June 21, 2020 another—arguably much more dramatic—annular solar eclipse will be visible across northern Asia. Beginning at 03:45 UT and continuing until 09:33 UT this “ring of fire” will be visible at sunrise in the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, then as a higher-in-the-sky spectacle in South Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Yemen, Oman, Pakistan, India, Tibet, China and Taiwan. Again, sunset is in the Pacific Ocean, this time south of Guam. 

Why June’s eclipse is so special

However, it will be a very different kind of ‘ring of fire’ than the one this coming Christmas. “It will have a much thinner ring, a higher magnitude and obscuration,” says  Xavier Jubier, a member of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group on Solar Eclipses and keeper of the go-to eclipse maps website. “Having a thinner ring is nicer as it will provide more beading phenomena.” Ah yes, Baily’s Beads. At a total solar eclipse it’s possible to see these last few beads of light from the Sun pouring through the Moon’s valleys in the moments before the ‘diamond ring’ and totality. At an annular solar eclipse the only way to see even a hint of them is to observe from the extreme edge of the eclipse track, but even then they’re difficult and fleeting. However, because the magnitude of the annular solar eclipse on June 21, 2020 is so “big” at 99%—effectively nearly a total solar eclipse—it could be possible to see Baily’s Beads from near the edges of the path of annularity.

Although there will be a long partial solar eclipse, the actual “ring of fire” sight will last for around a minute depending on where you view from, though it’s just 23 seconds from the track’s center point close to Lhasa, Tibet. South of Muscat in Oman and the iconic Lalibela in Ethiopia—famous for its rock-hewn monolithic churches—are other places to consider. 

LALIBELA, ETHIOPIA – FEBRUARY 01: People visit the rock-hewn monolithic Church of St. George in … [+] Lalibela on February 01, 2019. The 11 medieval monolithic cave churches of this 13th-century are situated in a mountainous region in the heart of Ethiopia near a traditional village with circular-shaped dwellings. Lalibela is a high place of Ethiopian Christianity, still today a place of pilmigrage and devotion. (Photo by Minasse Wondimu Hailu/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

Getty Images

It may even be possible to see other phenomena normally associated with total solar eclipses, such as shadow bands and the solar corona. “It will also get a little darker and you can get this eerie light that you can experience shortly before totality for total solar eclipses,” says Jubier. According to Jay Anderson on eclipsophile.com, the best places – weather-wise and accessibility-wise – are south of Muscat in Oman, at Lalibela in Ethiopia (famous for its rock-cut monolithic churches), and 285km north of Lhasa, Tibet.

HereÕs a variation on creating a time-sequence composite of the August 21, 2017 total solar eclipse. … [+] In this case, time runs from left to right, from the last filtered partial phases I shot, through unfiltered shots of the rapidly changing last glimmer of sunlight disappearing behind the advancing Moon at ÒSecond Contact,Ó forming ÒBailyÕs Beads, to totality at centre ] The sequence continues at right with the Sun emerging from behind the Moon in a rapid sequence at ÒThird Contact,Ó followed by two post-totality filtered partials to bookend the total eclipse images The C3 limb had a beautiful array of pink prominences The Contact 2 and 3 images were taken in rapid-fire continuous mode and so are only fractions of a second apart in real time Most are 1/4000th second exposures. (Photo by: VW Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Universal Images Group via Getty Images

When is the next total solar eclipse?

Pretty though “ring of fire” eclipses are, many experienced eclipse-chasers think of them as a warm-up to the really special spectacle—a total solar eclipse. That will occur on December 14, 2020 in Chile and Argentina when for 2 minutes 9 seconds observers in the path of totality will thrown into darkness and get to glimpse the solar corona with their naked eyes. What a treat!

This eclipse happens during the peak of the southern hemisphere summer when the Sun is very high in the sky. In that sense—and also in terms of the duration of totality—the 2020 eclipse will be broadly similar in character to the “Great American Eclipse” of August 21, 2017. 

It’s all about finding clear skies. Although many tour groups are headed to Villarrica and Pucón in Chile, the highest chance of clear skies is actually across the border in Argentina’s region of Patagonia.

CHILE – APRIL 23: Coast of Villarrica lake near Pucon, Villarrica National Park, Araucania, Chile. … [+] (Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images)

De Agostini via Getty Images

If you’re tempted, don’t fight it; this is the last “easy” eclipse for a few years since the following total solar eclipse is in Antarctica in December 2021, there is no event in 2022, and in 2023 only a remote part of Western Australia will experience a minute-long totality.

Disclaimer: I am the editor of WhenIsTheNextEclipse.com and co-author of “Total Solar Eclipse 2020: A travel and field guide to observing totality in Chile and Argentina on December 14, 2020”

Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.

#News

[the-telescope-times]

This Chinese telescope team is making a 7,000 mile journey to the eclipse

An optical telescope built by the Chinese researchers starts its journey to 2017’s Great American Solar Eclipse

On August 21, 2017, the town of Lincoln City, Oregon, like many locales in the path of that date's total solar eclipse, will have its big day in the Sun, then in the Sun's shadow, and then back in the Sun again.

Eclipse-chasing tourists are expected to flood in. But one team of Sun-watchers and their telescope might stand out: They will have traveled near seven thousand miles from China to do science here.  

