12 September 25

On 12 September 1758, early astronomer Charles Messier discovered a "new comet" which turned out to be the Crab Nebula. This observation became "M1," the first entry in the Messier Catalog of "new" non-comet celestial objects. Messier was most interested in finding comets, and he created his list to document the objects that frustrated him. The catalog eventually contained 110 nebulae, galaxies and star clusters, all quite easily visible from northern latitudes.

20 November 23

Edwin Hubble (1889-1953) was born on 20 November. He is called "the Man who Discovered the Cosmos" for his work with astronomy and telescopes. The Hubble Space Telescope is named for him. My tie shows images of planets, galaxies, nebulae, comets and stars.

11 September 23

I'm wearing my planets-and-galaxies tie to help celebrate the discovery of what turned out to be the Crab Nebula, on 12 September 1758. Charles Messier was studying the sky for comets, anticipating the return of Halley's Comet, The object he saw (which is referred to as Messier Object 1) did not move across the sky, so it was not a comet. The Crab Nebula was the first astronomical object recognized as being connected to a supernova explosion. That event (the explosion) had been recorded in 1054 by Chinese and Japanese astronomers. It actually occurred around 5450 BCE in our dating (because the object is 6500 light years away from us). The internal structure of the nebula was first revealed through telescope observations in the 1840s.

12 September 22

 On 12 September 1758, telescope explorer Charles Messier discovered what appeared to be a "new comet." It was what we now call the Crab Nebula! My tie shows planets, galaxies and other astronomical phenomena.

12 September 21

Today's tie choice was triggered by this curious description of an event on 12 September 1758: "French astronomer Charles Messier mistakenly identifies the Crab Nebula and so begins his Messier Catalogue." I had to investigate that "mistake" . . . the explanation is that Messier was using his telescope to search the sky for the predicted return of Halley's Comet, and found a "new object" whose fuzzy appearance led him to classify it as a comet. After further observations, Messier could tell that the fuzzy object did not move like a comet, and so it became Object Number 1 in his catalog of new heavenly bodies. More advanced telescopes later revealed the spectacular, detailed composition of what we now call the Crab Nebula. My tie celebrates many planets and galaxies.

2 August 20

To help her choose a tie for me to wear for her FIRST BIRTHDAY today, I showed five colorful possibles to Evelyn Marie Kleppinger, and she paid the most attention to these planets and galaxies! And now, thanks to Barry Tait and Jennifer Woodruff Tait, I have a pink elephant tie bar! I think the elephant enjoys floating in free space.

        

20 November 18

The stars, planets and galaxies on today's tie honor the birthday of Edwin Hubble (1889-1953). The famous British astrophysicist Stephen Hawking wrote in his book "A Brief History of Time" that Edwin Hubble's "discovery that the Universe is expanding was one of the great intellectual revolutions of the 20th century." The Hubble Space Telescope was launched in 1990.

12 September 18

Today's tie choice was triggered by this curious description of an event on 12 September 1758: "French astronomer Charles Messier mistakenly identifies the Crab Nebula so begins his Messier Catalogue." I had to investigate that "mistake" . . . the explanation is that Messier was using his telescope to search the sky for the predicted return of Halley's Comet, and found a "new object" whose fuzzy appearance led him to classify it as a comet. After further observations, Messier could tell that the fuzzy object did not move like a comet, and so it became Object Number 1 in his catalog of new heavenly bodies. More advanced telescopes later revealed the spectacular, detailed composition of what we now call the Crab Nebula. My tie celebrates many planets and galaxies.

20 November 17

Edwin Hubble was born on this date in 1889. The Hubble Space Telescope is named to honor this man who is credited with discovering the first star and galaxy outside the Milky Way. In 1923, while working at the Mount Wilson Observatory, Hubble discerned discrete stars in the fuzzy areas that were thought to be clouds of dust and gas and had been labeled "nebulae." Hubble's conclusion that nebulae were actually far distant galaxies became accepted by the end of the 1920s. In 1929, Hubble proved that all of the galaxies were moving apart -- or, in other words, that the entire universe is expanding. Today I am astounded to realize that our knowledge of "other galaxies" is less than 100 years old. My tie shows a variety of planets and galaxies!

19 February 17

Honoring the birthday, in 1473, of astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus. This is a great opportunity to debut this excellent planets-and-galaxies tie, a Christmas gift from my nephew Matt Lang.