#Tucana

[chibinotan]

Triple Merger

[cosmonautroger]

Tucana Constellation

[ab-horror]

went full circle with arcane by applying it to my ocs and now im Extra Unwell(tm) about that ending

[calorionsstarchive]

47 Tucanae (NGC 104)

[bestanimal]

Round 3 - Reptilia - Piciformes

(Sources - 1, 2, 3, 4)

Our next order of birds are the Piciformes. This is a large order, containing the living families Bucconidae (“puffbirds”), Galbulidae (“jacamars”), Megalaimidae (“Asian barbets”), Lybiidae (“African barbets”), Capitonidae (“New World barbets”), Semnornithidae (“toucan barbets”), Ramphastidae (“toucans”), Indicatoridae (“honeyguides”), and Picidae (“woodpeckers”).

The Piciformes are quite diverse with a variety of body, and particularly beak, types. Nearly all Piciformes have parrot-like zygodactyl feet: two toes forward and two back, an arrangement that has advantages for birds that spend much of their time on tree trunks. Most piciformes are insectivores, though the barbets and toucans mainly eat fruit, and some piciformes also supplement their diet with eggs and small vertebrates.

All Piciformes nest in cavities (either burrows or holes in trees or termite mounds) and have altricial young, hatched completely naked. Aside from the jacamars, Piciformes do not have down feathers at any age, only developing true feathers. They are generally monogamous, at least for one breeding season, and both parents take care of the chicks.

Piciformes evolved around the Early Eocene, with the modern families known to exist since the mid-late Oligocene.

Propaganda under the cut:

The constellation Tucana, containing most of the Small Magellanic Cloud, is named after the toucan.

The largest Piciform is the Toco Toucan (Ramphastos toco) (see gif above), with an average length of 56 cm (1.8 ft).

The Greater Honeyguide (Indicator indicator) (image 2) is best known for its mutualistic relationship with humans. When a Greater Honeyguide has found a hive of honeybees with a large yield of honey, it will attract the attention of humans through specific calls. It will then lead the humans to the hive. Once the humans have collected the honey, the honeyguide sweeps in to eat the larvae and wax. Honey-hunters have specific calls and whistles used to call honeyguides when they are about to search for honey. Adults but not juvenile honeyguides will respond to these calls, signifying that a response to the calls is taught. Claims that it also guides non-human animals are disputed; humans seem to be the only animals to understand the bird calls. In some parts of Kenya, Greater Honeyguides have stopped guiding, due to a lack of responses by people in the area.

While they mainly eat insects, honeyguides are unique among birds for being able to digest beeswax.

In folklore, it is frequently noted that the honeyguide should be thanked with a gift of honey; if not, it may lead its follower to a lion, bull elephant, or venomous snake as punishment. Honeyguides do rarely lead humans to venomous snakes, but this is probably due to error by the birds, or perhaps as a means of trying to get humans to remove a snake from a nesting area.

Woodpeckers are known for their characteristic behavior of drumming their beaks on wood. This is done to “drill” for insects under the bark, to communicate, and to make nest holes. To prevent brain damage from rapid and repeated powerful impacts, woodpeckers have a number of physical features that protect their brains. These include a relatively small and smooth brain, narrow subdural space, little cerebrospinal fluid surrounding it (to prevent it from moving back and forth inside the skull during pecking), the orientation of the brain within the skull, and a skull which consists of strong but compressible, sponge-like bone.

Woodpeckers have long, sticky, barbed tongues for extracting food (insects and larvae) from trees. The tongue bone (or hyoid bone) of the woodpecker is so long that it winds around the skull through a special cavity, thereby cushioning the brain during pecking.

The smallest woodpecker is the Bar-breasted Piculet (Picumnus aurifrons), which is typically 7.5 cm (3 in) long and weighs 8 to 10 g (0.28 to 0.35 oz).

The American birdwatcher’s Thylacine, the Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus principalis) is presumed extinct, as the last universally accepted sighting in the United States was in 1944, and the last universally accepted sighting in Cuba was in 1987. However, hope remains that the bird may persist somewhere, and sightings are still made to this day (most of them probably other woodpecker species and none of them confirmed). Habitat protection and restoration efforts have been initiated in areas where the species might persist.

The related Imperial Woodpecker (Campephilus imperialis), endemic to Mexico, is also presumed extinct. If they have gone extinct, it would have been due to habitat destruction and fragmentation combined with hunting. If it is not extinct, it is the world's largest woodpecker species, at 56–60 cm (1.8–2 ft) long.

