English Island
Comet C/2007 N3 (Lulin) on Jan. 5
Jan 8th
[Images Removed]
A total of nine images of Comet Lulin were taken by the Lulin 0.41-m reflector over the night of Jan. 5, and I used every of them to process three impressive images as you have seen above. The first one is a color image, combined from one Blue-band image, one Visual-band image and seven averaged Red-band image, a low-pass FFT (Fast Fourier Transfer) filter was applied to let more details run out. The second image was averaged from seven Red-band image, a suprising ion-tail to the left, at a length of about 15-20' (the width of the image is 38'), was turned up after the align-and-stack method. Low-pass FFT was applied as well. The third image was processed by the Larson-Sekanina Rotational Gradient method, and it enabled us to see the near-nucleis jets of the comet. At least nine jets were counted besides the ion and the dust tails, and this feature does not be presented on the Jan. 1 and Jan. 2 images. This might be caused by the decreasing distance from the comet to the Earth as well as the sun. All the images were reduced to 600x600 pixel to match the size of my blog, the origin size images can be viewed below.
Update on Jan. 14: Since a complaint about the publication of their images from Lulin Observatory was filed to me yesterday, I have removed all the images about Comet Lulin appeared on my blog, of those taken by the 0.41-m reflector but NOT in the course of Lulin Sky Survey. My profuse apologizes go to Dr. Z. Y. Lin, who is considered to be the legal user of the data; and to those who are involved, including those who had got my permission to use these images earlier. I'll continuously monitoring the comet and post anything new on my blog, while ensuring only data from Lulin Sky Survey (the program I'm now responsible for) to be publicazed in any cases when the material is involved with Lulin Observatory.
Multi-tails of Comet C/2007 N3 Lulin
Jan 5th
[Image Removed]
Continuing my post on Jan. 2, one more image of Comet Lulin is hereby publicized. A total of five R-band images, taken by the 0.41-m Lulin reflector on Jan. 2/3, were aligned and combined to create this image, a "bold" dust tail (anti-tail) plus three medium-to-weak ion-tail can be seen with ease. "We are observing comet C/2007 N3 Lulin 'edge-on' with incredible fortune!" Michael Mattiazzo (by the way -- he is among the astronomers I had visited during my trip to Australia) remarks, as the orbital inclination of Comet Lulin is about 178 degrees -- virtually in the same orbital plane (but moving in the opposite direction) as the Earth. Benefically from this situation, the brightness of the comet will be enhanced since we are observing the comet and its dust tail "altogether". More materials will appeared on Yeiht (this site) when they are ready.
A most recent photo of Comet Lulin
Jan 2nd
[Image Removed]
After discovered by Chi Sheng and me on July 11, 2007, Comet C/2007 N3 (Lulin) was brightening gradually as it approach to the sun. Now it is around 7 mag, shining on the east at dawn. If the prediction is right, it will be around 4 mag on late Feburary, marked as the brightest comet in the year (among the so far known).
This image was taken on the night of Jan. 1 by the 0.41-m reflector at Lulin Observatory (the instrument that used to discover the comet), a total of three images under Johnson B/V and Cousins R were later aligned and combined by myself, to create a "color" image. Two tails can be seen, as the one to right (the dust tail) is an anti-tail, caused by our observing angle. The streak on the left is a man-made satellite. The background stars look strange as the comet moves when taking the series of images.
As the discoverer, I'm feeling lucky to see the comet which I detect it first among the human beings, is now on a significant brightness. However, at the same time, I'm also reminded with such a story -- a teacher once asked his student, "which island is the biggest island before the discovery of Australia?" "Greenland." Some replied. "It's still Australia. Whether our human beings discovered it or not does not do anything to the fact that it's the biggest island on the Earth." I think, I was, simply, spotted the comet before anyone else, and that's all. I was just lucky. Anyway, I'll observe the comet in the next couple of weeks exactly -- maybe, just with a little bit extra excitation -- as others may do. Happy observing in the International Year of Astronomy, guys!
Private New Year's Concert of Quanzhi Year 21st
Dec 30th
December 31, 2008
Philharmonic Orchestra 1992 (PO'92)
The Hall of Johann Sebastian Bach
Ye Quanzhi
1. Little Star Variation, A Greeting to the Forthcoming "International Year of Astronomy" 2009, Q. 173 (*)
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
2. Sinfonie Nr. 45 in fis-Moll, "Abschiedssinfonie", Hob. I/45; Farewell Symphony
3. Sinfonie Nr. 100 in G-Dur, "Militärsinfonie", Hob. I/100; Military Symphony
Gustav Holst (1874-1934)
4. Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity, The Planets, Op. 32
New Year's Address
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
5. Boléro
(*): Recording will be released on Yeiht later.
