Starship Asterisk*

There has been no Astronomy Picture of the Day today. I hope bystander is okay.

Ann

Ann wrote:
There has been no Astronomy Picture of the Day today. I hope bystander is okay.

• Or Otto Posterman.

`Do you know what to-morrow is, Kitty?' Alice began. `You'd have guessed if you'd been up in the window with me -- only Dinah was making you tidy, so you couldn't. I was watching the boys getting in stick for the bonfire -- and it wants plenty of sticks, Kitty! Only it got so cold, and it snowed so, they had to leave off. Never mind, Kitty, we'll go and see the bonfire to-morrow.'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes wrote:

Protesters wearing "Guy Fawkes masks" at
a 2008 protest against Scientology in London

<<On 5 November 1605 Londoners were encouraged to celebrate the King's escape from assassination by lighting bonfires, "always provided that 'this testemonye of joy be carefull done without any danger or disorder'". An Act of Parliament designated each 5 November as a day of thanksgiving for "the joyful day of deliverance", and remained in force until 1859. Although he was only one of 13 conspirators, Fawkes is today the individual most associated with the failed Plot.

In Britain, 5 November has variously been called Guy Fawkes Night, Guy Fawkes Day, Plot Night and Bonfire Night; the latter can be traced directly back to the original celebration of 5 November 1605. Bonfires were accompanied by fireworks from the 1650s onwards, and it became the custom to burn an effigy (usually the Pope) after 1673, when the heir presumptive, James, Duke of York made his conversion to Catholicism public. The "guy" is normally created by children, from old clothes, newspapers, and a mask.

William Harrison Ainsworth's 1841 historical romance Guy Fawkes; or, The Gunpowder Treason, portrays Fawkes in a generally sympathetic light, and transformed him in the public perception into an "acceptable fictional character". During the 19th century, "guy" came to mean an oddly dressed person, but in American English it lost any pejorative connotation, and was used to refer to any male person. Fawkes subsequently appeared as "essentially an action hero" in children's books and penny dreadfuls such as The Boyhood Days of Guy Fawkes; or, The Conspirators of Old London, published in about 1905. Fawkes is sometimes referred to as "the only man ever to enter Parliament with honest intentions".>>

Where is Nov. 5th APOD?

I sent RJN an email in case nobody else did.

I emailed RJN about the 5th's APOD in case nobody else did.

This is a magnificent image from yesterday ...

NOW (GMT Saturday, November 5, 2011 at 11:44:25) is time for a magnificent image for today.

I guess that something most have gone awry in the APOD mothership?

Be it known that APOD is missed!!

I refreshed and refreshed until Firefox crashed.

How come no new APOD for Nov. 5th?

Please post new APOD.

Thanks,
Smita

Perhaps it's like the lack of a Today programme on Radio 4 - the sign that the country has been overrun by the enemy - which alerts the nuclear submarines that they should retaliate!?

I'm not seeing an update for today (Nov 5) either.

Sal.

Emails have been sent to TPTB; I expect APOD will be fixed when one of them is available to fix it. (It is Saturday so might take a bit. I hope everyone awaits patiently!)

It's Nov. 5, 10 am ET and no new APOD. I hope there's no serious problem. In my experience this is very unusual.

Yeah, rest assured an APOD was created for today, it just wasn't made public for whatever reason. In any case, even if it doesn't make it up today, that just means tomorrow you'll get two APODs. Or Monday you'll get three!

And no, I can't show the APOD for today that is hidden because that would disrupt the space-time continuum and Q (aka RJN) would be upset.

geckzilla wrote:
Yeah, rest assured an APOD was created for today, it just wasn't made public for whatever reason. In any case, even if it doesn't make it up today, that just means tomorrow you'll get two APODs. Or Monday you'll get three! And no, I can't show the APOD for today that is hidden because that would disrupt the space-time continuum and Q (aka RJN) would be upset.

• Memorable quotes for Conspiracy Theory (1997)

------------------------------
Jerry Fletcher (Mel Gibson): A good conspiracy is unprovable. I mean, if you can prove it, it means they screwed up somewhere along the line.
------------------------------
Jerry Fletcher: To be normal, to drink Coca-Cola and eat Kentucky Fried Chicken is to be in a conspiracy against yourself.
------------------------------
Jerry: I'm only paranoid because they want me dead.
------------------------------
Jerry: David Berkowitz, Ted Bundy, Richard Speck...

