Cogitation vs. Illumination

hmm hmmm hm… yes. Well I've been very very busy, yes I have. There is much work to do, and I am doing my part. No need to thank me, I am just one humble servant. uummm uhmmm.

First off I must tell you, I have become interested in constellations. Surprised? I admit, I am too. I had always thought about constellations as mere projections of the human imagination on the unimaginable cosmos, images imagined where no images are actually are. I mean, imaginary. Which sounds like mirage, I think. Anyway, they’re probably not really there...

Worse yet, I thought, was that they probably actually obscure the true nature of the universe, instead of illuminating it. That’s obscure, from L. obscurus "covered over, dark, obscure, indistinct," from ob "over" + -scurus "covered." Of course. Anyway, like take the crab nebulae, for example:


Anyone can see that it's not a crab. No pinchers, no shell, probably bigger than any crab I've ever met--like the one that damnd cat keeps bringing in here for latin lessons. But the point is, because people call it a crab nebulae they look at it and see a crab. Instead of a nebulae. Which is sad, really.

So anyway, I was thinking about this, and going over lists of constellations, and it's kind of interesting what you people imagine. First, there seems to be lots of birds, reptiles, fish. Also dogs, bears, a crab (what's with the crab thing?), a sheep, a goat, a fox, cats (1 lynx, 2 lions), a giraffe.... but... BUT-- NO MONKEYS!!! By now, I should not be surprised. You got a constellation of a freakin' Chemical Furnace, and a Poop Deck for crying out loud… but not one measly ape. Sorry to get worked up here, but Sheesh.

So after I calmed down, I decided: this is actually a great opportunity. The problem of the undiscovered primate constellation. Because obviously there has to be one, the Great Monkey in the Sky, it just hasn’t been discovered yet. Or hadn’t been discovered yet. But never fear, Eddie is here, and I have brought all of my resources to bear on the problem.

It turned out to be pretty easy. Thanks to the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (http://www.sdss.org/), with it's large image database and powerful ability to combine spectra from different sources, coupled with my shrewd intuition, I quickly found it. Here ya go:



Simia Major. I won't insult your intelligence by connecting the dots for you. Just use your imaginationing. Just glad to do my small part, to help.

more later,
Mr. Eddie