The Wheel in the Sky (1121 hits)
Category: Science & EnvironmentalLabels: ETS_Nonfiction
Rating: 1.52 on 39 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by electrictoothsyndrome (View user info) at 2005-10-29 17:11:55 EDT
In case you didn't know, tonight the planet Mars will be closer to the earth than it has been in 60,000 years. A mere 43 million miles away! Shit, man, I betcha I could throw a football to it it's so close - and if I couldn't do it, you better believe my uncle Rico could! He wouldn't just take state...he'd take PLANET!
Anyway, as you might know, astronomical events have been a part of the human culture pretty much since its inception. Halley's Comet, for instance, which comes by every 76 years, last moseyed through in 1986, when it was studied heavily. The most famous sighting of Halley's Comet was in 1066 right before the Battle of Hastings. The people of the time saw it as an omen, and either by self-fulfilling prophecy or mysterious coincidence, they were right.
It's sad to say, but if you missed seeing Halley's Comet in 1986 like I did, unless you were a baby at the time, you'll probably never see it again. I, for instance, will be 85 years old when it returns, if I live that long. (My present health habits pretty much dictate I won't.) So I pretty much missed my opportunity to see something that's been a mainstay of human history. I missed my chance to join the vast human choir of people through the ages that have witnessed this astronomical phenomenon - a phenomena out-spanning and yet somehow interconnecting all of us. I missed the communion train to the 10th dimension. When they ask for my pass at the gate, I will not have one because I missed Halley's Comet.
Life is a transient and fleeting thing. We're only here for a cosmic blink of an eye - which in most people's case is just enough time to become numb and jaded to the wondrous world around them - a world full of beauty and awe.
The last time Mars was this close, the place you call home looked very different. There were wooly mammoths and sabre tooth cats and other hominids such as Neandertals roaming the planet. The pyramids at Giza weren't even a dream yet. The last time Mars was this close, art, writing, science, history...none of these thing had even been invented yet. The world was a hostile, uninviting place full of wonder.
Imagine that the last time Mars was this bright in the nighttime sky, a Neandertal man might have looked up upon it and wondered what it was, or an ancient ancestor of ours might have found his way home from a nighttime hunt using it as a guide. It's a humbling thought...to look around us at this wonderful Universe and know that it is so much bigger than us but that somehow we are a part of it. Somehow it is connected to our soul.
Tonight I will look upon Mars with an invention by a man named Galileo and I'll think about my ancestors from 60,000 years ago whose names, if they had them, are lost to the vacuum of time... I'll think about what my world will be like the next time the Red Planet is that close... I'll think about how one day I might live to see mankind, through the combined forces of blood and sweat and will and dreams, set his foot upon its sacred surface.
One day I hope we can all live in peace and explore the depths of space together, but for now, I'll have to be content to simply look up and dream. Then if Saint Peter asks me for my ticket, I'll reach in my pocket and find a piece of Mars.
User Reviews
Submitted by Drone_of_Industry (user info) at 2005-10-31 11:42:21 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
goddamit.. I always miss this shit. I can't see thru all the skyscrapers, smog, and light pollution. But I can look it up on the internet! I wonder if it will still be close by this thanksgiving.
Submitted by zakalwe (user info) at 2005-10-30 18:18:51 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
that's probably not possible Wisher. for one thing, comets orbit the Sun, not the Earth. for another, it would be very difficult (nay, impossible) to simulate the appearance of a comet in near Earth orbit.
Submitted by morontian (user info) at 2005-10-30 07:42:48 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
Who cares about Mars when I can look at Myanus....
damn, I fucked that up, didn't I?
Submitted by c1ndy (user info) at 2005-10-30 05:17:52 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
+2 Mars!
Submitted by Wisher (user info) at 2005-10-29 22:27:00 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I wish they'd make manmade comets like satellites that circle the earth, and only turn on the burners during holidays, so people wouldn't get bored with them, and they'd spew out rainbow plums of fire with a laser light show. A big disco ball in the sky. Like your picture, which was beautiful.
Submitted by rad1101 (user info) at 2005-10-29 22:09:28 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I barely saw that comet when I was 6 or 7.
and I plan on seeing it again.
Even with present habits.
Submitted by Dante_Alighieri (user info) at 2005-10-29 20:55:39 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Interesting...
Submitted by Anansie (user info) at 2005-10-29 20:15:22 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Never mind, I've got it.
