First Photograph of a Star (July 17, 1850); World Emoji Day

The first photograph of a star is taken at the Harvard Observatory. The star photographed was Vega in the Lyra constellation, the 2nd brightest star in the Northern Hemisphere.

"On the night of July 16–17, 1850, Whipple and Bond made the first daguerreotype of a star (Vega)"

First star photograph (α Lyrae, Vega) obtained by John Adams Whipple and William Cranch Bond using the 38 cm Harvard refractor (daguerreotype, 100 s exposure).

Astrophotography, the photography of celestial objects, began in 1840 when John William Draper took an image of the Moon using the daguerreotype process. On 17 July 1850, Vega became the first star (other than the Sun) to be photographed, when it was imaged by William Bond and John Adams Whipple at the Harvard College Observatory, also with a daguerreotype.[15][20][36]

In August 1872, Henry Draper took a photograph of Vega's spectrum, the first photograph of a star's spectrum showing absorption lines.[21] Similar lines had already been identified in the spectrum of the Sun.[37] In 1879, William Huggins used photographs of the spectra of Vega and similar stars to identify a set of twelve "very strong lines" that were common to this stellar category.

These were later identified as lines from the Hydrogen Balmer series.[38] Since 1943, the spectrum of this star has served as one of the stable anchor points by which other stars are classified.[39]

Sayce identifies Wega, in Babylonian astronomy, with Dilgan, the Messenger of Light, a name also applied to other stars; and Brown writes of it:

The Chinese included alpha (α Vega) with epsilon (ε) and zeta (ζ) in their Chih Neu, the Spinning Damsel, or the Weaving Sister, at one end of the Magpies’ Bridge over the Milky Way, — Aquila, their Cow Herdsman, being at the other; but the story, although a popular one not only in China, but also in Korea and Japan, is told with many variations, parts of Cygnus sometimes being introduced.

The name Vega came from the Bedouin Arabic expression “an-nasr al-wāqi',” meaning “the swooping eagle or vulture,” where “wāqi'” refers to “falling” or “swooping.” Along with its partner, Altair, known as “the flying eagle or vulture,” Vega was famous in Arabian astronomy since the early 6th century CE. They were mentioned in various texts and poetry.

The ancient Greeks called Vega and its constellation “Lyra” or “the Harp.” According to the myth, this celestial lyre was a musical instrument belonging to Orpheus, the legendary musician. After Orpheus was killed, Zeus sent an eagle (Aquila) to retrieve the harp, and both were placed in the sky.

On Monday, July 17 at 2:32 p.m. EDT or 11:32 a.m. PDT and 18:32 GMT, the moon will officially reach its new moon phase.

After dusk in mid-July, Vega, Deneb, and Altair are the first stars to appear in the darkening eastern sky. Those three bright, white stars form the Summer Triangle asterism — an annual feature of the summer sky that remains visible until the end of December!

The highest and most easterly of the trio is Vega, in Lyra. At magnitude 0.03, Vega is the brightest star in the summer sky, mainly due to its relative proximity. It's only 25 light-years away from the sun.

And when you look at Lyra tonight or later this week, ponder the fact that you're looking in the general direction toward which our solar system is traveling in space, sometimes referred to as the "apex of the sun's way." Most of the stars that surround Lyra have proper motions that carry them away from Vega's vicinity; this "spreading apart" effect is an illusion of perspective, akin to the way telephone poles ahead of us appear to move apart as we drive along a road.

July 17 is famously displayed on the 📅 Calendar Emoji, which is why we chose it as the date for World Emoji Day.

💡 The calendar emoji date is the reason this July 17 was chosen, but the day is much bigger than just one emoji. World Emoji Day is a celebration of all emojis.

The date originally referred to the day Apple premiered its iCal calendar application in 2002. The day, July 17, was displayed on the Apple Color Emoji version of the calendar emoji (📅) as an Easter egg.[6][7]

The original post may be shorter.

The Bigger The Fool, The Harder The Fall

Thanks, Kris! It goes a long way in explaining why Janek was the one able to figure out a way to solve those problems without the key, and he hard-wire it into the chip.

There's a good reason for everything.

