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Galaxy Zoo Produces a Rare Specimen

Posted by kdawson on from the hanny's-voorwerp dept.

We discussed the Galaxy Zoo project soon after it launched last summer. Science News is now following developments about an odd celestial object that is fueling a lot of excitement among astronomers around the world. In August, a Dutch schoolteacher named Hanny, in the process of characterizing galaxy images, noticed a peculiar object and posted a query about it on the Galaxy Zoo blog. She called it a "Voorwerp," which Science News says is Dutch for "thing" but which Google translates as "subject." Hanny's Voorwerp emits mostly green light (the earlier report said blue). The best guess astronomers have now is that the Voorwerp is emitting "ghost light," i.e. it is "lit by the ultraviolet light and X-rays from a quasar that has vanished in the last 100,000 years," to quote astronomer Bill Keel. "As far as we can tell, it's an unprecedented thing," Keel added. Researchers are scrambling to book time on the Hubble and other major telescopes to get a closer look.

22 of 188 comments (clear)

  1. image in the post? by anotherone · · Score: 5, Funny

    this is the first time I've ever seen slashdot put an image in the post- welcome to 2001, guys!

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    1. Re:image in the post? by digidave · · Score: 4, Funny

      Do you mean Borg Gates isn't good enough for you?

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    2. Re:image in the post? by ProfessionalCookie · · Score: 2, Funny
      They obviously opted for the High-Res version too!


      Images on slashdot is about as dangerous as images in email. At least they included an alt tag.

    3. Re:image in the post? by Tablizer · · Score: 2, Funny

      this is the first time I've ever seen slashdot put an image in the post- welcome to 2001, guys!

      They figured we were all blinded by goatse.
           

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      Table-ized A.I.
    4. Re:image in the post? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Borg Gates should be enough for anyone

  2. Hey.... by Izabael_DaJinn · · Score: 4, Funny

    That's my taxi-ride home. Thank Xenu!

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    Careful What You Wish For....
  3. It is an Excession.. by sayfawa · · Score: 4, Funny

    ..and we're about to have an Outside Context Problem

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    Free the Quark 3 from asymptotic confinement! Bring your charm! Don't get down! All colours and flavours welcome!
    1. Re:It is an Excession.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Where's the Sleeper Service?

  4. Voorwerp? by thewiz · · Score: 4, Funny

    I didn't know that was a word.
    That was the sound I made last time I threw up.
    Whodathunkit.

    --
    If "disco" means "I learn" in Latin, does "discothèque" mean "I learn technology"?
    1. Re:Voorwerp? by hkz · · Score: 4, Funny

      I'm Dutch, and the proper translation of voorwerp is actually 'object', though 'thing' comes close enough. We have a funny language sometimes. I like words like 'zodra' and 'zoiets', and saying 'goeiemorgen' has the benefit of being offensive to Russians the way we pronounce it, which since yesterday is a good thing :-)

    2. Re:Voorwerp? by Angostura · · Score: 5, Funny

      Mind if I go off-topic for a moment, since there is an expert in the room? No, good.

      Several years ago, when I was in France, I took a group of children to racing stables where they bred racing horses - a stud farm. While we were walking around, we met a charming, well-spoken Dutch couple in their 60s who chatted about this and that, and then indicating the breeding stables asked "So, tell me - do you have fuckeries like this England?" At least that's what I'm 90% sure they said.

      I presume that "fuck" exists in the Dutch language and that their on-the-fly translation attempt misfired?

    3. Re:Voorwerp? by Askmum · · Score: 5, Funny

      To which there is a little dutch joke.
      A Dutch guy talks to an English guy:
      D: I fok horses!
      E: Pardon?
      D: Yes, paarden!

      Explanation: the term "fok horses" is the above misconjunction of fokken -> to fuck, instead of breed, and pardon, when spoken, can be misconstrued as "paarden" which is dutch for "horses".

    4. Re:Voorwerp? by bkr1_2k · · Score: 2, Funny

      Oh, come on, I speak 3 languages and I still thought it was fucking hilarious.

      --
      "Growing old is inevitable; growing up is optional."
  5. Obviously An Ad For... by FurtiveGlancer · · Score: 3, Funny

    The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy!

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    Invenio via vel creo
    1. Re:Obviously An Ad For... by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 4, Funny

      You mean...could this really be...the Great Green Arkleseizure? It looks green enough to me, and surely will not fit into my back yard.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
  6. What's the rush? by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 3, Funny

    Researchers are scrambling to book time on the Hubble and other major telescopes to get a closer look.
    What's the rush? Isn't this celestial thing going to be out there and available for, say, the next few million years or so?
    1. Re:What's the rush? by CanadianRealist · · Score: 2, Funny

      Some astronomers want to use the Hubble telescope to beat other astronomers?

      I always thought these guys were just a bunch of nerds, but now they're going to get physical and become violent?

    2. Re:What's the rush? by negRo_slim · · Score: 4, Funny

      To beat the other astronomers.

      It's Slashdot 1st post syndrome in the real world!
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  7. Zoo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Where is the "Don't feed the Voorwerp" sign?

  8. Re:I'd say... by owlnation · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'd say it's God's booger.
    And we should fear the coming of the great handkerchief. If our glorious leaders decide to build a "B Ark" it'll be time to overthrow them (if it isn't already overdue).
  9. It might be a threat. Destroy it! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    I recommend photon torpedoes.

    Thing at sector 5, 7 : "AAAAAIIIIIIIEEEEEEEAAAAAAAUUUUUUGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
    Thing at sector 5, 7 : "HACK! HACK! COUGH! *CHOKE!*"
    Mr. Spock : "FASCINATING!"

  10. whoever did that by MrKaos · · Score: 2, Funny

    really should have turned the extractor fans on in the bathroom.

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