APOD: Quadrantids over Qumis (2011 Jan 14)

[APOD Robot]

Quadrantids over Qumis

Explanation: The Quadrantid Meteor Shower is an annual event for planet Earth's northern hemisphere skygazers. It usually peaks briefly in the cold, early morning hours of January 4. The shower is named for its radiant point on the sky within the old, astronomically obsolete constellation Quadrans Muralis. That position is situated near the boundaries of the modern constellations Hercules, Bootes, and Draco. In this haunting time exposure, two quadrantid meteor streaks are captured crossing trails left by rising stars of the constellations Virgo and Corvus, but Saturn leaves the brightest "star" trail. The meteor streaks, one bright and one faint, are nearly parallel above and right of center in the frame. Fittingly, the old cistern structure in the foreground lies above the now buried city of Qumis. Known as a city of many gates, Qumis (in Greek history Hecatompylos), was founded 2300 years ago in ancient Persia.

<< Previous APOD

Discuss Any APOD

Next APOD >>

[/b]

[NoelC]

What a great shot!

It's always amazing to me that when dots are turned into streaks by a long exposure (or series of exposures), our brains offer almost no hope of recognizing familiar constellations and asterisms.

-Noel

[neufer]

Quetelet's Quadrantids over Qumis

[moonstruck]

You really have to look hard to find the second one.

[emc]

Yes, it is a great shot! It’s fortunate that the artist was able to capture two meteors. And the cistern adds dynamic depth to the scope. Qumis is still a city of many gates. This image gated a few recent moments with the ancient past. It was fun finding the smaller meteor streak.

[neufer]

Qumis is still a city of many gates.

[url=http://maps.google.nl/maps?t=k&hl=nl&ie=UTF8&ll=35.953136,54.102162&spn=0.006705,0.009645&z=17]Naqqareh Khaneh[/url]

---

Stargate [url=http://maps.google.nl/maps?t=k&hl=nl&ie=UTF8&ll=35.953136,54.102162&spn=0.006705,0.009645&z=17]Naqqareh Khaneh[/url] being excavated.

---

<<Kumis, is a fermented dairy product traditionally made from mare's milk. The drink remains important to the peoples of the Central Asian steppes, of Turkic and Mongol origin. Because mare's milk contains more sugars than the cow's or goat's milk fermented into kefir, kumis has a higher, though still mild, alcohol content.>>

<<Hecatompylos (Šahr-e Qumis): one of the capitals of the ancient Parthian Empire. According to its (Greek) name Hecatompylos, the city once had "hundred gates", because it was "the meeting-place of all the roads leading to the surrounding districts" (Polybius, World History, 10.28.7). The architectural remains of Hecatompylos are hard to interpret. This giant (56 meter in diameter) mud brick monument is called Mound I or the Naqqareh Khaneh (the "house of the kettle drum"), and the sherds suggest that it is relatively young.

<<A Stargate is a portal device that allows practical, rapid travel between two distant locations. The devices first appear in the 1994 Roland Emmerich film Stargate, and thereafter in the television series Stargate SG-1. Stargates are large rings composed of a fictional superconductive mineral called "naquadah". Each Stargate has nine points spaced equally around their circumference which are used to determine the address being dialled. On the inner ring are 39 unique "chevrons" representing star constellations and one symbol representing the planet or point of origin. Six such symbols and the point of origin serve to map out a specific location in space to which to dial. An eighth chevron may also be selected which adds an additional distance element to the address, allowing gates in other galaxies to be contacted. This process requires significantly more energy than "in galaxy" dialling. Pairs of Stargates function by generating an artificial stable wormhole between them, allowing one-way travel through. The Stargates were created millions of years ago by an alien race known as the Ancients.>>

[emc]

<<A Stargate is a portal device that allows practical, rapid travel between two distant locations.

According to current extraterrestrial evidence… resisting intrinsic union with Earth is futile.