... but the day is much bigger than just one emoji. World Emoji Day is a celebration of all emojis.

("Every painter has a process, but the painstaking revisions and countless tiny edits are invisible to those who only see the final product.")

An emoji (/ɪˈmoʊdʒiː/ i-MOH-jee; plural emoji or emojis;[1] Japanese: 絵文字) is a pictogram, logogram, ideogram or smiley embedded in text and used in electronic messages and web pages. The primary function of emoji is to fill in emotional cues otherwise missing from typed conversation.[2]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emoji

July 17, 1850
The first photograph of a star is taken at the Harvard Observatory. The star photographed was Vega in the Lyra constellation, the 2nd brightest star in the Northern Hemisphere.

>>>

VEGA, THE STAR AT THE CENTER OF EVERYTHING

α Lyrae (Latinised to Alpha Lyrae) is the star's Bayer designation. The traditional name Vega (earlier Wega[15]) comes from a loose transliteration of the Arabic word wāqi' (Arabic: واقع) meaning "falling" or "landing", via the phrase an-nasr al-wāqi' (Arabic: النّسر الْواقع), "the falling eagle".[26]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vega#Nomenclature

Because there's always a song:

From the Bottle to the Bottom - Kris Kristofferson

From the Bottle to the Bottom, written by Kris Kristofferson (1968)

Klein's Etymology (1987)

Klein's:

נבל ᴵ to wither, fade.     — Qal - נָבֵל 1 it sank, dropped down; 2 withered, faded, wear away.     — Pi. - נִבֵּל caused to wither, caused to fade. [Arab. nabīla (= corpse), Akka. nabultu (= corpse). Related to the bases בלה, בלל and נפל. cp. נבל ᴵᴵ.] Derivatives: נְבִילָה, נְבֵלָה, נוֹבֶלֶת.
נבל ᴵᴵ to be foolish, be senseless.     — Qal - נָבַל he was foolish, acted foolishly (in the Bible occurring only Pr. 30:32).     — Pi. - נִבֵּל 1 he regarded or treated with contumely; 2 he despised, disgraced; PBH 3 he dirtied, polluted.     — Pu. - נֻבַּל was despised, was disgraced.     — Hith. - הִתְנַבֵּל 1 was despised, was disgraced; 2 was dirtied, was polluted. [Aram. נֽבַל (= was contemptible), Aram.-Syr. נַבֵּל (= he despised), Arab. nabal (= wretched things). Base of נָבָל, נְבָלָה, נַבֽלוּת. נבל ᴵᴵ is properly a sense enlargement of נבל ᴵ. cp. נול.] Derivatives: נִבּוּל, הִתְנַבְּלוּת.
נבל ᴵᴵᴵ to make (an animal) ritually forbidden.     — Pi. - נִבֵּל he made (an animal) ritually forbidden (by improper slaughtering).     — Nith. - נִתְנַבֵּל was made ritually forbidden (by improper slaughtering). [Back formation from נְבֵלָה.]
נָבָל m.n. 1 an ignoble, disgraceful person. 2 an impious or villainous person. [From נבל ᴵ.]
נֵֽבֶל ᴵ m.n. skin bottle, jar, pitcher. [Of uncertain origin. cp. נֵבֶל ᴵᴵᴵ.]
נֵֽבֶל ᴵᴵ, נֶֽבֶל m.n. harp. [Prob. derived from נֵבֶל ᴵ and so called after its orig. shape. Aram.-Syr. נַבְלָא (= harp), is borrowed from Hebrew. Gk. nabla and L. nablium, are Sem. loan words. cp. ‘nabla’ in my CEDEL.] Derivative: נִבְלַאי.
נִבְלַאי m.n. NH harpist. [Formed from נֵבֶל ᴵᴵ with suff. ◌ַאי.]
נְבָלָה f.n. 1 disgraceful folly. 2 wickedness. 3 contumely, disgrace. [Formed from נבל ᴵᴵ with first suff. ◌ָה.]
נְבֵלָה f.n. 1 corpse, carcass. 2 an animal that died a natural death. PBH 3 an animal that was not slaughtered ritually. [Formed from נבל ᴵ (= to decay, wither), which is related to base נפל (= to fall). For sense development cp. Gk. ptoma (= corpse), from IE base pet- (= to fly, fall upon), and L. cadāver (= corpse), from cadere (= to fall). For the ending of נְבֵלָה see first suff. ◌ָה.]
נַבְלוֹּת f.n. immodesty, shamelessness (a hapax legomenon in the Bible, occurring Hos. 2:12). [Formed from נבל ᴵᴵ with suff. ◌וּת. cp. נַוְלוּת.]

