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We're Thankful for What We Have

A Perfect Balance >

Often the hectic time around Thanksgiving may cause us to forget why we celebrate the holiday in the first place. With all the food and football and family to worry about, it's easy to get caught up in all the extraneous activity with nary a thought of thankfulness.

So, now that we've had a few days to regroup, make yourself a turkey sandwich, pour yourself a warm glass of turkey juice, and we'll look at some reasons to be thankful from the cosmic Big Picture perspective. Let's begin on Earth.

Thankfully, our planet is made of just enough "stuff" and is just the right girth to have just the right gravity to hold onto just the right gasses. Meaning, we get to hold onto heavier life gasses like oxygen and nitrogen and carbon dioxide. But we can't keep a grip on the slightly less weighty death gasses, like methane and ammonia.

Thankfully, our seemingly insignificant Moon keeps us tilted just right, has slowed our "day" to a comfy 24 hours, and provides us with life-enhancing tides.

Thankfully, our planet is just the right distance from the sun in just the perfect orbit. Any closer to the sun, we fry. Any farther, we freeze. And our orbit, being nearly circular, keeps us at just the right distance all year long.

Thankfully, we have some Big Planet siblings way out there with a planetload of gravity. This wonderful gift allows them to slingshot wayward comets and asteroids out of the solar system or just suck them up altogether. This has prevented us from getting struck more often, keeping us from constant and nasty day-ruining phenomena called global mass extinctions.

But, thankfully, they are also just the perfect distance away from us to leave us alone. If they were closer, our orbit would be all out of whack and we'd freeze and/or fry.

Thankfully our sun is a lowly G-type star. This is a type of star that is just the right size to lead an entirely long and boring life. Slightly bigger stars pour out a lot more radiation and live shorter lives. Smaller stars may live longer but have less life-giving radiation to feed a hungry life-filled planet.

Thankfully, our sun is a loner. Most of the stars out there are multi-star systems. If we had a system like that, you wouldn't be reading this. Two or more stars throw a planet's orbit all over the place or toss out the little guy altogether.

Thankfully, our star system is about two-thirds the way out from the center of our massive galaxy, the Milky Way. Closer to the center means lots more stars, more deadly radiation, and more life-erasing supernovae. Farther out there is less planet-building rocky stuff since matter is so dispersed "out there."

Thankfully our universe is expanding at the rate it is. If it had expanded more slowly, by now the gravity of all the universal bodies would have caused the universe to slow and then collapse on itself. If it had expanded any faster, there could have been little to no time to have huge pockets of stuff come together leading, with perfect timing, to the formation of stars and galaxies.

There then would not have been enough time for the formation of an average yellow star at the center of a nice little life-ready solar system --- a system which included a perfectly placed, perfectly sized, tiny rocky planet with just enough water and the perfect atmosphere to be a home to creatures which could see the beauty of the universe around them and then be thankful for it.

Thankfully, if you have any questions Mark Ritter can be reached here.

Posted by Administrator at 2001.11.24 08:05 AM | Comments (0)

Enjoy a Nice Shower

Comets >

It's that time of the year again. It's the middle of November, the time that astronomers, young and old, await the return of the annual Leonid meteor shower.

Every 33 years or so, the Leonids hit with a vengeance, sometimes producing meteor storms in which thousands of meteors grace the sky every hour. For the last three years the Leonids were predicted to be spectacular --- and in many places in the world they were.

But they haven't been too favorable to us in Southern California. They provided a beautiful display of meteors to those fortunate to have clear skies, to be sure, but for the most part they were just good showers, not awe-inspiring, jaw-dropping storms.

Will this year be different? It might be, if certain astronomer-prognosticators are correct in their predictions.

A meteor shower is the result of a collision. This collision involves 1) debris shed from a comet as it goes around the sun, and 2) the Earth's atmosphere.

