Starship Asterisk*

there are so many things to discover in and out of our planet, I am sure that this website is a source for discovering more knowledge

And I thought the 'explanation' would run along the line of:
''In a scene from the upcoming Green Lantern movie, the aged Hal Jordan defends a very young Carol Ferris from an OA-an tree monster after he travels back in time to guide his young self and keep the time-stream safe from the machinations of the Red Lanterns.''

Or something to that effect....

[quote="owlice"]Were I to read "a few outraged or credulous messages here on starship asterisk about the true risks of an invasion from outer space, and/or the effective range of a green laser pointer," I'd think the posters had not read all the APOD text. It is not uncommon for people to post questions about an APOD that are answered in that very APOD's text, so more of that does not strike me as "fun." To each his own![/quote]

Fortunately April Fool's Day comes but once a year. The other 364.242199 days it's just everyday foolishness.

Were I to read "a few outraged or credulous messages here on starship asterisk about the true risks of an invasion from outer space, and/or the effective range of a green laser pointer," I'd think the posters had not read all the APOD text. It is not uncommon for people to post questions about an APOD that are answered in that very APOD's text, so more of that does not strike me as "fun." To each his own!

I'm noticing a troubling tendency of people making April Fool jokes, as in this apod, to admit that it's a joke up front. That takes all the air out of the whoopie cushion. It would have been much more fun to read a few outraged or credulous messages here on starship asterisk about the true risks of an invasion from outer space, and/or the effective range of a green laser pointer.

That said, a picture of a father pointing out Mira to his daughter Mira is really sweet. An acquaintance's young son is named Garnet. My friend pointed out Herschel's garnet star in Cepheus to him, and now Garnet always wants to see his star.

Way to go, Dad! Superb!
On a similar thread, I recall a movie in which Steve Martin responds to Daryl Hannah when she lets him know her name, "Roxanne! Now there's a name for a galaxy!"

way " beyond " what I expected, kind of like ' far out "

IF her last name was Franklin, you'd have to drop an 'r' in Ureth(r)a, to give her the r-e-s-p-e-c-t that she would deserve :!: No foolin'. :no:

[quote="Tszabeau"]"These smaller species are known for an alleged tendency to invade and parasitise the human urethra;..."

I hope this does not mean that one of you will name their daughter Urethra.[/quote]
Perhaps so long as her last name isn't Franklin

"These smaller species are known for an alleged tendency to invade and parasitise the human urethra;..."

I hope this does not mean that one of you will name their daughter Urethra.

[quote=" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mira"]

[float=right][img3=""]http://www.somewhereville.com/blogimages/2010nov19_sas_cetus_cetus.jpg[/img3][img3="[b][color=#0000FF]Ultraviolet mosaic of Mira's bow shock and tail obtained
using NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX).[/color][/b]"]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/38/A-Mira-Full_down_sampled_and_cropped.jpg/800px-A-Mira-Full_down_sampled_and_cropped.jpg[/img3][/float]

<<Ultra-violet studies of [url=http://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=12709&p=101918&hilit=mira+ceti#p87644]Mira[/url] by NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer (Galex) space telescope have revealed that it sheds a trail of material from the outer envelope, leaving a tail 13 light-years in length, formed over tens of thousands of years. It is thought that a hot bow-wave of compressed plasma/gas is the cause of the tail; the bow-wave is a result of the interaction of the stellar wind from Mira A with gas in interstellar space, through which Mira is moving at an extremely high speed of 130 kilometres/second. The tail consists of material stripped from the head of the bow-wave, which is also visible in ultra-violet observations. Mira's bow-shock will eventually evolve into a planetary nebula, the form of which will be considerably affected by the motion through the interstellar medium (ISM).>>[/quote][quote=" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candiru"]

[float=right][img3=""]http://www.bofads.com/pictures/candiru.jpg[/img3][/float]
<<‎Candiru or candirú, also known as cañero, toothpick fish, or vampire fish, are a number of genera of parasitic freshwater catfish in the family Trichomycteridae; all are native to the Amazon River. Although some candiru species have been known to grow to a size of 40 centimetres in length, others are considerably smaller. These smaller species are known for an alleged tendency to invade and parasitise the human urethra; however, despite ethnological reports dating back to the late 19th century, the first documented case of the removal of a candiru from a human urethra did not occur until 1997, and even that incident has remained a matter of controversy.>>[/quote]

After today's APOD, somewhere on this vast globe someone named " Eta Carinae " is born.....and that is a really cool name, I'd say.

[url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120401.html][img]http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/S_120401.jpg[/img] [size=150]Dad Quiets Omicron Ceti[/size][/url]

[b] Explanation: [/b] The Omicron Cetians have been silenced. After alien-like [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsters]monsters[/url] were reported to disturb his daughter's sleep for four nights in a row, this father took action. When last questioned, the daughter seemed to indicate that the [url=http://www.seeingwithsound.com/javoice.htm]hullabaloo[/url] might have come from a planetary system possibly sounding like "Omicron Ceti". Getting to the root of the problem, the dad then took his daughter outside and used a powerful [url=http://www.wisegeek.com/are-laser-pointers-dangerous.htm]laser[/url] to [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66aVXk5jSn8]blast[/url] the alien's home world. Humorously, the parent star [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mira]Omicron Ceti[/url] now shows itself to be unstable and is dramatically increasing its brightness. Happy [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_Fool%27s_Day]April Fool's Day[/url] from the folks at [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html]APOD[/url]. In actuality, the star being pointed out is [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap060722.html]Mira[/url], a famous variable star expected to reach its maximum brightness again in late August. The father in question was actually pointing out, to his daughter, [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap070221.html]the star[/url] that shares her name.

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