One of the accounts of the founding of Rome, preserved in the work known as Origo Gentis Romanae, refers to a legend of a woodpecker bringing food to the boys Romulus and Remus during the time they were abandoned in the wild.

In the 2016 Nintendo 3DS game Pokémon Sun and Moon, the Pokémon Toucannon had an evolution line based on the phylogenetic relationships within Piciformes, perhaps one of the only Pokémon evolution lines to make a nod to real-life phylogeny. The first evolution, Pikipek, is based on a Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus). The second, Trumbeak, resembles a honeyguide. The final evolution, Toucannon, is modeled after a Toco Toucan.

[apod]

2024 October 25

Globular Star Cluster NGC 6752 Image Credit & Copyright: Massimo Di Fusco, Aygen Erkaslan

Explanation: Some 13,000 light-years away toward the southern constellation Pavo, the globular star cluster NGC 6752 roams the halo of our Milky Way galaxy. Over 10 billion years old, NGC 6752 follows clusters Omega Centauri, 47 Tucanae, and Messier 22 as the fourth brightest globular in planet Earth's night sky. It holds over 100 thousand stars in a sphere about 100 light-years in diameter. Telescopic explorations of NGC 6752 have found that a remarkable fraction of the stars near the cluster's core, are multiple star systems. They also reveal the presence of blue straggle stars, stars which appear to be too young and massive to exist in a cluster whose stars are all expected to be at least twice as old as the Sun. The blue stragglers are thought to be formed by star mergers and collisions in the dense stellar environment at the cluster's core. This sharp color composite also features the cluster's ancient red giant stars in yellowish hues. (Note: The bright, spiky blue star about 8 o'clock from the cluster center is a foreground star along the line-of-sight to NGC 6752)

∞ Source: apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap241025.html

[chibinotan]

Infrared Cluster

[talonabraxas]

Hekate - Star Goddess Talon Abraxas The New Moon on 29 January 2025 falls at 9º Aquarius Decan 1. Aspect: Trine Jupiter. Fixed Star: Alpha Tucana in the Tucan. Asteroid: Icarus. Tarot Card: 5 Of Swords. Healing Crystal: Pyrite. The January Aquarius New Moon 2025 brings a restless yearning for freedom and a profound challenge in reconciling lofty ideals with earthly realities. This lunar energy, housed in a decan driven by the desire to sever ties and seek independence, often feels unsettled in the constraints of home or tradition. Its essence is a search for a “Promised Land” of personal or collective belonging, though its high expectations often clash with domestic practicality.

Yet, the turbulence matures into a potent self-sufficiency. This independence creates an ability to provide shelter—physically or emotionally—for those undergoing transitional phases in life. For the more Aquarian or Uranian among us, a cosmic kinship emerges, drawing connections with fellow outsiders and forming a new kind of home among the unconventional. The Cosmic Jester

Alpha Tucana at 9° Aquarius resides in the playful Toucan, a bird known for its quirky antics and sharp precision. Toucans toss berries into the air and duel with their long beaks, embodying the spirit of verbal sparring and intellectual jousting. This star imbues this New Moon period with a vibrant sense of humour, political wit, and an appetite for lively debates. However, this boldness can sometimes tip into excessive criticism or dramatic rants. Much like the noisiness of Toucans in the forest, this star can leave a resounding impression—sometimes entertaining, other times overwhelming.

[of-stars-and-dust]

Astronomy Picture of the Day

2005 January 18

NGC 346 in the Small Magellanic Cloud

Credit: A. Nota (ESA/STScI) et al., ESA, NASA

A satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is a wonder of the southern sky, a mere 210,000 light-years distant in the constellation Tucana. Found among the SMC's clusters and nebulae NGC 346 is a star forming region about 200 light-years across, pictured above by the Hubble Space Telescope. Exploring NGC 346, astronomers have identified a population of embryonic stars strung along the dark, intersecting dust lanes visible here on the right. Still collapsing within their natal clouds, the stellar infants' light is reddened by the intervening dust. A small, irregular galaxy, the SMC itself represents a type of galaxy more common in the early Universe. But these small galaxies are thought to be a building blocks for the larger galaxies present today. Within the SMC, stellar nurseries like NGC 346 are also thought to be similar to those found in the early Universe.

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (USRA)

NASA Official: Jay Norris.

A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC

& Michigan Tech. U.