Comets, as they get close to the warm sun, slough off some of their dust and dirt. The dust and dirt debris travels with the parent comet as it orbits the sun, spreading out as it goes.

If our orbit happens to intersect the comet orbit we either slam into the comet (dangerous and ugly!) or its trails of dust (safe and pretty!).

If we plunge through the debris, the little specks of dirt appear to fly through our atmosphere with great speed, tens to hundreds of them an hour, vaporizing in a flash of light we call a meteor.

There is a comet called Tempel-Tuttle whose orbit nearly crosses ours. We cross "paths" on the 17th of November every year. Normally this means an "OK," but not spectacular, meteor shower.

But when Tempel-Tuttle itself actually passes through our neck of the woods every 33 years or so, its debris train in our vicinity is pretty thick and we can plunge right through a pretty dirty part of it causing the skies light up with meteors.

Well, even though the Comet passed by a few years ago the scuttlebutt in astro circles is that this year's shower might surprise us with a fairly hefty amount of meteors. Several reliable meteor astronomers have worked out that there is very likely a cloud of debris left over from Tempel-Tuttle's 1766 fly-by that is on a collision course with our planet.

That's great news for meteor watchers just in itself. But it gets better!

If these astronomers are correct, one of the thicker parts of the cloud of cosmic crud will hit over North America during its nighttime - about 2 o'clock in the morning of the 18th for those of us on the West Coast. And, there will be no blinding Moon to interfere.

And there was much rejoicing.

So, despite the inherent uncertainty of this phenomenon, I'll go out on a cosmic limb and say this: Pray for clear skies. Dress warmly. Go out in the late night of the 17th and into the early morning of the 18th to somewhere extra dark. Bring bug spray and binoculars. Lie down on something comfortable. Look up and enjoy a nice shower. It should be spectacular.

(Image obtained from the Astronomy Picture of the Day, 2001 November 4. Photo credit: Juraj Toth [Comenius U. Bratislava], Modra Observatory)

Posted by Administrator at 2001.11.10 08:06 AM | Comments (0)



