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May 23, 2018  

Did The President Of ‘SpaceX’ Get The Job Because Of Her Befitting Name — ‘Shotwell’?

by Anura Guruge

Click to ENLARGE and read here. Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwynne_Shotwell

Never heard of her until earlier today. I went to have a quick look at CNBC and she was being interviewed. See below:

I like Elon Musk and SpaceX and as such stopped for a second to listen. She was impressive. I had not realized that SpaceX had a female President. Then I saw her name. Wow. ‘Shotwell’. What a great name for somebody heading a rocket company. You sure hope they shot well.

Given my fascination with names I had to look it up. Alas it is not a name that was given to archers. Shame that. They think it comes from a place name.

Never mind. Great name for the President of SpaceX. I hope she continues to shoot those rockets well

Related posts:
Search on ‘space’.

by Anura Guruge

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April 16, 2018  

JPL Small-Body Database Browser Has A New NON-Java ‘Orbit Diagram’ Viewer.

by Anura Guruge

Click to ENLARGE.

The announcement in ‘small type’.

In action. In this case with the 2018 GE3 asteroid that came very close to Earth on Sunday — with no warning at ALL.

I discovered this, to my utter joy, yesterday, when I was researching the rogue asteroid, 2018 GE3, that whizzed past Earth on Sunday with nary a notice. You can see the orbital diagram for that above, in the NEW orbital viewer.

It is NOT Java-based. That is so, so good. Running Java applets had become such a pain — with Web browsers, like Chrome, quite rightly, obsessing about the security vulnerabilities.

I had more or less stopped using the JPL Small-Body Database because the orbital viewer no longer worked.

And then … BINGO. Voila!

It is brilliant. Very nifty and has a built in screenshot capture as well as full-screen mode. You couldn’t ask for more.

Thank YOU, JPL. Good use of our taxpayer dollars.

Related posts:
Check Category ‘astronomy’.

by Anura Guruge

April 16, 2018  

The Rogue ~300′ Asteroid That Came Way Too Close To Earth Yesterday, April 15, 2018!

by Anura Guruge

Click to ENLARGE.

Click to ENLARGE and read here. Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_GE3

It could have been a heyday for the Nibiru freaks who are hoping (yet again) for a ‘pie in the sky‘ Earth collision on April 23, 2018.

This was 8 days early.

We (and that I mean the ‘Catalina Sky Survey‘ in Tucson, Arizona) only discovered it 24-hours prior to that! Yes, you read that right. It came straight out of the blue just 24-hours before whizzing by us. I have always claimed that this is the problem we will have with asteroids and comets. What we have to worry about are the ones that sneak up upon us like this one.

NO WARNING!

It was pretty big. Around the same size as the meteoroid that exploded above Tunguska, Russia in June 1908. If this had hit Earth, or exploded in the atmosphere, it would NOT have wiped us all out. But, it would have caused a huge amount of devastation.

As it says above: “It is the largest known asteroid to ever pass that close to Earth in observational history!”

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by Anura Guruge

March 18, 2018  

2018 Spring Equinox In New Hampshire: Tuesday, March 20 at 12:15 pm (Eastern); 16:15 Greenwich.

by Anura Guruge

Happy Spring Equinox 2018.

[It is also called the Vernal Equinox
— that being the Latin for ‘Spring’.]

Click to ENLARGE.

I also share with you Donovan’s haunting
“Lullaby of Spring”

Please enjoy.

Sunrise/Sunset for New Hampshire as of the
2018 Spring Equinox.

Notice that it is NOT EXACTLY 12 hours of sunlight on the Equinox.
That is mainly because we are so good at measuring time.
It has to do with the so called precession of the Earth’s axis.
Our rotation WOBBLES like a spinning top.

From, of course (where else), ‘timeanddate.com‘.

Click to ENLARGE and view here.
Use link below for original.

Click here for the ‘timeanddate.com’ original.

As is my custom let me also please share some
catching ‘Allegories of Spring’.

Related posts:
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by Anura Guruge

January 30, 2018  

January 31, 2018: Forget “Blue Moon Eclipse” In New Hampshire, Focus On The Supermoon.

by Anura Guruge

Blue Supermoon over New Hampshire Wednesday, January 31, 2018 Anura Guruge

Base skychart, as ever, from “neave.com/planetarium” — with much appreciation.

Forget the “Blue Moon Eclipse“. It will NOT be a total eclipse in New Hampshire. Nada.

It will be partial, it will be early in the morning, the moon will most likely be BELOW the New Hampshire tree line and it will be fleeting.

It really is a NON-EVENT in New Hampshire.

The Supermoon — a Blue Moon at that — Wednesday evening is a whole different matter.

It will NOT be Blue. Sorry. ‘Blue’ denotes rarity — 2nd full moon in a month.

It will not be as near to us as the 1st one on January 1, 2018.

Clouds, always a problem in New Hampshire, might be a problem.

But, definitely go out, tomorrow night and have a gander. You might even see it through the clouds.

Enjoy.

Related posts:
Check Category ‘astronomy’.
Search ‘eclipse’.

by Anura Guruge

January 24, 2018  

January 31, 2018 “Blue Moon Eclipse” Will NOT BE TOTAL In New Hampshire — Just V. Partial. OK?

by Anura Guruge

Click to ENLARGE.

Base information for both images from
timeanddate.com
Visit them for LOT more.

5 Things to remember & note.

  1. It will NOT be a BLUE Moon! That is just an expression — in that it is the 2nd Full Moon in the month. The other having been on January 1, 2018 — which was also a Supermoon.
    So, I repeat. The moon will NOT be blue. Not Blue. Promise.
    ….
  2. The TOTAL eclipse begins to the West of us. So we will only see a Partial Eclipse and a very partial one at that. And it will be fleeting.
    ….
  3. The Moon will set beyond the horizon, not counting our tree line, soon after the Partial Eclipse starts!
    We might see it, at most, for 3 minutes! Yes, 3 minutes. It might already be below the tree line.
    ….
  4. It is in the morning. Not at night. 6:57 am — i.e., morning.
    ….
  5. Weather could, as ever, in New Hampshire, be an issue.

Related posts:
Check Category ‘astronomy’.
Search ‘eclipse’.

by Anura Guruge

December 12, 2017  

Today, December 12, Shortest Evening Of 2017 In New Hampshire — Evenings Get Longer From Then ….

by Anura Guruge

Click to ENLARGE. Base table from ‘timeanddate.com’.

Yes, today, December 12th will be the earliest sunset of 2017 — in New Hampshire.

NOT the shortest day. That is the Winter Solstice on Thursday, December 21, 2017. Still 9-days to go.

But, today is the shortest evening.

There is a difference.

Sunrise and Sunset times, leading up to the Solstice, are NOT ‘symmetrical’.

Sunrise still continues to get later and later till the 21st. Then they reverse.

Check the annotated table above.

We only have 3 minutes MORE, in total, to lose. Wow.

So, rejoice. The END of these depressing early evenings.

By Christmas evenings will be a full 5-minutes later. WOW.

Related posts:
Search ‘snow’.

by Anura Guruge

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