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March 17, 2020  

2020 Spring Equinox In New Hampshire: Thursday, March 19 at 11:49 pm (Eastern); 03:49 Greenwich.

by Anura Guruge

Happy Spring Equinox 2020.

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

Click to ENLARGE.

I also share with you “Spring“.

Please enjoy.

Sunrise/Sunset for New Hampshire as of the
2020 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.

Yes, we are USED to the Spring Equinox being on March 20 (or 21).

Click to ENLARGE. Also from ‘timeanddate.com’.

This is the earliest it has been in the US in 124 years.

The key here, however, is ‘US’. It is still March 20 in Greenwich — and to us astronomers that is good enough.

Rather convoluted explanation as to why it is this early. If you really want to know, here is a link.

But note, it will again be March 19 — in the US — in 4-years. Yes, that it is also a LEAP YEAR does have a bearing.

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

 

 

Related posts:
Search ‘Spring Equinox’.
Check Category ‘astronomy’.

by Anura Guruge

February 28, 2020  

The Last Time ‘Leap Day’, i.e., February 29, Fell On A Saturday Was 1992; Last ‘Leap Day’ Was In 2016.

by Anura Guruge

Click to ENLARGE.

Click to ENLARGE.

The last Leap Day, 2016. Click to ENLARGE.

Click to access my post and learn more about ‘Leap Days’.

How exciting. Another ‘Leap Day‘. At best, if we are lucky, we get them every 4-years. But, as you can see above, they will not get a ‘Leap Day‘ in 2100. Some of YOU might be around for that. Not that far ahead.

Last ‘Leap Day’, obviously, was 4-years ago, to the DAY, in 2016.

Got to go back a fair ways to find when the last ‘Leap Day’ was on a Saturday. Wow. 1992. I remember 1992. My son was born in May of that year.

Search ‘calendar’.

by Anura Guruge

February 27, 2020  

Betelgeuse (In Orion) Has Indeed NOTICEABLY Got Brighter In The Last Few Days.

by Anura Guruge

Click to ENLARGE. Betelgeuse is the ORANGE dot, top left above the three stars making up the belt. You can definitely see that it is orange.

This was from just yesterday. Click image to access the original.

Click to access my post from 2-months ago.

I like Betelgeuse and Rigel — the two brightest stars in Orion, the former above the belt and the latter below.

In the Winter, in New Hampshire, I see Orion in the night sky whenever it is cloudfree.

I have been checking on Betelgeuse. It would be quite something to see a Supernova.

I go out, at night, walking, TWICE a night. So, if it is cloudfree, I can observe the heavens.

I too had noticed that Betelgeuse had got brighter, and more orange, in the last few days.

Then, I started seeing the media reports. So, I was not alone.

Just wanted to keep you in the loop. Go out and look up. It is quite the sight.

Related posts:
Category ‘Astronomy’.

by Anura Guruge

 

February 21, 2020  

We Have Gained Nearly 1.75 Hours Of Daylight In New Hampshire Since The Winter Solstice 2-Months Ago.

by Anura Guruge

Click to ENLARGE.

Today
10 hours and 48 minutes of Daylight.

IF you live in New Hampshire I hope (I really do) that this has NOT escaped you.

It is so obvious and, moreover, WONDERFUL.

It is still light at 5:30 in the evening. Heaven!

I love it. I am a Sun Worshipper as my TAN testifies.

Enjoy.

It will keep on getting better until that DREADED, horrible day in June when winter turns the corner!

Related Posts:
Check Category ‘Holidays’.
Search on ‘Solstice’.

by Anura Guruge

February 21, 2020  

There Will Be NO ‘Airport On Ice’ In Alton In February 2020 (Or Any Other Month).

by Anura Guruge

Click to ENLARGE.

Click image to access post.

The ice is too thin. It needs to be at least 12″ and they are concerned that we have sections where the ice isn’t that thick this year. I can believe that.

I have not seen any trucks on any of the local lakes this year. Yes, snowmobiles, but they are much lighter.

An abundance of caution, of course, but you can’t blame anyone for that. You really don’t want a plane going through the ice. That would be rather bad form. I couldn’t remember but it appears that we have had other years — even as recently as 2016 — when the airport was called off because of thin ice.

So, that is that. I will miss not being able to take my usual quota of pictures. Fingers crossed for next year; 2021.

Related posts:
Category ‘airport ice’.

by Anura Guruge

 

February 20, 2020  

‘Pakistan Super League’ (PSL) 2020 Opening Ceremony — Only Decent Bit That I Found.

by Anura Guruge

YouTube video.

Start at 27-minute mark.

There was no International cricket of interest — and the South Africa v. Australia starts tomorrow — and I was curious to see if the Pakistanis would be able to march the drama of the IPL Opening Ceremonies. It would appear not. I assume the budgets (and for that matter the crowds) are vastly different.

To be honest I found the program flaccid and rather poorly put together. Yikes.

But, I did enjoy this musical part. ‘North Indian’ music. In Ceylon we used to call it a ‘Sakili Band’. I am sure that is not the right name. But, you may enjoy this trumpet and drum routine.

Related posts:
Check Category ‘cricket’.

by Anura Guruge

February 11, 2020  

Cricket No-Balls, In ‘Big’ Matches, To Be Automatically Adjudged With Technology.

by Anura Guruge

Click to ENLARGE.

Click to access the original from “The Australian”. Google ‘no ball’ for more.

I just knew it would be coming. I had been expecting it for years. Tennis has been using technology to automatically detect foot faults — the so called ‘electronic line judge‘ — for decades.

So, this was due. It will complement and embellish cricket’s ‘Decision Review System‘ (DRS) technology.

From a technological standpoint it will be simpler than ‘ball tracking’, but more involved than ‘ultra-edge’ (i.e., ‘snicko’).

I am, however, not sure how it will work — especially HOW real-time it would be, i.e., how QUICKLY the umpire will be able to signal no-ball. That, as you can appreciate if you know cricket, can make a world of difference. At least in Test cricket there should not be a Free Hit after the call. Either the call is made as the ball is delivered or you just get one no-ball added and an extra ball.

Whatever scheme they use it will chance scoring dynamics. That is my concern.

At least for the last 20-years umpires have been awfully lax about calling no-balls. So, thousands of runs, just as EXTRAS, have gone begging — not counting runs that could have been scored off the extra ball or the no-ball itself, IF it was called as such early enough.

So, suddenly, we will see a spike in SCORES — both overall match scores and individual scores. That bothers I. Makes players of the last two decades look somewhat bad. That is my concern.

Well, I will be keeping an eye on this technology. All said, it won’t be as easy as it sounds. Human judgement may be required. Plus, can players request a DRS on no-balls. We did have that in a Pakistani match. All good stuff. Adds to the drama.

Related posts:
Check Category ‘cricket’.

by Anura Guruge

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