Cosmospresso

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You know what "galaxy" means in Latin Greek, don’t you?

Yeah, it’s Saturn, not the Milky Way, but still. That is made of awesome. I want to go to that coffee shop!

Via Reddit.

November 19th, 2009 2:25 PM Tags: ,
by Phil Plait in Astronomy, Cool stuff, Pretty pictures | 41 comments | RSS feed | Trackback >

41 Responses to “Cosmospresso”

  1. 1.   OmegaMom Says:

    Greek. Not Latin.

    Way cool espresso!

  2. 2.   Leonidas Says:

    You mean in Greek, not in Latin, right? Don’t mind me, i’m just a nit-picky native greek-speaker

    Tip o’ the coffee mug to you, Phil!

  3. 3.   Mike Says:

    I want one.

  4. 4.   NthDegree256 Says:

    This was my first thought upon seeing it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_latte

  5. 5.   Sharkweek Says:

    Pretty impressive. I wish I could say more, but I’m running a bit latte.

  6. 6.   The Other Ian Says:

    No way that’s not photoshopped.

  7. 7.   John Paradox Says:

    @ The Other Ian:

    Actually, I saw a report some time ago about a shop that does ’specialized’ foam on lattes (I don’t know latte from frappuchino… to me, coffee is coffee). They showed the baristas using basically toothpicks to ’shape’ the foam.

    J/P=?

  8. 8.   Charlie Young Says:

    Looks real to me. Not thinking ’shopped.

  9. 9.   Noam Zur Says:

    Forgive me if I’m wrong – but I thought” Galaxy” came from Greek? At any rate it’s a great cup to look at and hopefully drink, too. Where was this photo taken? Probably not Italy, I suppose…

  10. 10.   Gary Ansorge Says:

    Those dad gum Greeks where a bunch of know it alls. I wonder if we’ll ever be able to describe something w/o stealing one of their words?(Oh, right, I forgot about Al Je Bra).

    Must be from one of our more infamous coffee shops. Peets, anyone?(I’d mention the Other One, but the reference to Stars is just too obvious).

    Cool image. Wonder if they do Prof Einstein?

    Gary 7

  11. 11.   shane Says:

    Darn work filters. Flickr is apparently okay but photobucket and picasa are not. Will have to wait till I get home… sigh.

  12. 12.   Gary Says:

    And to think that happend naturally just like Mt. Rushmore.

  13. 13.   Sky Says:

    Phil Plait is just trying to outdo the people who found Jesus on a tortilla.

  14. 14.   Grendel Says:

    I’ve seen designs like that produced in latte art competitions here in Australia – baristas get the opportunity to produce later art in a standard cup and a macchiato cup – both of which must be freehand (no toothpick tracing) and then they can produce a signature drink like the one above that can have tracing.

    I like anything that combines my two great loves of coffee and astronomy!

  15. 15.   JenniferBurdoo Says:

    Are you sure it’s not just pareidolia? :p

  16. 16.   John C Says:

    γάλα (gala) = milk – in greek – just saying

  17. 17.   shane Says:

    Way OT, but an outlet for woo is coming to an end. Oprah is calling it a day… in 2011. She must be preparing for 2012.
    http://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/articles/2009/11/20/1258219954593.html

  18. 18.   Chip Says:

    The small independent coffee shop I go too creates some beautiful mocha and latte patterns but that’s really cool. I printed the picture and will take it in to them for inspiration. :D

  19. 19.   JC Says:

    There’s a barista near here (at Fremont Coffee Company, just down the street from Lenin) who does things like this. Today he put Darth Vader on my mocha !

  20. 20.   MadScientist Says:

    Wow – that’s some skill. :)

  21. 21.   NewEnglandBob Says:

    Looks like tomato soup to me, not expresso.

  22. 22.   Brian Too Says:

    They took something great and made it better. How wonderful is that?

  23. 23.   Jack Hagerty Says:

    21. NewEnglandBob Says: “Looks like tomato soup to me, not expresso.”

    It’s called “espresso” in the original Greek…

    Besides, those concoctions are to real espresso what “Manhattan” clam chowder is to real clam chowder (noting your name).

    - Jack

  24. 24.   LSandman24 Says:

    21.) The texture’s not that far off. That coffee would probably kill anyone who wasn’t raised near the Aegean. The further East you head, the more it resembles caffeinated mud. But damn is it good!

  25. 25.   StevoR Says:

    All it needs is a Milky Way (chocolate bar) on the side of the plate .. ;-)

    I prefer a good cup of tea to coffee myself but still .. Good one! :-)

    I’ve just got one slight quibble – the large moon toSaturn’s right nera the handle is wa-aay too big inproportion to the planet -even if titan is one of the two largest moons inour solar system. ;-)

    Incidentally – which is bigger – Titan or Ganymede? I seem to get different answers to this question each time its asked .. some saying one others t’other.

