by Ann » Mon Jan 22, 2024 6:46 am
starman1 wrote: ↑Mon Jan 22, 2024 5:14 am
I thought it was called "First Quarter" phase because the Moon is 1/4 of the way through its orbit around the Earth since New.
Putting on my
Spock ears, I must say that I find the "Quarter" Moon expression illogical anyway. If the Moon is called a "Quarter" because a quarter of its surface is illuminated, why then is it called a "Full Moon" when half of its surface is illuminated?
Anyway. Even though today's APOD is in black and white, even I as the Color Commentator must admit that it is incredibly striking and handsome. The way that the terminator of the Moon seems to form an unbroken line with the "terminator" of the mountain is so elegant, and then, of course, the overall shape of the mountain top makes it look like an arrow perfectly placed to point directly at the Moon! That's some shot!
Disregarding the fact that the picture shows us a half moon - sorry, a "quarter moon" - the picture still reminds me of an upside down version of the cosmic exclamation mark (or question mark!), large somewhat triangular nebula NGC 7822 and small round nebula Sharpless 170:
Well, the picture of the Cosmic Question Mark turned out to be quite big, right? Actually, NGC 7822+Sharpless 170 is mostly known as the Cosmic Exclamation mark. Let's have a look at a better Cosmic Question Mark!
There is a really funny space meme based on this perfect deep-space cosmic question mark:
See Dr. Becky's video
here.
And if you're wondering what humans sent out to aliens, it was two identical Golden Records onboard Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. If any aliens ever find one of them, they may indeed wonder what on earth - or what in space - that thing is supposed to say!
Wikipedia wrote:
The Voyager Golden Records are two identical phonograph records, one of each which was included aboard the two Voyager spacecraft launched in 1977. The records contain sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth, and are intended for any intelligent extraterrestrial life form who may find them. The records are a time capsule.
And if you don't remember where the Voyager spacecraft are, they have passed the position of Pluto, but they haven't cleared the Oort Cloud (not by far). They have a ways to go before they can hope to meet any aliens!
But, speaking of question marks, the ultimate answer to Life, the Universe and Everything is, as many of us know, 42. Now we just have to figure out what the question is.
Ann
[quote=starman1 post_id=336459 time=1705900489]
I thought it was called "First Quarter" phase because the Moon is 1/4 of the way through its orbit around the Earth since New.
[/quote]
Putting on my [url=https://cdn.vectorstock.com/i/preview-1x/57/72/elf-ears-isolated-template-portrait-vector-22335772.jpg]Spock ears[/url], I must say that I find the "Quarter" Moon expression illogical anyway. If the Moon is called a "Quarter" because a quarter of its surface is illuminated, why then is it called a "Full Moon" when half of its surface is illuminated?
Anyway. Even though today's APOD is in black and white, even I as the Color Commentator must admit that it is incredibly striking and handsome. The way that the terminator of the Moon seems to form an unbroken line with the "terminator" of the mountain is so elegant, and then, of course, the overall shape of the mountain top makes it look like an arrow perfectly placed to point directly at the Moon! That's some shot! :D
Disregarding the fact that the picture shows us a half moon - sorry, a "quarter moon" - the picture still reminds me of an upside down version of the cosmic exclamation mark (or question mark!), large somewhat triangular nebula NGC 7822 and small round nebula Sharpless 170:
[float=left][img3="Shadows of Mountain and Moon.
Image Credit & Copyright: Enzo Massa Micon"]https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2401/GrivolaMoon_Micon_1080.jpg[/img3][/float][float=right][img3="NGC 7822: Cosmic Question Mark.
Image Credit & Copyright: Yizhou Zhang"]https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2110/NGC7822_Yizhou_960.jpg[/img3][/float]
[clear][/clear]
Well, the picture of the Cosmic Question Mark turned out to be quite big, right? Actually, NGC 7822+Sharpless 170 is mostly known as the Cosmic Exclamation mark. Let's have a look at a better Cosmic Question Mark!
[img3="JWST NIRCam closeup of Herbig-Haro object HH 46/47, with question mark-shaped galaxy (possibly two or three interacting galaxies) in the background. Credit: NASA/ESA/CSA/Joseph DePasquale (STScI)"]https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/20230810-question-mark-star.jpg?c=original[/img3]
There is a really funny space meme based on this perfect deep-space cosmic question mark:
[img3="Dr. Becky reacts to space memes"]https://i.ytimg.com/vi/bK_9lVc2HWU/maxresdefault.jpg[/img3]
See Dr. Becky's video [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bK_9lVc2HWU]here[/url].
And if you're wondering what humans sent out to aliens, it was two identical Golden Records onboard Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. If any aliens ever find one of them, they may indeed wonder what on earth - or what in space - that thing is supposed to say!
[quote][url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_Golden_Record]Wikipedia[/url] wrote:
The Voyager Golden Records are two identical phonograph records, one of each which was included aboard the two Voyager spacecraft launched in 1977. The records contain sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth, and are intended for any intelligent extraterrestrial life form who may find them. The records are a time capsule.[/quote]
And if you don't remember where the Voyager spacecraft are, they have passed the position of Pluto, but they haven't cleared the Oort Cloud (not by far). They have a ways to go before they can hope to meet any aliens! 👽 :D
[img3="Positions of the Voyagers. I don't think that the picture is perfectly up to date, but the positions of the Voyagers will not have changed much. You can see the closest star to our Solar system, Alpha Centauri, at far right, but the Voyagers are not headed for Alpha Centauri or any other particular star. Credit: NASA."]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/Voyagers_Position.jpg[/img3]
But, speaking of question marks, the ultimate answer to Life, the Universe and Everything is, as many of us know, 42. Now we just have to figure out what the question is.
[img3="42 is the answer, but what's the question?"]https://www.allformarathon.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/42.jpg[/img3]
[spoiler]The number 42 is, in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, the "Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything", calculated by an enormous supercomputer named Deep Thought over a period of 7.5 million years. Unfortunately, no one knows what the question is. Source: Wikipedia[/spoiler]
[spoiler]Hey, don't you know? The question is, How long is a marathon? The answer is 42.16481 kilometers. For you Americans, that's 26 miles and 385 yards, but the Universe doesn't understand miles and yards. So, 42.16481 kilometers. Let's forget about the extra meters, because herein lies the Deep Truth. When you have run 42 kilometers exactly, you are done. That's the answer![/spoiler]
Ann