Starship Asterisk*

May I? I've been itching to post this one, not that it is all that hard:

I used to be my Captain's great light! Now I'm just the luminary of the underside.

Ann

Moonlady wrote: I like to suggest that if the person who got the correct answer doesnt give
information when he or she will post a question, that we wait 24 hours.
If the 24 hours are over since giving the correct answer that is confirmed before as such,
and still not posted a question, others can take the opportunity to come with a question.

That sounds a good suggestion, Moonlady.

Margarita

Ann wrote:May I? I've been itching to post this one, not that it is all that hard:

I used to be my Captain's great light! Now I'm just the luminary of the underside.

Ann

Do you mean the southern hemisphere?

Well, the object I'm asking about is too far south for you or me to see it, Moonlady!

Ann

Ann wrote:Well, the object I'm asking about is too far south for you or me to see it, Moonlady!

Ann

Are we looking at η (eta) Carinae?? My first thought was Canopus (α Carinae - the Keel of Jason and the Argonauts ship so my little Collins Guide to the Night Sky says). But then I saw that eta Carinae is very erratic and tho only ~mag 6 now, flared up to mag -1 in about 1850.

Margarita

Ann
May be the Southern Cross, anciet sailors guide?

Margarita wrote:

Click to view full size image

Argo Navis. Uranographia by Johannes Hevelius, 1687

My first thought was Canopus (α Carinae - the Keel of Jason and the Argonauts ship so my little Collins Guide to the Night Sky says).

Canopus used to be Alpha Argo Navis. Now it is just Alpha Carinae, and Carina is the Keel, the underside, of the great ship!

Congratulations, Margarita, the golden fleece is yours!

Ann

I don't REALLY think I got it right, because I thought it was the eta star - and I didn't know about the constellation that used to be Argo Navis! Properly to win, we should be able to explain how the answer fits the question. Like on Round Britain Quiz, on BBC radio, if ever you've heard it?

So - I don't think that I deserve the Golden fleece - do you want to set another?
Margarita

Wikipedia
Argo Navis (or simply Argo) was a large constellation in the southern sky that has since been divided into three constellations. It represented the Argo, the ship used by Jason and the Argonauts in Greek mythology. The abbreviation was "Arg" and the genitive was "Argus Navis".

Argo Navis is the only one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy that is no longer officially recognised as a constellation. It was unwieldy due to its enormous size: were it still considered a single constellation, it would be the largest of all. In 1752, the French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille subdivided it into Carina (the keel, or the hull, of the ship), Puppis (the poop deck, or stern), and Vela (the sails). When Argo Navis was split, its Bayer designations were also split. Carina has the α, β and ε, Vela has γ and δ, Puppis has ζ, and so on.

The constellation Pyxis (the mariner's compass) occupies an area which in antiquity was considered part of Argo's mast (called Malus). However, Pyxis is not considered part of Argo Navis, and its Bayer designations are separate from those of Carina, Puppis and Vela.

The Maori had several names for what was the constellation Argo, including Te Waka-o-Tamarereti, Te Kohi-a-Autahi, and Te Kohi.

Well, I've learnt something new!

Naaahh! it's yours, Margarita! Here, have it!

Take it now before Uncle Scrooge gets it!

Now it's your turn to lay in the course, Margarita. You get to be Captain as well - and it's our job to find out where you are taking us!




Ann

OK! Thinking cap firmly in place! I'll post a question later today. We're just having a late lunch/early dinner!
!M

Okay! That is my question!

Margarita

that beautiful oldtimer? From mother earth, USA , Detroit

MargaritaMc wrote:In the vicinity of which astronomical object did this come from?!

DON'T PANIC!

Ford Prefect, a.k.a Praxibetel Ix, is from the planet Betelgeuse Seven. He was trying to blend in during his visit to Earth, so he took the name of one member of what he thought was the dominant life form on Earth, Ford Prefect. The joke is now lost on most audiences, since Ford of England stopped making Prefects decades ago.

Rob

Goodness me! I had no idea!!

