Starship Asterisk*

Posted: **Tue Jul 22, 2008 6:11 pm**

hi guys,

I had a hunch when I saw the APOD of today (22scd) that there might be some discussion going on...but I do not understand why it must be so emotional...?

I consider myself to be a very serious astro-photographer and when I achieve a decent result, I am eager to get it published as an APOD, which happened to become reality a couple times, yet.

I had a great time watching this video on APOD, before it was posted here - I showed this to my kids and wife the following day as it was already pretty late here, everyone is sleeping (1a.m. local time…still …processing…what else could I be doing at this time, when the house is …silently dwelling here in the middle of nowhere)

Discussion is a good thing, everyxone is supposed to have its own mind and its own opinion, but maybe, it is not so much off astronomics as it might appear in the first place…

...cos we humans are all off-spring of astronomical objects like the very stars, that faded away in a spectacular explosion so many billion years ago, expelling their „entrails“ into space, providing space with their (heavy) elemtents that helped forming a new sun, …earth, …life, … us, the humans. They were making – if you will – a sacrifce.

…and by making this sacrifice in terms of such an „apoptotic death“ of one of those stars, we even do not know, this star put itself in charge for brining us earhtlings in the game! So, in the end it is very well justified to show this video:

It displays one of the very best results of the off-spring of our parenting stars: happy people around the globe - here on earth.
dig it!

I am sure, they would be very content and happy watching these people dance all over the globe…their sacrifice was worthwhile.

if this would just happen more oftenly…

isnt’t it so? when children do not know their parents, sometiems when they grow older, they are likely to look for these – at least they want to learn about them. Our heavenly parents will always stay unknown, but by reaching out for the stars at night, with our imaging equipment, we maybe express this wish for looking for our parents, and going on this enterprise is a good thing. how else could you understand yourself as humans, when not investigating the very origin?…I love this thought. And I find rest, calm and peace under the night skies. When dwelling in the observatory and imaging, I sit and stare, meditate and … I am happy.

So - THANK you for this wonderful movie! I love it!

the origin of us is within the idea of being happy, happy becos we have been raised, have been put in this place, compsired with the elemtnts, that so many eons ago have been buildt up in the stars we watch at night...

Posted: **Tue Jul 22, 2008 6:24 pm**

I posted that video to APOD. About once a month or so, APOD posts an image that is not strictly related to the classical definition of astronomy or space science. Reasons for this are several, including broadening APOD's reader base. APODs like these, in my opinion, interest people in space, science, and astronomy who might not normally have or follow such interests. In my view, the web appears to stratify people by interests, and many times people in one interest group will not wander into other interest areas. Eclectic APODs like this are therefore an attempt to reach across disciplines.

Additionally, in my view, APOD is also about planet Earth, exploration, and making connections between science and things not classically related to science. In this case, this APOD focussed on humans specifically, who have never been highlighted on APOD before. This also gives APOD a "human" link usable inside of future APODs.

- RJN

Posted: **Tue Jul 22, 2008 6:26 pm**

Indigo_Sunrise wrote:tomorrow's another day, and another image

And today's APOD says tomorrow's image will be "martian cliffs" so I know what to look forward to.

And yesterday's APOD said today's image would be "human dancing" so I knew what to expect there too. If such a subject had been too much for me to bear, I could easily have taken this reliable 24-hour notice as a "may not be suitable for all viewers" warning and not turned on my computer today. But here I am, intact and whole, despite looking or not looking.

RJN wrote:About once a month or so, APOD posts an image that is not strictly related to the classical definition of astronomy or space science.

(my bold)

This explanation should also remove some of the "shock" to the APOD audience when the next "eclectic" APOD appears.

Posted: **Tue Jul 22, 2008 6:26 pm**

Indigo_Sunrise wrote:
Andy Wade wrote:And as for the 'whiners' comment from Indigo Sunrise. How very dare you....
I dare very well, thank you much.
You can't say it's not true. People whine about the silliest stuff. Is it going to matter tomorrow what the APoD was for today? Or a week from now? A year? 100 yrs from now? Is it really going to affect your future that today's image - er, video - wasn't space related?!? I thought not. Who cares?
We all come here for a reason: mine's curiosity. Curiosity of the next amazing image - or in this case a few brief moments of enjoyment brought on by a VIDEO OF PEOPLE DANCING AROUND THE WORLD. So stop the presses that it's not astronomical in nature. I stand by my statement on whining. And sure you can comment as you like, just as I can respond as I like.
As I previously said - tomorrow's another day, and another image.....

