A Real (Alien) Extrasolar Planet!

[martianmoons]

Just read the news release about the Hubble Space Telescope directly observing a planet around Fomalhaut, which is another star! "Seeing is believing", or at least gives a big reality boost to all the indirect observations of extrasolar planets

Comments

[emmanate]

I like "fomalhaut"! Sea creatures and outer space are eerily equivalent in my imagination! I wonder why they named it that.

:)

[martianmoons]

Sea creatures and outer space do seem to go together! :)

I looked into the name "fomalhaut" and it seems it has to do with perhaps the constellation it is in? But it is hard to find specifics:

" * The name Fom al-Haut comes from scientific Arabic فم الحوت fam al-ħūt (al-janūbī) "the mouth of the (southern) fish/whale"
* The Latin names are ōs piscis merīdiāni, ōs piscis merīdionālis, ōs piscis notii "the mouth of the southern fish"
* The name Difda al Auwel comes from the colloquial Arabic الضفدع الأول aḍ-ḍifdiˤ al-’awwal "the first frog" (the second frog is Beta Ceti)"

But at any rate fish and frogs are very interesting creatures! :)

[martianmoons]

I found out more about which constellation that Fomalhaut is in! It is piscis austrinus (which I have never heard of!). But it is indeed a fish! :)

[emmanate]

Which is inside the aquarious constellation? Would've thought Pices, but that makes sense, too! Thanks for your insight!

[whtmtnwmn]

Hey Stranger! Haven't heard from you in a while. Hope everything's ok?

Wouldn't it be neat if they turned to sci-fi and chose a name that came from the imagination of a great writer? Just a thought...
=D

[martianmoons]

Doing well, thank you! :)

Your idea is a great one! I remember an old Larry Niven story about a ship of interstellar colonists who were so happy to arrive alive that they named their planet "We Made It"! ;)

[morgian_le_faye]

Oh yay! I was wondering when another post from you would come!! I love the discovery of new things. Knowledge is such a lovely thing.

[martianmoons]

Hi! :)

Knowledge is so wonderful, it opens our eyes to so much more wonderment! :)

[rcoony]

Fomalhaut is an awesome name though! I should introduce myself to strangers at 'Fomalhaut'. Though I don't really know how it's pronounced.