Murphy's Laws of meteor astronomy
Dec 17th
- Four mutually exclusive things: clear skies, no moon, no school(work) and major shower peaks.
- Meteor activity will be low until you decide to take a break.
- Meteor activity will be low until you fall asleep.
- While watching a major shower you will see only one meteor in several minutes, many will appear while you're recording the lone meteor you saw.
- If you're facing north, most meteors will appear in the south.
- When you turn south, most meteors will appear in the north.
- When you install a fisheye meteors will disappear altogether.
- When a fireball appears you will invariably be looking 180 degrees in the wrong direction.
- When a fireball appears you will invariably be looking at the ground.
- When a fireball appears you will invariably be recording a +5m meteor.
- When a possible minor shower meteor appears you will remember its path, but you will forget its direction.
- When a possible minor shower meteor appears a gust of wind will appear out of nowhere and blow your charts downhill.
- Meteor activity will be nonexistent until you must take a sanitary break.
- Meteor activity will be low until you become really hungry.
- The diameter of stars is linearly proportional to your teff.
- The number of meteors is exponentially proportional to your teff.
- During an uncharacteristic stretch of clear skies the peak night will be cloudy.
- Your taperecorder will die during the most active period.
- Your pencil will die during your most active period.
- Your torch will die during the most active period.
- A possible minor shower meteor will invariably appear in Camelopardalis.
- A fireball will invariably appear in Camelopardalis.
- A fireball will invariably appear in your camera's field of view in between exposures.
- A fireball will invariably miss your camera's field of view by a couple degrees.
- When a fireball appears it will invariably appear in the part of the sky that's not on your charts.
- When it's clear your LM will be poor.
- If your LM is great you will either become sleepy or fog will lift.
- Fog will lift anyway.
- If the weather is poor and you go chasing clear skies, it will eventually be clear home.
- The largest telescopes you've ever seen will invariably be present during the peak night.
- The radiant of a very weak possible new shower will invariably be best placed for observations in early April evenings.
- Two mutually exclusive things - clear skies and no moon.
- If it's clear all day, it'll be cloudy that night.
- You will invariably be grounded due to committments during those LM7 nights.
- If it's clear and there's no Moon, it will be brutally cold and the wind will be blowing like a hurricane.
- When you catch a fireball on your camera the photo will be out of focus.
- Perfect photos will be ruined by the lab.
- The product of the number of shower meteors and the desire for their processing has a constant value.
- If you observe 364 nights a year, the outburst will happen in the 365th.
- If you observe 365 nights a year, there will be no outburst.
- Your wife/husband/boyfriend/girlfriend's birthday will be on January 3, August 12, November 18 or December 14.
- If you observe from your backyard your neighbour's dog will have a sleep disorder.
- If you observe from your backyard your neighbour will have a sleep disorder and spend the night in a brightly lit kitchen, which will invariably be facing your backyard.
- If it's been clear whole July and up to August 12, the latter date will invariably be cloudy.
- If it is by some coincidence clear it will be unseasonably cold.
- If winter has been mild so far there will be a blizzard on December 14 and your favorite observing spot will be burried under a meter of snow.
- You will catch a cold on December 13.
- You will get over the cold quickly but you will be ill again on January 3.
- Your mid-term exam will be on January 4.
- When you arrive to your favorite spot for the Geminids you will forget: gloves, extra socks, warm drinks.
- You won't observe the Geminids since it's full Moon.
- If it's not full Moon you will be under the only cloud within miles.
- You will always enjoy clear skies when the Moon is full. You won't when it is new Moon.
- If an outburst is predicted it will occur 16 hours earlier and you will miss it.
- If you prepare and observe 16 hours earlier there will be no outburst.
- If its crystal clear there will be a lone patch of cirrus passing during the outburst.
- It will always be clear during the nights before the maximum from a big meteor shower. The maximum night will be clouded out.
- There is no such thing as luck.
- If there is, luck has nothing to do with it.
- There is always this observer in Florida Keys/Sacramento Mountains/Mauna Kea...
- Sooner or later there will be a streetlight installed that illuminates your backyard.
- When you go break it, you will invariably get caught.
- If you don't get caught you get electrocuted.
- Your tape will get jammed during highest activity.
- In March or April your tape will get jammed in early evening and you won't notice it till morning twilight.
- You're smart and you record your meteors on paper. In morning twilight there will be a gust of wind and it will blow your paper away and you will never see it again.
- Your alarm clock will fail you.
- Your backup alarm clock will fail you too.
- Your backup backup alarm clock will fail you as well.
- Zzzz...
