In celebration of my recent commitment ceremony with Kat, my good bloggy friend FranIAm was kind enough to give us the gift of a lifetime: a star!
I had always heard about these "name your own star" things and thought it would be cool; Fran must've read my mind or my memory and known how much we both would enjoy this gift.
Our star deed came from the Millennium Chronicle, a company that has a really beautiful logo:
Our star is located in the constellation Aquila--the Eagle--so appropriate for a birder! Its number is 105544 Aquila, and its new name is DeliaKaterina. For you big telescope owners, here are the coordinates: right ascension 20h 00m 54.91s, declination +11 degrees, 43'30.7". It's a Type A3 star, magnitude 8.7; its distance from our planet is unknown -- a fact which blows my mind a little. Man, the universe is a big place.
Here is the position of the constellation Aquila in the night sky (h/t to this site) :
That's Scorpio to the far right, and Pegasus to the left, of Aquila. Our star is just to the left of the brightest star in Aquila, Altair--that one on the left, at the crook there. Here's an easier-to-conceptualize view:
Wow, right? This is an illustration from Bayer's Uranometria (written in 1603!). According to this site, "Aquila flys (sic) across the Milky Way (which runs across the picture from upper left to lower right), the bright star Altair in its neck. The celestial Eagle is shown carrying Antinous, a figure from ancient Roman times, a constellation that is no longer recognized." Our little star would be at the leading edge of his upper wing, right near his scapulars (I think that's what it would be called). BTW, it would suck to be Antinous.
All kinds of interesting documentation came with the star deed, including a map with a circle around the actual speck that is our star. It's awe-inspiring to look up at night sky; as a kid, I dreamed of being an astronaut and an astronomer, travelling the stars and seeing the beautiful things in our universe--the Horsehead Nebula, the Crab Nebula, our own little galaxy. Now when I look at the sky, I will look at the Eagle and think of our little star out there, winking at me, in the remote blackness of space.
Thank you, Fran, for lighting a little candle in my imagination.
10 comments:
So. Very. Cool.
I, too, have heard of the star-naming, but when the star is named for someone you know (or yourself!), it really becomes a bit staggering.
That's a really thoughtful gift! I've always dreamed of seeing space from in space too.
That is very cool. :)
Earl--exactly. Pretty much everything about space just blows my little mind.
Lynne--definitely. Whenever I dream, if it's night in the dream and I'm outside, I always see space as though it's just like it looks in the Hubble photographs. I love those dreams!
Rick--welcome! Fran's a cool lady.
I visited there a few years ago. It's a great place. If you plan to visit DeliaKaterina, I recommend going during the off season. And be sure to try the local spilbat, but don't drink too much.
That is the most awesome gift. Leave it to Fran.
Crow--thanks for the recommendation! I'll try to partake responsibly.
CDP--she's da bomb.
Sheesh. I don't even know what to say.
I can and will say this- choosing this gift was amazing and fun.
You know, I did consider the more traditional alternative route, but it just didn't feel right.
Then I started searching in earnest - got to love those wacky intertubes, you can find just about anything!
As soon as I got to the stars, I just knew I had found the right thing.
Of course, I had some choices and the eagle figured into that process. I may not be a birder but I do get it.
Anyway, it is such a gift for me to be a part of your world sister- so the sky was the limit, so to speak.
Delia and Kat - i luvz dem. Srsly! And I have not even met them yet!
Fran--I clicked on that link for the "traditional" gift and just about spit coffee all over the monitor! You're such a treasure, Fran--we luvz u 2!
Glad you enjoyed and that you did not coffee-tize your monitor!!
Off to school.
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