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Topic: Wow! (Read 251 times) |
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George_J
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Right before sunrise here, and I just stepped outside--the planet Venus is so bright it'll knock your socks off.
It's nearby in its orbit now, and a good telescope will show a clear crescent.
Best,
George
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| « Last Edit: Oct 9th, 2007, 9:04am by George_J » |
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Ah! The foreigners put on such airs
Wearing the tangerine suits
And their harlequin eyes.
The pain they inspire
Draws in harmonica melodies
And the feathers of birds
Which flame up at their touch.
It all comes to light in the sheer
Debonair.
(Ellen)
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Kevin_M
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withered branches grow green again.
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Re: Wow!
« Reply #1 on: Oct 9th, 2007, 10:59am » |
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It's crescent shows it's closest and very brightest constrast to us, no wonder it was associated with beauty. 
The U.S. had an early interest in Venus but then concentrated more on Mars. Mariner 2, launched Aug 27th did a 3 1/2 month cruise, speeding past Venus Dec. 14, 1962, and confirming it's backward spin and high temps. Previously there were ideas of life there.
Mariner 5 was intended as a backup to Mariner 4, the first to fly past Mars, but was retooled for a close-up of Venus, arriving Oct. '67.
Mariner 10 went to Mercury and was first to use a "gravity assist" from Venus to get to Mercury while Venus was also in this position Oct 16th - Nov 21, 1973, launching Nov 3rd and reaching Venus Feb 4th, 1974.
U.S. interest in Venus dwindled greatly for a long while but the Soviets maintained a high interest and with the spectacular success of their Venera program, bringing Venus back into U.S. ideas and using a LOT of money with, I think the Pioneer program.
An intriguing mystery about Venus. All four probes went haywire at an altitude of 12.5 kms. A simultaneous power-spike jolted the onboard instrumentations; temp and pressure sensors transmitted weird numbers and some instrumentation ceased entirely at that altitude even though they were widely dispersed; dayside, nightside, north, etc.
Over a decade later, 1993, NASA convened a conference to investigate this "12.5 km anomaly" but no clear answer emerged, and no answer today.
Mapping of Venus surface though had begun and a stripped down program, Magellan, using a radar mapping orbit, was launched from the Atlantis, May 4, 1989 -- the first probe ever to be launched from a space shuttle.
Just thought I'd throw in some U.S. space history, and mystery about Venus. Most all from "Lives of the Planets"
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| « Last Edit: Oct 9th, 2007, 11:54am by Kevin_M » |
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Karla
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Re: Wow!
« Reply #2 on: Oct 9th, 2007, 11:06am » |
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I was outside at 5am and noticed the brightness of it also. I love watching the sunrise it is so beautiful. My husband likes watching sunsets.
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Karla
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Brew
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Low Four!
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Re: Wow!
« Reply #3 on: Oct 9th, 2007, 11:09am » |
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on Oct 9th, 2007, 11:06am, Karla wrote:| I was outside at 5am and noticed the brightness of it also. I love watching the sunrise it is so beautiful. My husband likes watching sunsets. |
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And I like looking directly at the sun when it is bright and directly overhead. Between the three of us, we've got it mostly covered.  Except I'm mostly blind now.
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Always remember that you're unique, just like everyone else.
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alienspacebabe
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yup. i am. i do. uh huh. you know it hon.
 
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Re: Wow!
« Reply #4 on: Oct 9th, 2007, 7:59pm » |
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Getting up early, driving down to the lakefront and watching the sunrise.
I should do that more often...
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Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves.
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Kevin_M
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withered branches grow green again.
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Re: Wow!
« Reply #5 on: Oct 9th, 2007, 8:19pm » |
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on Oct 9th, 2007, 7:59pm, Miss Independent wrote:Getting up early, driving down to the lakefront and watching the sunrise.
I should do that more often... |
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I've seen what George is talking about while leaving for work in early mornings and it's admiration is mesmerizingly attractive. But I was in no way up that early this morning to say "yeah, that is really something". so chose to comment differently instead of saying, "I remember seeing that once", although I did stop to just enjoy it's sparkling brightness, at the time very noticeably accentuating the early morning darkness despite a clear black sky full of stars and the beauty of the beginning shades of blue starting to emerge and blend.
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| « Last Edit: Oct 9th, 2007, 11:38pm by Kevin_M » |
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