"The telescope is one of the most advanced facility in the world for spectro-polarimetry during solar eclipses,” says team leader Zhongquan Qu. The team focuses on the corona, the Sun's outmost layer. Qu is a professor of solar physics at the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Yunnan Observatory in Kunming, and a member of the IAU Working Group on Solar Eclipses.  

The Sun’s corona is usually visible only during solar eclipses, so this summer’s event affords many heliophysicists a rare observational opportunity, one that Qu’s team refuses to miss. They decided against Oregon’s capital Salem — which is also on the totality path — because many tourists there might be taking photos with their flashes turned on nearby, creating scattered and stray light that can ruin scientific observations. Lincoln is off the beaten path, and should draw smaller crowds.  

Read more ~ Astronomy Magazine

Image: It is only during total solar eclipses that the Sun’s corona and its highly ionized iron lines can be observed.     Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center/Flickr, CC BY 2.0

[kissofalice]

Book haul

Hey, coltisori. Acestea sunt ultimele carti achizitionate. Cele scrise de Laini Taylor sunt cu autograf , iar restul le-am luat la promotii.  3 for 2 si buy one get one half price. Iar Shatter me si Glittering Court au fost gratis .  Am reusit sa iau si cateva booklet-uri cu un sneak peek Lord of Shadows si o sa le dau la intalnirea din luna mai, care va fi in data de 6 mai( inca nu stiu locatia)…

[marilynngmesalo]

Picture was clear, but black hole’s name a little fuzzy

Picture was clear, but black hole’s name a little fuzzy Picture was clear, but black hole’s name a little fuzzy https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

WASHINGTON — The newly pictured supermassive black hole is a beast with no name, at least not an official one. And what happens next could be cosmically confusing.

The team of astronomers who created the image of the black hole called it M87(asterisk). (The asterisk is silent.) A language professor has given it a name from a Hawaiian chant — Powehi — meaning “the adorned fathomless dark creation.” And the international group in charge of handing out astronomical names? It has never named a black hole.

The black hole in question is about 53 million light years away in the centre of a galaxy called Messier 87, or M87 for short. On Wednesday, scientists revealed a picture they took of it using eight radio telescopes, the first time humans had actually seen one of the dense celestial objects that suck up everything around them, even light.

The stunning image shows the shadow of the supermassive black hole⚫️ in the center of Messier 87 (M87), an elliptical galaxy ~55 million light-years from Earth🌍

To complement @ehtelescope, NASA spacecraft🛰 also observed the black hole in different wavelengths of light🌈 pic.twitter.com/G6qReGtsOf

— NASA Planetquest (@PlanetQuest) April 10, 2019

The International Astronomical Union usually takes care of names, but only for stuff inside our solar system and stars outside it. It doesn’t have a committee set up to handle other objects, like black holes, galaxies or nebulas.

The last time there was a similar situation, poor Pluto somehow got demoted to a dwarf planet, leading to public outcry, said Williams College astronomer Jay Pasachoff, a star-naming committee member.

Technically, our own galaxy — the Milky Way — has never been officially named by the IAU, said Rick Fienberg, an astronomer and press officer for the American Astronomical Society. He said, “that’s just a term that came down through history.”

“Virtually every object in the sky has more than one designation,” Fienberg said. “The constellations have their official IAU sanctioned names but in other cultures, they have other names.”

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THE GIFT OF A NAME

When it comes to the black hole we saw this week , University of Hawaii-Hilo Hawaiian professor Larry Kimura stepped up even before the photo was unveiled.

Powehi (pronounced poh-veh-hee) is the black hole’s Hawaiian name, not its official name, explained Jessica Dempsey, who helped capture the black hole image as deputy director of the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii’s tallest mountain. Hawaii Gov. David Ige proclaimed April 10 as Powehi day, she said.

“This isn’t astronomers naming this,” she said. “This is coming from a cultural expert and language expert. This is him coming to the table and giving us a gift of this name. It’s a gift from Hawaiian culture and history, not the other way around.”

When asked about Kimura’s idea, IAU naming committee member Pasachoff said: “That’s the first I heard of it.”

Eric Mamajek, chairman of the IAU working group on star names, called it a “wonderful, thoughtful name.”

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THE PLUTO SITUATION

But Mamajek said his committee may not be the right one to grant the black hole a name. It only does stars.

“This is exactly the Pluto situation,” Pasachoff said.

In 2006, astronomers at the IAU were discussing naming a large object in our solar system that eventually got called Eris. It wasn’t considered a planet, so it wasn’t the job of the planet committee. But some experts pointed out that it was bigger than Pluto, which added some confusion.

The conference decided to reclassify planets, kicked Pluto out of the club of regular planets and made it join the newly established dwarf planets category with Eris, Pasachoff said.

MORE NAMES COMING

The same day the photograph of the black hole was unveiled, the IAU asked the public to choose between three names for an object astronomers call 2007 OR10. It’s an icy planetesimal that circles the sun but gets 100 times further from our star than Earth does.

The three proposed names are Gonggong, a Chinese water god with red hair and a serpent tail; Holle, a European winter goddess of fertility; and Vili, a Nordic deity and brother of Odin.

The IAU is trying to bring in more languages and cultures into the naming game, Pasachoff and Fienberg said. And soon the IAU will ask the public to help name 100 planets outside our solar system.

As astronomers gaze further into the cosmos, Pasachoff said, “we will need more names.”

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