Starship Asterisk*

by **Beyond** » Sat Feb 02, 2013 3:38 am

zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-a.

by **owlice** » Sat Feb 02, 2013 1:56 am

Plenty of sunshine coming my way.

by **rstevenson** » Fri Feb 01, 2013 2:24 pm

FLPhotoCatcher wrote:... Indeed, it is some type of pattern. There is a roughly straight line of stars that look closer together from our perspective. It is real. What caused it?

It is a pattern. It is not real, in the sense of being an actual line of stars in space. It is "caused" by our brain, as has been explained. Note that this "line" will certainly include stars which are at widely varying distances from us, so that if you moved far enough away from the Earth the line would disappear. But you'd likely see one or more lines elsewhere. Indeed you can see coincidental lines of stars in any picture showing a large number of stars.

Rob

by **DavidLeodis** » Fri Feb 01, 2013 12:55 pm

owlice wrote:My, oh my, what a wonderful day.

by **owlice** » Fri Feb 01, 2013 12:51 pm

My, oh my, what a wonderful day.

by **DavidLeodis** » Fri Feb 01, 2013 12:13 pm

I was unsure of what a Doodad is though the word did seem familiar as if it had been used before in an APOD and on searching for Doodad I found the Dark Doodad Nebula was the subject of the APOD of December 8 2008. In the explanation to that it stated "Doodad is slang for a thingy or a whatchamacallit", so now I know!

For some reason I'm now mentally singing the "Zip a dee doo dah" song.

by **FLPhotoCatcher** » Fri Feb 01, 2013 8:46 am

Boomer12k wrote:
Chris Peterson wrote:
FLPhotoCatcher wrote:Does anyone notice a line of stars parallel to the bottom of the photo? It runs through the bright star there. Am I just seeing things? If it's real, what could have caused it?
I'm not sure what you're seeing (there are lines of stars everywhere), but I'm pretty confident in suggesting that what caused it is your brain. Because that's what our brains do... find patterns.

Chris, I see what he means...there APPEARS to be two parallel lines of stars, it does look weird, like it is some type of pattern. And it continues to the right, though and past the blue star at the bottom left in the photo. BUT, I think you are correct it is just what our brains latch on to. Like my brain seeing a SWORD, and not just a funny DOODAD of Dust.
FLP....we have a tendency to "connect the dots"...that is why we have Constellations. It does look strange, but they are all through out the photo, lines of stars, above and below the center, as well as other places. I do see it too. But I don't think it is a photo artifact or anything. I also see a man lying on his back looking up....at the stars perhaps??? It is not STARS, but it is the dark spaces in between stars. From the top right of the Doodad, to the left over to the the blue star. We have such fascinating IMAGINATIONS, don't we????

:---[===] *

Indeed, it is some type of pattern. There is a roughly straight line of stars that look closer together from our perspective. It is real. What caused it?

by **Anthony Barreiro** » Thu Jan 31, 2013 10:42 pm

Chris Peterson wrote:
FLPhotoCatcher wrote:Does anyone notice a line of stars parallel to the bottom of the photo? It runs through the bright star there. Am I just seeing things? If it's real, what could have caused it?
I'm not sure what you're seeing (there are lines of stars everywhere), but I'm pretty confident in suggesting that what caused it is your brain. Because that's what our brains do... find patterns.

Here's an interesting article from CNN about how our brains respond to common artistic illusions.

Herschel Browning Chipp wrote:Pablo Picasso once said, "We all know that Art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize truth, at least the truth that is given us to understand. The artist must know the manner whereby to convince others of the truthfulness of his lies."

by **moonstruck** » Thu Jan 31, 2013 10:39 pm

Aww...Th Dark Doodad...a name I can finally understand

by **Ron-Astro Pharmacist** » Thu Jan 31, 2013 9:04 pm

I'll get the BBCode down soon.

by **Ron-Astro Pharmacist** » Thu Jan 31, 2013 9:03 pm

[quote="BDanielMayfield"][/quote]

Humming Dionne Warwick's tune and altering the lyrics a bit

Do you know the way to San “Zetox”? From a couple of days ago in Neufer’s very informative blast from my childhood. It’s probably the “Great Gazo” heading home after banishment. Let’s see?

If we take into account the stone age to the 60’s, measured the length of his exhaust plume, throw in a few more variables - we might be able to get an idea on how to find San “Zetox”

by **Boomer12k** » Thu Jan 31, 2013 7:54 pm

Chris Peterson wrote:
FLPhotoCatcher wrote:Does anyone notice a line of stars parallel to the bottom of the photo? It runs through the bright star there. Am I just seeing things? If it's real, what could have caused it?
I'm not sure what you're seeing (there are lines of stars everywhere), but I'm pretty confident in suggesting that what caused it is your brain. Because that's what our brains do... find patterns.

