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Astronomy Picture of the Day - Page 2 — Parallax Forums

Astronomy Picture of the Day

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  • I'm wondering if "pique" is used much in English. As it looked weird using it "piquing". But it spell checked ok.
  • Space! A never ending selection of computer backgrounds.
    King of Wings outcrop, located in New Mexico, USA
    800 x 533 - 349K
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    Yeah, stupid French word getting into English!

    Thing is "pique" means to make someone angry or annoyed. But "piques your interest" is just arousing curiosity.

    I think of it like making your interest annoyed so that your brain actually does something.
  • kwinnkwinn Posts: 8,697
    edited 2017-03-28 20:23
    Heater. wrote: »
    Yeah, stupid French word getting into English!

    Thing is "pique" means to make someone angry or annoyed. But "piques your interest" is just arousing curiosity.

    I think of it like making your interest annoyed so that your brain actually does something.

    Another useless and illogical addition to English when we already have arouse, stimulate, and excite.
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    Not so fast.

    The English language is full of words you can trace back to the Vikings, French, German, Spanish, Latin, Arabic, Indian, etc....

    I think I have given up worrying about "useless and illogical" extensions of the English language ever since the Americans annexed it and regurgitated it in mangled form back to the world.

  • I recall peeking at Carl Sagan's show, and it piqued my interest in astronomy so much that I wanted to climb the highest peak to view the stars. But while I was peeking, and my piquing interest was peaking, Peking was changed to Beijing, and everything became quite confusing.
  • kwinnkwinn Posts: 8,697
    Heater. wrote: »
    Not so fast.

    The English language is full of words you can trace back to the Vikings, French, German, Spanish, Latin, Arabic, Indian, etc....

    I think I have given up worrying about "useless and illogical" extensions of the English language ever since the Americans annexed it and regurgitated it in mangled form back to the world.

    No worries here. Just find so much of the language amusing.
    Dave Hein wrote: »
    I recall peeking at Carl Sagan's show, and it piqued my interest in astronomy so much that I wanted to climb the highest peak to view the stars. But while I was peeking, and my piquing interest was peaking, Peking was changed to Beijing, and everything became quite confusing.

    LOL Well put.
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    A young Chinese guy and girl got married. She was from rich parents in Beijing. He was a poor boy from the provinces.

    After only a year they separated.

    She went back to her parents in Beijing.

    He went back to W........

  • MikeDYurMikeDYur Posts: 2,176
    edited 2017-04-07 23:57
    I still haven't figured out Heater's puzzle.


    In memory of a space hero, John Glen. finally laid to rest because of weather conditions. That has to be extra hard on his spouse.

    A horse drawn caisson carries former astronaut and U.S. Senator John Glenn to his final resting place during the interment ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on Thursday, April 6, 2017, in Virginia. Glenn was the first American to orbit Earth on Feb. 20, 1962, in a five-hour flight aboard the Friendship 7 spacecraft. In 1998, he broke another record by returning to space at the age of 77 on the Space Shuttle Discovery.

    Acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot stated:

    “As we say our final goodbye today to a great American and NASA pioneer, we send our deepest sympathies to the family of John Glenn, and our heartfelt condolences to his devoted wife Annie on what would have been their 74th wedding anniversary.

    “Senator Glenn was more than an astronaut – he was the hero we needed in a rapidly changing world and an icon of our American spirit. We will never forget him, and future generations will continue to live out his legacy as we venture farther into the solar system.

    “God speed, Senator Glenn. Our deepest gratitude, and everlasting respect and affection go with you.”

    John Glenn: 1921-2016
    Images of John Glenn

    Image Credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani
    800 x 520 - 410K
  • A pretty wild looking picture.

    http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap170504.html
    The cosmic swirl and slosh of giant waves in an enormous reservoir of glowing hot gas are traced in this enhanced X-ray image from the Chandra Observatory. The frame spans over 1 million light-years across the center of the nearby Perseus Galaxy Cluster, some 240 million light-years distant. Like other clusters of galaxies, most of the observable mass in the Perseus cluster is in the form of the cluster-filling gas. With temperatures in the tens of millions of degrees, the gas glows brightly in X-rays. Computer simulations can reproduce details of the structures sloshing through the Perseus cluster's X-ray hot gas, including the remarkable concave bay seen below and left of center. About 200,000 light-years across, twice the size of the Milky Way, the bay's formation indicates that Perseus itself was likely grazed by a smaller galaxy cluster billions of years ago.
    For image credit and copyright guidance, please visit the image website http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap170504.html

    Chandra X-ray Observatory
    800 x 734 - 274K
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    MikeDYur,
    I still haven't figured out Heater's puzzle.
    Ah, sorry. As this is a family forum I cannot explain that old, rather rude and crude, schoolboy joke here.





  • Just read this. Yeah, I get it. Heater, you so bad. :)

    -Phil
  • I need a clue.

    Can't think of anything beginning with "W" that fits except Washington.
    I don't get out much and this may be funny in one hemisphere and not another. I wonder if I can get Heater to PM me the answer, it's not fun being out of the loop. ;)
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    I think the joke worked better when we called Beijing "Peking".
  • I thought this video was a concise but informative update, on what Juno has been doing.
    Besides getting closer to the planet Jupiter on every pass.

    That is one wild planet.




  • NASA certified:

    http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap170825.html
    As the Moon's shadow swept across the US on August 21, eclipse chasers in the narrow path of totality were treated to a diamond ring in the sky. At the beginning and end of totality, the fleeting and beautiful effect often produces audible gasps from an amazed audience. It occurs just before or after the appearance of the faint solar corona with a brief ring of light and glimpse of Sun. In this scene from the end of totality at Central, South Carolina, clouds drift near the Sun's diamond ring in the sky.
    Image Credit & Copyright: Ashley Marando
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