| Mars is Coming! |
[Sep. 30th, 2007|12:15 pm] |
Mars Nears for Best Viewing in Years
By Joe Rao,
Posted: 2007-09-30 10:43:46
Filed Under: Science News
(Sept. 28) - Mars is coming!
You've probably heard that line before – no doubt fairly recently, thanks to a bogus e-mail that unfortunately received wide circulation on the Internet this summer with promises of Mars being as big as the full moon.
NASA and Hubble Heritage Team / AP Mars is shown in an incredibly sharp 2001 photo made from the Hubble Space Telescope. On Wednesday, the planet will appear with a yellow-orange tint seven degrees above and to the right of the moon.
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But this fact is absolutely true: Mars, the only planet whose surface we can see in any detail from the Earth, is now moving toward the best viewing position it will provide to us until the year 2014. Planet watchers have already begun readying their telescopes.
If you haven't seen it, it will be well worth looking for the red planet next week, even though you'll have to wait until after midnight to see it well.
Mars is currently midway between the zodiacal constellations of Taurus, the Bull and Gemini, the Twins and during this week it will rise shortly before 11 p.m. local daylight time. There is certainly no mistaking it once it comes up over the east-northeast horizon. Presently shining like a pumpkin-hued, zero magnitude star, Mars is currently tied for fifth place (with Vega) among the 21 brightest stars.
But as it continues to approach our Earth in the coming weeks and months, Mars will only be getting brighter: it will surpass Sirius, the brightest star in the sky by Dec. 9 and during the latter half of December it will even almost match Jupiter in brilliance.
Late next Wednesday night (or more precisely, early on Thursday morning), Mars will hover about 7-degrees above and to the right of the last quarter moon as they rise above the east-northeast horizon (your clenched fist held at arm's length is roughly 10-degrees in width). As you will see for yourself, the so-called "Red Planet" actually will appear closer to a yellow-orange tint – the same color of a dry desert under a high sun.
NASA / AP Galaxies in deep space are captured in a photograph by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2005. Scientists announced last month that they found a void in the universe that's far bigger than they ever imagined.
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How close?
Every 26 months, or so, Earth makes a close approach to Mars, as our smaller, swifter orbit "overtakes" Mars around the sun. Because both the orbits of Mars and Earth are mildly elliptical, some close approaches between the two planets are closer than others.
This current apparition of Mars will be nowhere near as spectacular as the oft-referred approach of August 2003 when the planet came closer to Earth than it had in nearly 60,000-years.
Rather, on this upcoming occasion, Mars will come closest to Earth on the evening of December 18th (at around 6:46 p.m. Eastern Standard Time).
The planet will then lie 54.8 million miles (88.2 million kilometers) from Earth as measured from center to center. Mars will arrive at opposition to the sun (rising at sunset, setting at sunrise) six days later on Christmas Eve, December 24th.
How big?
That recent Martian e-mail message – a hyperbole which was widely circulated for a fourth consecutive year – lead people to believe, with liberal use of exclamation marks, that on Aug. 27, Mars would appear as bright as (or as large as) that night's full moon in the night sky. The subject header urged viewers to prepare to view "Two Full Moons."
