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Week of Nov. 22-29, 2009
Anyone frequenting singles bars back in the '70s has surely heard the question "What's your sign?" And while most of us know the answer, not many know what it actually means. It's really quite simple.
The sun's annual path through the …Read more.
Week of Nov. 15-21, 2009
There are few sights more beautiful than the glistening stars and planets on a clear, dark rural night. But just where do all those heavenly bodies go during the daytime? And why can't we see them when the sky is bright?
As I'm sure you already know,…Read more.
Week of Nov. 8-14, 2009
Anyone who has ever gazed at a dark sky for more than a few minutes has almost certainly seen a burst of light appearing out of nowhere that disappears just as quickly.
We call such a startling phenomenon romantic names like a "falling …Read more.
Week of Nov. 1-7, 2009
Now that autumn is firmly set into place, I've been sorting through my closet in search of warmer clothing to get me through the winter. I don't know why it is, but I always seem to find one fewer coat hanger than there are pieces of clothing in the …Read more.
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Week of Nov. 29 -- Dec. 5, 2009With the holiday season racing toward us like an out-of-control train, it won't be long before we begin seeing and hearing ads to have a star named after someone special. Now, I'm a huge proponent of the free enterprise system, but, much like P.T. Barnum, I've come to learn that no matter how goofy a product is, if it's marketed well enough, people will line up to buy it. Remember the pet rock? Case closed. So if rocks, why not stars? Why not take a person's hard-earned money, write their name in a book and hand them a star chart and certificate? Well, that's just what a handful of companies have been doing for several years, and at least one has been investigated by one state's attorney general's office. Quite frankly, I think that having a star named after me would be a pretty cool novelty gift — but that's really all it is. Where I take issue is that people often believe that this will buy them immortality — that future astronomers will someday utter their name while studying "their" star. I can just hear it now: "My, isn't Otis glistening tonight!" Sorry, folks, it just ain't so! Let me explain why. On a clear, dark night, only a couple thousand stars are visible to the unaided eye. Take, for example, the brightest star in the northeastern sky right now after dark. Various catalogues list it as HD 34029, HR 1708 and Alpha Aurigae. But since it's the sixth-brightest star in the heavens, it also carries a proper name: Capella. The name means "she-goat," a perfectly legitimate name for the brightest star in the constellation of Auriga — a charioteer who carries a goat. Other bright stars have similar histories. Now, if you'd still like to "buy" a star for someone this holiday season, you should have little trouble finding companies on any Internet search engine. But if you'd like to learn how the stars got their actual names, you might check out the classic book of Richard Hinckley Allen: "Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning." I suspect even ol' Barnum might approve. To find out more about Dennis Mammana and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2009 CREATORS.COM
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