[eliaskew]

Hello! I understand that naming characters can be difficult, I also understand that when we create AU's in which a character is trans or hiding and need to create a deadname/fake name it can be a struggle. HOWEVER-

When it comes to naming Black OC's or giving characters like Sirius and Regulus genderbent/deadnames I will not take any excuses for things like "Siriana" and "Regina". That is about the only family in canon who already HAS a naming convention, and yes, I realise not all of them follow it. However most DO.

So! For your perusal, I have taken the liberty of spending two weeks of my life scrolling Wikipedia to find a list of constellations, star names and star nicknames that could be used instead! Please use them I beg of you.

As a helpful guide, any names already used in canon are starred. Any names that MIGHT be used in canon (it's been ages since I've read the actual books, forgive me if I've missed any) are double starred.

And without further ado I present...

Skew's list of perfectly acceptable Star Names from a-z:

- Andromeda *

- Antlia

- Apus

- Aquila/ Aquilae

- Ara

- Aries

- Auriga

- Alpheratz

- Almach

- Altager

- Agena

- Ancha

- Altair/ Alnair

- Ari

- Alanac

- Arcturus *

- Asellus

- Alazal

- Asterion

- Adhara

- Armus

- Avior

- Argo

- Achird

- Agena 

- Asteroth/ Ashtaroth

- Amansinaya

- Acrux

- Athebyne

- Altais

- Alsafi

- Achernar

- Azha

- Alhena 

- Alphard *

- Ashlesha

- Algol

- Ascella

- Antares

- Apollyon

- Alya

- Alasia

- Alycone

- Atlas

- Asterope

- Atria

- Alcor

- Aniara

- Alula

- Alsephina

- Arcalis

- Borealis

- Betelgeuse

- Bellatrix *

- Bosona

- Caelum

- Carina

- Cassiopeia **

- Centaurus

- Cepheus

- Cetus

- Circinus

- Columba

- Corvus

- Cygnus *

- Capella

- Celaeno

- Caroli

- Chara

- Castra

- Canopus

- Castula

- Collum

- Calvera

- Cursa

- Castor

- Cadens

- Chason

- Ceginus 

- Cymbae

- Chechia

- Cynosura

- Delphinius

- Draco *

- Dolones

- Diphda

- Denebola

- Eridanus

- Elgomaisa

- Eltanin

- Ebla

- Electra

- Errakis

- Fornax

- Fortunae

- Felixvarela

- Franz (yes, legitimately)

- Felis

- Formosa

- Gemini

- Gliese

- Gomeisa

- Gemma (again, yes, legitimately)

- Gnosia

- Geminga

- Gorgonea/ Gorgona

- Gildun

- Hercules

- Hydrus

- Hydra/ Hydria

- Hydor

- Haedus

- Hunor

- Helvetios

- Hyades

- Hyadum

- Hoggar

- Horna

- Izar

- Isis

- Innes

- Itonda

- Irena

- Indus

- Illyrian

- Juza

- Karaka

- Kastra

- Kitalpha

- Kursa

- Koeia

- Kornephoros

- Lacerta

- Leo

- Lepus

- Libra

- Lynx (totally legit. A constellation, in fact)

- Lyra

- Lucida

- Lanceator

- Lancea

- Leonis

- Lucitania

- Mirach

- Mensa

- Monoceros

- Musca

- Mira

- Macondo

- Manus

- Meres

- Meridiana

- Moldoveanu

- Musica

- Moriah

- Mebsuta

- Meissa

- Morava

- Miram

- Media

- Merope (yup, Voldemort's mum had a more Black name than Narcissa)

- Maia

- Norma

- Nembus

- Nova

- Nervia 

- Nicolaus

- Naledi 

- Nosaxa

- Nash

- Natasha (still Legit)

- Octans

- Ophiuchus

- Orion *

- Osiris

- Ogma

- Pavo

- Pegasus

- Phoenix

- Pictor

- Pisces

- Pyxis

- Promethium

- Postrema

- Phoenicia

- Petra

- Princeps 

- Pollux **

- Praecipula

- Polis

- Pipirima 

- Polaris

- Porrima

- Rigil/ Rigel

- Rostrum 

- Rastaban

- Rutilicus

- Regulus *

- Revati

- Rapeto

- Saggita

- Scorpius *  

- Serpens

- Sextans

- Sirius *

- Sarin

- Sargamatha

- Stribor

- Sinistra

- Solaris

- Shaula

- Sterope

- Spica

- Syrma

- Speedy Mic (not one I would recommend but a legitimate star name nonetheless. Also my favourite)

- Taurus

- Tucana

- Titawin

- Tertia

- Tianyi

- Tangra

- Tureis

- Taygeta

- Talitha

- Tania

- Ursa

- Vela

- Virgo

- Volans

- Vulpeca

- Vega 

- Vrischika

- Wezen

- Wurren

- Zibal

- Zosma

- Zavyava

- Zaniah

An important note: not every letter has Star Names. And some have far more than others. Also, this is not all of them. This is a FRACTION of the ones I found so please feel free to look up some more if you hate all of these.