- You will unkowingly lie down on a small rock. By morning twilight it will feel like a house sized boulder.
- There is no such thing as luck.
- If there is, luck has nothing to do with it.
- If your neighbours don't have a sleep disorder and don't have a dog, they will invariably have a large tree that will block out a good part of your field of view.
- No, they will not cut it down.
- After you've seen a good display there will always be this guy in Florida Keys/Sacramento Mountains/Mauna Kea who will have his LM a full magnitude better and will have seen many more meteors.
- After you've seen a poor display there will always be this guy in Florida Keys/Sacramento Mountains/Mauna Kea who will have his LM a full magnitude better and will have seen a great display.
- Leonids don't peak over your longitude.
- There will always be this guy in your group with 0.5mag better LM.
- There will always be this guy who logs 300+hrs teff every year.
- If you leave your meteor observing form on your table your dog will chew it.
- If you operate 7 cameras and have 95% sky coverage, the fireball will appear in the uncovered 5%.
- If fog lifts it will invariably be 3m higher than you can possibly get. Above that it will be perfectly clear. Bortle Class 1.
- The Perseid peak and the only thunderstorm in summer will invariably overlap.
- If the sky clears after the thunderstorm and in time for the peak, fog will lift.
- Your photocopier will break down at 1am while reproducing your vital star charts.
- Your reclining chair will break down on August 12 at 7 pm.
- There will be a major (historical) auroral storm during the major shower peak. Next night there will be no aurora and no meteors.
- You began serious meteor astronomy career a couple of days after: Aug 13 1993, Nov 17 1998, Nov 18 1999...
- Draconid outbursts will ALWAYS occur over Japanese longitudes.
- Sooner or later you will receive a visit by a friendly hedgehog. Sooner or later you will receive a visit by a not so friendly wild boar.
- You will get distracted by a small rodent in the same instant a fireball appears.
- If you brought N pencils you will always need N+1 pencils.
- There will be a supernova during a Leonid meteor storm.
- There is no such thing as luck.
- If there is, luck has nothing to do with it.
- Meteor predictions will be accurate forever, until you decide to observe.
- The more inconspicous the stream, the more likely it is to outburst. You will therefore miss most (all) outbursts.
- If there is an outburst, you will be caught unprepared.
- Bright fireballs won't happen to you.
- If your taperecorder and talking watch work well, there will be nothing to record.
- Most of your 'observing expeditions' will end with an 'I should've stayed home'.
- The ones you stay home are the most successfull.
- You will be ridiculed for your fireball observation, since there was obviously an alien invasion.
- If a storm is predicted, the radiant is in south hemisphere.
- The radiant is located 1 degree below horizon, at your radio-scattering observing site.
- There will never be observers at the right place to observe your predicted maximum. So you will never know if your predictions are right or wrong.
- If theory is right, there is no observer. If theory is wrong, there are lot of observers.
- Your predicted maximum occurs when the radiant is above the middle of Pacific ocean, Antartica or South Africa.
Quoted from MBK Team at http://www.orion-drustvo.si/MBKTeam/meteors/murphy.htm
Anecdotes on astronomy
Dec 9th
Who is E.T.
The Hungarian pysicist Leo Szilard and his colleague Enrico Fermi once fell into a discussion concerning the likelihood of the existence of other life in the cosmos. Fermi discoursed at length on the immensity and incredible age of the universe, the probability that other stars could support planetary systems, and the probability that intelligent beings would have developed the means of traveling to earth.
"If all this has been happening," Fermi asked, "how is it that they have not arrived? Where are they?" "They are already among us," Szilard replied, "but they call themselves... Hungarians!"
Hawking's eureka moment
Stephen Hawking, famed for his revolutionary cosmological theories, once gave a lecture on the joys of scientific discovery in which he touched upon the so-called "eureka" moment: the sense of being the first person to discover something about the nature of the universe. "This feeling might not quite be comparable to sex," Hawking declared, "but it lasts longer!"
Cosmic view
One day the classical scholar Gilbert Murray encountered Albert Einstein sitting deep in thought in the Christ Church quad at Oxford university.
Murray asked the physicist what he was thinking about. "I am thinking," Einstein replied, "that, after all, this is a very small star."
Einstein's wife
Einstein's second wife, Elsa, was once asked whether she understood her husband's theory of relativity. "No," she replied, "but I know my husband and I know he can be trusted."
On another occasion, Elsa was once given a guided tour of the Mount Wilson Observatory (in California), whose giant optical telescope was among the largest in the world.
"One of the principal functions of all this sophisticated machinery," an astronomer explained, "is to determine the extent and shape of the universe." "Oh," she replied, "my husband does that on the back of an old envelope."
