Comments on: Open thread 2/25/2025

By: huxley

huxley — Wed, 26 Feb 2025 04:51:20 +0000

Geez. My right eye has gone wonky in the past month. Blurry vision. I’ll have to get checked.

My sister had cataract surgery a year ago. I may be joining the club.

Thanks, Marlene!

By: Marlene

Marlene — Wed, 26 Feb 2025 04:47:51 +0000

Huxley, your “Directions” poem is cool!

By: Marlene

Marlene — Wed, 26 Feb 2025 04:44:35 +0000

Ditto Karmi! Best of luck tomorrow with your cataract surgery!
And also to Chases Eagles, when your surgery comes up.
Do let us know!

By: R2L

R2L — Wed, 26 Feb 2025 04:33:47 +0000

Chases Eagles on February 25, 2025 at 11:56 am said:
“Went to eye doc a couple of days ago and got the word: cataract surgery both eyes and soon. Yippee.”
So after the surgery you will really be eagle eyed!!

And if/when Karmi has his, he will also perhaps see things with greater clarity, or possibly a new viewpoint.
Success to you both!

By: huxley

huxley — Wed, 26 Feb 2025 04:14:10 +0000

Re: Clyde Tombaugh and UFOs
__________________________________

Tombaugh was probably the preeminent astronomer to have reported seeing Unidentified Flying Objects. On August 20, 1949, Tombaugh saw several UFOs near Las Cruces, New Mexico. He described them as six to eight rectangular lights, stating “I doubt that the phenomenon was any terrestrial reflection, because… nothing of the kind has ever appeared before or since… I was so unprepared for such a strange sight that I was really petrified with astonishment.”

https://www.thenightskyii.org/tombaugh.html

By: huxley

huxley — Wed, 26 Feb 2025 04:07:19 +0000

Re: Pluto

The video explains why it’s easier to observe the Andromeda Galaxy than Pluto. I once wrote a poem about seeing the galaxy with one’s naked eye:
_________________________

Directions

on a clear winter night look up

and find the Great Square
formed by Pegasus

follow the twin arcs
streaming from the upper left corner

that’s the Lady Andromeda
carried off by the wingéd horse

sight up from the second pair of stars
and slightly to the right

now don’t look straight at it
but a little to the side and

relax

there—that faint glow

the Andromeda Galaxy
_____________________________

It’s not a major poem, but it is accurate and it still pleases me. The technique is called averted vision.

By: Philip Sells

Philip Sells — Wed, 26 Feb 2025 01:19:23 +0000

Video narrator mentions among the questions he receives from time to time: why the photos from the New Horizons probe are so illuminated when it’s so dark that far from the sun. Well… it used a flash… obviously! Come on, the thing even looks like a portable flash bulb.

By: bof

bof — Wed, 26 Feb 2025 01:15:23 +0000

I heard tell that when Tombaugh got to KU he tried to sign up for Astronomy 101 but his adviser said no, it would be ridiculous to have a planet discoverer in 101.

By: Mike Plaiss

Mike Plaiss — Tue, 25 Feb 2025 23:46:36 +0000

after discovering Pluto he attended the University of Kansas, majoring in astronomy.

That’s great. I wonder how many times he said to a classmate, “You know, I discovered Pluto.”

By: bof

bof — Tue, 25 Feb 2025 23:07:05 +0000

As a Kansan I’ve long thought Pluto should be our Official State Planet. (Born in Illinois, Clyde Tombaugh moved to Kansas in his youth; after discovering Pluto he attended the University of Kansas, majoring in astronomy.)