And please. PLEASE use them. If I see another "Regina" I might actually cry.

[p5-apotelesma]

The Phantom Thieves and friends each have a Ren Assigned Endearment™

and a "Neo Featherman Galaxy" ranger band (which are starry friendship bracelets ren makes them) and Galaxy Ranger codenames they use to talk undercover while in public that are based off the bird constellations!

and most if not all of the gangs online handles that ive come up with are puns! i think only. three of them would carry over and work in japanese though. (trying to make them all work in japanese would. take a lot of effort and would probably definitely require me to understand japanese more)

Here's everyone! (Nickname, Username, Codename)

RYUJI: Firefly - hillstridez > dragonskullz - Ranger Phoenix ANN: Rosebud - annkopan - Ranger Grus MORGANA: Mon Ami - cleptamona - Ranger Apus SHIHO: Comet - (TBD) - N/A YUUKI: Moonpie (TBD) - N/A YUSUKE: Doodlebug - kitagakamu - Ranger Pavo MAKOTO: Buttercup - rideandtrue - Ranger Aquila HIFUMI: Jewel - (TBD) - N/A FUTABA: Sprout - babanura - Ranger Tucana HARU: Angel - gardenglory > fleurdumaul - Ranger Columba GORO: Feather - yatagorosu > kogoremiges - Ranger Corvus SUMIRE: Sweetpea - (TBD) - Ranger Vega HIKARI: Cookie - (TBD) - N/A SOPHIA: Shortcake - elpisofcake - Ranger Bennu

still trying to come up with usernames for some of these guys... (i had some placeholders for sumire but im just not vibing with any of them. i want her to have a different username depending on her cognition)

And Ren...

REN: Miaou - amamiaou > hoshimiaou - Ranger Cygnus

[expedicaocommusica]

The Zasters comemora com Hunting Season

The Zasters comemora com Hunting Season, seu primeiro álbum e com diversas participações especiais.

The Zasters comemora com Hunting Season The Zasters comemora com Hunting Season, seu primeiro álbum e com diversas participações especiais. Com 11 faixas, sendo 6 inéditas, “Hunting Season” conta com a produção de Gabriel Zander, mixagem de Math Bishop (que já trabalhou com artistas como The Killers, Taylor Swift, Two Door Cinema Club, e vários outros) e foi masterizado por Kevin Nix. O álbum…

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Hubble captures the Small Magellanic Cloud

Say hello to one of the Milky Way's neighbors! This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features a scene from one of the closest galaxies to the Milky Way, the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). The SMC is a dwarf galaxy located about 200,000 light-years away. Most of the galaxy resides in the constellation Tucana, but a small section crosses over into the neighboring constellation Hydrus.

Thanks to its proximity, the SMC is one of only a few galaxies that are visible from Earth without the help of a telescope or binoculars. For viewers in the southern hemisphere and some latitudes in the northern hemisphere, the SMC resembles a piece of the Milky Way that has broken off, though in reality it's much farther away than any part of our own galaxy.

With its 2.4-meter mirror and sensitive instruments, Hubble's view of the SMC is far more detailed and vivid than what humans can see. Researchers used Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 to observe this scene through four different filters. Each filter permits different wavelengths of light, creating a multicolored view of dust clouds drifting across a field of stars.

Hubble's view, however, is much more zoomed-in than our eyes, allowing it to observe very distant objects. This image captures a small region of the SMC near the center of NGC 346, a star cluster that is home to dozens of massive young stars.

IMAGE: This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features part of the Small Magellanic Cloud. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, C. Murray

[skinmechanix]

One of the two Magellanic Cloud plus globular cluster 47 Tucanae aka NGC104 photographed on 30th June 2022 using a 65mm aperature super wide field scope located in Chile, via iTelescope.net

[amoraando]

Tucano Elvis e Tucana Sara 😍❤️💚☀️

[quiltofstars]

The Small Magellanic Cloud (right) and 47 Tucanae (lower left) // Avhinav