Cosmic Howlers
November 2023
BLOTTED THEIR PUBLIC RECORD
An area on the sun’s surface, first spotted by star-gazers at Stonyhurst at the turn of the century, is known throughout the world as the “Stonyhurst disc”. (Clitheroe Advertiser and Times, 1 979 June 1)
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This statement couldn’t be more wrong…a Stonyhurst disc is not an area on the Sun’s surface!
Stonyhurst discs (a set comprises 18 in all) are clear discs with grid lines on the surface – each disc can be used as an overlay for measuring the positions of sunspots at different times of the year.
FOR STORING OVERCOATS WHEN IT GETS TOO WARM?
Perihelion. The point in the orbit of a planet … that is closet to the Sun. (Space Geology (Wiley, Chichester), 1976, p. 328)
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The word closet should, of course, be closest!
CONTINENTAL DRIFT
Variable-focus photographs of stars in Orion (by permission, David Malin, Anglo-European Observatory. (Journal RAS Canada, 99, p. 102, 2005)
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The name Anglo-European Observatory should be Anglo-Australian Observatory.
CAUGHT IN THE OUTFIELD
During the eclipse, the first to be seen in these parts for nearly a century, the sun will lie between the constellations Aquarius and Copernicus. (The Times: Cricket Correspondent, 1980 February 15, p16)
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There is no constellation named Copernicus – the name should be Capricornus.
IT WOULD HARDLY BE FAINT!
…the occultation of Pluto by a bright star in 1988… (Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 30, 186, 1992)
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It’s the wrong way round…the occultation would have been of a bright star by Pluto.