Submitted by Anansie (user info) at 2005-10-29 20:00:46 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
ETS, you seem to be a pretty learned fellow, what do you know about Chinese Lit? Yes, I am desperate for help, here, but there is no obligation on your part just because I asked.
By the way, I like this post, especially this part:
Life is a transient and fleeting thing. We're only here for a cosmic blink of an eye - which in most people's case is just enough time to become numb and jaded to the wondrous world around them - a world full of beauty and awe.
Submitted by AllyJeans (user info) at 2005-10-29 20:00:34 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Phallic_Cymbals (user info) at 2005-10-29 19:44:45 (#)
Ranking: 1
I was born with the comet, and i will go out with the comet.
....
Ahhh, one of the surviving Heaven's gate members.
Please tell me you still have your...bits.
Submitted by Phallic_Cymbals (user info) at 2005-10-29 19:44:45 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
I was born with the comet, and i will go out with the comet.
Submitted by Bubba2341 (user info) at 2005-10-29 19:40:40 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Shlongy (user info) at 2005-10-29 19:27:43 (#)
Ranking: -2
For quoting "Journey".
The worst band of all time, in a poll taken at my house.
____________________________________________________
BWAhahahaha! Journey does suck.
The post is interesting, but Mars was ~11 million miles
closer a few years ago.
Submitted by Shlongy (user info) at 2005-10-29 19:27:43 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
For quoting "Journey".
The worst band of all time, in a poll taken at my house.
Submitted by thecaes (user info) at 2005-10-29 19:19:24 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Orgasmatron (user info) at 2005-10-29 19:10:57 (#)
Ranking: 2
I'll be sure to wave to Val Kilmer's career - and Tom Sizemore's dignity - as the Red Planet happened to consume both of them a while back.
************************
Ba-ZING!!
I think Paris Hilton is devouring whatever shred of dignity Sizemore had left as we speak.
Submitted by Orgasmatron (user info) at 2005-10-29 19:10:57 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I'll be sure to wave to Val Kilmer's career - and Tom Sizemore's dignity - as the Red Planet happened to consume both of them a while back.
Submitted by Chinaski (user info) at 2005-10-29 19:00:38 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
If I lived in Indiana, we'd be chilling and jamming right now. Holy shit, how could I write this and chill and jam at the same time?? Double-you tee eff.
Submitted by DrSeussman (user info) at 2005-10-29 18:55:44 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
Pluh fuckstick.
http://www.hoax-slayer.com/mars-earth-close.html
Submitted by matnotharry (user info) at 2005-10-29 18:45:47 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
<weeps>
Submitted by joedaddy (user info) at 2005-10-29 18:45:13 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
This is a great site to view all types of celestial wonders including Mars:
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search?Mars
***
i believe most of you can look for this event in the SW sector of the horizon
i've enjoyed participating this type of activity, for many decades,
especially when i start feeling 'too big for my britches'
the takeaway?
it never fails to put everything into proper perspective
Submitted by stevie_says (user info) at 2005-10-29 18:32:53 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
http://www.ubersite.com/m/70839
Submitted by thecaes (user info) at 2005-10-29 18:23:28 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by FilthyAssistant (user info) at 2005-10-29 17:20:19 (#)
Ranking: 2
Woody, don't be jealous that I've been chatting online with babes all day.
Besides, we both know that I'm training to be a cage fighter.
******************
I'm sorry that movie made it's way to English shores.
Submitted by electrictoothsyndrome (user info) at 2005-10-29 18:06:58 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by MandaPanda (user info) at 2005-10-29 17:51:44 (#)
Ranking: 2
Halley's comet was in 1986?
....But I could have sworn I saw it about 5 years ago or so. That's weird.
-----------------------------
That was Hale Bopp comet. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hale-Bop
Submitted by zakalwe (user info) at 2005-10-29 18:05:44 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
http://www.hvezcb.cz/tapetynaplochu/HaleBopp800x600.jpg
http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~tilman/sl/impact.114.q2-1.gif
http://www.cosmobit.it/comet%20shoemaker%20levy9.jpg
http://www.mso.anu.edu.au/albums/shoemakerlevy/Impact_G.gif
http://www.bo.astro.it/~universo/venere/Sole-Pianeti/planets/cometim/impact1.gif
http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/~jhora/mirac/f940721a.743.gif
http://calspace.ucsd.edu/virtualmuseum/images/CometShoemakerLevy9.jpg
http://jumk.de/astronomie/img/shoemaker.jpg
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/image/planetary/mars/marsglobe2.jpg
http://www.marssurterre.net/mars/mars-globe.jpg
http://www.astro.uva.nl/exhibition/pictures/mooie_gifjes/jpeg/mars.jpeg
http://www.xtec.es/recursos/astronom/mars/mars.jpg
sometimes I wonder if people are hardwired to enjoy visages of astronomy. there never seems to be anything ugly in the epic.
