[RC] And the winner of the question to the Moon and the Stars is... - Tom Sites
Thank you Rosalie Marley, for a very thorough and
insightful answer to my question. ts
Hi Tom - I don't know about horses coughing or breathing
through their mouths. But I know a little about astronomy! I hope
this sheds some light on your other questions:
I thought about your
question about why our moon and sun have no specific name. My thought is
that when people took notice of them and gave them names, their names were Sun
and Moon. After telescopes were invented and people figured out that
there were other "moons", they gave them names to avoid confusion. There
was a time when people (well, at least those that we trace our language and
traditions to) thought that our Sun was the center of the universe, and that
the other stars were merely lights. So there was only one "Sun".
It wasn't until more modern understandings of the stars came about that we
figured out they were all suns. LOL I just looked at Wikipedia
(not sure how accurate that is) and they pretty much say the same
thing.
Names like Alpha Centauri have logic behind them. Stars
were considered to belong to a constellation. Within each constellation,
there were brighter and dimmer stars. So the brightest one was named
"Alpha" and the parent constellation. In your example, Alpha Centauri is
the brightest star in the constellation Centaurus. (In truth, Alpha
Centari is two stars that circle each other, known as a binary. The
stars are named "Alpha Centauri A" and "Alpha Centauri B" in modern
nomenclature.) Here's an interesting link to the mythology behind
Centarus and Sagittarius -
http://www.coldwater.k12.mi.us/lms/planetarium/myth/Centaurus.html
The
Greeks were not the only astronomers. The Arabs were also great
astronomers and mathematicians at one time, and they gave us star names like
Altair, Betelgeuse and Fomalhaut.
I hope all is well
with you and your family.
Rosalie Marley ============== I have the ability of single-minded
determination and focus... Hey, look! A horse!
So Angie wants to know why horses that don't
breathe thru their mouths cough? It has nothing to do with breathing
but everything to do with discharging air from the lungs.
The defination of a cough is... to expell air
from the lungs in a noisy or spasmodic manner. I had horses cough that
had pneumonia which is an inflammation of the lung tissue.
I know horses choke and that defination
is....to stop the breathing of by obstructing or constricting the windpipe.
Those horses usually ate too much too quick.
It sounds to me that a cough and a choke are
first cousins, as a cough comes from the lungs and a choke is a constriction
of the windpipe, which is one step from the lungs if i'm not mistaken.
But i don't know.
I guess i don't find it odd that horses
cough. But i'm not a Vet so what do i know?
Does anyone know why the moon and the sun do
not have a name? Jupiters moons have names and Alpha Centauri has a
name, so why not our sun/star and moon?
ts
I believe she was asking about coughing, not choking.
Rae
Good Morning,
Angie asked if horses don't breathe thru
their mouth why do they choke or something to that affect. I didn't
know they did not breathe from the mouth but i'd say since they do eat
from their mouth and it goes down a passageway that there could be a
tendency for a blockage and therefore a 'choke'.
Now here's my question in honor of the 40th
anniversery of Man's first landing on the Moon.
Why is the Moon and the Sun called the Moon
and the Sun? Other planets moons have names and other Suns have names, so
why does our own moon and sun have no name?
