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“I don’t believe in astrology; I’m a Sagittarius and we’re sceptical.”
― Arthur C. Clarke (16 December 1917 – 19 March 2008) Science fiction author, futurist, sceptic, science proponent and all-round quotable guy – but did he say this? QI isn’t sure! Whether he said it or not, is not the issue. It’s whether astrology is true or not – and how people react, behave and treat…
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“It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience.”
The full quote goes: “It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another and to preserve and cherish the…
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“While [Thales] was studying the stars and looking upwards, he fell into a pit, and a neat, witty Thracian servant girl jeered at him, they say, because he was so eager to know the things in the sky that he could not see what was there before him at his very feet.”
![“While [Thales] was studying the stars and looking upwards, he fell into a pit, and a neat, witty Thracian servant girl jeered at him, they say, because he was so eager to know the things in the sky that he could not see what was there before him at his very feet.”](https://stargazingguy.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/the_eclipse_of_thales_historical_eclipses.png?w=1024)
Plato, Theaetetus, 174a (trans. H. N. Fowler)Thales (624/623 BC – c548/545 BC) Thales – the father of science. According to Herodotus, Thales predicted the solar eclipse of 28 May 585 BC. The appearance of the eclipse was interpreted as an omen and interrupted a battle in a long-standing war between the Medes and the Lydians.…
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“The church says the earth is flat; but I have seen its shadow on the moon, and I have more confidence even in a shadow than in the church.”
– Misattributed to Ferdinand Magellan (4 February 1480 – 27 April 1521) Yes, another misattribution! Surely a misattribution of the moment: Magellan didn’t say it, but it’s still brilliant, “shadow on the Moon”. Credit: https://depositphotos.com/64932777/stock-photo-moon-phases-from-crescent-to.html So, who did say it? Also, is it true, what can the earth’s shadow on the moon tell you about…
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“If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore …”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), Nature and Selected Essays In his poem, Emerson puts forth the view that they would be regarded with great wonder and remembered and discussed for years to come. They would be recognized as a sign of God. Not every one agrees with this view, some think the human response would…
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“If I have seen further [than others], it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”
![“If I have seen further [than others], it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”](https://stargazingguy.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/depositphotos_257481036_xl.jpg?w=1024)
– Sir Isaac Newton PRS (25 December 1642 – 1726/27)* Newton was relatively modest about his achievements, writing in a letter to Robert Hooke in February 1676, “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” In a later memoir, Newton wrote, “I do not know what I may appear…
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“There is no easy way from the earth to the stars”
― Seneca the Younger (c. 4 BC – 65 AD) usually known as Seneca, was a Stoic philosopher of Ancient Rome, a statesman, dramatist, and, in one work, satirist, from the post-Augustan age of Latin literature. The quote is translated from Seneca’s tragedy Hercules furens (The Mad Hercules): “non est ad astra mollis e terris…
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“The cosmos is within us. We are made of star stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself.”
― Carl Sagan. Spoken during the first episode of the 1980 landmark science series “Cosmos: A Personal Voyage” titled “The Shores of the Cosmic Ocean” An earlier version of the “we are made of star-stuff” quote, was made in the 1973 Carl Sagan publication “The Cosmic Connection: An Extra-terrestrial Perspective”: “All of the rocky and…
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How many star signs are there?
We all know there are 12 star signs or signs of the zodiac. The 12 astrological star signs are evenly spread across the calendar: The date of your birth is meant to have an impact on your personality, behaviours, love life, career, etc. – every newspaper carries a horoscope trying to predict your destiny! But…
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“Moonlight drowns out all but the brightest stars.”
– J.R.R. Tolkien (3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) An interesting quote, apparently from the Lord of the Rings, but it doesn’t stand up to a Google search! Even if its in one of the movies, this is a misattributed quote. Even more interesting (in my opinion), it isn’t true – moonlight doesn’t technically…
Stargazing Guy
Connecting people to the Stars
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You Can Still Read NASA’s Deleted “First Woman” Graphic Novels
With thanks to Keith Cowing of NASAWatch.com Credit: https://nasawatch.com/education/you-can-still-read-nasas-deleted-first-woman-graphic-novels/ ____________________________________________________________________ The following is mainly taken from NASAWatch.com‘s page about this story. In 2021 NASA issued the first of two interactive comic books/graphic novels (“First Woman: Dream to Reality”) depicting young women dreaming of – and then training for – a future that would comprise the…
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One Penny for Space
Will you sign the petition? I have. Credit: https://pennyforspace.vercel.app/ ____________________________________________________________________ One Penny for Space is a petition to ask the UK government to increase spending on space to 1%. Click on the badge below to learn more about the petition by Peter Hague of Plutocracy. ____________________________________________________________________ PS: I love coffee. BuyMeACoffee, leave a message with a…
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Space and science-related puns & jokes no. 76
Everyone loves a pune (or pun) or a joke. Here follows more space and science-related puns/jokes – enjoy or groan or meh. More to follow! __________________________________________________________________ Q: If you know nothing about constellations at least learn Ursa MinorA: …that’s the bear minimum This will be the last pun/joke for a while – due to some…
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Space and science-related puns & jokes no. 75
Everyone loves a pune (or pun) or a joke. Here follows more space and science-related puns/jokes – enjoy or groan or meh. More to follow! __________________________________________________________________ Q: Why are they called Hemorrhoids?A: Because Asteroids was already taken __________________________________________________________________ PS: I love coffee. BuyMeACoffee, leave a message with a date and time and we can In the…
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Space and science-related puns & jokes no. 74
Everyone loves a pune (or pun) or a joke. Here follows more space and science-related puns/jokes – enjoy or groan or meh. More to follow! __________________________________________________________________ Apologies, yet another image/meme. If you can’t mix jokes/puns with memes … well you can and I have! __________________________________________________________________ PS: I love coffee. BuyMeACoffee, leave a message with a date…
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Space and science-related puns & jokes no. 73
Everyone loves a pune (or pun) or a joke. Here follows more space and science-related puns/jokes – enjoy or groan or meh. More to follow! __________________________________________________________________ Apologies, yet another image/meme. Definitely a dad joke, too! If you can’t mix jokes/puns with memes/dad jokes … well you can and I have! __________________________________________________________________ PS: I love coffee. BuyMeACoffee,…
Stargazing Guy 