Monday, March 14, 2011

Sakura

With everything going on, I thought this seemed poinant.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Whirlpool!

This is a huge whirlpool that formed shortly after the earthquake in Japan. If you look closely, you can see a fishing boat on the outer rim to give it a sense of scale.

Tuesday, March 08, 2011

Comet Elenin

I've been reading a little bit on Comet Elenin. The comet (formally known as C/2010 X1) was discovered back in Dec. 2010 by a Russian astronomer named Leonid Elenin. What's interesting is that it will pass about 0.23 AU (21.37 million miles) of Earth in mid-October 2011 (1 AU (92.96 million miles) is the distance between the Sun and the Earth). That should mean that we should get a really good look at it. What's more, there is a possibility that the Earth may actually pass through the tail debris, which should produce a mini-meteor shower.

According to a website that tracks comets, Elenin will be tracking through Virgo and Leo at it's closest approach. Unfortunately according to star maps, in mid-October Leo will be setting where I live around 6:30 PM which means that the sun will still be up. So my best chance to see it will probably be in mid to late September when it is still tracking in Virgo. Virgo doesn't set until around 7 PM in late September and closer to 8 PM in mid-September. At this time of year, the comet will be about 0.45 AU (41.83 million miles).

Thursday, March 03, 2011

Saudi Day of Rage

March 11th has been set as a "Day of Rage" in Saudi Arabia. Naturally this will have a wonderful effect on oil prices.

One thing that seems to have escaped the notice of some people though is that this day will be the 7th anniversary of the Madrid train bombings and the 9-1/2 anniversary of Sept. 11.

Given that there have been at least two Fridays between the call for a "Day of Rage" and the scheduled date leads me to believe that the date is not lost to the organizers. I'll be very curious to see if any signs show up at this event next week.