Wednesday, March 04, 2009

Weird News Wednesday - Outerspace Edition

I've always had a fascination with outerspace. One of my favorite possessions when I was a wee thing was my revolving star chart. I could spin that little guy around to whatever date it happened to be and be able to point out what constellations were shining down from the heavens. I still like to know what's going on up there. So that's what this week's weird news is about. Enjoy!

Did you know that an asteroid came uncomfortably close to Earth Monday? Well Smartypants, I didn't. Apparently it was similar in size to one that exploded over Siberia in 1908 with the force of 1000 nuclear bombs. I know! That's huge! I'm glad it missed. There are so many humans all over the globe now. It's hard for me to imagine in my cushy American home, typing on my laptop, all the human suffering that would have caused. Actually, it's hard for me to imagine all the atrocities that happen on a daily basis across the world. That's another post though, this is just weird news.

Tonight we have a waxing half moon. I love the terms waxing and waning. They make me think of druids or wiccans, or some other nature-based religion having a gathering and paying homage to the lunar body. I've been to a few nighttime gatherings/drum circles like this. They were very peaceful experiences. I didn't feel like I was honoring the moon as a deity, although I'm sure a few people attending probably did, but it was a nice time to pay homage to Heavenly Father and His creations under the light that rules the night. The full moon is on the 10th. The name of this particular full moon is The Full Worm Moon. This is because the ground is soft enough for the worms, who invite the robins. It's also known as the the the Full Crow Moon, and the Full Sap Moon. And when you gaze upon her full face, look just above and you'll see Saturn.

Mars won't really be visible right now since Jupiter is too close (visually) and outshines Mars, but if you have binoculars, you may be able to find it. Binouclars won't work for the next bit of news, and you probably don't have a telescope strong enough to see the river beds/gullies on Mars, but if you did, you may be able to see signs of recent water flow! OK, so recent may mean 1.25 million years ago, but it's still much more recent than researchers previously thought water ran on Mars.

That's all you get today!

6 comments:

InkMom said...

I think you are a smart person, ucmama, and a southerner to boot -- two definite points in your favor. For those reasons, I will be reading your blog again.

Thanks for sharing.

M.Howerton said...

Outerspace :not weird.

Drum circle nature-based religion : Weird.
But I sort of want to try it. Once.

I am REALLY fascinated with the moon and all the outer space accoutrements. FASCINATING!

Becky said...

This summer we will pull out the HUGE telescope of R's and we will do some star gazing. I think we are getting him a new lens to check out Saturn! Come over anytime to check it out!!! (0:

Thehereandnow said...

1,000 Nuclear bombs, eh? We could harness those WMD's for war, I tell you! j/k

ucmama said...

InkMom - Welcome!

Howerton Mama - If I hear about any around here, we'll go

Curly - that sounds GREAT, thanks!

J - You don't ever have to write j/k on here :)

Super Happy Girl said...

When I heard about that asteroid barely missing us I was like "wow, that could have messed us up big time".
Yikes =:O