Photo courtesy of NASA
The photo above, of the Earth and the Moon, was taken by the robotic spacecraft MESSENGER from 183 Million kilometers (114 million miles) away. That is about the same distance away as the planet Mercury. The Earth and Moon are visible as the double spot on the lower left. The MESSENGER spacecraft is working its way to enter orbit around Mercury in March of 2011 (via Coudal Partners)
Today on Wednesday’s Wonderful World of Wikipedia is the concept ofLibration. In astronomy libration (from the Latin verb libro -are “to balance, to sway”, cf. libra “scales”) refers to the various orbital conditions which make it possible to see more than 50% of the moon’s surface over time, even though the front of the Moon is tidally locked to always face towards the earth. As the orbital processes are repetitive, libration is manifested as a slow rocking back and forth (or up and down) of the face of the orbital body as viewed from the parent body, much like the rocking of a pair of scales about the point of balance.
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Hey diddle diddle,
The cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the Moon,
The little dog laughed to see such a sight,
And the dish ran away with the spoon.
This Wednesday’s Wonderful World of Wikipedia is a list of artificial objects found on the Moon. However, this list does not include flag, golfball or statue.
I spent most of last week in Louisiana celebrating the marriage of my brother and his Bride.
My brother is hitched. It’s hard to find words to describe how happy I am for the both of them. That’s part of the reason I slipped past doing my best man speech (which I now feel totally guilty about). I’d written it on the plane ride down there, I had the angle I was going to take outlined in my mind for months, I had it all written down and in my pocket ready to go. But when it came down to it, my nerves got the best of me and I failed to deliver. I handed the hand written speech to them after the wedding and told them to open it on the first night of their honeymoon. That made me feel a little better. Anyway, I wish everyone could have as much happiness and fun as they do together.
All of it was gorgeous. It was a great afternoon/evening/night of friends, family, and celebration. So much happened that it’s hard to remember it all. My brother and Pandy are two of the most important people in my life and I wish them the best of everything life has to offer.
Congratulations!!!
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Corner Of 16th & Grant, Denver
Last night, while walking home from work, I noticed this eerie scene and it reminded me of how close we are actually getting to Halloween. The nearly full moon and the belfry of St. Paul Lutheran Church and the dead tree limbs sure created a spooky mood. My new little moon phases thing says that a full moon should be coming any day now. The bells in the belfry can be heard in my apartment. Sometimes their loud ringing is nice and they act as a pleasant type of alarm, other times they can simply be loud and headache inducing. This mostly depends on my mood, demeanor, and how much I drank the night before. I remember one morning when the bells played, to my surprise, Cat Steven’s “Morning Has Broken”. Back in June of this past summer I recorded those churchbells on my cell phone.
