12,297
edits
m
→full text
m (→Text) |
m (→full text) |
||
| Line 6: | Line 6: | ||
==full text== | ==full text== | ||
Stars are decorations of the night sky. Their arrangement have ever since been subject to explanation based on the contemporary cultural framework. This pattern interpretation has created the so called modern (western) constellations. The majority of which depict animals (Aries, Aquila, Dorado, Taurus, Cancer, Leo, Scorpio, Capricorn, Pisces, Canis Major, Canis Minor, Lupus, Lynx and so forth), followed by roman, greek and babylonian mythological characters (Andromeda, Aquarius, Auriga, Hercules, Pegasus, Perseus, Orion, Virgo and others). Already the third biggest group of constellations are man-made machines – pieces of technology like an the arrow (Sagitta), the triangle (Triangulum), the balance (Libra) and the lyre (Lyra). But there are also more curious ones like a ships keel (Carina), poop deck (Puppis) and its sails (Vela), an air pump (Antlia), a pair of compasses (Circinus), a carpenter's level (Norma), a mariner's octant (Octans), and compass (Pyxis), a eyepiece graticule (Reticulum), a telescope (Telescopium), a pendulum clock (Horologium), a microscope (Microscopium), a chemical furnace (Fornax), a sculptors chisel (Caelum) and a painter's easel(Pictor). Those constellations were given names by the french theologist and scientist Nicolas Louis de Lacaille (1713-1763) | Stars are decorations of the night sky. Their arrangement have ever since been subject to explanation based on the contemporary cultural framework. This pattern interpretation has created the so called modern (western) constellations. The majority of which depict animals (Aries, Aquila, Dorado, Taurus, Cancer, Leo, Scorpio, Capricorn, Pisces, Canis Major, Canis Minor, Lupus, Lynx and so forth), followed by roman, greek and babylonian mythological characters (Andromeda, Aquarius, Auriga, Hercules, Pegasus, Perseus, Orion, Virgo and others). Already the third biggest group of constellations are man-made machines – pieces of technology like an the arrow (Sagitta), the triangle (Triangulum), the balance (Libra) and the lyre (Lyra). But there are also more curious ones like a ships keel (Carina), poop deck (Puppis) and its sails (Vela), an air pump (Antlia), a pair of compasses (Circinus), a carpenter's level (Norma), a mariner's octant (Octans), and compass (Pyxis), a eyepiece graticule (Reticulum), a telescope (Telescopium), a pendulum clock (Horologium), a microscope (Microscopium), a chemical furnace (Fornax), a sculptors chisel (Caelum) and a painter's easel (Pictor). Those constellations were given names by the french theologist and scientist Nicolas Louis de Lacaille (1713-1763) during an astronomical expedition to study the southern heavens at the Cape of Good Hope. When Lacaille looked up to the nightly firmament he saw the high-tech equipment of artists, craftsmen, seafarer and scientists of his time. Like a Rorschach test he made his sense of the patterns in the sky according to his conditioning. | ||
If we'd shuffle the stars today – how would we name the new constellations? Wind generator, Pedelec and iPad? | |||
Since a majority of the world's population now lives in cities, starry nights have become increasingly difficult to witness. The chances are that it's easier to get a women's magazine at a newsstand an read an extensive horoscope. Astrology proclaims to have powers on our lives, however, our everyday life is dominated by artificial heavenly bodies. | |||
TV shows are transmitted through satellite dishes, weather forecasts are based upon remote sensing satellites and navigation devices in cars triangulate its position by GPS. We know the extent of the ozone hole just as well as iranian nuclear sites from a satellite's perspective. Daily routine without satellites is almost unimaginable - yet they remain invisible. | |||
Only two constellations have a religious connotation: noah's dove and the southern cross. | Only two constellations have a religious connotation: noah's dove and the southern cross. | ||
In his tradition a map of satellite constellations needs to be made which allows for the special circumstances of moving objects with different orbital planes - the satellite zodiac. | |||
In this paper I want to propose a new taxonomy on how satellite constellations can be named and how the difficulties of this venture can be solved. | In this paper I want to propose a new taxonomy on how satellite constellations can be named and how the difficulties of this venture can be solved. | ||