Asymmetrical Speculation
Like many theoretical physicists, Wolfgang Pauli came to believe that the mathematics describing the universe should be beautiful in their simplicity. He was particularly dismayed by the many asymmetries which populate theoretical equations - for example, that between the amounts of matter and anti-matter in the universe (without which, it should be added, we would not exist) and that between the spins and charges of various particles. "I refuse to believe," he once declared, "that God is a weak left-hander!"
Scrach that
Although Carl Sagan enjoyed eating as much as the next famous astronomer, he never produced an apple pie to his satisfaction. "To make an apple pie from scratch," he once declared, "you first must create the universe."
Precision
Like every mathematician, Sir Arthur Eddington was a sucker for precision. "I believe there are 15,747,724,136,275,002,577,605,653,961,181,555,468,044,717,914,527,116,709,366,231, 425,076,185,631,031,296,296 protons in the universe," he declared during his Tarner lecture in 1938, "and the same number of electrons."
Talk show
Eddie Fisher once appeared on a television program during which entertainers sought romantic, spiritual, and other miscellaneous guidance from a group of panelists (among them the noted wit George S. Kaufman). Fisher's complaint concerned a certain chorus girl who refused to go out with him on account of his age.
"Mr. Fisher," Kaufman advised, "on Mount Wilson there is a telescope that can magnify the most distant stars up to twenty-four times the magnification of any previous telescope. This remarkable instrument was unsurpassed in the world of astronomy until the development and construction of the Mount Palomar telescope - an even more remarkable instrument of magnification. Owing to advances and improvements in optical technology, it is capable of magnifying the stars to four times the magnification and resolution of the Mount Wilson telescope." Here Kaufman paused, surveying the puzzled faces around him. "Mr. Fisher," he continued, "if you could somehow put the Mount Wilson telescope inside the Mount Palomar telescope, you still wouldn't be able to detect my interest in your problem."
The Andromeda Nebula
"The Andromeda Nebula is a beautiful pinwheel of stars and luminous clouds of gas located beyond the Milky Way. An editor friend of mine once showed a picture of the galaxy to the art director of a magazine. 'That's gorgeous!' said the art director. 'But can we get a shot of it from another angle?'"
Galileo's anagram
In 1610, Galileo used an anagram to announce his discovery of what he believed to be two moons orbiting another planet: smaismrmilmepoetaleumibunenugttauiras.
Remarkably, Johannes Kepler, after considerable effort, managed to decipher the code, Salve umbisteneum geminatum Martia proles ("Hail, twin companionship, children of Mars"), thereby confirming his own prediction that Mars has two moons.
More remarkable still, Galileo's cypher had in fact declared: Altissimum planetam tergeminum observavi ("I have observed the highest of the planets - Saturn - three-formed")!
The first satellite of Sweden
In July 1966, Michael Collins was selected to pilot NASA's three-day Gemini 10 mission. While the mission (to rendezvous and dock with an orbiting Agena rocket) was a success, Collins did make a minor blunder: during his historic space walk, he dropped a Swedish-made Hasselblad camera.
Back on earth, the astronaut was amused to learn that the Swedes had begun to refer to the camera as their country's first satellite.
Roosevelt's bed-side story
Before going to bed one night, Teddy Roosevelt joined the noted naturalist William Beebe for a bit of star-gazing.
"That is the Spiral Galaxy in Andromeda," Roosevelt declared, indicating a small patch of light near the constellation of Pegasus. "It is as large as our Milky Way. It is one of a hundred million galaxies. It consists of one hundred billion suns, each larger than our sun."
The president then turned to Beebe. "Now I think we are small enough," he declared. "Let's go to bed."
After all, Roosevelt is right on that Andromeda Galaxy is an ideal target to watch if you would like to know how small we are.
Anti-comet pills
Halley's comet, which also appeared in 1066, has a period of approximately 76 years. In 1910, superstitious people bought anti-comet pills at $1 a box.
Round as a button
As news of Sir William Herschel's astronomical discoveries spread in the 1780s, many observers were particularly fascinated that his powerful new telescopes revealed stars to be circular objects, rather than the pointy 'stars' seen by the naked eye.
Herschel once found himself seated next to the notoriously awkward physicist Henry Cavendish at a formal dinner: "Is it true," Cavendish slowly asked, leaning forward, "that you see the stars round?" "Round as a button," Herschel replied.
Cavendish then lapsed into a silence which lasted until the end of the meal, whereupon he leaned forward again. "Round as a button?" "Round as a button," Herschel replied with a nod. These seventeen words comprised their entire conversation.
