Dead Stars

Dead Stars Glossary

bowing

bending over, like a person taking a bow as a sign of respect or fatigue. Pronounced BAU-ing, to rhyme with "plowing."

Alternately, could be read as the homograph bowing, pronounced BO-ing, to rhyme with "snowing," meaning to play a stringed instrument with a bow (such as a violin). This would imply a more abstract metaphor of trees being played like violins, rather than bending.

mute

silent, not speaking

hearth

the area around a fireplace in a home; also used to refer simply to a home itself

Orion

a well-known constellation of stars in the night sky, visible throughout the world, imagined in the shape of a hunter and named after Orion of Greek mythology

Antlia

a small constellation in the southern sky containing three main stars, imagined in the shape of an air pump, named after the Latin for "pump"

Centaurus

a large constellation in the southern sky containing eleven main stars (including Alpha Centauri, the closest star to our solar system), imagined in the shape of a centaur (a half-human half-horse mythological creature)

Draco

a large constellation in the northern sky containing fourteen main stars, imagined in the shape of a long winding dragon. Latin for "dragon"

Lacerta

a small constellation in the northern sky containing five main stars, imagined in the shape of a lizard. Latin for "lizard"

Hydra

Hydra is the largest modern, named constellation of stars, with seventeen main stars and a massive length across the night sky (straddling the northern and southern skies). Imagined in the shape of a giant sea serpent, Latin for "water snake."

Lyra

a small constellation in the northern sky containing five main stars (including Vega, one of the night sky's brightest stars), imagined in the shape of a lyre (an ancient Greek stringed instrument)

Lynx

a small constellation in the northern sky containing four main stars, imagined as the wild cat species of the same name

unspectacular

not spectacular; unremarkable

synapses

the gaps between nerve cells in the body, across which electrical signals pass