Simple Science, Star names, 2010 Christmas vacations

[Nostromics Newsletter]

Nostromics Newsletter

Nostromics science gifts product news, educational resources & science tidbits

Nostromics Newsletter, 22 December 2010 - You are welcome to share this mail

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Simple Science

Simple Science is a growing collection of photos illustrating simple scientific concepts (via BoingBoing). It is maintained by designer Linda Dong. The photos demonstrate concepts using everyday objects and a minimalistic style.

The Simple Science site displays a thumbnail gallery. Click a thumbnail to get a larger photo with a very short caption summarizing the science demonstrated by the image. Click again to close the photo and go back to the gallery. The photos cover concepts in chemistry, physics, biology and more.

Star names and catalog numbers

Have you ever heard of a star named BD −16°1591? Or one named HD 48915? What if we tell you that they are the same star, which is more widely known as Sirius or Alpha Canis Majoris? It is the brightest in the sky, in the winter constellation Canis Major.

Our Sirius Names Dark Sweatshirt features these official astronomical names, as well as other clothing products with the Sirius names design. Indeed, stars have many names, possibly dozens. A proper name such as Sirius or Alpha Canis Majoris, if present, usually has an ancient mythological origin. Most of the other ones come from entries in astronomical catalogs.

A star catalog is an astronomical publication that lists data about stars. Entry names may include just an abbreviation of the catalog name followed by a number, such as HD 48915 for Sirius in the Henry Draper Catalogue (HD) published in early 20th century. At times some information about the object position is included, such as BD −16°1591 for Sirius in the 19th century catalog Bonner Durchmusterung (BD) specifying the star's celestial latitude (−16°).

We have T-shirts and sweatshirts with similar designs for other popular stars such as Aldebaran, Antares, Vega and more in the Astronomy section of Nostromics Store. Buy apparel with your favorite star name!

More science gifts and products at Nostromics Store.

2010 Christmas and new year's vacations

We are going to take the next couple of weeks off for the upcoming Christmas 2010 vacations. We will resume sending out Nostromics Newsletter in early January 2011. If you have some more time in your vacations, you may consider our free Nostromics science e-books.

We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year, or whatever you celebrate.

-- Paolo Amoroso & Mauro Arpino (Nostromics), science educators - Milan, Italy