Consider Betelgeuse
Albert Einstein was among the notable guests who attended the premiere of Charlie Chaplin's City Lights in 1931. While visiting Hollywood, the famed physicist attempted to explain his theories to a studio executive. "For instance, consider Betelgeuse," he remarked at one point. "Betelgeuse, one of the greatest stars in the whole system, can be photographed merely by means of one ray of light..."
Some time after Einstein left, the executive called his casting director. "Say," he shouted. "I want you should go out and sign up this feller Betelgeuse, and I want you should sign him up quick. Einstein, who knows everything, says he's one of the greatest stars in the business!"
Transit of Venus
Many 17th and 18th century astronomers tried to estimate the distance from Earth to the sun (the so-called "astronomical unit") by observing a "transit of Venus" across the face of the sun. Edmond Halley, England's second Astronomer Royal, once calculated that, by timing Venus's transit from widely separated points on Earth (making use of the "parallax" effect), the astronomical unit could, using the clocks of the day, be measured to within one part in 500. (Unfortunately Venus rarely transits the sun, typically doing so only twice every 130 years.)
"What followed was the 18th-century equivalent of the space race. Wealthy nations took up the challenge and competed for scientific prestige. The rivalry was especially intense between Britain and France, which were engaged in the Seven Years War at the time of the transit of 1761...
"The French had their share of troubles. The most pathetic of these were suffered by Guillaume Joseph Hyacinthe Jean-Baptiste Le Gentil de la Galaisiere. He was aiming for Pondicherry, a French colony in India, but he learned before arriving that it had been captured by the British. When the transit occurred, he was stuck on a pitching ship in an imprecisely known location, rendering his observations worthless. Undeterred, he decided to wait for the 1769 transit. He spent eight years on various Indian Ocean islands before making his way to Pondicherry, which had by then been returned to the French. On the day of the transit, however, it was cloudy. He then contracted dysentery, was shipwrecked, and finally returned home to find his estate looted."
Another story about transit of Venus
To better observe a "transit of Venus," Pierre Janssen, a French astronomer, invented the "revolver photographique" - a multi-exposure camera whose aperture was covered by a rotating slotted wheel which admitted light at regular intervals. This contraption, which influenced Etienne Jules Marey and the Lumine brothers, was the direct ancestor of the movie camera.
Abberation of light
While observing Gamma Draconis in 1725, the English astronomer James Bradley was puzzled to find that the star appeared to be moving in a direction opposite to that expected from parallax (the apparent change in the direction of an object caused by a change in the observer's location).
The explanation came to Bradley one day in 1728 while he was boating on the Thames. Watching a weather vane at the top of the mast, he noticed with surprise that the wind appeared to shift every time the boat changed direction. When Bradley shared his observation, the boatmen replied that the wind was constant, and that the apparent change was due entirely to the changing direction of the boat.
He quickly saw the analogy between wind blowing on a boat and light flowing from a distant star "blowing" on the earth. His discovery of so-called "Aberration of Light" was a triumph of exact observation and clear insight. Moreover, such was the accuracy of Bradley's observations that his determination of the value of the 'Constant of Aberration' (20.39") closely approximates the value accepted today (20.47").
Fraunhofer's problem
In the early 1800s, the German optician Joseph von Fraunhofer built magnificent retracting telescopes and conducted important research on light refraction. More importantly, his discovery of dark lines in the solar spectrum led to the foundation of the science of spectroscopy. Nonetheless, Fraunhofer was not allowed to address scientific meetings. The problem? He did not have a formal university education.
Meteorites
Though Thomas Jefferson did important scientific work (experimenting, for example, with new varieties of grain and studying and classifying various fossils), he refused to believe in meteorites. One day, it was reported that two professors had seen a meteorite land in Connecticutt. Jefferson remained unconvinced. "I would rather believe that two Yankee professors would lie," he declared, "than that stones fall from the sky."
Space cadet
Vice President Dan Quayle was among the early supporters of NASA's plans for a manned mission to Mars. "It's time," he enthused one day, "for the human race to enter the solar system!"
NASA's solution
In 1995, in a bid to protect the space shuttle from woodpeckers, NASA sent an employee to Wal-Mart. The solution? Six plastic owls.
Space lawyer
On April 28, 2001, Virgiliu Pop - a space lawyer and extraterrestrial property rights expert at Glasgow University - claimed ownership of the sun and also disavowed any liability for damage caused by his property. Pop pulled the stunt, he later explained, "to show how ridiculous a property-rights system in outer space would be if it were based solely on claims unsubstantiated by any actual possession."
In 1993, three Yemeni brothers, claiming to have inherited Mars from their ancestors 3,000 years before, filed a lawsuit against the United States for trespassing on the red planet. The Americans sent attorneys to Yemen and the case was ultimately dismissed.