So if they posted a vid a day from YouTube about skater boys breaking their ankle or face planting, or pictures of dogs or cats or anything else, that would be OK because it's part of the universe and anything goes.

This site has a specific aim, to enlighten us about what's out there and occasionally about weather topics on this planet, which I fully accept because it's JPL related. This attached forum is great because I as a layman in these matters may ask bonehead questions here and get an understandable answer from the people who really know.

I could call you a whiner because you're whining about others making valid comments of a negative kind about todays DPOD?
Well I won't be doing that as it was a rhetorical question and I won't be lowering myself by name calling.
Yaaaawwwwwwnnnnnn. Come back when you've got less time

DPOD? That's not a typo, this site is now Dancing Picture Of the Day.

Here's a preview of the DPOD for tomorrow:

Well it is space related.

And the best thing to come from all this?
Some more people got to see that truly amazing flyby video of Tycho.

Posted: **Tue Jul 22, 2008 6:34 pm**

JohnD wrote:I can't be bothered to take a poll of pro and antis but gosh, there are some tight-****** people here. I came to mock, people dancing feugh! Got even more scornful when I saw Mr.Matt and his 'dance', but I stayed to enjoy, and laugh.

Loosen up, you diehard apodders. Enjoy! This is a piece of fun, foam on the water, but why not, now and again?

John

Sorry Man.
I missed my early morning fix of wondrous enchantment and now I've gone cold turkey.

Posted: **Tue Jul 22, 2008 7:06 pm**

emc wrote:Ever noticed how negativity is like a black hole... we have to have black holes to balance the nature of the cosmos... we have to have human negativity to keep us from getting too happy

Forelan wrote:I agree with the black hole balance statement. I just remind myself that the internet has allowed the majority of negative people to voice their opinion, along with the unintelligible.

Sangfroid wrote:The Internet is very close (sometimes dangerously close) a real-world implementation of the Infinite Monkey Theorem.

apodman wrote:Unfamiliar. Is that similar to "a million monkeys at a million typewriters for a million years"?

http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/An_infinit ... ypewriters

An infinite number of monkeys with typewriters (Monkius typeriterus) is a discovery made in the late 1984 by the famous Guatemalan explorer Cher, after her plane crashed in the New Jersey and she accidentally discovered the gates of hell, which were surrounded by monkeys (it is said that these monkeys were the inspiration for Dante Alighieri's famous romantic comedy: Harry Potter and the Journey to the Center of the Earth). The monkeys, which were later recruited by the US government to re-write the constitution, had been underground since the 12th century, when they were created by Shakespeare to write his complete plays.

The inspiration for using monkeys is said to have come from Shakespeare's brother, Charles Darwin, who had previously invented monkeys to support his far-fetched theories on typewriting.

Posted: **Tue Jul 22, 2008 7:07 pm**

RJN wrote:APOD is also about planet Earth, exploration, and making connections between science and things not classically related to science. In this case, this APOD focussed on humans specifically, who have never been highlighted on APOD before. This also gives APOD a "human" link usable inside of future APODs.

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070325.html
Explanation: With its abundance of liquid water, Earth supports a large variety of life forms, including potentially intelligent species such as dolphins and humans.

Well...better just make that dolphins:
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap080722.html

Posted: **Tue Jul 22, 2008 7:25 pm**

It made me chuckle when he was hit with that huge wave spary (Careful now)

Posted: **Tue Jul 22, 2008 7:35 pm**

How do you know Robert and Jerry aren’t aliens from some other planet? And that APOD and Asterisk are just tools to gather intelligence… well information may be a better word...

Has anyone given this any thought… although Earth is an astronomical object, it is easier to perceive this fact from off-planet. And, well… doesn’t that make the subject APOD fit the desired and perceived scheme for the daily visitors??? Making everyone happy??? Astronomy… Earth as seen from another planet or another planet's visitor???

Perhaps this is an unintended and revealing slip on Robert's or Jerry's part. The jig is up guys... might as well come clean before we get the ionizing alien matter vaporizers out...

