Where am I?

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Moonlady
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Where am I?

Post by Moonlady » Thu Feb 28, 2013 12:01 pm

I like to propose hunting an astronomy related object which is only known by me,
when someone knows what object it is, can offer a new object he or she knows and
others start hunting!

Can be expanded to astronomy related phenomenons too!

Will you get money, fame and fortune? No! But I am sure it will be fun! :D

I start with an easy one (not because I dont want to be hard on you, but I'm not good with physics :ssmile: )

I am orbiting around the sun,
I am in your mouth!


Mind I am not always online, be patient! Lets get going!

Doum
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Re: Where am I?

Post by Doum » Thu Feb 28, 2013 2:03 pm

can it be a chocolate bar? :?

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Chris Peterson
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Re: Where am I?

Post by Chris Peterson » Thu Feb 28, 2013 2:59 pm

Doum wrote:can it be a chocolate bar?
I hope it's that, and not the seventh planet! Or a popular cleaning powder! In parts of the U.S. south, it is common to add dirt to food, or even to consume it by the spoon, so perhaps even the third planet would be a possible answer.
Chris

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rstevenson
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Re: Where am I?

Post by rstevenson » Thu Feb 28, 2013 3:03 pm

That is an easy one - for anyone who has visited the dentist as many times as I have: Mercury!

Oh dear, now I have to propose one ... ... ... gimme a sec ... ... ... Ah! This'll twist your minds...

Like certain cask carriers, I'm running away.

Rob

OOps! I shouldn't have proposed one yet. I'm supposed to be declared the winner first. :oops:

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Beyond
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Re: Where am I?

Post by Beyond » Thu Feb 28, 2013 3:24 pm

The only 'cask' carriers that i know of, are usually depicted in cold places, and they're all a bunch of woofers. :lol2:

Ok Rob, ignor my answer to your non-proposed question. :mrgreen:
To find the Truth, you must go Beyond.

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Ann
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Re: Where am I?

Post by Ann » Thu Feb 28, 2013 3:43 pm

Alkaid in the Big Dipper?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eta_Ursae_Majoris wrote:
The name derives from the Arabic phrase meaning "The leader of the daughters of the bier" (قائد بنات نعش qā'id bināt naʿsh). The daughters of the bier, i.e. the mourning maidens, are the three stars of the handle of the Big Dipper, Alkaid, Mizar, and Alioth; while the four stars of the bowl, Megrez, Phecda, Merak, and Dubhe, are the bier.
Alkaid also has a different proper motion than the other stars in the Big Dipper and is "running away" from them.

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Re: Where am I?

Post by Ann » Thu Feb 28, 2013 4:09 pm

I guess I'm going to assume I won. Be aware that my question may not be so easy to answer, so I'll give you a lot of clues!

We are near-twins.

We are in the same constellation, fairly close, but not one another's binary companions in any way.

We are near-twins in that we are almost equally bright and belong to very similar spectral classes.

We are blue!!!Image

But we keep splendid red company!

We bear the same :!: (little-known) name! :o

We bear Greek letter designations in such a way that the Greek letter belonging to one of us comes right behind the Greek letter belonging to the other one of us (in the Greek alphabet, that is).

We are surrounded by beautiful, colorful nebulosity, especially one of us!

We have been described as "arteries" feeding a great red "heart".

Look south to find us!

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Re: Where am I?

Post by Moonlady » Thu Feb 28, 2013 6:08 pm

rstevenson wrote:That is an easy one - for anyone who has visited the dentist as many times as I have: Mercury!

Oh dear, now I have to propose one ... ... ... gimme a sec ... ... ... Ah! This'll twist your minds...

Like certain cask carriers, I'm running away.

Rob

OOps! I shouldn't have proposed one yet. I'm supposed to be declared the winner first. :oops:

The answer is correct :thumb_up:

It's Ann's turn if her answer is confirmed by Rob

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rstevenson
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Re: Where am I?

Post by rstevenson » Thu Feb 28, 2013 7:48 pm

Actually, Beyond got it. The cask carriers (proverbial only, says Wikipedia) are St. Bernard dogs. And I was thinking of Barnard's Star, which is the fastest moving star in our neighbourhood -- or to put it correctly, it has the largest-known proper motion of any star relative to the Sun.
SuperStock_1597-10051.jpg
SuperStock_1597-10051.jpg (80 KiB) Viewed 6722 times
But I like Ann's take on it too, with Alkaid leading the carriers of a bier or casket. So points to both of them. Besides, Ann's already proposed a test, so we might as well keep on keeping on.

Rob

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Re: Where am I?

Post by Beyond » Thu Feb 28, 2013 8:37 pm

I wasn't thinking of a star, just the dog that went with the cask. So I'll just palm it off to Ann. She's good at stars, especially blue ones. :yes: :D
To find the Truth, you must go Beyond.

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Re: Where am I?

Post by Ann » Fri Mar 01, 2013 1:00 am

Ooops! I absolutely shouldn't have assumed that I won just like that!!! :oops:

But you wanted to go on with my question anyway.I think perhaps it is too hard. So here's another clue:

You don't know us, but you do know our red heart - our arachnid heart!

Use a star map (there's Google) to find us near our red heart!

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Re: Where am I?

Post by Ann » Fri Mar 01, 2013 3:39 am

Still too hard, I think.
Okay! Here's a picture. The "red heart" I've been asking for is yellow here, and it really is yellow, too - objects like this one really are yellow, although we call them red. The yellow "red heart" is bright, and there are extremely few objects like it in the sky. Surely you should be able to find it???

