Saying of the week: “It’s like trying to beat climate change by recycling paperclips.”
Tilly was referring to our attempts to save our oriental rugs from moth eggs by using remedies bought at the local hardware store. But it could fit – we hope it doesn’t – some of the “pledges” and “commitments” and “goals” you’ve been reading of, made at the Glasgow climate summit conference.
“Actions” are announced. But what are they? No one has said “My government will raise taxes on petroleum, coal, and natural gas until everyone chooses to use non-carbon-dioxide-emitting energy instead.” That is the only action large enough. Setting taxes is what governments are tasked with. The directors of fossil fuel companies are tasked with getting more money to themselves and their shareholders, even if they will all be starving or dead a few generations later. Are they lobbying the politicians, donating to their campaign funds?
Oh, the constellation
There is a beautiful little asterism called the Coathanger.
It’s in the small constellation Vulpecula, “little fox,” along the south edge of Cygnus, and is also called Brocchi’s Cluster, Al Sufi’s Cluster, the Flying Wedge, Collinder 399, NGC 6885 – it may be the second-most-named group of stars (after the Pkeiades).
Well, why don’t you find an asterism we could name the Paperclip?
The prize is my whole collection, which could attach a month’s worth of provisoes and exceptions and disclaimers s to a government department’s declarations.
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This weblog maintains its right to be about astronomy or anything under the sun.
Guy I’m not exactly sure what i typed in my previous comment but it should be Officina Paperclipia LOL
I realize that the Paperclip will be a spiral galaxy. Eric’s Officina Paperclipia, paperclip office or workshop or studio, will be a constellation containing at least a handful of paperclip-shaped galaxies.
There aren’t any asterisms I can think of that really look a lot like a paperclip. Where is Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille when you need someone to conjure up a constellation called Officia Paperclipia in a patch of sky that looks totally blank from our light-polluted skies?
De Lacaille did well from Cape Town exploring the southern hemisphere skies as he only had a 16mm telescope which I like to think, given the advance in optics and coatings,is probably about the equivalent of my 5×10 Zeiss Mini Quick monocular.A rather dark view but certainly better than the naked eye.
The open cluster NGC 457 in Cassiopeia has at least 13 common names: the Owl Cluster, the E.T. Cluster, the Phi Cas Cluster (Phi Cassiopeiae is not actually part of the cluster), the Dragonfly Cluster, the Kachina Doll Cluster, the Nazgul Cluster, the Gumby Cluster, the Firefly Cluster, the Skiing Cluster, the Johnny 5 Cluster, the Wall-E Cluster, the Fighter Jet Cluster, and the Mothman Cluster. It also has the dubious Caldwell list designation of Caldwell 13.
You can see the Coathanger with the naked eye from a dark site but I don’t know if you can split the individual stars?As the odd person claims to be able to make out the odd star in M44 the Beehive I’d imagine that you can split the Coathanger.Even M45 the Pleiades looks like at patch to me but I can split the Hyades.The latest climate change news is getting rid of plastic in wet wipes whilst still allowing people to drive around in two tons of metal and plastic….I have a feeling that the elephant is in the room but they are ignoring it in favour of the flies and beetles crawling around the room .Or the latest nonsense about Toyota fitting a solar panel on the roof of it’s latest electric planet killer.Doesn’t seem to have occurred to the journalist that you’d have to live on or near the Equator, certainly within the two Tropics,for the Sun to be striking the solar panel with enough power to produce any meaningful power.
I think the stars in either Bootes, Lyra, or Draco could be linked to look like a paperclip.
Even if the rest of the world devised a plan to eliminate fossil fuel, it doesn’t seem like India and China would come on board. So it seems like our planet is doomed, unless the science is wrong.
I think the best chance to stop climate change is to plant a trillion trees. https://www.universalworkshop.com/2019/07/29/trees-a-few-more-thoughts/
Oops – This the link to the blog post I meant to reference:
https://www.universalworkshop.com/2019/07/08/trees-to-the-rescue/