It was amazing (and a little disturbing) to see just how many people actually believed that Mars could loom so large in our sky. But the truth is that even when at its absolute closest possible approach to Earth, Mars can appear no larger than 1/72 as big as the moon; to the unaided eye it would appear as nothing more than an extremely bright, non-twinkling star. |
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| VA Shootings |
[Apr. 17th, 2007|12:51 pm] |
To anyone who was involved in the VA shootings, those who were murdered, injured, or just there...to anyone who knew someone there..to the families, the the friends, to the acquantances, I am deeply sorry for your loss and though no words will ever make it alright I just want you to know that I am so very sorry for your loss. |
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| Claims |
[May. 3rd, 2004|11:27 pm] |
| [ | Current World |
| | Computer Room | ] |
| [ | Feeling Like |
| |  bored | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Thunder and Rain | ] |
Claims:
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-Valis III for Sega Genisis
-Legend of Dragoon for Playstation
claim_a_fantasy
-Aerith Gainsborough {Final Fantasy VII} claimed by starrynightwind on 04/29/06
-Albert {Legend of Dragoon} claimed by starrynightwind on 10/26/04
-Alex {Madagascar} claimed by starrynightwind on 12/19/05
-Amy {Soul Calibur III} claimed by starrynightwind on 04/24/06
-Arashi {X} claimed by starrynightwind on 12/17/03
-Ariel {Disney's The Little Mermaid} claimed by starrynightwind on 12/25/03
-Asato Tsuzuki {Yami No Matsuei} claimed by starrynightwind on 07/24/05
-Aslan {Cronicles of Narnia} claimed by starrynightwind on 12/25/05
-Aurora {Sleeping Beauty} claimed by starrynightwind on 09/26/05
-Aya/Ceres {Ayashi No Ceres} claimed by starrynightwind on 11/03/04
-Beast Boy {Teen Titans} claimed by starrynightwind on 05/29/06
-Beatrix {Final Fantasy IX} claimed by starrynightwind on 07/04/06
-Bill Weasley {Harry Potter} claimed by starrynightwind on 05/15/05
-Bobby {Four Brothers} claimed by starrynightwind on 02/19/05
-Caladina {Magic Knight RayEarth} claimed by starrynightwind on 03/17/04
-Catwoman {Batman} claimed by starrynightwind on 06/01/04
-Cham {Valis III} claimed by starrynightwind on 03/03/04
-Chichiri {Fushigi Yuugi} claimed by starrynightwind on 10/21/03
-Cloud Strife {Final Fantasy VII} claimed by starrynightwind on 07/05/04
-Cosmo {Fairly Oddparents} claimed by starrynightwind on 10/30/05
-Crush {Finding Nemo} claimed by starrynightwind on 08/07/05
-Damia {Legend of Dragoon} claimed by starrynightwind on 01/07/04
-Dash {The Incredibiles} claimed by starrynightwind on 11/08/04
-Dory {Finding Nemo} claimed by starrynightwind on 11/18/03
-Eclipse {Demon Diary} claimed by starrynightwind on 05/08/05
-Edmund {Chronicles of Narnia} claimed by starrynightwind on 03/06/06
-Eliwood {Fire Emblem} claimed by starrynightwind on 12/26/04
-Emeraude-Hime {Magic Knight RayEarth} claimed by starrynightwind on 11/06/03
-Emily {Corpse Bride} claimed by starrynightwind on 10/02/05
-Eowyn {Lord of The Rings} claimed by starrynightwind on 06/08/04
-Erk {Fire Emblem} claimed by starrynightwind on 01/22/05
-Erutis {Demon Diary} claimed by starrynightwind on 03/20/05
-Fai D. Flowright {Tsubasa} claimed by starrynightwind on 05/21/06
-Florina {Fire Emblem} claimed by starrynightwind on 12/05/04
-Ford {Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy} claimed by starrynightwind on 05/03/05