Chris, I see what he means...there APPEARS to be two parallel lines of stars, it does look weird, like it is some type of pattern. And it continues to the right, though and past the blue star at the bottom left in the photo. BUT, I think you are correct it is just what our brains latch on to. Like my brain seeing a SWORD, and not just a funny DOODAD of Dust.
FLP....we have a tendency to "connect the dots"...that is why we have Constellations. It does look strange, but they are all through out the photo, lines of stars, above and below the center, as well as other places. I do see it too. But I don't think it is a photo artifact or anything. I also see a man lying on his back looking up....at the stars perhaps??? It is not STARS, but it is the dark spaces in between stars. From the top right of the Doodad, to the left over to the the blue star. We have such fascinating IMAGINATIONS, don't we????

:---[===] *

by **Chris Peterson** » Thu Jan 31, 2013 3:40 pm

FLPhotoCatcher wrote:Does anyone notice a line of stars parallel to the bottom of the photo? It runs through the bright star there. Am I just seeing things? If it's real, what could have caused it?

I'm not sure what you're seeing (there are lines of stars everywhere), but I'm pretty confident in suggesting that what caused it is your brain. Because that's what our brains do... find patterns.

by **K1NS** » Thu Jan 31, 2013 12:44 pm

You say every one of those tiny dots has planets orbiting around it ? . . . Oh !

by **Boomer12k** » Thu Jan 31, 2013 9:00 am

Not a Doodad....To me, A Martial Arts Instructor, it looks like a Fantasy Sword you could buy from BudK.com

Nice Picture!!!

:---[===] *

by **FLPhotoCatcher** » Thu Jan 31, 2013 7:38 am

Does anyone notice a line of stars parallel to the bottom of the photo? It runs through the bright star there. Am I just seeing things? If it's real, what could have caused it?

by **Ann** » Thu Jan 31, 2013 7:12 am

So it's Gamma Muscae! Thanks, alter-ego!

Ann

by **alter-ego** » Thu Jan 31, 2013 6:21 am

Ann wrote:Aah, the Dark Doodad in Musca the Fly, with blue Alpha Muscae (at least I think it is Alpha, but I don't have my software here so I can check) and yellowish globular NGC 4372! What a nice picture!

Hi Anne. It's ɣ Mus

by **ta152h0** » Thu Jan 31, 2013 5:59 am

hmmmmmm wonder if this is the carpet mr Solomon got a ride on ???? just musing

by **Ann** » Thu Jan 31, 2013 5:41 am

Aah, the Dark Doodad in Musca the Fly, with blue Alpha Muscae (at least I think it is Alpha, but I don't have my software here so I can check) and yellowish globular NGC 4372!

What a nice picture!

Note the generations of stars and possible star formation that we are looking at here. If NGC 4372 is a typical globular, then it is likely 10-12 billion years old. B-type Alpha Muscae may be a few million or at most a few tens of million years old, and the Dark Doodad, who knows, may give birth to one or more baby stars in the future.

It's interesting that the Dark Doodad is so elongated. But then, molecular clouds in the Milky Way, the sites of future star formation, often are.

Ann

by **BDanielMayfield** » Thu Jan 31, 2013 5:32 am

Looks like a spaceship had a really bad oil leak!

by **neufer** » Thu Jan 31, 2013 5:29 am

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flypaper wrote:
<<Flypaper (also known as fly ribbon) is a fly-killing device made of paper coated with a sweetly fragrant, but extremely sticky and sometimes poisonous substance that traps flies and other flying insects when they land upon it.

The poisons used in flypaper can potentially be toxic to humans and animals. Historically, metallic arsenic (a well-known toxin to humans) was used in flypaper. Arsenic extracted by soaking flypaper in water has been used by several convicted murderers, among them Frederick Seddon and Florence Maybrick. Many modern brands of flypaper contain no poison but only an adhesive that is not designed to be especially toxic, such as rosin.

Flypaper is as effective as many other methods involving insecticides or bug zappers. However, a twisted strip of flypaper hanging from the ceiling is considered by many to be aesthetically less acceptable than some other methods, and so flypaper is not as commonly used as it once was. Some formulas for flypaper also have a slight but potentially disagreeable odor. Handling and disposing of flypaper can be awkward because it is so sticky (vegetable oil can be used to remove the adhesive). Flypaper loses its effectiveness over time when it dries up and should be replaced regularly. Consideration should also be given to positioning as it may be less effective in certain areas of a room.>>

by **APOD Robot** » Thu Jan 31, 2013 5:06 am

NGC 4372 and the Dark Doodad

Explanation: The delightful Dark Doodad Nebula drifts through southern skies, a tantalizing target for binoculars in the constellation Musca, The Fly. The dusty cosmic cloud is seen against rich starfields just south of the prominent Coalsack Nebula and the Southern Cross. Stretching for about 3 degrees across this scene the Dark Doodad seems punctuated at its southern tip (lower left) by globular star cluster NGC 4372. Of course NGC 4372 roams the halo of our Milky Way Galaxy, a background object some 20,000 light-years away and only by chance along our line-of-sight to the Dark Doodad. The Dark Doodad's well defined silhouette belongs to the Musca molecular cloud, but its better known alliterative moniker was first coined by astro-imager and writer Dennis di Cicco in 1986 while observing comet Halley from the Australian outback. The Dark Doodad is around 700 light-years distant and over 30 light-years long.

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Starship Asterisk*

APOD: NGC 4372 and the Dark Doodad (2013 Jan 31)

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