It's written in the stars

I use your words to find words for that stuff up there.

[astronomy-for-you]

pinned post

Hi all! You can call me Mara or A, I'm an astrophysics undergrad working in dark matter research who spends too much time on this stupid fucking website.

I wrote a script to look for celestial objects using text posts, and am using it as inspiration to learn more about our universe!

The script only finds the best match, I do everything else and am much less mechanically precise, so please let me know if you find any dead links or if anything I say is inaccurate. I'm also doing this using text posts that I think are funny, and will try to keep sensitive subjects tagged for accessibility.

I'll do my best to keep things factual, accessible, and fun!

[fromthecrypt]

she franken on my stein til i 'hateful day when I received life!' I exclaimed in agony. 'Accursed creator! Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust? God, in pity, made man beautiful and alluring, after his own image; but my form is a filthy type of yours, more horrid even from the very resemlance. Satan had his companions, fellow-devils, to admire and encourage him; but I am solitary and abhorred.'

[astronomy-for-you]

Match found: Prometheus, a moon of Saturn!

(image source)

[Image id:

A brightened image of Prometheus, the moon of Saturn. The moon is cratered and elongated, giving it a "cratered spud" appearance.]

she franken on my stein til i 'hateful day when I received life!' I exclaimed in agony. 'Accursed creator! Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust? God, in pity, made man beautiful and alluring, after his own image; but my form is a filthy type of yours, more horrid even from the very resemlance. Satan had his companions, fellow-devils, to admire and encourage him; but I am solitary and abhorred.'

Fun fact:

Prometheus and another moon of Saturn, Pandora, are expected to crash either into each other or the moon Mimas (which famously sports an impact crater reminiscent of the Death Star) within 20 million years!

Let me know if you notice any mistakes or broken links!

[goatedgreen]

my hot take about astrology is that i dont think it says anything in particular about anyones personality but i do like having a little shape and animal related to when i was born :)

[astronomy-for-you]

Match found: the constellation Sagittarius!

my hot take about astrology is that i dont think it says anything in particular about anyones personality but i do like having a little shape and animal related to when i was born :)

Fun fact:

The edge of the constellation Sagittarius is where the Milky Way's central black hole, Sagittarius A*, can be found! The constellation is also classically associated with fortune tellers, as its namesake's prowess in archery was said to come from knowledge of the future.

Let me know if you notice any mistakes or broken links!

[hungwy]

first mammoth to get hit with a spear mustve been like actually fuck you for real

[rostbef]

I think this applies to every mammoth hit by a spear

[moxyinverse]

no the rest of them didn't mind

[astronomy-for-you]

Match found: Paikauhale (a.k.a Tau Scorpii), a star in the constellation Scorpius!

first mammoth to get hit with a spear mustve been like actually fuck you for real I think this applies to every mammoth hit by a spear no the rest of them didn't mind

Fun fact:

Paikauhale has a strangely complex magnetic field given how hot it is! Instead of just having two opposing north and south poles like the Earth, Paikauhale's magnetic field is thought to look more like this:

(The surprising magnetic topology of tauSco: a fossil remnant or dynamo output?)

[image id:

Figure 11 from the linked article - it is a reconstruction of Tao Scorpii's magnetic field from observations from two different angles. There is a torus of closed magnetic fields encircling the star, and nearly orthogonal and only on one side of the star is another cluster of closed magnetic fields.

end id]

Right ascension: 16h 35m 52.95285s

Declination: −28° 12′ 57.6615″

Let me know if you notice any mistakes or broken links!

[tlirsgender]

Holding a seance to ask Gene Roddenberry "given your staunchly anti-war and anti-racist standpoints how do you reckon with the colonialist overtones of how Starfleet and the Federation at large function" and the ouija board spells out W-H-A-T

[tlirsgender]

Tormenting that 1960s progressive white man with my 21st century decolonization discourse about his space show from across the veil

[astronomy-for-you]

Match found: Lucilinburhuc, a star in the constellation Auriga!