-Gabriel {Constantine} claimed by starrynightwind on 03/27/05
-Gary {Spongebob Square Pants} claimed by starrynightwind on 11/07/05
-Good Luck Bear {Care Bears} claimed by starrynightwind on 05/26/04
-Hasunuma {Eerie Queerie} claimed by starrynightwind on 04/28/04
-Hayner {Kingdom Hearts II} claimed by starrynightwind on 04/06/06
-Hero {RPGWorld} claimed by starrynightwind on 04/11/05
-Hiroshi {Gravitation} claimed by starrynightwind on 02/04/04
-Hououji Fuu {Magic Knight RayEarth} claimed by starrynightwind on 02/27/05
-Invisible Woman {Fantasic Four} claimed by starrynightwind on 08/14/05
-Jack {Four Brothers} claimed by starrynightwind on 02/13/06
-Jian Campbell {Lunar: Dragon Song} claimed by starrynightwind on 12/11/05
-John Constantine {Constantine} claimed by starrynightwind on 11/27/05
-Josey {Stallion} claimed by starrynightwind on 08/15/06
-Julia {Cowboy BeBop} claimed by starrynightwind on 08/24/04
-Juliette {Romeo and Juliette} claimed by starrynightwind on 09/03/04
-K {Gravitation} claimed by starrynightwind on 11/22/04
-Kamui {X} claimed by starrynightwind on 07/31/06
-Kent {Fire Emblem} claimed by starrynightwind on 11/28/04
-Kurosaki Hisoka {Yami No Matsuei} claimed by starrynightwind on 06/14/05
-La La Orange {Rainbow Brite} claimed by starrynightwind on 12/03/05
-Lantis {Magic Knight RayEarth2} claimed by starrynightwind on 12/11/03
-Lemina Ausa {Lunar: Eternal Blue} claimed by starrynightwind on 10/30/03
-Loki {The Mask 2} claimed by starrynightwind on 11/14/04
-Lucia {Suikoden III} claimed by starrynightwind on 12/21/04
-Lucy (Chronicles of Narnia} claimed by starrynightwind on 02/04/06
-Lyndis {Fire Emblem} claimed by starrynightwind on 01/31/05
-Madam Hisui {Wish} claimed by starrynightwind on 04/24/05
-Mandy {The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy} claimed by starrynightwind on 06/26/05
-Meru {Legend Of Dragoon} claimed by starrynightwind on 04/13/04
-Mia Ausa {Lunar: Silver Star Story} claimed by starrynightwind on 02/18/04
-Mickey {Snatch} claimed by starrynightwind on 03/19/06
-Miho {Sin City} claimed by starrynightwind on 04/03/05
-Mokona {Magic Knight RayEarth} claimed by starrynightwind on 12/31/03
-Montblanc {Final Fantasy Tactics Advance} claimed by starrynightwind on 08/28/05
-MoonGlo {Rainbow Brite} claimed by starrynightwind on 11/22/05
-Mothra {Godzilla} claimed by starrynightwind on 07/29/04
-Naja {Mystic Heroes} claimed by starrynightwind on 06/19/05
-Nall {Lunar: Silver Star Story/Eternal Blue} claimed by starrynightwind on 06/14/04
-Nami {Harvest Moon} claimed by starrynightwind on 09/09/05
-Norris {Chrono Cross} claimed by starrynightwind on 06/19/06
-Numbuh 1 {Codename: Kids Next Door} claimed by starrynightwind on 08/29/06
-Numbuh 3 {Codename: Kids Next Door} claimed by starrynightwind on 07/03/05
-Numbuh 4 {Codename: Kids Next Door} claimed by starrynightwind on 08/02/05
-Nuriko {Fushigi Yuugi} claimed by starrynightwind on 01/21/04
-Olette {Kingdom Hearts II} claimed by starrynightwind on 04/16/06
-Peter {Chronicles of Narnia} claimed by starrynightwind on 02/27/06
-Prince Diamond {Sailor Moon} claimed by starrynightwind on 10/16/05
-Prince Zuko {Avatar} claimed by starrynightwind on 08/26/06
-Professor Minerva McGonagall {Harry Potter} claimed by starrynightwind on 05/29/05
-Puss In Boots {Shrek 2} claimed by starrynightwind on 02/16/05
-Raenef {Demon Diary} claimed by starrynightwind on 02/07/05
-Rainbow Brite {Rainbow Brite} claimed by starrynightwind on 07/15/04
