#xi persei

[quiltofstars]

The California Nebula, NGC 1499 // Timothy Martin

The bright blue star near the California Nebula is Menkib (ξ Persei), a solitary blue giant star about 1,200 light years away. Meanwhile, the brighter star at the top right is ζ Persei, a blue supergiant star about 1,300 light years away.

[zancetyl]

What does Xi Persei mean? What's the symbolism behind the name?

✴ what a wonderful stories lies behind Perseus, all his heroic deeds, the victory over Medusa. but what about the stars named after him?

Xi Persei? one of not so many runaway stars, running away from its own birthplace with the power caused either by a close encounter with another star or by the explosion of a currently dead and even more massive companion. or so they say.

"It's only 7 million years old, and the only thing left for it to do is explode as a supernova sometime in the next million years or so."

let's see what I can do with this time, shall we?

[chipseclipse]

[dismp] how do you trust people?

recklessly.

blue spends a long time trying to cast doubt on zan - even as they're running a trial chamber, making dumb jokes and rehashing old drama. blue tells her to be careful who she trusts (how well do really know him?)

it's ironic, considering blue is the one who left her first, months and months ago, details fading away like a dream she quickly forgets.

she wants to ignore it, assume thats just blue's paranoia, or that it's just a projection, but there's a note of truth to it. she doesn't know zan well. not well enough to trust that he will never betray.

it still doesnt change anything for her, in the end. she made promises, opened her heart, and no matter how suspicious he ever acted, she will trust him, utterly and completely.

and maybe she should finally take zan on a real date, and she would do her best to listen.

[blasteffect]

California Nebula SHO - NGC 1499

The California Nebula (NGC 1499) is an emission nebula located in the constellation Perseus. It is so named because it appears to resemble the outline of the US State of California on long exposure photographs.

It is almost 2.5° long on the sky and, because of its very low surface brightness, it is extremely difficult to observe visually. It can be observed with a Hβ filter (isolates the Hβ line at 486 nm) in a rich-field telescope under dark skies.

It lies at a distance of about 1,000 light years from Earth. Its fluorescence is due to excitation of the Hβ line in the nebula by the nearby prodigiously energetic O7 star, xi Persei (also known as Menkib, seen at center below it in the inset at right).

The California Nebula was discovered by E. E. Barnard in 1884.

Thomas Richter Photography

[wigmund]

From Astronomy Picture of the Day; February 16, 2018:

Comet PanSTARRS is near the Edge JoAnn McDonald

The comet PanSTARRS, also known as the blue comet (C/2016 R2), really is near the lower left edge of this stunning, wide field view recorded on January 13. Spanning nearly 20 degrees on the sky, the cosmic landscape is explored by well-exposed and processed frames from a sensitive digital camera. It consists of colorful clouds and dusty dark nebulae otherwise too faint for your eye to see, though. At top right, the California Nebula (aka NGC 1499) does have a familiar shape. Its coastline is over 60 light-years long and lies some 1,500 light-years away. The nebula's pronounced reddish glow is from hydrogen atoms ionized by luminous blue star Xi Persei just below it. Near bottom center, the famous Pleiades star cluster is some 400 light-years distant and around 15 light-years across. Its spectacular blue color is due to the reflection of starlight by interstellar dust. In between are hot stars of the Perseus OB2 association and dusty, dark nebulae along the edge of the nearby, massive Taurus and Perseus molecular clouds. Emission from unusually abundant ionized carbon monoxide (CO+) molecules fluorescing in sunlight is largely responsible for the telltale blue tint of the remarkable comet's tail. The comet was about 17 light minutes from Earth.

[quiltofstars]

The California Nebula, NGC 1499 // Alex Weinstein

The bright star to the right is Menkib (ξ Persei), whose name comes from the Arabic phrase mankib al Thurayya meaning "shoulder of the Pleiades".

[zancetyl]

what does loyalty mean to you?

[It's too hard to tell if it's night or a day when you're living underground. But here, Stareater moves along deepslate corridors smoothly and quickly. Each sharp stone under his foots feels long familiar. Right here, where redstones machines never sleeps, where villagers mumble all days and nights long, he almost feels at home.

Pleasant darkness, weak flickering of torches. And in this base that feels so empty despite all the life in it, the only person Zan is truly trusts finds their peace.

Chips, with her nose buried in the blanket, sleeps in their only bed, which is not even hidden - but it's enough to make sure the other one is safe from almost every point of their base. Stareater allows her to rest as much as she need, to gain strength back, and while he work for hours he can stop sometimes and let the feeling of not being alone truly bloom inside his chest.

Loyalty? Loyalty is like a wound that never heals. You let it fester, let it be. A wound that you dig your fingernail into to feel that aching feeling of life and love.

She can just stand there, smiling and warm, and give him orders - and he will do it. He is self-sufficient, he knows what he wants from life, but this nagging feeling inside leaves him next to Chips, like a well-behaved dog he is.

Loyalty is just a single word, but he find it too charming. Being loyal to the death is so romantic!]

[quiltofstars]

The California Nebula (NGC 1499) and the star Menkib (ξ Persei) // David Quiles