Starship Asterisk*

Just a word about your APOD translations. You haven't included "Francais" as an option and you have so many Canadiens who love your web site and they also love to spend winters in the shadows of the Cape Canaveral launch site. Must've been an "oversite"!

[quote="Chris Peterson" post_id=339581 time=1717949319 user_id=117706]
[quote=Roy post_id=339580 time=1717948294]
Interesting to see how other languages use diacritical marks on Roman letters to indicate sounds that would otherwise require an invented letter. Of course, English is replete with spellings left over from the monks trying to spell Old English sounds which have since gone silent. Example - knight; the German cognate “knecht” has all letters pronounced.
[/quote]

Almost. The "ch" in German is a digraph just like the "gh" in English.
[/quote]


[img3=""]https://image.spreadshirtmedia.net/image-server/v1/compositions/T877A1PA5819PT17X53Y49D185401118W8256H14772/views/1,width=650,height=650,appearanceId=1/en-handmaalad-popart-knekt-foer-att-livet-blir-lite-faerggladare.jpg[/img3]


Then again, the Swedish "knekt" has all its letters pronounced! :D

Ann

Does anyone else see it? No - you might be hallucinating, or having a brain aneurysm.

[quote=Roy post_id=339580 time=1717948294]
Interesting to see how other languages use diacritical marks on Roman letters to indicate sounds that would otherwise require an invented letter. Of course, English is replete with spellings left over from the monks trying to spell Old English sounds which have since gone silent. Example - knight; the German cognate “knecht” has all letters pronounced.
[/quote]

Almost. The "ch" in German is a digraph just like the "gh" in English.

Interesting to see how other languages use diacritical marks on Roman letters to indicate sounds that would otherwise require an invented letter. Of course, English is replete with spellings left over from the monks trying to spell Old English sounds which have since gone silent. Example - knight; the German cognate “knecht” has all letters pronounced.

[quote="Christian G." post_id=339570 time=1717935096 user_id=147043]
Another one: If it's blinking but appears too high to be an aircraft, or even more mystifying, if the blinking is irregular! - it's a tumbling satellite.
[/quote]

Yep, and slow but steady brightness changes would likely be the giant tumbling rocket body stage left in orbit after releasing a satellite, I saw one of those recently, very beautiful the way it slowly dims and brightens up again.

[quote=rwlott post_id=318266 time=1636937389 user_id=132384]
My first thought upon seeing today's APOD was that this is one of Randall Munroe's XKCD comics, as he often uses flowcharts to humorous effect. Here's an example: https://xkcd.com/1688/
[/quote]

It made me think of this one: https://xkcd.com/2633/

Or in certain parts of eastern Europe/Middle East: exploding alternative to bolide could be a missile shot down by defensive missile

With the rise in launches from various countries over the last 20 yrs or so, some parts of the world are now treated to the sight of failed boosters and/or 3rd stages in the night sky.

Polite correction:
Instead of Astronauts waving (cannot actually see them), try "Is it going straight?"
Yes - Satellite or ISS. No - UFO. :shock:

Starting at "Bolide":

Are there more?
No: Bolide
Yes: Fireworks

Another one: If it's blinking but appears too high to be an aircraft, or even more mystifying, if the blinking is irregular! - it's a tumbling satellite.

A polite correction here:
As this chart is dated, I think it needs an update which adds Tiangong, as the ISS is no longer the only space station which is home to astronauts!

The UFOs are missing !
The answer : UFO should come as:
Is it really big? --> No -->Is it Moving? -->Yes-->So quickly you almost missed it? --> Yes --> Is it extra super bright --> No --> Is it rotating? -->Yes (UFO) ; NO (Meteor)

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