-Rath {Fire Emblem} claimed by starrynightwind on 01/04/05
-Regole {Legend of Dragoon} claimed by starrynightwind on 10/15/03
-Riku {Kingdom Hearts} claimed by starrynightwind on 05/14/06
-Ruby {Lunar: Eternal Blue} claimed by starrynightwind on 06/29/04
-Ryu {Yoroiden Samurai Troopers} claimed by starrynightwind on 01/28/03
-Sailor Heavy Metal Papillon {Sailor Moon} claimed by starrynightwind on 01/02/06
-Sailor Venus/Aino Minako {Sailor Moon/Sailor V} claimed by starrynightwind on 06/23/04
-Sain {Fire Emblem} claimed by starrynightwind on 01/18/05
-Sarge {Cars} claimed by starrynightwind on 06/30/06
-Seigfred {Soul Calibur} claimed by starrynightwind on 03/12/06
-Selphie Tilmett {Final Fantasy VIII} claimed by starrynightwind on 08/17/04
-Serra {Fire Emblem} claimed by starrynightwind on 12/01/04
-Shidou Hikaru {Magic Knight RayEarth} claimed by starrynightwind on 03/11/04
-Shin {Yoroiden Samurai Troopers} claimed by starrynightwind on 08/21/05
-Shirley {Legend of Dragoon} claimed by starrynightwind on 04/07/04
-Shuichi {Gravitation} claimed by starrynightwind on 11/27/03
-Silas {The Da Vinci Code} claimed by starrynightwind on 04/09/06
-Sora {Kingdom Hearts} claimed by starrynightwind on 04/21/04
-Speedy {Teen Titans} claimed by starrynightwind on 07/09/06
-Squall Leonhart {Final Fantasy VIII} claimed by starrynightwind on 07/23/04
-Starfire {Teen Titans} claimed by starrynightwind on 05/12/04
-Strawberry Shortcake {Strawberry Shortcake} claimed by starrynightwind on 08/08/04
-Storm {X-Men} claimed by starrynightwind on 05/23/05
-Sumeragi Subaru {X} traded to starrynightwind on 10/16/03
-Tamahome {Fushigi Yuugi} claimed by starrynightwind on 04/02/04
-Tempest {Lunar Legend/Silver Star Story} claimed by starrynightwind on 07/10/05
-Terra {Teen Titans} claimed by starrynightwind on 05/19/04
-The Chosen One {Kung Pow} claimed by starrynightwind on 10/18/04
-The Human Torch {Fantastic Four} claimed by starrynightwind on 07/17/05
-Tickled Pink {Rainbow Brite} claimed by starrynightwind on 11/13/05
-Tidus {Final Fantasy X} claimed by starrynightwind on 06/07/06
-Toboe {Wolfs Rain} claimed by starrynightwind on 07/18/06
-Tristan {Tristan and Isolde} claimed by starrynightwind on 01/16/06
-Tsume {Wolfs Rain} claimed by starrynightwind on 10/14/04
-Valna {Valis III} claimed by starrynightwind on 04/17/05
-Vincent Valentine {Final Fantasy VII} claimed by starrynightwind on 05/07/06
-Wicked Lady/Chibi Usa {Sailor Moon} claimed by starrynightwind on 10/09/05
-Wil {Fire Emblem} claimed by starrynightwind on 03/06/05
-Xigbar {Kingdom Hearts II} claimed by starrynightwind on 06/13/06
-Yoshiki Kitazawa {Gravitation} claimed by starrynightwind on 01/09/05
-Yuhi {Ayashi No Ceres} claimed by starrynightwind on 12/03/03
-Yuki Sohma {Fruits Basket} claimed by starrynightwind on 04/29/06
-Yusuke Urameshi {YuYu Hakusho} claimed by starrynightwind on 01/01/05
-Yuzuhriha {X} claimed by starrynightwind on 11/11/03
-Zagato {Magic Knight RayEarth} claimed by starrynightwind on 03/31/04
-Zelda {Zelda} claimed by starrynightwind on 05/05/04
-Zidane {Final Fantasy IX} claimed by starrynightwind on 02/20/05 |
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| Friends Only |
[Mar. 8th, 2003|01:31 am] |
| [ | Current World |
| | Computer Room | ] |
| [ | Feeling Like |
| |  calm | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Rain | ] |
I do believe the banner says it all. |
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