Holding a seance to ask Gene Roddenberry "given your staunchly anti-war and anti-racist standpoints how do you reckon with the colonialist overtones of how Starfleet and the Federation at large function" and the ouija board spells out W-H-A-T Tormenting that 1960s progressive white man with my 21st century decolonization discourse about his space show from across the veil

Fun fact:

Lucilinburhuc has a mass very close to that of our Sun (1.02 stellar masses), and it was named after a 10th century Luxembourg fortress by class 3B from the Luxembourgish Echternach high school!

Right ascension: 06h 28m 45.71112s

Declination: +38° 57′ 46.6628″

Let me know if you notice any mistakes or broken links!

[duckdotcom]

they're adding mary magdalene to smash

[astronomy-for-you]

Match found: Eirene, a moon of Jupiter!

they're adding mary magdalene to smash

Fun fact:

Eirene is only 4 kilometers across, and as a result it was lost shortly after its discovery in 2003 until 2017!

It shares its name with one of the daughters of Poseidon and the naiad Melanthea.

Let me know if you notice any mistakes or broken links!

[moveslikekeithrichards]

when i was a kid my Getting To Sleep technique was visualizing a child-sized shriveled up mummy with big piercing eyes that would stand silhouetted in the doorway & stare at me & probably attack if i so much as opened my eyes after getting into bed & this technique caused me to develop a lifelong nighttime-induced paranoia & it still takes me 2 hours to fall asleep. so i wouldnt recommend that

[astronomy-for-you]

Match found: Polydeuces, a moon of Saturn!

[image source]

[image id:

Four frames of the discovery images of Polydeuces taken by the Cassini spacecraft. Polydeuces is marked by a green arrow.

end id]

when i was a kid my Getting To Sleep technique was visualizing a child-sized shriveled up mummy with big piercing eyes that would stand silhouetted in the doorway & stare at me & probably attack if i so much as opened my eyes after getting into bed & this technique caused me to develop a lifelong nighttime-induced paranoia & it still takes me 2 hours to fall asleep. so i wouldnt recommend that

Fun fact:

Polydeuces is another name for Pollux - one of the twins of the Gemini constellation! Although Castor and Pollux are twins, they are also only half-siblings. Pollux was the son of Zeus, while Castor was the son of Tyndareus, the king of Sparta. Pollux asked to share his immortality with his brother, and Zeus made them constellations!

Let me know if you notice any mistakes or broken links!

[monkeyislandtwo]

the fact there was big absurdly rich couple everyone either praised or hated and their names were elon musk and grimes is literally something out of a cartoon. the rich couple mr Nasty and ms Disgusting who everyone hates

[astronomy-for-you]

Match found: Kallichore, a moon of Jupiter!

the fact there was big absurdly rich couple everyone either praised or hated and their names were elon musk and grimes is literally something out of a cartoon. the rich couple mr Nasty and ms Disgusting who everyone hates

Fun fact:

Kallichore is named after one of the Muses in Greek Mythology, and Zeus/Jupiter's daughter. She is also said to be one of the nysiads who nursed Dionysus.

Let me know if you notice any mistakes or broken links!

[djshahh2-deactivated20241026]

"the inherent divinity of" bro what inherent divinity 😭😭😭 everythings freaking normal

[astronomy-for-you]

Perfect match found: Adhara (a.k.a Epsilon Canis Majoris), a star in the constellation Canis Major!

"the inherent divinity of" bro what inherent divinity 😭😭😭 everythings freaking normal

Fun fact:

Adhara is the 22nd brightest star in the night sky, and is currently about 405 light years away from the Solar System. But! It's drifting away from us at around 23.7 km/s.

Only 4.7 million years ago, the star would have been basically our next door neighbor, at only 34 light years from us. This made it the brightest star in the night sky for the Pliocene epoch! It was almost as bright as Venus is today, and will remain brighter than any (non exploding) star we can expect to see for the next 5 million years! [source]

Right ascension: 06h 58m 37.54876s

Declination: –28° 58′ 19.5102″

Let me know if you notice any mistakes or broken links!

