APOD: Dad Quiets Omicron Ceti (2012 Apr 01)

[APOD Robot]

Dad Quiets Omicron Ceti

Explanation: The Omicron Cetians have been silenced. After alien-like monsters 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 hullabaloo 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 laser to blast the alien's home world. Humorously, the parent star Omicron Ceti now shows itself to be unstable and is dramatically increasing its brightness. Happy April Fool's Day from the folks at APOD. In actuality, the star being pointed out is Mira, 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, the star that shares her name.

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[ta152h0]

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.

[neufer]

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[b][color=#0000FF]Ultraviolet mosaic of Mira's bow shock and tail obtained using NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX).[/color][/b]

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<<Ultra-violet studies of Mira 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).>>

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<<‎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.>>

[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.

[BMAONE23]

"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.

Perhaps so long as her last name isn't Franklin

[Beyond]

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'.

[ta152h0]

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

[Vincent Pinto]

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!"

[Anthony Barreiro]

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.

[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!

[Anthony Barreiro]

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!

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

[mike_sharkey]

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....

[JCorza]

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