APOD: Electric Night (2019 Dec 04)

Comments and questions about the APOD on the main view screen.
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APOD: Electric Night (2019 Dec 04)

Post by APOD Robot » Wed Dec 04, 2019 5:07 am

Image Electric Night

Explanation: It may appear, at first, like the Galaxy is producing the lightning, but really it's the Earth. The featured nighttime landscape was taken from a southern tip of the Italian Island of Sardinia in early June. The foreground rocks and shrubs are near the famous Capo Spartivento Lighthouse, and the camera is pointed south toward Algeria in Africa. In the distance, across the Mediterranean Sea, a thunderstorm is threatening, with several electric lightning strokes caught together during this 25-second wide-angle exposure. Much farther in the distance, strewn about the sky, are hundreds of stars in the neighborhood of our Sun in the Milky Way Galaxy. Furthest away, and slanting down from the upper left, are billions of stars that together compose the central band of our Milky Way.

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Re: APOD: Electric Night (2019 Dec 04)

Post by Ann » Wed Dec 04, 2019 8:28 am

"Reflection nebula" of Earthly lightning. Photo: Ivan Pedretti.
Reflection nebula of the Pleiades. Photo: John Davis.
Full size here.



















The Iris Nebula.Photo: Göran Nilsson.
Today's APOD remind me so much of an Earthly reflection nebula, and I've tried to find a "real" (cosmic) refection nebula that reminds me of today's APOD. Maybe the Iris Nebula?

Yes, I think the Iris Nebula is a pretty good counterpoint to the dramatic "reflection nebula-thunderstorm in the APOD. The most obvious thing missing in the Iris Nebula picture is the dramatic band of the Milky Way!

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What, Me Worry?

Post by neufer » Wed Dec 04, 2019 11:58 am

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sardonicism wrote:
<<Sardonicism is "the quality or state of being sardonic; an instance of this; a sardonic remark". A sardonic action is one that is "disdainfully or skeptically humorous" or "derisively mocking". A sardonic remark may be an imitation or intimation, to express conceitedness and boldness at events of adversity and to dissuade from follies. Also, when referring to laughter or a smile, it is "bitter, scornful, mocking". Hence, when referring to a person or a personal attribute, it is with bitterness, scorn or mockery. Sardonic remarks can often be to oneself, these are non-apologetic. Sardonic also expresses arrogance and an attitude that may indicate superiority.

Both the origin of the concept and the etymology of the word sardonicism is uncertain, but it appears to stem from the Mediterranean island of Sardinia. The 10th-century Byzantine Greek encyclopedia Suda traces the word's earliest roots to the notion of grinning (Ancient Greek: σαίρω, romanized: sairō) in the face of danger, or curling one's lips back at evil.

One explanation for the later alteration to its more familiar form and connection to laughter (supported by the Oxford English Dictionary) appears to stem from an ancient belief that ingesting the sardonion (σαρδόνιον) plant from Sardinia (Σαρδώ) would result in convulsions resembling laughter and, ultimately, death. In Theory and History of Folklore, Vladimir Propp discusses alleged examples of ritual laughter accompanying death and killing, all involving groups. These he characterized as sardonic laughter:
  • Among the very ancient people of Sardinia, who were called Sardi or Sardoni, it was customary to kill old people. While killing their old people, the Sardi laughed loudly. This is the origin of notorious sardonic laughter (Eugen Fehrle, 1930). In light of our findings things begin to look different. Laughter accompanies the passage from death to life; it creates life and accompanies birth. Consequently, laughter accompanying killing transforms death into a new birth, nullifies murder as such, and is an act of piety that transforms death into a new life.
A root form may first appear in Homer's Odyssey as the Ancient Greek sardánios, altered by influence of the word Sardonios (Σαρδονιος, "Sardinian"), originated from a Greek phrase which meant “to be sneered”, “tearing of flesh” or for scornful laughter. From the sardónios evolved the Latin: sardonius, thence the French: sardonique, and ultimately the familiar English adjectival form, sardonic. In the English vernacular, it was recorded and utilized in the 1579 “The Shepheard’s Calendar.”