When I read The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, I thought to myself, what a strange name! A Ford is a car, and a Prefect is from the Roman Empire, so a Ford Prefect is a car from the Roman Empire? I don't think so!

Ann

rstevenson wrote:

MargaritaMc wrote:In the vicinity of which astronomical object did this come from?!

DON'T PANIC!

Ford Prefect, a.k.a Praxibetel Ix, is from the planet Betelgeuse Seven. He was trying to blend in during his visit to Earth, so he took the name of one member of what he thought was the dominant life form on Earth, Ford Prefect. The joke is now lost on most audiences, since Ford of England stopped making Prefects decades ago.

Rob

CORRECT!! So, over to you, Rob.

By the way, did you hear the original radio series on the BBC? It was utterly brilliant - the pictures were so much better than any of the televised or filmed versions...

Margarita

MargaritaMc wrote:By the way, did you hear the original radio series on the BBC? It was utterly brilliant - the pictures were so much better than any of the televised or filmed versions...

I read the book first, so I've been disappointed in the TV and film versions both. I did hear it on radio too, but the book is the best, I think. One of these days I'm going to get a decal for the back of my iPad which says "Don't Panic".

So I now have to come up with another one, eh? (Eh? is Canadian for "Is that right?") Let me think... ... ... Okay, this one will cause some head-scratching:

I am known as a cowardly bull, sometimes, but I'm really Seven of Nine, irregularly speaking.

Yes, it is an astronomical object.

Rob

Douglas Adams Google Doodle Asks That You 'Don't Panic'

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/1 ... 52044.html
Happy birthday to a hoopy frood: Google celebrates British humorist and author of "The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy" Douglas Adams' 61st birthday with an animated and interactive Google Doodle.

I had no idea that it was Adams' birthday
I nearly didn't catch this doodle as Spanish Google doesn't have it!
Margarita

PS. I am thinking, thinking, about your question Rob (oh, and Canadian sounded really English to this Englishwoman!)

Well, Rob, you are a little to clever for me!

I will, nevertheless, try to interpret your question somewhat straightforwardly. As for the "bull" part of the cowardly bull, the only bull I can think of in astronomy is constellation Taurus. (At a stretch, it might refer to planet Jupiter, who in his godly guise took the shape of a bull in order to seduce princess Europa.)

But I'm going to go for constellation Taurus. What object in Taurus could possibly be described as cowardly? The only object that fits that description at all is the Pleiades cluster. In mythology, the Pleiades are the daughters of Atlas and Pleione, and they are forever running away from Orion, who is chasing them.

But Seven of Nine? I googled the Star Trek character and didn't get much wiser. Seven of nine is a young woman, however, and the object you ask for might possibly be, mythologically speaking, a young woman.

Okay. Alcyone, the brightest of the Pleiades, carries the designation η Tauri, or Eta Tauri. η or Eta is the seventh letter in the Greek alphabet. So Eta Tauri, Alcyone, could be described as a somewhat cowardly member as well as the seventh member of constellation Taurus, the Bull.

But I'm still not sure how she could be Seven of Nine! It's hard to see how she could be irregular, too. Possibly the entire Pleiades Cluster could be described as somewhat irregular.

Okay, that's the best I can do!

Ann

That's a fascinating analysis Ann. Wrong, but fascinating.

Maybe I need to add a bit. The two parts of my clue can be considered separately. So try to find the name of a cowardly bull, perhaps not in mythology or even in the sky. Maybe in popular fiction or movies.

Then try to find something with that name in the sky, which might be regarded as the seventh of a group of nine irregular things.

Helpful?

Rob

We aren't looking at the Stock Market, are we?? Or Spain's ex-prime minister who was rudely called the Cowardly Bull! His name is Zapatero which means shoemaker...
M

There are those who say this bull wasn't really cowardly. He just preferred smelling the flowers to fighting.

Rob

I still dont have a clue. Please give more information about you!


Please keep writing " I am not really coward bull...I am seven of nine ...I prefer smelling flowers to fighting..." when describing or giving further hints

Does Ferdinand ring a bell with any of you clueless Asterickians