Names in Space
Posted at 5:55 AM on November 20, 2009
by Dale Connelly
(15 Comments)
I spent a significant portion of my youth helping my father work on cars in our backyard garage. My role was to hold the flashlight and fetch tools and parts when asked. In our shop, searching for stuff represented about 90% of the overall man-hours, so I knew I was engaged in vital work - the primary task at hand. That's why it makes me happy to know the Space Shuttle Atlantis is delivering a motherlode of spare parts to the International Space Station.
I hope they remembered to label everything. Space is big, and it's hard enough to find that spare fuel pump when you don't have an inconceivably vast emptiness to search through.
Speaking of the bigness of space - one of the many quick ways to see a chunk of money float away forever is to spend it "naming" a star for a loved one. The International Astronomical Union and plain common sense will caution you against this. Scientists identify stars by number and you can't purchase legitimate naming rights for anything in the night sky.
That doesn't stop people from trying to sell you the opportunity, though.
And there are billions of stars out there - in fact there are more genuine stars in the sky than there have ever been in the ranks of TV and movie stars here on Earth, which is saying something because we have a plethora of stars raging around New York and Hollywood at the moment - people you have never heard of and yet, rumor has it, they're extremely famous. Perhaps if we numbered them it would be easier to keep track.
Of course when it comes to our own private use, we can call the stars and the planets whatever we want. Name the moon after your favorite relative to make it seem less foreboding, or because you recognize something in the way it shows up fully lit at least once a month. Just don't expect anyone else to follow suit. Hearing that scientists have discovered water on Uncle Fred would be just plain weird.
How good are you at correctly identifying stars, planets and constellations in the night sky? Do you know what you're doing, or do you improvise, like me?
I've decided to re-name Saturn's moon, Tethys.
I'm calling it "Kirk Douglas". I think it fits.
Comments (15)
another good topic, Dale - we're taking a class for codgers and the topic was astronomy and the fall/winter night sky yesterday. fascinating.
and that poem yesterday: fabulous! but i should be athankin' thee Captain.
gotta go milk early so i can get to a crack-o-dawn meeting (those sustainable farmers!) today. will catch ya on the flip side.
I've always kinda liked the fact that all the moons in our solar system are named similarly... seems a nice touch. Not sure how we'll handle renaming them at this point... I mean I'm sure my daughter will have no interest in naming a star or a moon "Sean Connery"! Of course, the Native American way of naming our own moon differently every month is very interesting. I found a website that says the Dakotah Sioux call the March moon "Moon When Eyes Are Sore From Bright Snow" - you gotta love that.
But as long as we're talking about the bigness of space, and since I've gotten some good book recommendations from this group, I'm going to plug one of my all-time favorite books - Contact by Carl Sagan. Very very thought provoking book! (The book though -- not the movie!)
Have a great weekend Heartlanders!
Greetings! I know a few constellations in the night sky -- only the most obvious ones. My husband is much better versed in astronomy -- he even has a large (and expensive) telescope, books, etc., to help him identify stars and planets.
Sherrilee, I also enjoyed "Contact." I read the book years ago, so I was happy to see the movie when it came out. Gotta love Jodie Foster. And Kirk Douglas -- that's a great old picture of him.
Morning, everybody. Happy Friday.
Dale, yes, Kirk Douglas fits perfectly! Great imagination.
I'm looking forward to seeing Prairie Home Companion this Saturday at the State Theatre - and seeing "Jim Ed" there.
Have a great weekend everyone.
I haven't done much star watching and would like to find more time to do this. Every once in a while I try to see something in the night sky that is unusual and which I hear about in the news. Not too long ago, I managed to see the space station moving across the sky because it was in a good position to be spotted.
If Dale can have his own personal name for a moon of Saturn, I guess I can come up with my own name for the space station. I could just manage to see the space station, but for me it was the most amazing thing in the sky. Therefore my name for the space station should the name of a big star. I have deciced I should call it Johnny Depp.
My husband is the one in our family who knows the stars and planets - I make 'em up. My daughter and I have a game we play where we look for a bright, twinkling star and pronounce that star "Lady Bop Bop" (our family name for my grandmother). I like to think that she's out there shining bright - and keep an eye on all of us.
dale i think that space is the answer to my cluttered garage problem. if i only had infinity to keep my stuff in i would be ok. my wife would still be upset that i put the most recent additions right next to the moon rather than putting them out by pluto where they should properly be seeing as i don't use them all that often. i could keep my christmas ornaments by cousin charles until thanksgiving and then go get them and i would have my automotive parts and tools right there by click and clack (that would turn into an automotive junk yard) my clothes for the other season could go out there next to liberace and i could keep my cooking supplies in the big dipper (keep that one)
i spent one summer with some friends learning the summer sky and it is a cool addition to your life to know the constellations and the main stars that are out there, i always love it when orion shows back up at this time of year and feel bad whwn he is leaving in the spring for his six month hiatus. i would get concerned if we had to vote for the names of the major night markers because the world would have to be in on it and it would be the mao up there in he sky every night. yep full mao tonight. and then the fox news crowd would have the ronald reagan rings around rush limbaugh where saturn used to be. is be in favor of rush where uranus is but then again...
maybe its best left alone
Nice, Dale. Nostalgic for me. I too fetched the tools (thus learned fractions), held the light ("on thw work not in my eyes"), and held the dumb end of the tape.
Good morning everyone, I've been away from the computer in the mornings this week, but just checking in quick.
Interesting topic as always Dale. It occurs to me, in your reference to Uncle Fred, that instead of finding water there, one might likely find methane. Knowing how uncles like to be, if you know what I mean.
You raided the topic Dale, so what in pace should be named for Elvis?
I'm too late this morning, but Telstar would be a good song. Are there any songs about tools? must be...
Only (well, probably not) thing about living int he city is how little of the night sky we get to see. There was a meteor shower this week, and even if we had gotten up at 3 a.m. to see it, we would've had to drive way out.
p.s. Made me laugh, Mike. Your blog name is longer than usual
Good one on Elvis; a sandwich is good for him. I was also thinking of something that looks like one of his rhinstone outfits. So maybe the eastern sky is named Elvis and the western sky is name Liberace.
If a sandwich for Elvis, then that leaves room for something called Meatloaf, may be a small amorphous asteroid.
Ah, I just heard Ann Reed's Power Tools, Dale... I knew there was something.
Jim - are you aware that just this week, People magazine named Johnny Depp the sexiest man alive? So, only if an official party of qualified sex appeal determinants all agree that the space station is the most erotic feature in the night sky, can it legitimately be called Johhny. If you don't mind, I'd like to suggest an equally influential name for the space station that took your breath away that unforgettable evening-- Carlos.
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