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prettygoodwordOkay, so, that theme week didn't get completed -- between getting laid off and caring for a sick kid, my posting got disrupted. I'm saving the last couple words for later and start over with the regular mix:
ansa (AN-suh) n., (astronomy) the most protruding parts of a planetary ring as seen from a distance, looking like handles on either side of the planet's disc.
Especially noticeable as handles on Saturn, as those are easily visible from Earth with a common optical telescope. Also in anatomy, any loop-shaped structure, and in archeology, a looped handle, especially of a vase. The plural is ansae, which lets you know the word was taken directly from Latin, and that archeological sense is closest to the original: handle (of a cup or jar)/handle (of a door)/loop/clamp. Here's a drawing by Huygens, demonstrating his hypothesis that Saturn's ansae were rings:
Thanks, WikiMedia!
---L.
ansa (AN-suh) n., (astronomy) the most protruding parts of a planetary ring as seen from a distance, looking like handles on either side of the planet's disc.
Especially noticeable as handles on Saturn, as those are easily visible from Earth with a common optical telescope. Also in anatomy, any loop-shaped structure, and in archeology, a looped handle, especially of a vase. The plural is ansae, which lets you know the word was taken directly from Latin, and that archeological sense is closest to the original: handle (of a cup or jar)/handle (of a door)/loop/clamp. Here's a drawing by Huygens, demonstrating his hypothesis that Saturn's ansae were rings:
Thanks, WikiMedia!
---L.
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Date: 2022-12-06 12:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-12-06 03:09 pm (UTC)