Submitted by shitfuck (user info) at 2005-10-29 17:54:41 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
You're so hippy, but I dig that about you.
Submitted by MandaPanda (user info) at 2005-10-29 17:51:44 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Halley's comet was in 1986?
....But I could have sworn I saw it about 5 years ago or so. That's weird.
Submitted by electrictoothsyndrome (user info) at 2005-10-29 17:51:31 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
nah, it's a cheapie, but it will be better then nothing. Yes, I did see hale bop. I got out the telescope for that too. It was pretty awesome. That was especially cool because it, being a cosmic near-miss of earth, was like seeing the potential destruction of mankind just hanging out there for days.
I don't know what you're talking about though with Voyager.
Submitted by Stabkill (user info) at 2005-10-29 17:44:04 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
If you have a $5000 telescope you will see something cool...a $100-$200 One is so-so... it should enable you to see the polar caps at least (and a fuzzy view or mars). Those cheap telescopes give you real kick ass views of the moon though (and a few fuzzy but cool views of some galaxies...those M-objects are interesting.
Submitted by Stabkill (user info) at 2005-10-29 17:39:58 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Oh, and if you were alive for hale-bopp...it was much better than halley's comet was in 1986. Hale-Bopp was kick ass. Of course, it isn't going to be by again in a couple thousand or so years.
It is amazing to think of certain things like the Pioneer spacecraft and Voyagers speeding out of our solar system so many millions of miles away... Oh vyger will try to destroy us in the future, but we can live safely for now. What a boring show that one was....a real snoozefest for those who know what I'm talking about.
Submitted by electrictoothsyndrome (user info) at 2005-10-29 17:37:42 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Stabkill: No, never got one of those, but I still plan on busting out the telescope and seeing what I can see. This is one of the advantages of living where I live - there are plenty of places to go to get away from light pollution.
I think that anyone with access to some binoculars could get a decent view of it too.
Submitted by electrictoothsyndrome (user info) at 2005-10-29 17:30:38 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Oh yea, it's the second closest in 60,000 years. Not the closest. FUCK! I'm never getting into heaven now!
Oh, well, I guess that means I can just go drinking instead.
Submitted by Stabkill (user info) at 2005-10-29 17:29:38 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I'll +2 for the fact that it is cool to note how close mars is... but it was closer two years ago. I don't know where you get your facts from, but when I was in Iraq Mars was 35 Million miles away...
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/5922_1533137,008700010013.htm
Either way, it is just a bright reddish colored dot in the sky.
Did you ever get one of those stupid chain emails saying mars will be so close it will look like ... (picture of mars about the size of the moon)...THIS! Ridiculous.
Submitted by DCWoody (user info) at 2005-10-29 17:20:28 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Ahah
http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/CityandRegion/2005/10/29/1283631-sun.html
Submitted by FilthyAssistant (user info) at 2005-10-29 17:20:19 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Woody, don't be jealous that I've been chatting online with babes all day.
Besides, we both know that I'm training to be a cage fighter.
Submitted by ih8u2man (user info) at 2005-10-29 17:19:44 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
i jut gob funched by my mom in tith fath.
Submitted by DCWoody (user info) at 2005-10-29 17:18:30 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
I thought that when I asked this it would be in very different circumstances but....
what are you wearing Filthy?
Submitted by FilthyAssistant (user info) at 2005-10-29 17:16:24 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Take a look at what I'm wearing, people. You think anybody wants a roundhouse kick to the face while I'm wearing these bad boys? Forget about it.
Submitted by Rope (user info) at 2005-10-29 17:15:11 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
It took me like three hours to finish the shading on your upper lip. It's probably the best drawing I've ever done.
Submitted by DCWoody (user info) at 2005-10-29 17:14:12 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Erm...wasn't it closer than it would be for millions of years a couple of years ago?
Submitted by FilthyAssistant (user info) at 2005-10-29 17:13:28 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Grandma says to go home cause you're ruining everyone's lives and eating all our steak