[boycritter]

this sucks so bad i need to [remembers suicide jokes only worsen my mental health] put on the best talent show this towns ever seen

[astronomy-for-you]

Perfect match found: Unukalhai, a star in the constellation Serpens!

this sucks so bad i need to [remembers suicide jokes only worsen my mental health] put on the best talent show this towns ever seen

Fun fact:

The star's name comes from the Arabic عنق الحيّة 'unuq al-hayyah', meaning "the serpent's neck" (Allen, R. 1963) (which really narrows it down right?). It's the brightest star in the the constellation as a giant star which is currently fusing helium and carbon in its core.

Right ascension: 15h 44m 16.07431s

Declination: +06° 25′ 32.2633″

Let me know if you notice any mistakes or broken links!

[datadegroove-deactivated2026042]

sounds like the ending of my hero academia is really bad. but if you analyze the details closely you can actually see that the beginning is bad too, and all of the middle parts

[astronomy-for-you]

Match found: Sadachbia (a.k.a Gamma Aquarii), a star in the constellation Aquarius!

sounds like the ending of my hero academia is really bad. but if you analyze the details closely you can actually see that the beginning is bad too, and all of the middle parts

Fun fact:

The star's name comes from the Arabic سعد الأخبية, Al Sa'd al Ahbiyah which can be interpreted as "The lucky star of hidden things," since when it becomes visible, small bugs and animals would come out of their winter holes, making it the lucky star of worms! (Star Names and their Meanings, 1899)

[image source]

[image id:

Finder chart depicting the constellation Aquarius with Sadachbia circled in yellow.

end id]

Right ascension: 22h 21m 39.37542s

Declination: –01° 23′ 14.4031″

Let me know if you notice any mistakes or broken links!

[daisyofwaterdeep]

had a dream I went to a hozier concert and mr. hozier stopped singing and pointed to me in the crowd and asked me to go get him some extra crispy tofu and a blueberry shake for after the show and then the crowd passed his debit card to me and when I got it I could see his real legal name was Horace Bob-omb

[astronomy-for-you]

Match found: Harpalyke, a moon of Jupiter!

had a dream I went to a hozier concert and mr. hozier stopped singing and pointed to me in the crowd and asked me to go get him some extra crispy tofu and a blueberry shake for after the show and then the crowd passed his debit card to me and when I got it I could see his real legal name was Horace Bob-omb

[image source]

[image id:

Three animated frames of the moon taken by Jewitt, D. using the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. It is a small white dot in a grainy black and white series of images.

end id]

(less) fun fact:

Harpalyke was named after the Peloponnesian princess from Greek mythology - the daughter of King Clymenus. In the stories, Harpalyce was a victim of her father who desired her incestuously. Depending on the story, she either killed her son or her younger brother, and served them to the king at a banquet.

The moon orbits Jupiter in retrograde - against the direction of the planet's spin and most of its other moons.

Let me know if you notice any mistakes or broken links!

[m0sscreature]

You're stuck in 2nd person and you can't get out. Help you. Help you. Please. Help you.

[partypuppy-nastja]

[astronomy-for-you]

Match found: Taygete, a moon of Jupiter!

You're stuck in 2nd person and you can't get out. Help you. Help you. Please. Help you.

Fun fact:

Taygete is named after a nymph who became a companion of Artemis. Artemis is said to have turned her into a doe with golden horns to protect her from Zeus. However, according to the poet Pindar, her transformation was incomplete, and her doe form became an offering to be hunted.

Let me know if you notice any mistakes or broken links!

[cryptotheism]

Many harlots have tried to sexually corrupt me and divert me from the path of divinity, but my understanding of God is so complex and nuanced that their idealogical forays are easily parried.

[cryptotheism]

Explaining neoplatonism to a succubus so well that they stop fucking me to ask intellectually stimulating questions about the nature of The One.

[astronomy-for-you]

Match found: Vindemiatrix, a star in the constellation Virgo!

Many harlots have tried to sexually corrupt me and divert me from the path of divinity, but my understanding of God is so complex and nuanced that their idealogical forays are easily parried. Explaining neoplatonism to a succubus so well that they stop fucking me to ask intellectually stimulating questions about the nature of The One.