  26. 26.   nobody Says:

    For those of you who are curious about the etymology of the word galaxy:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaxy#Etymology

    The article also contains a very beautiful myth about the origin of the name ;)

    Besides being great scientists (and the first who developed the scientific method for that matter), the ancient Greeks were great storytellers as well :)

  27. 27.   Nigel Depledge Says:

    @ StevoR (25) -

    Ganymede is a bit bigger than Titan (roughly 110 km larger in diameter and about 8% more massive).

    Source:
    hypertext transfer protocol: www[dot]nineplanets[dot]org/datamax[dot]html

  28. 28.   Didac Says:

    If it was from Latin, galaxies will be called lactics.

  29. 29.   Kevin Says:

    @StevoR (25): That’s no moon. It’s a space station.

  30. 30.   scotth Says:

    This looks like it could be the work of SkepticBarista.

    Twitter: @SkepticBarista
    Blog: http://skepticbarista.wordpress.com/

  31. 31.   Sarcastro Says:

    If it was from Latin, galaxies will be called lactics.

    The Latin is ‘lactea’ (nominative neuter plural of ‘lacteus’, milky) ala ‘Via Lactea’, the Milky Way. English would probably have borrowed it as ‘lacteas’ or ‘lakties’. Luckily for us most Latin speakers used the Greek loan word ‘galaxias’. Both the Latin and Greek words derived from the same PIE root, ‘*glact-’.

  32. 32.   Charlie Young Says:

    Yowzers! The etymology crew is definitely up to snuff!

  33. 33.   Brock Says:

    I agree with NewEnglandBob, my first thought was that it looks like tomato soup. Why so red? Yes, my monitor has accurate color.

  34. 34.   Chris A. Says:

    @StevoR (25):

    As noted, Ganymede is bigger than Titan. The confusion may stem from the fact that if you count Titan’s atmosphere in its diameter, it is larger than Ganymede. (Practically speaking, one must count the atmosphere is calculating its apparent angular size in a telescope.) And if you consult a pre-1980 source, it will list Titan as larger because it predates Voyager 2’s visit which revealed the thick Titanian (Titanic?) atmosphere.

    As for the oversized moon, I just figured it was in the foreground of the image, obviously taken by the Caffeini…er, Cassini probe.

  35. 35.   Torbjörn Larsson, OM Says:

    It’s called “espresso” in the original Greek…

    Not to be toothpicking your coffee too much, but it’s (apparently) complicated:

    “”The words express, expres and espresso each have several meanings in English, French and Italian. The first meaning is to do with the idea of ‘expressing’ or squeezing the flavour from the coffee using the pressure of the steam. The second meaning is to do with speed, as in a train. Finally there is the notion of doing something ‘expressly’ for a person… The first Bezzera and Pavoni espresso machines in 1906 took forty-five seconds to make a cup of coffee, one at a time, expressly for you. (Bersten (cited below) p. 99) -”

    Many latin based countries, such as France, Spain, and Portugal, use the expresso form. In the United States and Canada, both espresso and expresso are used.[1] Italy uses the term espresso, substituting most x letters in latin root words with s; x is not considered part of the standard Italian alphabet.”

    OTOH, “The first espresso machines were introduced at the beginning of the 20th Century, with the first patent being filed by Luigi Bezzera of Milan, Italy, in 1901.” [Both quotes from Wikipedia, italics [sic] removed.]

    Ouch! Now I don’t dare look up the etymology of ‘cup-of-chinos’. Any takers?

  36. 36.   Redditor Says:

    Awesome! You visit Reddit! You should do an IAmA (http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/ ).

  37. 37.   Jack Hagerty Says:

    35. Torbjörn Larsson, OM Says: ” ‘It’s called “espresso” in the original Greek… ‘
    Not to be toothpicking your coffee too much, but it’s (apparently) complicated”

    Actually, I said that as a joke (per the first few comments, do we *always* have to use those silly smileys?), but thanks for the update. I didn’t realize that “expresso” was a valid variation.

    - Jack

  38. 38.   StevoR Says:

    @ 34. Chris A. & 27. Nigel Depledge : Thanks! :-)

    @ 37 Jack Hagerty : do we *always* have to use those silly smileys? Yes! ;-)

    @ 33. Brock & 21. NewEngland Bob :

    … it looks like tomato soup. Why so red? Yes, my monitor has accurate color.

    I also see a definite reddishness there but more a sort of reddish brown colour not vividly red like tomato soup.

  39. 39.   Lugosi Says:

    Good thing Jesus didn’t show up in that espresso or the shop would be ovverrun by worshippers.

  40. 40.   Damon Says:

    ::makes jerking off motion::

  41. 41.   Gary Ansorge Says:

    “OMG! It’s full of,,,coffee,,,and stars.”

    Oh come on! SOMEBODY had to say it.

    Gary 7

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