Discover our favourite cosmic cats<\/a>, nebulae that look like animals<\/a> and a history of animals in space<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p> While wild animals aren\u2019t overly bothered with what we astronomers are up to, our pets generally are, and two main players present themselves as possible after-dusk partners.<\/p> Firstly there\u2019s the faithful dog, who may take an interest in proceedings for a time, until this wanes when the prospect of something cosy and potentially edible inside the house proves too much a temptation.<\/p> With an offering of some parting words such as, \u201cI\u2019ll leave you to it then!\u201d the dog will duly toddle off inside.<\/p> Then there\u2019s the cat who, after probably watching rather nonchalantly from a distance, will eventually decide to investigate what one of its \u2018staff\u2019 could be possibly doing at this time of night.<\/p> In stealth mode, the cat will gently engage with a nudge against the lower leg.<\/p> Then, with some customary meowing, which loosely translates as, \u201cIt\u2019s me, the cat, you may make a fuss,\u201d like a drill sergeant the cat will duly undertake an inspection.<\/p> If the astronomer is of a nervous disposition when the cat first rubs against the lower leg, there is a flustered attempt not to bang any part of the body on the telescope or accompanying equipment (the first priorities lie with not disturbing the object being viewed in the eyepiece). \u00a0<\/p> Throughout history the lives of the cat and their science-based owners intertwine, physicist Nikola Tesla\u2019s cat Macak and Einstein\u2019s cat Tiger to name but two.<\/p> American astronomer Edwin Hubble\u2019s cat Nicolas Copernicus was often found sprawling across astronomical charts, and then there was Austrian physicist Erwin Schr\u00f6dinger and his cat \u2013 or possibly not!<\/p> Sir Patrick Moore cared for two cats in his boyhood years, Ginger and Ptolemy, then later Jeannie and another Ptolemy.<\/p> Astrophysicist and musician Brian May immortalised the passing of Pixie, his childhood cat, in the song \u2018All Dead, All Dead\u2019 on Queen\u2019s 1977 album News of the World<\/em>.<\/p> Granted, and for the sake of balance, an elk and a parrot also jostle their way into the science arena, along with Dolly the Sheep.<\/p> And let us not forget the pooch completely: Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov had his salivating dogs; Laika was the first dog to orbit Earth; and there was Marjorie, the diabetic dog who helped isolate insulin.<\/p> Dogs are the doers of this world while cats are the thinkers, or should that be schemers and plotters?<\/p> Overall however, which would appear to be top dog? Well, in this astronomer\u2019s world, it\u2019s the cat.<\/p>![\"Cat](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2024\/04\/GettyImages-1193439472-1024x721.jpg?fit=800%2C563\")
![\"Patrick](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2024\/04\/patrick-moore-cat-1024x683.jpg?fit=800%2C534\")
![\"Laika](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2020\/07\/Laika-space-dog-5aa55b6.jpg\")