Fun fact:

The star's name comes from Greek, meaning "the grape harvestress," as it's first rising in the year indicated that it was almost time to harvest grapes! [Allen, 1899]

Right ascension: 13h 02m 10.5970s

Declination: +10° 57′ 32.9359"

Let me know if you notice any mistakes or broken links!

[cryptotheism]

Your straight male friends after two beers: "Hgey man can I smell your hair"

Your friend with the haunted shamisen: [plucks a baleful chord of ill portent]

[astronomy-for-you]

Match found: Bergelmir, a moon of Saturn!

Your straight male friends after two beers: "Hgey man can I smell your hair" Your friend with the haunted shamisen: [plucks a baleful chord of ill portent]

[image source]

[image id:

Cassini image of Bergelmir in Libra, 2015. In the first frame, the moon is marked by a black cross. While it appears that the Sun is in the frame, this is as a result of each image having 1:46 hrs of exposure. It is actually a 3.3 magnitude star named Sigma Librae.

end id]

Fun fact:

Bergelmir has a retrograde orbit around Saturn, and is only about 6 kilometers in diameter.

The moon shares a name with an Old Norse jotunn, likely meaning "who roars like a bear" (Vries, 1961). Bergelmir and his family were thought to be the only frost giants who escaped the flooding of the world after the death of his grandfather, the first jotunn Aurgelmir (Ymir), by hiding in a basket or chest (Fulk, 1989).

Let me know if you notice any mistakes or broken links!

[aokozaki]

The Mandala Effect, (named for the Buddhist and Hidu visual motif of Mandala, which symbolically represents the entire universe and acts as a meditation aid) is named for the idea that it may be possible to cross over between universes, where small details are found to be different.

[aokozaki]

Huh, that's weird, Google spells it wrong.

[astronomy-for-you]

Match found: the constellation Vulpecula!

The Mandala Effect, (named for the Buddhist and Hidu visual motif of Mandala, which symbolically represents the entire universe and acts as a meditation aid) is named for the idea that it may be possible to cross over between universes, where small details are found to be different. Huh, that's weird, Google spells it wrong.

Fun fact:

The constellation's name comes from Latin for "little fox", and it can be found in the middle of the Summer Triangle, an asterism made up of Deneb, Vega, and Altair (the brightest stars in the constellations Cygnus, Lyra and Aquila respectively).

The first pulsar was discovered in this constellation in 1967 (temporarily known as LGM1, Little Green Men), and then 15 years later in 1982, the first millisecond pulsar was also discovered in this constellation! Then, the first fast radio burst detected in the Milky Way was also observed in this constellation!

The discovery of the pulsar in 1967 would go on to win the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1974. However, the woman who did the discovering, Jocelyn Bell Burnell, a postgrad at the time who helped to build the detector and was the first person to notice the anomaly on one of the nights that she was reviewing 29m of paper data, was not one of the recipients of the award, even though she was the second author on the paper and was the reason the signal was looked at at all.

She is still an active astrophysicist, in 2018 earning the Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics and using the prize money ($3 million) to establish a trust to help marginalized students become research physicists.

Let me know if you notice any mistakes or broken links!

[serial-unaliver-deactivated2024]

remember crytyping? remember when people would crytype during arguments on here for sympathy? how in the world did we let that slide for so long. the more I think about it in detail the more ridiculous it seems

[astronomy-for-you]

Match found: the constellation Chamaeleon!

remember crytyping? remember when people would crytype during arguments on here for sympathy? how in the world did we let that slide for so long. the more I think about it in detail the more ridiculous it seems

Fun fact:

The constellation was named by Dutch astronomers Keyser and Houtman in the 16th century and contains only one known planetary nebula - NGC 3195 - which is about as big in a telescope as Jupiter. The star that died to produce it was likely similar to our own, giving us a glimpse into what the region of space around the Sun might look like in a few billion years!

[image source]

[image id:

An image taken by the Hubble telescope, showing NGC 3195. A white dot is visible in the center of a overlapping layers of gas.

end id]

Let me know if you notice any mistakes or broken links!