In 2009, scientists at the University of Eastern Piedmont in Italy claimed to have identified hemlock water dropwort (Oenanthe crocata) as the plant responsible for producing the sardonic grin. This plant is the candidate for the "sardonic herb", which was a neurotoxic plant used for the ritual killing of elderly people in pre-Roman Sardinia. When these people were unable to support themselves, they were intoxicated with this herb and then dropped from a high rock or beaten to death.

Frank Herbert, from his first book of the series Dune, remarked; “Greatness is a transitory experience. It is never consistent. It depends in part upon the myth-making imagination of humankind. The person who experiences greatness must have a feeling for the myth he is in. He must reflect what is projected upon him. And he must have a strong sense of the sardonic. This is what uncouples him from belief in his own pretensions. The sardonic is all that permits him to move within himself. Without this quality, even occasional greatness will destroy a man.”>>
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Re: APOD: Electric Night (2019 Dec 04)

Post by orin stepanek » Wed Dec 04, 2019 12:25 pm

What a beautiful Land; sea; skyscape; this is! 8-) :thumb_up:
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Re: APOD: Electric Night (2019 Dec 04)

Post by neufer » Wed Dec 04, 2019 12:42 pm

orin stepanek wrote: Wed Dec 04, 2019 12:25 pm
What a beautiful Land; sea; skyscape; this is! :thumb_up:
Yes, indeed... old man. 8-)
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Re: APOD: Electric Night (2019 Dec 04)

Post by TheOtherBruce » Wed Dec 04, 2019 1:38 pm

Looks like the climactic scene of Raiders Of The Lost Ark is taking place just over the horizon... 8-)
This universe shipped by weight, not by volume.
Some expansion of the contents may have occurred during shipment.

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Re: APOD: Electric Night (2019 Dec 04)

Post by Ann » Wed Dec 04, 2019 2:05 pm

neufer wrote: Wed Dec 04, 2019 12:42 pm
orin stepanek wrote: Wed Dec 04, 2019 12:25 pm
What a beautiful Land; sea; skyscape; this is! :thumb_up:
Yes, indeed... old man. 8-)

I'm an old woman, so I prefer not to criticise people because of the impressive number of years they have spent on this Earth.

But to each his own.


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Re: APOD: Electric Night (2019 Dec 04)

Post by TheZuke! » Wed Dec 04, 2019 2:35 pm

Ann,
People who live in glass houses,
should also shower in the basement!
B^)

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Re: APOD: Electric Night (2019 Dec 04)

Post by orin stepanek » Wed Dec 04, 2019 3:09 pm

Ann wrote: Wed Dec 04, 2019 2:05 pm
neufer wrote: Wed Dec 04, 2019 12:42 pm
orin stepanek wrote: Wed Dec 04, 2019 12:25 pm
What a beautiful Land; sea; skyscape; this is! :thumb_up:
Yes, indeed... old man. 8-)

I'm an old woman, so I prefer not to criticise people because of the impressive number of years they have spent on this Earth.

But to each his own.


Ann
It's OK Ann; I like Art; We kinda been in here for a longggggggggg time; so were no youngsters! I'll take old man as a compliment from you; Art; & a bunch of oldtimers on starship asterisk!
Orin

Smile today; tomorrow's another day!

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Re: APOD: Electric Night (2019 Dec 04)

Post by Ann » Wed Dec 04, 2019 4:09 pm

TheZuke! wrote: Wed Dec 04, 2019 2:35 pm Ann,
People who live in glass houses,
should also shower in the basement!
B^)

Good idea! :D

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Re: APOD: Electric Night (2019 Dec 04)

Post by neufer » Wed Dec 04, 2019 5:20 pm

Ann wrote: Wed Dec 04, 2019 2:05 pm
neufer wrote: Wed Dec 04, 2019 12:42 pm
orin stepanek wrote: Wed Dec 04, 2019 12:25 pm
What a beautiful Land; sea; skyscape; this is! :thumb_up:
Yes, indeed... old man. 8-)
I'm an old woman, so I prefer not to criticise people because of the impressive number of years they have spent on this Earth.

