APOD: Orion and Official Star Names (2016 Dec 04)

[Ann]

Given the active minds of our ancestors, may I humbly suggest that as our telescopes and other imaging technologies have "lifted the loincloth" of our much vaunted Orion the Hunter, it surprises me that nobody has caught on that instead of a progenitor of fatherhood, a close look at the nebulosity has revealed a very fecund birthing zone, a placental paradise for hundreds of proto and natal stellar-planetary systems! Isn't it obvious that our famed Hunter has been a Huntress all along?

Ann

[neufer]

Given the active minds of our ancestors, may I humbly suggest that as our telescopes and other imaging technologies have "lifted the loincloth" of our much vaunted Orion the Hunter, it surprises me that nobody has caught on that instead of a progenitor of fatherhood, a close look at the nebulosity has revealed a very fecund birthing zone, a placental paradise for hundreds of proto and natal stellar-planetary systems! Isn't it obvious that our famed Hunter has been a Huntress all along?

<<Artemis (Ancient Greek: Ἄρτεμις) was one of the most widely venerated of the Ancient Greek deities. Her Roman equivalent is Diana. She was the Hellenic goddess of the hunt, wild animals, wilderness, childbirth, virginity and protector of young girls, bringing and relieving disease in women. Her symbols included the golden bow and arrow, the hunting dog, the stag, and the moon.

Orion was Artemis' hunting companion. In some versions, he is killed by Artemis, while in others he is killed by a scorpion sent by Gaia. In some versions, Orion tries to seduce Opis, one of Artemis' followers, and she kills him. In a version by Aratus, Orion takes hold of Artemis' robe and she kills him in self-defense.

In yet another version, Apollo sends the scorpion. According to Hyginus Artemis once loved Orion (in spite of the late source, this version appears to be a rare remnant of her as the pre-Olympian goddess, who took consorts, as Eos did), but was tricked into killing him by her brother Apollo, who was "protective" of his sister's maidenhood.

A minor (119 km) planet, 105 Artemis ; a lunar crater; the Artemis Chasma and the Artemis Corona have all been named for her.>>

[b][color=#0000FF][size=150]Artemis symbol: a hunting dog (cocker?)[/size][/color][/b]

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<<This spectacular Magellan image shows the near-circular trough of Artemis Chasma. Its circular shape and size (2100 km in diameter) make Artemis the largest corona identified to date on the surface of Venus. Artemis could encompass most of the U.S. from the Front Range of the Rockies (near Denver) to the West Coast and is approximately twice the diameter of the next-smaller corona Heng-O. Coronae are characterized by a ring of concentric features surrounding an interior which typically contains fractures of varying orientations and volcanic features ranging from individual flows and small (<20 kilometer) volcanoes up to large (>100 kilometers) shield volcanoes. Artemis contains complex systems of fractures, numerous flows and small volcanoes, and at least two impact craters, the larger of which is located in the lower left (southwest) quadrant of the feature. The ring of fractures that defines Artemis forms a steep trough with raised rims approximately 120 kilometers wide and with as much as 2.5 kilometers of relief from the rim crest to the bottom of the trough. Most coronae are thought to be related to upwelling of hot material from the interior of Venus in the form of plumes or diapirs, and Artemis may be an extensional trough related to such an upwelling event. Raised-rim troughs are most commonly found to be extensional features (those formed by forces which tend to pull apart the crust and lithosphere of a planet) but the unusual size and circularity of Artemis have led to the alternate suggestion that it may be a zone of intense compression and underthrusting, similar to oceanic subduction zones on Earth. Magellan scientists are currently examining this feature in detail to determine which, if either, of these hypotheses is correct.>>

[b][color=#0000FF]Artemia salina have 3 eyes & 11 pairs of legs and can grow to about 15mm in size. Their blood contains the haemoglobin.[/color][/b]

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<<Artemia (a.k.a., brine shrimp) is the only genius genus in the family Artemiidae. Artemia has changed little externally since the Triassic period. The first historical record of the existence of Artemia dates back to the first half of the 10th century AD from Urmia Lake, Iran, by Iranian geographer as "aquatic dog". Artemia populations are found worldwide in inland saltwater lakes, but not in oceans. Artemia are able to avoid cohabiting with most types of predators, such as fish, by their ability to live in waters of very high salinity (up to 25%). The ability of the Artemia to produce dormant eggs, known as cysts, has led to extensive use of Artemia in aquaculture. The cysts may be stored for long periods and hatched on demand to provide a convenient form of live feed for larval fish and crustaceans. Breeds of Artemia are sold as novelty gifts under the marketing name Sea-Monkeys or Aqua Dragons.

On Apollo 16 and Apollo 17, the cysts traveled to the Moon and back. The cosmic ray passed through an egg would be detected on the photographic film in their container. Some eggs were kept on Earth as experimental controls to ensure a fair test. Also, as the take-off in a spacecraft involves a lot of shaking and acceleration, one control group of egg cysts was accelerated to seven times the force of gravity and vibrated mechanically from side to side for several minutes so that they could experience the same violence of a rocket take-off. There were 400 eggs in each experimental group. All the egg cysts from the experiment were then placed in salt water to hatch under optimum conditions. As a result, a high sensitivity to cosmic radiation was observed on Artemia salina eggs; 90% of the embryos, which were induced to develop from hit eggs, died at different developmental stages.>>

[starsurfer]

Given the active minds of our ancestors, may I humbly suggest that as our telescopes and other imaging technologies have "lifted the loincloth" of our much vaunted Orion the Hunter, it surprises me that nobody has caught on that instead of a progenitor of fatherhood, a close look at the nebulosity has revealed a very fecund birthing zone, a placental paradise for hundreds of proto and natal stellar-planetary systems! Isn't it obvious that our famed Hunter has been a Huntress all along?

Ann

I'd also like to mention that Orion contains a few planetary nebulae, clouds of stardeath!!

I really like planetary nebulae!

[Doug County]

Thanks, Art for helping flesh out the "Orion is a Huntress" theme with a little more background. Maybe Orion is Artemis in disguise?

[Cousin Ricky]

If the revelation that Orion has a dong was shocking, wait till people find out she's transgender!

[Doug County]

More specifically a cross dresser, clothed in the wrong clothes by a patriarchal society who didn't look close enough to realize their mistake!

[rstevenson]

Someday a PHD candidate will mine the fertile fields of the Asterisk for their disertation on the social and sexual mores of the early 21st century.

Rob

[Chris Peterson]

Someday a PHD candidate will mine the fertile fields of the Asterisk for their disertation on the social and sexual mores of the early 21st century.

Via a very non-representative societal cross section, I think!

[rstevenson]

What, ya mean we're not average?!?

Rob

[Chris Peterson]

What, ya mean we're not average?!?

Just like the kids in Lake Wobegon.

[deathfleer]

what we see is two dimensional

[Nitpicker]

Can't believe I missed this entertaining discussion. Naturally, a lot of it is below the belt.

It must have been great to first discover the large, round nebula around Meissa, so that Orion no longer looked like a pin-head. But Barnard's Loop seems to indicate lumbar issues.

[Ann]

Can't believe I missed this entertaining discussion. Naturally, a lot of it is below the belt.

It must have been great to first discover the large, round nebula around Meissa, so that Orion no longer looked like a pin-head. But Barnard's Loop seems to indicate lumbar issues.

Ouch!

Can anyone draw the outline of the poor lumbar spine Hunter/Huntress?

Ann