Astronomy Picture of the Day 8-26-02

NASA ^ | 8-26-02 | Robert Nemiroff and Jerry Bonnell

[petuniasevan]

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2002 August 26

The Mysterious Voynich Manuscript
Credit: Yale University ; Digital Copyright: B. E. Schaefer (U. Texas)

Explanation: The ancient text has no known title, no known author, and is written in no known language: what does it say and why does it have many astronomy illustrations? The mysterious book was once bought by an emperor, forgotten on a library shelf, sold for thousands of dollars, and later donated to Yale. Possibly written in the 15th century, the over 200-page volume is known most recently as the Voynich Manuscript, after its (re-)discoverer in 1912. Pictured above is an illustration from the book that appears to be somehow related to the Sun. The book labels some patches of the sky with unfamiliar constellations. The inability of modern historians of astronomy to understand the origins of these constellations is perhaps dwarfed by the inability of modern code-breakers to understand the book's text. The book remains in Yale's rare book collection under catalog number "MS 408."

[petuniasevan]

Astronomy Fun Fact:

The constellations on the manuscript may provide some indication as to its origin. Some are known Western constellations; others are not known. Other cultures, notably the Chinese, had their own system of arbitrary star groupings. Any theories out there? Etruscans? Mohenjo-Daro? An unknown branch of Celts/Galatians?

Get on the list!

[petuniasevan]

[mtngrl@vrwc]

Cool!

[fnord]

those darned Etruscans ...

actually, assuming the text is not gibberish, it can be solved. it just hasn't found it's way into the right hands yet

[farmfriend]

ping

[2Trievers]

Funny you should mention getting the Voynich " into the right hands yet" ... a year ago, a student was caught stealing books and signatures from the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale. It was quite the news story here, as he sold the items on eBay.

Hehe ... maybe we should say, getting the right eyes to see the manuscript. &;-)

[fnord]

hey, I was nowhere near the place!

[2Trievers]

Dunno ... I've seen your eBay accounts! &;-)

[BossyRoofer]

History is a good thing! If you find the answer post it!

[Sock]

Any theories out there? Etruscans? Mohenjo-Daro? An unknown branch of Celts/Galatians?

Plain old pot heads?

[TxBec]

Very cool! thanks!

[SunkenCiv]

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[Delta 21]

Looks kinda like a caracature of MOOhamad in the center. You are in big trouble now.

[SunkenCiv]