BaalChatzaf Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 Behold!http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/news-science/20120223/US.SCI.Planetary.Lineup/Ba'al Chatzaf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selene Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 Behold!http://xfinity.comca...anetary.Lineup/Ba'al ChatzafYes indeed - been looking forward to this. The crescent moon truly makes it memorable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellen Stuttle Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 Behold!Connecticut weather!After some weeks of mostly clear skies, tonight was clouded over...And then snow started. I love snow (within reason), but....wrong night, damn it!Ellen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Stuart Kelly Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 I look at the sky all the time in gratitude and wonder.It's one of my quiks. Sean, my stepson (who has a touch of autism) used to respond to me in a funny manner.Me: Sean. Look at the sky. Look at the present we just received for free. (starting and contemplating)Sean (grumpy): The sky is not a painting. Anyway, here is a very recent local TED talk about looking at the sky. Needless to say, for me it is a very good presentation.<object width="640" height="360"><param name="movie" value=" name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src=" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="360"></embed></object>Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caroljane Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 Baal, thanks for this. i remember the awe of starry, starry nights back when I did not know how ambient light would limit my access to them. in later years; the Planetarium where I sat enthralled while my kids squirmed at being dragged there for the fifth time; the serene wonder of the crescent moon now, when it shows so startling bright over the cityscape.It is rainy and cloudy here now so I hope it will clear up tomorrow so I can see some of the splendour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caroljane Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 When I am thinking about the skies it is always the "Jupiter" symphony that comes to me-- is it just word association? I love Holsts's Planets, but it is never that celestial music that rings in the inner ear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
syrakusos Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 I went out last night and watched from the roof of an 8-story building. It should be clear tonight with the Moon between the planets. Last year, I placed several reviews of Astronomical Symbols on Ancient and Medieval Coins by Marshall Faintich. The last just appeared (finally!) in a little academic journal for the history of astronomy from the UK. These conjunctions were seen as omens and portents, of course, but also, mundanely (if that applies) were placed on some coins to note the date. The correlations are very strong. Faintich stretched his claims but overall he assembled a strong narrative showing history and astronomy recorded on a common and durable medium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaalChatzaf Posted February 25, 2012 Author Share Posted February 25, 2012 Baal, thanks for this. i remember the awe of starry, starry nights back when I did not know how ambient light would limit my access to them. in later years; the Planetarium where I sat enthralled while my kids squirmed at being dragged there for the fifth time; the serene wonder of the crescent moon now, when it shows so startling bright over the cityscape.It is rainy and cloudy here now so I hope it will clear up tomorrow so I can see some of the splendour.I remember a time, long ago, I could see the Milky Way in my back yard. Those days are gone. Air pollution and light pollution have taken their toll. Why in the Name of the Sky do we have street lights that shine up? Half the energy is gone to waste. Street light should only shine down, where we walk.Ba'al Chatzaf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
syrakusos Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 I remember a time, long ago, I could see the Milky Way in my back yard. Those days are gone. Air pollution and light pollution have taken their toll. Why in the Name of the Sky do we have street lights that shine up? Half the energy is gone to waste. Street light should only shine down, where we walk.Ba'al ChatzafIt's not as bad as she claims and it has been getting better for years as no one wants to pay to waste energy. The problem is design a light source that is not spherical and finally now we have powerful LEDs. Solid state is getting there, as with silicon control rectifiers that can handle huge loads, LEDs can light large areas well ... now... In the mean time, look at that map of Earth at night and remember that she was traveling in Arizona when she saw the sky she never knew in New York City. I remember my first time. I grew up in Cleveland a mile from the steel mills. I went the planetarium, of course, but I was about 20 when my girl friend's family took me with them to a campground in Pymatuning, Pennsylvania, an hour from Cleveland. "My god, it's full of stars!"Most cities, you drive an hour you can get away. I know the Bos-Wash corridor is pretty dense -- and fantastically pretty in its own way as seen from the sky flying in to JFK -- but look at that National Geographic composite again of The Earth at Night and realize that if you want to see the stars, you can do it all you want, if you want. (Just take along everything you need -- and no campfire...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaalChatzaf Posted February 25, 2012 Author Share Posted February 25, 2012 20 when my girl friend's family took me with them to a campground in Pymatuning, Pennsylvania, an hour from Cleveland. "My god, it's full of stars!"Most cities, you drive an hour you can get away. I know the Bos-Wash corridor is pretty dense -- and fantastically pretty in its own way as seen from the sky flying in to JFK -- but look at that National Geographic composite again of The Earth at Night and realize that if you want to see the stars, you can do it all you want, if you want. (Just take along everything you need -- and no campfire...)When i use to live just south of Lowell MA, I had to drive 55 miles, all the way to Vermont before I could get a Dark Sky look at the Milky Way. The problem was mostly air pollution. Any cities nearby cast a sky high glow into the particulate mess in the atmosphere. The pretty well killed a good view of the Milky Way. Several years ago when I drove to Colorado I was able to see the sky just fine in Kansas. It was very Speilbergian. Ba'al Chatzaf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dennislmay Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 20 when my girl friend's family took me with them to a campground in Pymatuning, Pennsylvania, an hour from Cleveland. "My god, it's full of stars!"Most cities, you drive an hour you can get away. I know the Bos-Wash corridor is pretty dense -- and fantastically pretty in its own way as seen from the sky flying in to JFK -- but look at that National Geographic composite again of The Earth at Night and realize that if you want to see the stars, you can do it all you want, if you want. (Just take along everything you need -- and no campfire...)When i use to live just south of Lowell MA, I had to drive 55 miles, all the way to Vermont before I could get a Dark Sky look at the Milky Way. The problem was mostly air pollution. Any cities nearby cast a sky high glow into the particulate mess in the atmosphere. The pretty well killed a good view of the Milky Way. Several years ago when I drove to Colorado I was able to see the sky just fine in Kansas. It was very Speilbergian. Ba'al ChatzafI've never seen a night sky as clear as when I lived in Northern Nebraska. On a moonless night you could walk around without danger of tripping just from starlight. Here in Missouri you can see magnitudes better than Ohio but still not as good as a clear night in Nebraska. Many city people have never seen a clear night in their lives - give them a good pair of binoculars on a clean night outside the city and watch them freak out.Dennis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caroljane Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 Ihave seen the Milky Way from the backyard in my NB house, and I saw the Aurora Borealis there about ten years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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