But to each his own.
Art Neuendorffer

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Ann
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Re: APOD: Electric Night (2019 Dec 04)

Post by Ann » Wed Dec 04, 2019 6:32 pm

neufer wrote: Wed Dec 04, 2019 5:20 pm
Ann wrote: Wed Dec 04, 2019 2:05 pm
neufer wrote: Wed Dec 04, 2019 12:42 pm
Yes, indeed... old man. 8-)
I'm an old woman, so I prefer not to criticise people because of the impressive number of years they have spent on this Earth.

But to each his own.
Is this what is called a circular argument?

I get a picture in my mind of an accretion disk helplessly caught in orbit around a black hole.

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Re: APOD: Electric Night (2019 Dec 04)

Post by orin stepanek » Wed Dec 04, 2019 8:14 pm

There once was a Star Trek video where the crew was stuck in a time warp where they met there past selves! I don't remember too much about the story but Ann's remark about
What, Me Worry?
Is this what is called a circular argument?

I get a picture in my mind of an accretion disk helplessly caught in orbit around a black hole.

Ann
reminded me of it! :mrgreen: :yes: :b:
Orin

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Re: APOD: Electric Night (2019 Dec 04)

Post by orin stepanek » Wed Dec 04, 2019 8:21 pm

Ann wrote: Wed Dec 04, 2019 4:09 pm
TheZuke! wrote: Wed Dec 04, 2019 2:35 pm Ann,
People who live in glass houses,
should also shower in the basement!
B^)

Good idea! :D

Ann
+1 :thumb_up: :yes: I like the picture; besides I got a shower in the basement! While I have windows, I don't live in a glass house!
Orin

Smile today; tomorrow's another day!

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Re: APOD: Electric Night (2019 Dec 04)

Post by Boomer12k » Wed Dec 04, 2019 11:20 pm

I find it fitting as it is theorized that Cosmic Rays help to set off thunderstorms... it is only fitting to see the heavens above it...

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August 2019 Thunderstorm shot here in the mobile home park... considerably closer than today's APOD... and LOUD!!! Reverberated across the sky in 3d stereo...it was awesome...
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Re: APOD: Electric Night (2019 Dec 04)

Post by orin stepanek » Wed Dec 04, 2019 11:48 pm

Boomer12k wrote: Wed Dec 04, 2019 11:20 pm I find it fitting as it is theorized that Cosmic Rays help to set off thunderstorms... it is only fitting to see the heavens above it...

:---[===] *
August 2019 Thunderstorm shot here in the mobile home park... considerably closer than today's APOD... and LOUD!!! Reverberated across the sky in 3d stereo...it was awesome...
My poor little dog gets terrified during thunder storms!
Orin

Smile today; tomorrow's another day!

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Re: APOD: Electric Night (2019 Dec 04)

Post by neufer » Thu Dec 05, 2019 1:36 am

orin stepanek wrote: Wed Dec 04, 2019 11:48 pm
My poor little dog gets terrified during thunder storms!
  • My little dog laughed to see such sport.
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Re: APOD: Electric Night (2019 Dec 04)

Post by Ann » Thu Dec 05, 2019 4:00 am

Boomer12k wrote: Wed Dec 04, 2019 11:20 pm I find it fitting as it is theorized that Cosmic Rays help to set off thunderstorms... it is only fitting to see the heavens above it...

:---[===] *
August 2019 Thunderstorm shot here in the mobile home park... considerably closer than today's APOD... and LOUD!!! Reverberated across the sky in 3d stereo...it was awesome...
Great picture, Boomer!

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