Playing God
Though Werner Heisenberg was awarded a Nobel Prize for his elucidation of the "uncertainty principle" (in 1932), Albert Einstein never accepted it; its stipulation that the more carefully one measures the position of a given particle, the less certain its momentum becomes (and vice-versa) threatened to wreak havoc with the strict determinism in which he believed. "God," he often declared, "does not play dice with the universe."
"Who are you," Niels Bohr once retorted, "to tell God what to do?" Years later Stephen Hawking also entered the fray: "God not only plays dice," he declared, "but sometimes throws them where they cannot be seen."
Human stupidity
"Only two things are infinite - the universe and human stupidity," Einstein once remarked, "and I'm not sure about the former."
Hypothesis
The French mathematician and astronomer Pierre Laplace was so inspired by the metaphor of the clockwork universe that when asked about the existence of God he famously replied: "I have no need of that hypothesis."
These pieces of anecdotes are citing from www.anecdotage.com.
Anecdotes on astronomy
Dec 6th
Hsi and Ho
The first report of a solar eclipse appeared in Chinese records. The eclipse came without warning, according to legend, because the royal astronomers, Hsi and Ho, were too drunk to make the necessary computations. For this dereliction of duty they were promptly executed.
I have never heard about such a fact -- however this is quoted from Isaac Asimov so it should be reliable.
Peaceful eclipse
On May 28, 585 BC, as the Medes and Lydians were advancing into battle, the sun was suddenly blotted from the sky by an eclipse. Both sides were so frightened that they packed up their equipment and promptly went home.
According to the historian Herodotus, Thales had used his knowledge of Babylonian astronomy to forecast this (solar) eclipse.
Astronomer curate
The English astronomer Jeremiah Horrocks was also a curate. One day he calculated that the next transit of Venus across the sun would occur on November 24, 1639 - which fell on a Sunday. On the historic day, Horrocks plowed through his services with extraordinary speed before racing off through the fields to his instruments. Horrocks arrived just in time to make his crucial observations.
Before the 2007's partial eclipse (on March 19) took place, I was on presentation of an English class. I, too, finished with speed (though not "extraordinary") and asked the professor if I can leave for the eclipse. My request was approved and I rushed back to dormitary for my instruments.
Stellar insight
One day during the Peloponnesian War, as Pericles was setting out to sea, an eclipse occurred and the ship's captain became too frightened to proceed. Pericles stepped forward, removed his cloak, and threw it over the captain's head.
"Does this frighten you?" he asked. "No," the captain replied. "Then what difference is there between the two events," Pericles asked, "except that the sun is covered by a larger object than my cloak?"
Columbus's magic
While anchored off Jamaica in 1504, Christopher Columbus found himself in dire straits. Though his supplies were running low, the Jamaican Indians refused to sell him any more food. Consulting his almanac, Columbus noticed that a lunar eclipse was due a few days later. On the appointed day, he summoned the Jamaican leaders and warned them that he would blot out the moon that very evening if his demands for food were not promptly met. The Jamaicans only laughed at him - until later that night when the eclipse began. As the moon disappeared before their eyes, they visited Columbus in a state of terror, whereupon he agreed to stop his magic in exchange for food. The offer was accepted and the moon "restored."
Another unconfirmed story is also about an explorer, but I have forgot his name. He wanted to copy Columbus's success and told the aborigine that the moon will be blotted out in the evening. "Oh, don't worry," the aborigine replied, "it will restored automatically."
Cannelloni on Mars!
One day in 1877, it was reported that Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli had observed, through his telescope, canals on the surface of Mars. This apparent evidence of the existence of a Martian civilisation inspired H. G. Wells to write The War of the Worlds, which, in turn, inspired Orson Welles's famous radio news bulletin hoax (which led thousands of listeners across America to believe that they were actually listening to the live report of a martian invasion).
The ultimate cause of all the excitement? Schiaparelli's report of Martian channels ("canali"), possibly carved by ancient rivers or glaciers, was mistranslated into English as "canals." Despite Schiaparelli's protestations, many astronomers latched onto the notion of life on Mars, and public interest naturally exploded.
Wise guy
Alfonso the Wise was famed for his patronage of the arts and sciences, for his revision of the Castilian legal code, for his sponsorship of the translation of many Arabic works, and for his compilation of the "Alfonsine Tables" (which, published on the date of his accession to the throne, remained the most authoritative planetary tables in existence for some three hundred years).
Because they were based upon a (then-prevalent but erroneous) Ptolemaic (geocentric) scheme, however, many complicated calculations were required to render the tables usable. Indeed, Alfonso is said to have remarked that, had God consulted him during the six days of creation, he might have recommended a less complicated design.
