Tehachapi Skywatch
Tehachapi Skywatch
By: Dale Hawkins
Description: How Do You Say That?
Topics: hawkins, sywatch, space
Posted by editor Tue Nov 30, 1999 00:00:00 PST
Viewed 377 times
0 responses 0 comments Last week I gave you a list of the eleven brightest “superstars” as seen from Tehachapi. I included a table of interesting facts about them. However, one important item was missing — the proper pronunciation of the names of these stars. One reason is that I wasn't that sure myself. Most of my pronunciations come from Star Trek, which upon investigation turned out to be a pretty reliable source.
Most of today's names for the stars are Arabic. This is because, during the Dark Ages following the collapse of Western Classical Civilization, most of the original writings of the ancient masters were lost. The Arabs, however, maintained their own translated copies through this period, making them available to the scholars of the Italian Renaissance. The Greek and Latin names of the constellations survived through verbal folklore. However, the names of the stars as we know them today are from the Arabic translations.
There are a whole plethora of Web sites devoted to this subject. This trick was to pick the right one, some of which are contradictory. I chose the site from astronomyclub.org, written by Aaron B. Clevenson. So here are his pronunciations of the Tehachapi Superstars (in order of brightness, as presented last week):
Sirius: SEER-ee-us
Arcturus: ark-TOO-rus
Vega: VAY-gah
Capella: kah-PEL-ah
Rigel: RYE-jel
Procyon: PRO-see-on
Betelgeuse: BET-el-jooz
Altair: al-TAYR
Aldebaran: al-BED-ah-ran
Antares: an-TAIR-eez
Spica: SPY-kah
So now you can not only really know what you're talking about it, you can sound like you do!
Manned Space Watch - Atlantis still under repair while Expedition 15 takes over
Space Shuttle Atlantis is still in the Vehicle Assembly Building undergoing repairs from a hailstorm. A new launch date of “no earlier than” June 8 has been set, while the schedule for all future missions has been set back. Meanwhile, the fifteenth crew for Space Station Alpha has assumed command. The Expedition 14 crew and an American space tourist should have landed in Kazakhstan last weekend.
Space Probe Watch
The AIM (Aeronony of Ice in the Mesosphere) spacecraft is scheduled for launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base on Wednesday, April 25, aboard a Pegasus XL winged rocket to study clouds at the very edge of space.
Night Sky Watch
The moon will be bright in our evening sky this week. The moon will occult (eclipse) the bright star Regulus on Thursday, April 26.
Venus grows more dazzling everyday, outshining everything but the sun and the moon. I have yet to award a drink to the first reader to report seeing Venus in broad daylight! Let me know at hawk@ieee.org.
Saturn is high overhead at sundown, with Jupiter rising before midnight.
Sunrise/Sunset (PDT)
6:09 a.m./7:35 p.m.
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