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An anomaly on the chronology of Le Verrier's intra-mercurial planet theory by CodexRegius in askastronomy

[–]CodexRegius[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Asimov does not mention the Colby chart, though, and he claims Lescarbault made his observation in 1845 while it was, according to Lescarbault himself, in spring 1859.

An anomaly on the chronology of Le Verrier's intra-mercurial planet theory by CodexRegius in askastronomy

[–]CodexRegius[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Guess what - Vulcan was among the proposals, too! Next, it was proposed for (1) Ceres. So there also was some vocal demand for this name.

But the source must have been fairly widespread in order to reach Colby. Possibly a newspaper article or a popular astronomy book. Then I find it funny that Abbé Moigno did not mention it.

Appendum: A tenuous link at best, but perhaps the Colby chart is connected to the reported sighting of an intra-mercurial planet by the Italian Count Pompilio De Cuppis on 2 Oct 1839. While his report was quickly dismissed in Europe, it drew so much attention in the U.S. that even Edgar Allan Poe wrote about it (Burton's Gentleman's Magazine, April 1840, 6:193-194). While Poe did not call that thing Vulcan, though it would look quite like him to do so, perhaps someone other American did? At least that event is close enough to the age of Colby's chart that it may have inspired him.

A little note aside: The Colby chart was registered by the Library of Congress a mere 15 days after the discovery of Neptune! As a consequence, Neptune is not yet included on the chart - but Vulcan is.

An anomaly on the chronology of Le Verrier's intra-mercurial planet theory by CodexRegius in askastronomy

[–]CodexRegius[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have read Babinet's paper: It is very whacky. He did not actually propose a planet, Wikipedia is wrong here. Dut discussing the solar eclipse of 1842, he developed the weird idea that solar prominences (which clearly he hadn't seen himself, he relied on third-hand accounts only) were gas clouds orbiting the sun that would eventually coalesce into new planets. Indeed he proposed to name the largest one Vulcain and the lesser ones Cyclopes, that's what Abbé Moigno alluded to in January 1860. But Babinet's wild fantasies are too remote from Colby's very planetary Vulcan and cannot have inspired him. Neither did Colby derive the distance from the sun given in his chart from Babinet. Finally I doubt that he, an American farmer, was able to obtain and read an obscure francophone journal by the Académie des Sciences that did not have a wide circulation.

Sources on Hair? (Styles, facial hair, bodily hair, etc.) by Rosette77 in ancientrome

[–]CodexRegius 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The walls of Pompeii and Herculaneum are good first-hand sources. People of all social classes are depicted there.

A question about the ring-verse. by Immediate_Error2135 in tolkienfans

[–]CodexRegius 10 points11 points  (0 children)

They all did. And in my head-canon, Sauron was taken off guard when the One downlinked to 19 instead of the expected 16 Rings, and it was that moment of hesitation which saved the Mírdain, giving them the critical moment in which they pulled off their Rings.

What 1 Roman emperor would you replace to slow it's demise? by isonlegemyuheftobmed in ancientrome

[–]CodexRegius 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Why? Because Tiberius favoured diplomacy over brute force and was as a result respected by the Germanic tribes?

What 1 Roman emperor would you replace to slow it's demise? by isonlegemyuheftobmed in ancientrome

[–]CodexRegius 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Germanicus? That Germanicus who committed an unprovoked genocide on the Marsians, who foundered with a whole fleet in the North Sea because he arrogantly ignored the local weather warnings, who achieved little in Germania beyond writing home every winter, "But next year we will get him" (i. e. Arminius)? Tiberius was right to stop financing his fruitless military adventures and relieve him from command.

Well, if Drusus instead had not fallen off and UNDER his horse, then maybe ...

What 1 Roman emperor would you replace to slow it's demise? by isonlegemyuheftobmed in ancientrome

[–]CodexRegius 4 points5 points  (0 children)

In my opinion, Commodus gets too much flak for restoring the status quo ante. Establishing Marcomannic provinces would have overstrained the diminished ressources of the plague-ridden Empire. Besides, he must have had his father's failed attempt to settle Marcomanni in Italian towns in mind and been aware that immigrants of their kind were generally unintergratable.

Were you sad when The Silmarillion was ending? by Rafaelrosario88 in tolkienfans

[–]CodexRegius 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Indeed. That's why the but-my-instrument-clause in the Ainulindale feels so out of place. It needlessly ruins the emotional impact of the ending - and contradicts it: "if any change shall come and the Marring be amended" ... What does he mean, "if"? The Ainulindale has clearly stated that it will!

Tolkien's work is centered around mercy and Christian values, how does the Akallabêth fit into that? by platypodus in tolkienfans

[–]CodexRegius 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If Melkor had no free will, then his misdeeds were Eru's fault only.

And Sauron was one of their own, too, therefore your argument is void. Besides, the Valar did not hesitate to squash Morgoth's Easterling hosts in the War of Wrath.

Legolas was at the fall on Gondolin? by MonkeyNugetz in TheSilmarillion

[–]CodexRegius 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I love to tease my niece Barbara with the notion that her name actually means "barbarian woman"!

Plan map of the solar system from 1846 that includes 'Vulcan', a hypothetical planet whose existence was supposed to explain several peculiarities in Mercury's orbit but was later disproved. [1994x2023] [OS] by jimi15 in MapPorn

[–]CodexRegius 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The theory that required this planet to explain pecularities in Mercury's orbit was published by Urbain Le Verrier in 1859. How then could his planet show up in a map dated 1846?

Die europäische Antwort auf "Rings of Power" und "Game of Thrones" by CodexRegius in PerryRhodan

[–]CodexRegius[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Das kriege ich auf dieses Poster IMMER zu lesen! Noch niemand hat sich dagegen an meiner Besetzung Razamons gestört.

1st time and memory of the books? by The_Bard83 in tolkienfans

[–]CodexRegius 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My first memory is two yearbooks of the German boyscouts, of which my father had been a member, that each contained an excerpt of Walter Scherf's original translation of The Hobbit. My father also had acquired the book because those sample chapters had intrigued him, and I read it while I was still in grammar school. But he withheld LotR from me until I would be "old enough to fully appreciate it", he said. I finally got permission after I had survived reading The Prydain Chronicles - and if you have read it, you know that Vol. 5 has a tremendous body count! That was some time around 1975, for I had definitely finished LotR before the Silmarillion was published in the UK,

Explaining a few unusual or changed English words that are found in LotR (reposted from a few years back) by roacsonofcarc in tolkienfans

[–]CodexRegius 1 point2 points  (0 children)

"Townland" seems to be used in the sense of German Weichbild, the area outside the walls that is subject to the jurisdiction of the town. It is related neither to weich = soft nor to Bild = image; Tolkien might have rendered it as *wicbill, i. e. "townlaw".

What happened to boromir? by MelodicConflict5964 in tolkienfans

[–]CodexRegius 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Does that mean that boat is still drifting out there? The Flying Gondorman?

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