Why did astronomy adopt the word 'slew'

[JamesF]

2 minutes ago, Louis D said:

Not to mention it rhymes with slough in American pronunciation meaning a swampy drainage or marsh.

This is (was?) a British English usage as well.  It appears in John Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress" (the "Slough of Despond").

And in a thoroughly enjoyable piece of irony for those who don't have to live there, in the south east of England there is a large town called Slough (though it is pronounced to rhyme with "cow") which has long had a reputation for being an unpleasant place, not least because of the horrible smell of decay that used to assail one's nostrils when passing by on the M4 motorway.  It may not be that way now -- I've not been near the place for years; decades even, but the town also features in a poem by John Betjeman which begins:

Come, friendly bombs, and fall on Slough!
It isn't fit for humans now

James

[RT65CB-SWL]

Slewing of topic... Slough was the birthplace of John Herschel. Son of William & Mary Herschel and nephew of Caroline Herschel. Also home to Mars and Milky Way. At least something good came out of Slough... apart from the M4 and the A4.

Apologies in advance... I had to get this one in before someone else did! 😜

[mikeDnight]

Way back, around 1980 whe I was but a pup, I remember one chap who'd brought his girlfriend to the East Lanc's Astro Society observatory at Stoneyhurst College. He wanted to show her the 7 1/3" Clark refractor. He decided to move the position of the massive F18 scope by grabbing the large wheel surrounding the focuser. As the momentum of the hefty telescope increased, there were cries of "Slew down!" as he raced across the observatory floor. It was too late! The scopes momentum lifted him up into the air and he was left dangling, still hold of the wheel, several feet off the ground. 

Edited July 16, 2020 by mikeDnight

[JeremyS]

1 hour ago, mikeDnight said:

one chap who'd brought his girlfriend to the East Lanc's Astro Society observatory at Stoneyhurst College

We northerners certainly know how to show a girl a good time

🙂

 

Edited July 16, 2020 by JeremyS

[RT65CB-SWL]

10 hours ago, Philip R said:

Slewing of topic... Slough was the birthplace of John Herschel. Son of William & Mary Herschel and nephew of Caroline Herschel. Also home to Mars and Milky Way. At least something good came out of Slough... apart from the M4 and the A4.

Apologies in advance... I had to get this one in before someone else did! 😜

...and let's not forget Isambard Kingdom Brunel's GWR [and railway station].

[Ouroboros]

It was a term invented by an astronomer with a lisp and refers to the fact that a star is rarely centered in the eyepiece when slewed to.

SLEW - Seldom Located Exactly Wight