It's the total round-up, just how the entries roll along on page 402 [בת], the page with נְבִיאָה as the header for the first entry on that page:

נְבִיאָה f.n. 1 prophetess. 2 prophet’s wife. [f. of נָבִיא.]

"Learning hard to live with losing you."

Vega is... the second-brightest star in the northern celestial hemisphere, after Arcturus.

On the night of July 16--17, 1850, Vega became the first star after the Sun to have its picture taken.

Wed, 17 July 1850 = 8th of Av, 5610

The traditional date for the Sin of the Spies:

Spies Return (1312 BCE)
The Spies dispatched 40 days earlier by Moses to tour the Promised Land return to Israel's encampment in the desert, bearing a huge cluster of grapes and other lush fruits. But even as they praise the land's fertility, they terrify the people with tales of mighty giant warriors dwelling there and assert that the land is unconquerable.
https://www.chabad.org/calendar/view/day.asp?tdate=07%2F26%2F2023

"You can't believe a word that people say." ~ Willie Nelson, Still Not Dead (Official Video)
(Lyres, all.)
Willie Nelson - I Never Cared For You (Live) c. 1964
("Pay heed, and disbelieve.")

α Lyrae

"VEGA, THE STAR AT THE CENTER OF EVERYTHING"

💞

Solar Apex:

"The solar apex, or the apex of the Sun's way, refers to the direction that the Sun travels with respect to the local standard of rest."

It's a 'big picture' kind of thing:

The generic Hebrew term for "constellation" that shows up on the Wiki page titles -- (קבוצת כוכבים) -- is lit. a group of stars.

The particular word for "group" is defined as

קְבוּצָה group, team, squad, band, batch, category

And here's a decent list of words sharing the same root. (It's in English.)

I had merely been interested in the word/phrase for its own sake, but then the flag resolution had crossed my mind.

This was before I realized that the big hint connection had already been provided at post 5.

4Liberty had asked,

Can anyone explain why all the USA flag emojis I've tried FAIL to show the American flag, and only show "US"? I'd appreciate it.

What had wandered past my mind:

The Flag Resolution, passed on June 14, 1777, stated: "Resolved, That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_Day_(United_States)

Can anyone explain why all the USA flag emojis... only show "US"?

It's a new group of stars, white in a blue field, arranged together in methodical order as one. "Echad" [אחד] is the word for one. Echad = 13, so there's been a lot of commentary about that since forever.

They involve love, unity because the noun "love" -- ahava [אהבה] = 13.

Upthread I had linked to the Tanabata Star festival because it connects the same ideas in the Far East, with Vega and Altair.

Vega is Orihime (織姫, "Weaving Princess").

In fact, Blue eyes crying in the rain is the very same song.

There's always a sign. The Jewish tradition compares a bargain/find with a scorpion. Perhaps this is because some people tend to be dismissive or downright disdainful of that which doesn't conform to their sure expectations and understanding, no matter how in-your-face obvious.

"The solar apex, or the apex of the Sun's way, refers to the direction that the Sun travels with respect to the local standard of rest."

It's a 'big picture' kind of thing. Out of the blue.

Thank you, 4 Liberty, for pointing out the issue with the US flag. It really does look like the very symbol our country is a victim of emoji cancel culture. The Dark Side never learns though, because

Who's going to target big, Ubiquitous Signs that don't seem to mean anything important? Especially the ones announcing, "Your surprise is waiting." Who *isn't* familiar with the signs and slogans?

This emoji still works, although it really ought to be animated:

🦂

"Opening Soon!" But yeah, the economy. "Closing Soon!" Ouch.

🤣

🆘️ "Come fly with US". Ingenuity...

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