Posted: **Tue Jul 22, 2008 8:19 pm**

From skimming this epic thread:

A lot of people here do need to lighten up, and that includes reducing the ad-hominems toward the "whiners" who are free to post their opinions, however humourless.

Today's APOD introduced me to this video (and its sponsor). I thought the premise was a silly and contrived grab for fame; parts of it turned out to be hilarious (the wave). This isn't APOD material, but hey, at least these reader reactions are entertaining!

Personally, I believe that forays into, say, professional photographs of "heavenly bodies" of a more earthly and preferably female type would be more justified.

It's Kaguya.

Peace!

Posted: **Tue Jul 22, 2008 8:30 pm**

Although I am sure this was intended to be light-hearted and amusing, with the goal of surprising us, the video does have many deep connections to astronomy. Some examples (there are more): Playfulness. All of the sciences, certainly including astronomy, are driven by a playful spirit of exploration and fun, just like dancing. Impracticality. Until recently, with few exceptions, astronomy was the least practical of the sciences, based on awe and wonder, like the sprit of dance. Life in the universe. As we seek life, especially intelligent life, elsewhere in the galaxy, we need to better understand the strange intelligent life form on this planet, a life form that "dances". Hope for the future. If the human race is to survive long enough to actually go into space and explore the "final frontier" we must find our commonality and shared dreams, shown graphically in this video.

Posted: **Tue Jul 22, 2008 9:22 pm**

To Andy Wade, Pete, and anyone else that takes an affront to my use ot the word "whiner" in any of its forms: I am not using it as an 'ad hominem', in that I am not directing it at any one person, but instead to a group.

And no, I wasn't whining: merely trying to take up some for RJN and the rest of the APoD team, but he seems to have done a fine job in his explanation as to why the image for today is what it is....

To RJN, et al.: Keep those great images and videos coming!

Posted: **Tue Jul 22, 2008 9:37 pm**

texas_citizen wrote:Although I am sure this was intended to be light-hearted and amusing, with the goal of surprising us, the video does have many deep connections to astronomy. Some examples (there are more): Playfulness. All of the sciences, certainly including astronomy, are driven by a playful spirit of exploration and fun, just like dancing. Impracticality. Until recently, with few exceptions, astronomy was the least practical of the sciences, based on awe and wonder, like the sprit of dance. Life in the universe. As we seek life, especially intelligent life, elsewhere in the galaxy, we need to better understand the strange intelligent life form on this planet, a life form that "dances". Hope for the future. If the human race is to survive long enough to actually go into space and explore the "final frontier" we must find our commonality and shared dreams, shown graphically in this video.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destroy_All_Humans%21

<<Destroy All Humans! is a video game developed by Pandemic Studios and published by THQ. It was released for the Xbox and PlayStation 2 computer entertainment systems on June 21, 2005. The game is set in 1950s U.S. and parodies the lifestyles, pop culture, and politics of this time period. The player controls Cryptosporidium 137, a member of the Furon race of aliens, who has come to Earth to harvest DNA from humans to continue the cloning process of his species. Destroy All Humans has gameplay similar to the Grand Theft Auto series. Matt Harding thought up the name and concept but quit soon after due to the idea of creating a game when the point was to kill all humans. He then made Where the Hell is Matt for the internet.>>

Posted: **Tue Jul 22, 2008 10:45 pm**

Well, I finally arrived home where my bandwidth is wider and was able to view the video… and absolutely loved it!

I especially enjoyed the music and simple dance cleverly framed for each Earth location. I am happier for watching it!

I'm sticking with my "Robert and Jerry are aliens" theory though... we probably taste better when we are happy... I bet Matt Harding is an alien too!

Posted: **Tue Jul 22, 2008 11:10 pm**

*gotta be home to view it as well*

I wouldn't call anyone 'whiners' just because they have something wrong with something thats been done, even if its not wrong for the reasons they think. They just want to increase their post counts and seem like they are contributing. =)

And since someone started the party, lets partae!!!!

We know how they be doin it out yonder in 'da stars! Yeahhhh

Posted: **Tue Jul 22, 2008 11:31 pm**

Not exactly APOD, but not a bad thing to see either. Think I'll try this in Turkey.

Posted: **Tue Jul 22, 2008 11:35 pm**

Andy Wade wrote:
Here's a preview of the DPOD for tomorrow:

Well it is space related.