A good excuse when being not able to solve mathematic problems...
Space cadet
In 2003, NASA's John Rummel became the agency's official "planetary protection officer." His responsibility? To safeguard Earth from alien life-forms by quarantining extraterrestrial samples until they are proven safe for scientific study, and to safeguard the rest of the solar system from cross-contamination with Earth's microorganisms (which could inadvertently be transported by space probes).
Rummel was serious about his mandate, and had his department's motto printed on bumper stickers: "All of the planets, all of the time."
"What we worry about, of course, is not that we would find a virus that is predisposed to parasitize organisms," Rummel explained, "but something that might have a way of life that might not be recognized by our defence mechanisms. The unknown unknowns are the ones that will get you."
Mi Fa Mi
Johannes Kepler inherited incredibly accurate astronomical records from his mentor Tycho Brahe and in 1610 began to use telescopes to make observations of his own - observations which led both to his three laws of planetary motion and to his support of Copernicus' heliocentric model of the solar system.
Oddly, Kepler also believed in the Pythagorean theory that each planet emitted characteristic notes (the "music of the spheres"). The notes sounded by Earth, according to Kepler? Mi, fa, and mi - indicating misery, famine... and misery.
"We now believe," string theorist Michio Kaku declared some 400 years later, "that the mind of God is music resonating through 10-dimensional hyperspace." Indeed, in May 2001, three groups of scientists produced evidence that the Big Bang yielded a series of low tones (dubbed the "music of creation"), which still echo through the cosmos.
God love music -- this is not simply an anecdote I think, this is the truth.
Search for Pluto
Clyde Tombaugh's search for a trans-Neptunian planet (one with an orbit beyond that of Neptune) was not an easy one. Tombaugh often found himself at the Lowell Observatory struggling with photographic plates containing as many as 400,000 stars. His mission? To painstakingly compare several such plates - and see whether any of the dots had moved.
With computer, my task is much more easier than poor Tombaugh. However, I have never been able to spot a 13.9mag. new asteroid! (Or, "plutoid")
Swift's prediction
1726 saw the appearance of Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, a fictional work containing the following passage: "They [the Laputians] have likewise discovered two lesser stars, or satellites, which revolve about Mars, whereof the innermost is distant from the center of the primary planet exactly three of its diameters, and the outermost five; the former revolves in the space of ten hours, and the latter in twenty-one and a half; so that the squares of their periodical times are very near the same proportion with the cubes of their distance from the center of Mars, which evidently shows them to be governed by the same law of gravitation that influences the other heavenly bodies."
Incredibly, Swift accurately described the two moons of Mars - more than 150 years before they were discovered.
Incredibly!
Deep thought
Scientists in Cambridge spent three years calculating one of the fundamental keys to the universe - The Hubble Constant [the velocity at which a typical galaxy is receding from Earth divided by its distance from Earth] that determines the age of the universe. This process mirrored a passage in [Douglas Adams's] cult science fiction novel and radio series 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' in which an alien race programs a computer called Deep Thought to provide the ultimate answer to understanding life and the universe.
In the novel, seven and a half million years later Deep Thought comes back with the result, 42.
In an extraordinary coincidence when the Cambridge scientists finally calculated the Hubble Constant they found the answer was also 42.
"It caused quite a few laughs when we arrived at the figure 42," Dr Keith Grange later recalled, "because we're all great fans of The Hitchhiker's Guide!" (Sadly, estimates of the Hubble Constant now range between 57 and 78 kilometers per second per megaparsec.)
Causmology?
Ronald Knox once found himself embroiled in a theological argument with the scientist John Scott Haldane. "In a universe containing millions of planets," Haldane asked, "is it not inevitable that life should appear on at least one of them?"
"Sir," Knox replied, "if Scotland Yard found a body in your cabin trunk, would you tell them: 'There are millions of trunks in the world - surely one of them must contain a body?' I think they would still want to know who put it there!"
A good reason of why we are doing astronomy -- and science!
Eddington's turtle and elephant
While delivering a lecture on cosmology one day, Sir Arthur Eddington gave a brief overview of the early theories of the universe. Among others, he mentioned the Indian belief that the world rested on the back of a giant turtle, adding that it was not a particularly useful model as it failed to explain what the turtle itself was resting on.
Following the lecture Eddington was approached by an elderly lady. "You are very clever, young man, very clever," she forcefully declared, "but there is something you do not understand about Indian cosmology: it's turtles all the way down!"
Eddington once gave his Cambridge students an examination question involving "a perfectly spherical elephant, whose mass may be neglected..."
I have read about Eddington's turtle on Hawking's A brief history of Time (I am not sure if I type it right), but it is slightly different from the one here. However, I prefer this one as it is more enjoyable.
