Wednesday, February 06, 2013

Factoid of the day

XMM-Newton Study of Zeta Puppis Provides New Details on Stellar Winds

Puppis sounds like something dirty, or maybe something cute. but according to Wikipedia it just means the poop deck.

Puppis (pron.: /ˈpʌpɨs/) is a constellation in the southern sky. Its name is the Latin word for the poop deck of a ship, and Puppis represents the deck of the ship and its deckhouses. Puppis was originally part of an over-large constellation, the ship of "Jason and the Argonauts", Argo Navis, which was centuries later divided into three parts, the other two being Carina (the keel and hull), and Vela (the sails of the ship). Puppis is the largest of the three constellations in square degrees. It is one of the 88 modern constellations recognized by the International Astronomical Union.

No comments: