Carl Sagan said that. For those who might not know who he is, Carl Sagan was an American astronomer instrumental in popularising astronomy, most notably through his popular television series, Cosmos, that aired in the early 1980s.
We are big fans of astronomy (and Carl Sagan) here at Mosevic. Those amongst you who are also space fans, may have noticed that a lot of our displays, branding and imagery are inspired by the solar system. So too, are the names of our handmade sunglasses frames.
For this journal entry, we thought we’d venture on a voyage of discovery to uncover the interstellar stories behind the names of our hardened denim frame styles.
Andromeda
Our Andromeda frames are named after the Andromeda Galaxy; the closest galaxy to the Milky Way, about 2.5 million lightyears away. This means that when we look at Andromeda – which we can do pretty much just with binoculars, rather than a telescope which is needed to see most galaxies – we see it as 2.5 million years in the past. Cue mind blown emoji here.
Interestingly, Andromeda is on a collision course to smash into the Milky Way. Astronomers expect this to happen in a few billion years’ time, so long after this article succumbs to the sands of time. It’s understood that, rather than collide in some cataclysmic way, when the two galaxies hit each other the stars within them won't, and the two galaxies will merge.
Cassini
Our Cassini frames are similar in style to the infamous Wayfarer frames, and take their name from the Cassini spacecraft sent to Saturn to reveal all of its wonders. Cassini spent twenty years in space, thirteen of which were spent observing Saturn and sending back ground-breaking data on the planet. It also carried a probe – Huygens – which provided breath-taking images and critical information on Titan, Saturn’s largest moon. This was the most distant landing to date in our solar system.
After twenty years in space, Cassini had used up its fuel supply, so the decision was made to plunge it into Saturn. In so doing, the moons of Saturn with conditions suitable for life were protected, and Cassini was destroyed as it descended into Saturn’s atmosphere, in 2017. It delivered scientific data right to the very end of its life.
Titan
Speaking of Saturn, Titan is not only the name of one of our most popular frames - it’s also the largest moon of Saturn and the second largest in the solar system. Titan is the only moon with a significant atmosphere, and the only one we know of that has liquids like seas, rivers and lakes on its surface, similar to Earth. This is just one of the reasons why scientists believe it’s conceivable that there could be life on Titan. Either of a similar kind to that on Earth, or life made up of entirely different chemistry. That’s pretty cool.
Halley
Our only comet in the collection, our frames of the same name are inspired by the Halley comet, the only comet visible to the naked eye from Earth. In the early 18th century, astronomer Edmond Halley determined that the comet returned to the Earth’s orbit every 74-79 years, a pattern which continues to be true today. In fact, as I write this, newspapers remind me that this weekend, debris from the Halley comet will be visible from Earth as part of Halley’s annual meteor shower. Gah, the wonders of the solar system.
Kepler
Last but certainly not least, are our Kepler frames. Johannes Kepler was a prominent 17th century astronomer pivotal during the Scientific Revolution and a forefather of modern science as we know it today. The Kepler telescope, named after him, was launched into space with a mission to find other Earth-size planets in Earth’s region of the Milky-Way. During its mission lifetime, Kepler found over 1,000 confirmed planets in over 400 star systems.
Until next week-ish.
Sources:
https://science.nasa.gov/saturn/moons/titan/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiecartereurope/2023/10/16/halleys-comet-last-seen-in-1986-will-unleash-shooting-stars-this-weekend-how-to-watch/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler_space_telescope
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2022/08/galaxy-mergers-colliding-cosmic-matter-milky-way-andromeda/671164/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andromeda_(constellation)
https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/10538.Carl_Sagan
Image sources (from top to bottom)
https://star-name-registry.com/constellations/andromeda
https://www.wired.com/story/nasas-cassini-saturn-mission-finally-faces-its-fiery-doom/
https://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2017/10/16/555045041/confession-of-a-planetary-scientist-i-do-not-want-to-live-on-mars
https://time.com/104575/kepler-spacecraft-lives-again/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halley%27s_Comet