Alice (Julia Roberts): What about them?

Jerry: Serial killers. Serial killers only have two names. You ever notice that? But lone gunmen assassins, they always have three names. John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, Mark David Chapman...

Alice: John Hinckley. He shot Reagan. He only has two names.

Jerry: Yeah, but he only just shot Reagan. Reagan didn't die. If Reagan had died, I'm pretty sure we probably would all know what John Hinckley's middle name was.
.
Jerry: ... I just thought of another one: James Earl Ray, the guy who got Luther King. Then of course, there's Sirhan Sirhan. I still haven't figured that one out. Maybe it's Sirhan Sirhan Sirhan, I don't know.
------------------------------

Did we have a whole day of daylight saving this year, or was there a big snow storm in the UP?

Today's APOD is now up.

Better late than never!

orin stepanek wrote:
Better late than never!

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• Chapter VI: Pig and Pepper

Alice waited a little, half expecting to see [the Cheshire Cat] again, but it did not appear, and after a minute or two she walked on in the direction in which the March Hare was said to live. `I've seen hatters before,' she said to herself; `the March Hare will be much the most interesting, and perhaps as this is May it won't be raving mad--at least not so mad as it was in March.'
...................................................

• Chapter VII: A Mad Tea-Party

The Hatter was the first to break the silence. `What day of the month is it?' he said, turning to Alice: he had taken his watch out of his pocket, and was looking at it uneasily, shaking it every now and then, and holding it to his ear.

Alice considered a little, and then said `The fourth.'

`Two days wrong!' sighed the Hatter. `I told you butter wouldn't suit the works!' he added looking angrily at the March Hare.

`It was the BEST butter,' the March Hare meekly replied.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_transit wrote:
<<Transits of Mercury across the Sun take place in May or November [originally first observed around the 4th or 5th]. November transits occur at intervals of 7, 13, or 33 years ; May transits only occur at intervals of 13 or 33 years. The last three transits occurred in 1999, 2003 and 2006 ; the next will occur in 2016. During a May transit, Mercury is near aphelion and has an angular diameter of 12"; during a November transit, it is near perihelion and has an angular diameter of 10".>>

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• Chapter 6: Humpty Dumpty

`You've been listening at doors -- and behind trees -- and sown chimneys -- or you couldn't have known it!'

`I haven't, indeed!' Alice said very gently. `It's in a book.'

`Ah, well! They may write such things in a book,' Humpty Dumpty said in a calmer tone. `That's what you call a History of England, that is. Now, take a good look at me! I'm one that has spoken to a King, I am: mayhap you'll never see such another: and to show you I'm not proud, you may shake hands with me!' And he grinned almost from ear to ear, as he leant forwards (and as nearly as possible fell of the wall in doing so) and offered Alice his hand. She watched him a little anxiously as she took it. `If he smiled much more, the ends of his mouth might meet behind,' she thought: `and then I don't know what would happen to his head! I'm afraid it would come off!'

`Yes, all his horses and all his men,' Humpty Dumpty went on. `They'd pick me up again in a minute, they would! However, this conversation is going on a little too fast: let's go back to the last remark but one.'

`I'm afraid I can't quite remember it,' Alice said very politely.

`In that case we start fresh,' said Humpty Dumpty, `and it's my turn to choose a subject -- ' (`He talks about it just as if it was a game!' thought Alice.) `So here's a question for you. How old did you say you were?'

Alice made a short calculation, and said `Seven years and six months.'

`Wrong!' Humpty Dumpty exclaimed triumphantly. `You never said a word like it!'

`I though you meant "How old are you?"' Alice explained.

`If I'd meant that, I'd have said it,' said Humpty Dumpty.

Alice didn't want to begin another argument, so she said nothing.

`Seven years and six months!' Humpty Dumpty repeated thoughtfully. `An uncomfortable sort of age. Now if you'd asked my advice, I'd have said "Leave off at seven" -- but it's too late now.'

`I never ask advice about growing,' Alice said Indignantly.

`Too proud?' the other inquired.

Alice felt even more indignant at this suggestion. `I mean,' she said, `that one can't help growing older.'

`One can't, perhaps,' said Humpty Dumpty, `but two can. With proper assistance, you might have left off at seven.'
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