That's very cute.

Why not post hard-core pornography, because they probably have sex on other planets too?

RJN wrote:I posted that video to APOD. About once a month or so, APOD posts an image that is not strictly related to the classical definition of astronomy or space science. Reasons for this are several, including broadening APOD's reader base. APODs like these, in my opinion, interest people in space, science, and astronomy who might not normally have or follow such interests. In my view, the web appears to stratify people by interests, and many times people in one interest group will not wander into other interest areas. Eclectic APODs like this are therefore an attempt to reach across disciplines.

To quote Richard Dawkins, "..science is interesting. If you don't think so, you can f**k off."

Posted: **Wed Jul 23, 2008 12:13 am**

Hello Stargazer 7000,

Thank you, Dietmar. Elegant.

Posted: **Wed Jul 23, 2008 12:36 am**

Regardless of the nature of the rock thrown into the pond, the ripples are the entertainment. Today I have read some of the funniest material of my Asterisk career.

Posted: **Wed Jul 23, 2008 12:44 am**

Indigo_Sunrise wrote:
soupphysics wrote:I'd rather have an old star picture.....
Sure you would. Then you - or someone - would start (another) thread that talks about how 'we've all seen that image before' and 'why can't TPTB at APoD find something new, that we haven't seen 100x before', etc., and the whining would continue......

Lord......

Actually I wouldn't. So please drop your pointless assumptions about me.

This video is just lame in this context.

Posted: **Wed Jul 23, 2008 12:50 am**

JohnD wrote:I can't be bothered to take a poll of pro and antis but gosh, there are some tight-****** people here. I came to mock, people dancing feugh! Got even more scornful when I saw Mr.Matt and his 'dance', but I stayed to enjoy, and laugh.

Loosen up, you diehard apodders. Enjoy! This is a piece of fun, foam on the water, but why not, now and again?

John

Yeah I like his videos too. Saw the very first ones from before he got sponsered. But this is the kinda stuff that you see on funny video sites and youtube. NOT HERE!

There are thousands of videos out there just as suitable (unsuitable) out there, so should APOD start showing those too? Why not just change APOD into yet another funny video site. C'mon.

Posted: **Wed Jul 23, 2008 12:54 am**

stargazer_7000 wrote: I had a great time watching this video on APOD, before it was posted here

And what about the other thousands of videos on the internet that you would equally enjoy watching, but that also have absolutely nothing to do with APOD? Should they be shown too?

If people like these kinds of videos, they should frequently check any of the millions of video sites that show videos just like that.

What's next on APOD? A Coca Cola commercial? There are lots of commercials and other videos that are fun, enjoyable and even are full of technical stuff like rube goldberg machines and stuff that could in some way be called science related, or how about some conspiracy videos about alien obduction or fake moon landings.

Posted: **Wed Jul 23, 2008 1:29 am**

Thanks Professor Nemiroff. Now that I understand why you post APODs that have nothing to do with A, I recommend porn next time for increased effectiveness.

Posted: **Wed Jul 23, 2008 1:43 am**

Wow. Too many of you folks really need to lighten up. Yeesh!! Some of you seriously piss me off, in an amused sort of way. The video is Awesome and the guy is cool. He's celebrating life and seeking a common bond with the rest of humanity every where on this fantastically rare little planet, dancing happily in this one fleeting moment of time...so APOD strayed a little once...but it strayed in a wonderful direction....I'm sure there will be another picture of Mars dirt tomorrow. For Gods Sake, be it Buddha or Allah or Jehovah or whatever you perceive god to be....Get your astronomical noses out of the air and think out side box...this is what it's all about folks...as far as the Universe goes....it doesn't get any better than this...

if you must see the stars, Go out side, look up, dance, and be happy....

Posted: **Wed Jul 23, 2008 1:58 am**

Somewhere in an alternate universe the Dancing Picture of the Day site is being besieged by complaints about the inclusion of a picture of the Horsehead Nebula.

Starship Asterisk*

Happy People Dancing On Planet Earth (APOD 22 Jul 2008)

it is very well worth being an apod

Re: The Few, The Proud

What dancing and astronomy have in common

Re: What dancing and astronomy have in common

Never saw it before, me either.

Re: it is very well worth being an apod