These anecdotes are citing from www.anecdotage.com.
Meteorological anecdotes
Dec 3rd
Fishy forecast
During a weather forecast in October 1987, British meteorologist Michael Fish told viewers that "a woman rang to say she'd heard there was a hurricane on the way. Well, don't worry," he continued, "there isn't." Brushing aside the amateur's forecast with a chuckle, Fish promised "sea breezes" and a "showery airflow."
Britain was promptly hit by 120 mph winds which ripped up 300 miles of power cables, plunged a quarter of the country into darkness, blocked 200 roads with fallen branches, downed 25 per cent of the trees in Kent and stopped all rail traffic in the south for twenty-four hours. An ambulance at Hayling island was hit by a yacht floating across the road and the Meteorological Office called it the worst hurricane since 1703.
Fish's spokesman later explained: "It's really all a question of detail." In fact, technically, Fish was correct. It was not a hurricane, but an intense North Atlantic depression. "We don't get hurricanes in the West Country," one observer explained. "We get hurricane force winds."
Pat Robertson & Hurricane Gloria
In 1985, with Hurricane Gloria headed toward the east coast, televangelist Pat Robertson promptly went on the air to pray. "In the name of Jesus," he declared, "we command you to stop where you are and move northeast, away from land, and away from harm."
Incredibly, the hurricane did in fact begin to head northeast. Robertson's claims to have changed the course of the hurricane were met with considerable scorn, however, particularly in Long Island - which lies to the northeast of Robertson's native Virginia and was devastated by Gloria after she changed course.
Pat Sajak: Weatherman
Though Pat Sajak got his start as a weatherman, it was hardly the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. "Most of the things I've done in broadcasting, I never had any intention of doing," he later confessed. "I did the weather in Nashville and Los Angeles, and to this day I couldn't tell you what a cold front is!"
Quanzhi's note: a very good excuse for our meteorological students if professor asks about the definition of cold front or something else!
Court astrologers
According to Marco Polo, Kublai Khan maintained some 5,000 court astrologers, whose duties included the hazardous task of weather prediction. Why so many? Guessing wrong, he explained, could lead to "early retirement."
Quanzhi's note: I have never heard this fact before! Thankfully I have no interest to be a meteorologist in future at the moment.
These pieces of anecdotes are citing from www.anecdotage.com. Surprisingly only a few meteorlogy-related entries were found, I guess that is because meteorlogist has made too much wrong predictions so people have got used to it. Well, I'm not blaming meteorlogists Weather forecast is indeed a challenging topic and we have made significant progress on it over the last a few decades.
Tour completed
Feb 28th
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When there is a start, there will be an end, so does my tour in Australia.
It's certainly an enjoyable journey, or should say, a out-of-expectation journey. I traveled for more than 5,000 kilometers in just two weeks, visit great places, meet great people, take great photos, all of all are so pleasant. But exciting and remarkable experience needs both good starting and good ending. When I arrive the "truely" home at around midnight on Feburary 29, I can annouce "tour completed!"
Firstly my most grateful thankness goes to my relatives in Australia, my grandpa, uncle John and Bob, my aunties and cousins. I stay in their house and they drove me out to see place of interests. If their helps were not present, a pleasant journey would be impossible for me. The same thankness goes to cousin Sean's cat Claw, she stay with me when I was alone in uncle John's house and we became rather good friends.
Then I would like to thank my dear friend Ashley Chan, and her family -- uncle, auntie, her cousin Karmen and Angela, and their dog, Prince. Thanks them for accommoating and driving me around at Wagga Wagga. For Ashley, I would greatly admire her courage and determination, I would like to pass my best wishes for her in this post as well.
I would like to thank Michael and Angela for the helps they gave during my trip on Melbourne, especially for the b.b.q. kangaroos. Wish them to have a pleasant honeymoon in China.
I would like to thank Simon for showing me around the famours Mt. Stromlo Observatory and the campus of RSAA/ANU.
I would like to thank Robert and Donna, who were so kind to drive for two hours to pick me up from Gunnedah and show me around at Siding Spring. I had also learn a lot from Robert, and extra thanks to him for the poster of Great Comet McNaught, the comet which is his most famous discovery.
I would like to thank Miss. Sue for her great meal.
And thankness also goes to all other people, known or unknown, who have lend me their hands during the great tour.
Although the ending is far from best due to the disappearance of my luggage, I won't let my excitement ruined. Touring diary in Chinese and beautiful photos would be followed after I take time to write and process. Ahh, surely have to wait after I have process all the headache things about the missing luggage with Vivamacau! \_/ and I have to annouce that all the gifts were placed in it...
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