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Island Woman MJ
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Posted: Sat Feb 10th, 2007 08:41 am |
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From an item my brother sent to me off of SpaceWeather.com -
WEEKEND RINGS: This weekend Saturn is at its closest to Earth: 762 million miles. It thus looks bigger and brighter both to the naked eye and through a telescope than it will at any other time in 2007. Look for Saturn rising in the east at sunset and soaring nearly overhead at midnight.
TILTING PLANET: Observers who point a backyard telescope at Saturn (highly recommended) may notice that it doesn't look the same as it did last year. "The rings are tilting toward Earth," says amateur astronomer Alan Friedman of Buffalo, New York. He has been photographing Saturn for years and made this movie of his observations between 2004 and 2007: (see web site) The changing aspect is due to a combination of geometric factors, mainly the tilt of Saturn's spin axis plus the orbital motion of Earth. Eventually, the rings will narrow so much that they briefly disappear before opening up again. The next ring plane crossing: Sept. 4, 2009. Meanwhile, the rings are uncovering Saturn's blue north pole--one more reason to look through a telescope this weekend. I'll check with *Celestial Chuck* to see if he'll have his telescope out tonight!
Last edited on Sat Feb 10th, 2007 08:42 am by Island Woman MJ
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Doug
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Posted: Sat Feb 10th, 2007 04:27 pm |
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It's going down to freakin 9 degrees here, tonight, wouldn't you know it. I may try it with binocs, but the telescope takes too long to set up. Thanks for the heads up. Literally!
Doug
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admin
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Posted: Sat Feb 10th, 2007 04:33 pm |
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for the secound time today, no comment......you folk don't know what cold means... you know it's bad when people are just wearing their down vests because it warmed up to 18 degrees...
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Doug
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Posted: Sat Feb 10th, 2007 04:47 pm |
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Then I'll leave it to you ice goddesses in Maine to do the set-up. Call me outside when you have the polar alignment set and the lens de-iced!
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"Let him who has a free hand cast the first stone."
Dennis Miller, on the Pee Wee Herman public outcry.
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admin
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Posted: Sat Feb 10th, 2007 04:53 pm |
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| LOL.....i ain't even walking the dogs -- thank goodness for skylights above the bed
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bayberry
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Posted: Sat Feb 10th, 2007 05:28 pm |
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| The challenge will be if we can see Saturn. Montserrat ash is so thick that St. Thomas is almost obliterated and Puerto Rico IS obliterated. The cause is the south to southeast winds, coming straight at us from the volcano. (No, it hasn't erupted, although it is threatening to do so before long -- this is old ash. If you want to keep track, the website is http://www.mvo.ms).
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Doug
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Posted: Sat Feb 10th, 2007 06:39 pm |
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Dang. I forgot about Montserrat. Has it been pretty constant pollution since the recent belching started? Should I bring a large Visine next month?
Doug
____________________
"Let him who has a free hand cast the first stone."
Dennis Miller, on the Pee Wee Herman public outcry.
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Island Woman MJ
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Posted: Sat Feb 10th, 2007 11:19 pm |
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Count me blind. I don't know - the skies here have been clear, and I haven't seen ash (in fact, have seen the skies more blue than usual) but maybe I'm just using the *been here so long it looks normal to me* viewfinder in my eyes. I didn't see Chuck today so I didn't get to ask about telescopes and I'm home for now, which, carless, means I'm probably home for the night. More anon.
A couple of years ago (pre-Wall tear down, so maybe longer?) Chuck had his telescope set up outside the pizza place so we could see Saturn. It was the first time I'd ever seen it, and he still tells the story of my comment, which was, Oh my god! Holy shit! So articulate of me...but Chuck being Chuck, he said it was not an unusual comment at all. I really should get my butt in gear and head downtown, but I probably will just go out in the yard and look up.
Doug, Visine is always a good thing to have here - regardless of ash. Some days the wind just dries out the eyes, but I wear contacts, so I'm more prone to be bothered by wind...and road dirt...etc. 
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bayberry
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Posted: Sun Feb 11th, 2007 10:38 am |
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| Thankyou, MJ -- We WERE able to see Saturn and even without the scope could vaguely see the rings. With the scope, the aura and rings were quite apparent.
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Doug
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Posted: Sun Feb 11th, 2007 05:12 pm |
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Good news. Now Montserrat, if you please, mind your manners for a while. The next item that I know of is the total eclipse of the full moon on March 3rd. Not by accident, I'll be at Bomba's.
   Should be interesting.
Doug
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"Let him who has a free hand cast the first stone."
Dennis Miller, on the Pee Wee Herman public outcry.
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admin
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Posted: Sun Feb 11th, 2007 05:20 pm |
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| LMAO......for some odd reason, this doesn't surprise me...
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Island Woman MJ
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Posted: Sun Feb 11th, 2007 10:00 pm |
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Methinks Laurie wants some tea It's magic light time right now, and still waters. I met some Boothbay women today who were wondering why they didn't live here...they know your shop, Laurie and I am sending them back with some sweat.
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admin
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Posted: Sun Feb 11th, 2007 10:04 pm |
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Laurie definately needs tea....and some sweat!!! We've got a major storm headed our way, and I still can't walk to my car safely -- it's 4 inches of ice on the ground. My mother seems to think sanding tomorrow (when it's warmed up to a predicted 26 degrees) is the answer, and until you see it, you can't understand why a little sand wouldn't help. Now if all of Zoni was dumped in my driveway, that might not be so bad, but then where would the turtles nest?
I'm really not liking my life right now....
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Life is short. Break the rules, Forgive quickly, Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably,
and never regret anything that made you smile!
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Doug
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Posted: Sun Feb 11th, 2007 10:15 pm |
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I haven't decided whether to do the tea yet. My friend is a newbie to such experiences. By virtue of his Latin American upbringing he has culturally eschewed the pursuit of altered states, save those induced by beer, rum, hot sauce and New Orleans funk music. OTOH, he's been to a full moon party and marveled at the delerious laughter and partying. He said, "One of these days..." I recommended some stretching exercises prior to the heavy lifting.
In any case, I'm going to follow his lead. On the BVI boards they recommend passing on the tea in favor of better quality private vendors nearby. We'll see what happens.
Doug
____________________
"Let him who has a free hand cast the first stone."
Dennis Miller, on the Pee Wee Herman public outcry.
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Island Woman MJ
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Posted: Sun Feb 11th, 2007 10:45 pm |
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Sounds smart to me Doug...as the physicist Dick Feynman - and I'm really ticked he is dead because I fell in love with him reading his books - said (and I paraphrase, but it is the gist of the thing) when his buddy Timothy Leary asked him to participate in his LSD studies...I won't, because I like to play with my mind too much to risk losing it.
Laurie, isn't there some nice neighborhood kid to help you out there somehow? Kids bones heal faster.
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