Category: Stars
-
Sonification
Sonification is the use of non-speech audio to convey information or perceptualize data. Auditory perception has advantages in temporal, spatial, amplitude, and frequency resolution that open possibilities as an alternative or complement to visualization techniques. For example, the rate of clicking of a Geiger counter conveys the level of radiation in the immediate vicinity of the device. Though many experiments with data sonification have been explored in forums…
-
Columba constellation
Columba is a faint constellation designated in the late sixteenth century, remaining in official use, with its rigid limits set in the 20th century. Its name is Latin for dove. It takes up 1.31% of the southern celestial hemisphere and is just south of Canis Major and Lepus. History Early 3rd century BC: Aratus‘s astronomical poem Phainomena (lines 367–370 and 384–385) mentions faint stars where Columba is…
-
Columba the cosmic dove and celestial toilet humor
The Columba constellation – where celestial family drama meets cosmic bathroom humor! Let’s dive into a delightful corner of Chinese astronomy that proves even the heavens aren’t above a good potty joke. A Family Affair in the Sky In Chinese astronomy, Columba isn’t just a pretty dove fluttering across the night sky. Oh no, it’s…
-
Seven heavens notes
In religious or mythological cosmology, the seven heavens refer to seven levels or divisions of the Heavens. The concept, also found in the ancient Mesopotamian religions, can be found in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam; a similar concept is also found in some other religions such as Hinduism. Some of these traditions, including Jainism, also have a concept of seven earths or seven underworlds both with the metaphysical realms of deities and with observed…
-
Echinoderm reproduction and pluteus larva
An echinoderm is any member of the phylum Echinodermata. The adults are recognisable by their (usually five-point) radial symmetry, and include starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins, sand dollars, and sea cucumbers, as well as the sea lilies or “stone lilies”. Adult echinoderms are found on the sea bed at every ocean depth, from the intertidal zone to the abyssal zone. The phylum contains about 7,000 living species, making it the second-largest…
-
Red Horn (Hešucka) aka He Who Wears (Man) Faces on His Ears and Big Boy…and Werebirds
Red Horn is a culture hero in Siouan oral traditions, specifically of the Ioway and Hocąk (Winnebago) nations. He has different names. Only in Hocąk literature is he known as “Red Horn” (Hešucka), but among the Ioway and Hocągara both, he is known by one of his variant names, “He Who Wears (Man) Faces on His Ears”. This name derives from the living faces on…
-
Phrixus
In Greek mythology Phrixus (also spelt Phryxus; Greek: Φρίξος, Phrixos means “standing on end, bristling”) was the son of Athamas, king of Boeotia, and Nephele (a goddess of clouds). He was the twin brother of Helle and the father of Argus, Phrontis, Melas and Cytisorus by Chalciope (Iophass), daughter of Aeetes, king of Colchis. Mythology Phrixus and Helle (also known as Ellie) were hated by their stepmother, Ino. She hatched a devious plot to get rid of the twins, roasting…