Looking for something?	« October 2001 \| Main \| December 2001 » We're Thankful for What We Have A Perfect Balance > Often the hectic time around Thanksgiving may cause us to forget why we celebrate the holiday in the first place. With all the food and football and family to worry about, it's easy to get caught up in all the extraneous activity with nary a thought of thankfulness. So, now that we've had a few days to regroup, make yourself a turkey sandwich, pour yourself a warm glass of turkey juice, and we'll look at some reasons to be thankful from the cosmic Big Picture perspective. Let's begin on Earth. Thankfully, our planet is made of just enough "stuff" and is just the right girth to have just the right gravity to hold onto just the right gasses. Meaning, we get to hold onto heavier life gasses like oxygen and nitrogen and carbon dioxide. But we can't keep a grip on the slightly less weighty death gasses, like methane and ammonia. Thankfully, our seemingly insignificant Moon keeps us tilted just right, has slowed our "day" to a comfy 24 hours, and provides us with life-enhancing tides. Thankfully, our planet is just the right distance from the sun in just the perfect orbit. Any closer to the sun, we fry. Any farther, we freeze. And our orbit, being nearly circular, keeps us at just the right distance all year long. Thankfully, we have some Big Planet siblings way out there with a planetload of gravity. This wonderful gift allows them to slingshot wayward comets and asteroids out of the solar system or just suck them up altogether. This has prevented us from getting struck more often, keeping us from constant and nasty day-ruining phenomena called global mass extinctions. But, thankfully, they are also just the perfect distance away from us to leave us alone. If they were closer, our orbit would be all out of whack and we'd freeze and/or fry. Thankfully our sun is a lowly G-type star. This is a type of star that is just the right size to lead an entirely long and boring life. Slightly bigger stars pour out a lot more radiation and live shorter lives. Smaller stars may live longer but have less life-giving radiation to feed a hungry life-filled planet. Thankfully, our sun is a loner. Most of the stars out there are multi-star systems. If we had a system like that, you wouldn't be reading this. Two or more stars throw a planet's orbit all over the place or toss out the little guy altogether. Thankfully, our star system is about two-thirds the way out from the center of our massive galaxy, the Milky Way. Closer to the center means lots more stars, more deadly radiation, and more life-erasing supernovae. Farther out there is less planet-building rocky stuff since matter is so dispersed "out there." Thankfully our universe is expanding at the rate it is. If it had expanded more slowly, by now the gravity of all the universal bodies would have caused the universe to slow and then collapse on itself. If it had expanded any faster, there could have been little to no time to have huge pockets of stuff come together leading, with perfect timing, to the formation of stars and galaxies. There then would not have been enough time for the formation of an average yellow star at the center of a nice little life-ready solar system --- a system which included a perfectly placed, perfectly sized, tiny rocky planet with just enough water and the perfect atmosphere to be a home to creatures which could see the beauty of the universe around them and then be thankful for it. Thankfully, if you have any questions Mark Ritter can be reached here. Posted by Administrator at 2001.11.24 08:05 AM \| Comments (0) Enjoy a Nice Shower Comets > It's that time of the year again. It's the middle of November, the time that astronomers, young and old, await the return of the annual Leonid meteor shower. Every 33 years or so, the Leonids hit with a vengeance, sometimes producing meteor storms in which thousands of meteors grace the sky every hour. For the last three years the Leonids were predicted to be spectacular --- and in many places in the world they were. But they haven't been too favorable to us in Southern California. They provided a beautiful display of meteors to those fortunate to have clear skies, to be sure, but for the most part they were just good showers, not awe-inspiring, jaw-dropping storms. Will this year be different? It might be, if certain astronomer-prognosticators are correct in their predictions. A meteor shower is the result of a collision. This collision involves 1) debris shed from a comet as it goes around the sun, and 2) the Earth's atmosphere. Comets, as they get close to the warm sun, slough off some of their dust and dirt. The dust and dirt debris travels with the parent comet as it orbits the sun, spreading out as it goes. If our orbit happens to intersect the comet orbit we either slam into the comet (dangerous and ugly!) or its trails of dust (safe and pretty!). If we plunge through the debris, the little specks of dirt appear to fly through our atmosphere with great speed, tens to hundreds of them an hour, vaporizing in a flash of light we call a meteor. There is a comet called Tempel-Tuttle whose orbit nearly crosses ours. We cross "paths" on the 17th of November every year. Normally this means an "OK," but not spectacular, meteor shower. But when Tempel-Tuttle itself actually passes through our neck of the woods every 33 years or so, its debris train in our vicinity is pretty thick and we can plunge right through a pretty dirty part of it causing the skies light up with meteors. Well, even though the Comet passed by a few years ago the scuttlebutt in astro circles is that this year's shower might surprise us with a fairly hefty amount of meteors. Several reliable meteor astronomers have worked out that there is very likely a cloud of debris left over from Tempel-Tuttle's 1766 fly-by that is on a collision course with our planet. That's great news for meteor watchers just in itself. But it gets better! If these astronomers are correct, one of the thicker parts of the cloud of cosmic crud will hit over North America during its nighttime - about 2 o'clock in the morning of the 18th for those of us on the West Coast. And, there will be no blinding Moon to interfere. And there was much rejoicing. So, despite the inherent uncertainty of this phenomenon, I'll go out on a cosmic limb and say this: Pray for clear skies. Dress warmly. Go out in the late night of the 17th and into the early morning of the 18th to somewhere extra dark. Bring bug spray and binoculars. Lie down on something comfortable. Look up and enjoy a nice shower. It should be spectacular. (Image obtained from the Astronomy Picture of the Day, 2001 November 4. Photo credit: Juraj Toth [Comenius U. Bratislava], Modra Observatory) Posted by Administrator at 2001.11.10 08:06 AM \| Comments (0)
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