I was asking for the two blue near-twins, the two "arteries" leading to the heart. They have almost identical magnitudes, very similar spectral classes, and the same (little-known) name! Their Greek letter Bayer designations "follow one another" in the Greek alphabet.

C'mon now, google, please!

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Moonlady
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Re: Where am I?

Post by Moonlady » Sat Mar 02, 2013 6:15 pm

I like to suggest a time limit for each quest.

Each hunt is given 24 hours starting by proposing time, if there isnt any correct answer, the
correct answer will be revealed by the person who proposed the searched
astronomical object or phenomenon after 24 hours.

Any other ideas?

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Re: Where am I?

Post by Ann » Sat Mar 02, 2013 7:52 pm

Good idea, Moonlady!

My question was too hard, so here is the answer.
The arachnid red (although really yellow) bright "heart" is Antares in Scorpius. It is one of only two bright-looking red (in reality yellow) supergiants in the sky! The other one is Betelgeuse in Orion.

The two "arteries" leading up to it, the near-twins of very similar spectral classes and very similar apparent magnitudes, the blue stars which share the same name, are Sigma Scorpius, magnitude 2.90, a double star whose components are spectral classes B1III + O9.5V, plus Tau Scorpii, magnitude 2.82, spectral class B0V. The Greek letters Sigma and Tau follow each other in the Greek alphabet, and Sigma Scorpius and Tau Scorpius share the same name, Al Niyat, which means "artery".

In the picture, Antares is the bright yellow star slightly below center. Sigma Scorpii is at 3 o'clock, surrounded by both blue and red nebulosity. Tau Scorpii is at 7 o'clock.

Ann
Last edited by Ann on Sat Mar 02, 2013 7:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Where am I?

Post by Ann » Sat Mar 02, 2013 7:53 pm

I'm sorry that my question was so hard! Here's a much easier one.

I'm a great dog. I have a pup in tow. But the pup used to be my master!

Ann
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orin stepanek
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Re: Where am I?

Post by orin stepanek » Sun Mar 03, 2013 12:18 am

Hey Moonlady; If we can't find it! Can we yell ally ally ally oxen free? :mrgreen:
Click to play embedded YouTube video.
Orin

Smile today; tomorrow's another day!

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rstevenson
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Re: Where am I?

Post by rstevenson » Sun Mar 03, 2013 12:42 am

Ann wrote:I'm a great dog. I have a pup in tow. But the pup used to be my master!
I suppose that has to be Orion's hunting dog, Canis Major, and the pup Canis Minor. But Google made that Siriusly easy. (Don't ya just love puns!)

Rob

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Re: Where am I?

Post by Moonlady » Sun Mar 03, 2013 2:34 am

Orin, sure you can! :D Though I dont know what the line means.

I offer an alternate for the desperate call if we dont know the answer!
Click to play embedded YouTube video.

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Re: Where am I?

Post by Ann » Sun Mar 03, 2013 7:45 am

Rob, you got it! It was indeed Siriusly easy!

Sirius is the Alpha star of the constellation Canis Major, which means Great Dog.

Sirius is on the left here, with the blue "pup" on the right. The "pup" is a white dwarf. It used to be brighter and more massive than Sirius before it turned into a white dwarf, so it used to be the "master" of Sirius!

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Moonlady
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Re: Where am I?

Post by Moonlady » Tue Mar 05, 2013 6:30 pm

Hey Rob, it's your turn! Or do you want to pass this round?

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Re: Where am I?

Post by MargaritaMc » Tue Mar 05, 2013 8:33 pm

This looks like good fun - I hope someone proposes the next Who Am , and I will do my best to rack my brains - or Google's - for an answer.
Margarita
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— Dr Debra M. Elmegreen, Fellow of the AAAS

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rstevenson
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Re: Where am I?

Post by rstevenson » Tue Mar 05, 2013 9:31 pm

Moonlady wrote:Hey Rob, it's your turn! Or do you want to pass this round?
Oops, sorry. I've been busy -- homework, work, home, other non-essentials like that.

I'd better pass since my brain is fried at the moment.

Rob

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Ann
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Re: Where am I?

Post by Ann » Wed Mar 06, 2013 8:05 am

MOonlady, may I post another question?

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MargaritaMc
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Re: Where am I?

Post by MargaritaMc » Wed Mar 06, 2013 9:43 am

Ann wrote:MOonlady, may I post another question?

Ann
Oh, do, Ann :!: I'm sure Moonlady will agree! But, remember MY level of expertise when you set it :wink:
Margarita

PS The level that I am at is shown by the question that I thought up when going to sleep last night,

"They said that the cat killed me, but although dusty I am alive and well"

If it takes you more than two pico-seconds to answer that I will eat my hat :mrgreen:
"In those rare moments of total quiet with a dark sky, I again feel the awe that struck me as a child. The feeling is utterly overwhelming as my mind races out across the stars. I feel peaceful and serene."
— Dr Debra M. Elmegreen, Fellow of the AAAS

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Ann
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Re: Where am I?

Post by Ann » Wed Mar 06, 2013 9:52 am

Ehhh...Curiosity? :mrgreen:

Okay, here's my next question.
We are twins. In 1838 it was found that we are 10.4 light-years away (we are actually 11,4 light-years away, but never mind!).


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