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noodles · 01-26-2009, 01:35 AM

Willow wandered up to the Astronomy board and pinned up an a couple more articles next what was already there.

Quote:

Odd Asteroid Hangs Out with Earth

An asteroid the size of a small house is slowly passing through space less than twice as far away as our moon.

The recently discovered space rock poses no immediate threat. It will, however, hang around.

The asteroid, catalogued as 2009 BD, is an oddity. Astronomers think it might be what's known as a co-orbital asteroid, "circling the sun in near-tandem with our planet," according to the web site Spaceweather.com.

Another co-orbital asteroid is 2003 YN107, which corkscrewed a path in Earth's vicinity from 1999 through the middle of last year, then finally departed. A handful of other co-orbital asteroids have been found, including one called 2002 AA29 that astronomers described as behaving like a second moon to our planet.

Estimates of the orbit of 2009 BD keep it with about 9.3 million miles of Earth through November, 2010. The rock is about about 33 feet (10 meters) in diameter and will be about 400,000 miles (644,000 km) away at its closest approach Sunday, Jan. 25.

Source

Quote:

Indonesians among the few to witness solar eclipse

The moon cast a shadow at the sun blocking it partially in a partial solar eclipse as it sets on
Monday Jan. 26, 2009 at Manila's bay, Philippines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

ANYER, Indonesia—Indonesians were among the few worldwide to witness an eclipse of the sun Monday, some cheering and banging on drums as the moon slowly crossed its path, blocking out everything but a thin, blazing rim of fire.

Dozens gathered in the western coastal town of Anyer to see the spectacle, which peaked at 4:40 p.m. and lasted for about four minutes.

"I'm old, but I still think this is magical," said Roanna Makmur, 66, who drove several hours with eight friends to witness the sight, known as an annular eclipse, because it does not completely black out the sun.

"I can't help but feel the greatness of God," she said, as fellow onlookers applauded and then fell silent. "Anyone who passed up this opportunity, really missed out."

Annular eclipses, which are considered far less important to astronomers than total eclipses of the sun, occur about 66 times a century and can only be viewed by people in the narrow band along its path.

Aside from several regions in Indonesia -- from Sumatra island in the west to Kalimantan in the east -- only villagers on a tiny South Pacific island group known as the Cocos could see Monday's eclipse, said Jay Pasachoff, professor of astronomy at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. He is also a chair of the International Astronomical Union's Working Group on Eclipses.

But a partial eclipse -- with coverage ranging from 1 percent to 84 percent of the sun's diameter -- was to visible in the southern third of Africa, in southeastern India, and Southeast Asia, as well as the western part of Australia.

Hundreds turned out in Indonesia's Samarinda, the capital of East Kalimantan province, where more than 90 percent of the sun's diameter was covered. Some ignored danger warnings and looked directly at the sun. Others wore sunglasses to protect their eyes or looked at its reflection in buckets of water.

"We are so happy we were able to see this," said Fauziah Sulaiman, a mother of two, who was standing outside her house. "It's great for the children, especially after learning about it in school."

The last total eclipse of the sun was Aug. 1, 2008, and was visible in Canada, across northern Greenland, the Arctic, central Russia, Mongolia and China.

The next total eclipse will be July 22, 2009, and will be visible in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, China and some Japanese islands.

Source

01-26-2009, 01:35 AM	#12 (permalink)
noodles Hinkypunk Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: hiss Posts: 12,263 Hogwarts RPG Name: Rowan Fairfax Slytherin Seventh Year Hogwarts RPG Name: Ezra Greenwood Ravenclaw Fifth Year x2	Yeahhh, Mr White! Yeah science! Willow wandered up to the Astronomy board and pinned up an a couple more articles next what was already there. Quote: Odd Asteroid Hangs Out with Earth An asteroid the size of a small house is slowly passing through space less than twice as far away as our moon. The recently discovered space rock poses no immediate threat. It will, however, hang around. The asteroid, catalogued as 2009 BD, is an oddity. Astronomers think it might be what's known as a co-orbital asteroid, "circling the sun in near-tandem with our planet," according to the web site Spaceweather.com. Another co-orbital asteroid is 2003 YN107, which corkscrewed a path in Earth's vicinity from 1999 through the middle of last year, then finally departed. A handful of other co-orbital asteroids have been found, including one called 2002 AA29 that astronomers described as behaving like a second moon to our planet. Estimates of the orbit of 2009 BD keep it with about 9.3 million miles of Earth through November, 2010. The rock is about about 33 feet (10 meters) in diameter and will be about 400,000 miles (644,000 km) away at its closest approach Sunday, Jan. 25. Source Quote: Indonesians among the few to witness solar eclipse The moon cast a shadow at the sun blocking it partially in a partial solar eclipse as it sets on Monday Jan. 26, 2009 at Manila's bay, Philippines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) ANYER, Indonesia—Indonesians were among the few worldwide to witness an eclipse of the sun Monday, some cheering and banging on drums as the moon slowly crossed its path, blocking out everything but a thin, blazing rim of fire. Dozens gathered in the western coastal town of Anyer to see the spectacle, which peaked at 4:40 p.m. and lasted for about four minutes. "I'm old, but I still think this is magical," said Roanna Makmur, 66, who drove several hours with eight friends to witness the sight, known as an annular eclipse, because it does not completely black out the sun. "I can't help but feel the greatness of God," she said, as fellow onlookers applauded and then fell silent. "Anyone who passed up this opportunity, really missed out." Annular eclipses, which are considered far less important to astronomers than total eclipses of the sun, occur about 66 times a century and can only be viewed by people in the narrow band along its path. Aside from several regions in Indonesia -- from Sumatra island in the west to Kalimantan in the east -- only villagers on a tiny South Pacific island group known as the Cocos could see Monday's eclipse, said Jay Pasachoff, professor of astronomy at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. He is also a chair of the International Astronomical Union's Working Group on Eclipses. But a partial eclipse -- with coverage ranging from 1 percent to 84 percent of the sun's diameter -- was to visible in the southern third of Africa, in southeastern India, and Southeast Asia, as well as the western part of Australia. Hundreds turned out in Indonesia's Samarinda, the capital of East Kalimantan province, where more than 90 percent of the sun's diameter was covered. Some ignored danger warnings and looked directly at the sun. Others wore sunglasses to protect their eyes or looked at its reflection in buckets of water. "We are so happy we were able to see this," said Fauziah Sulaiman, a mother of two, who was standing outside her house. "It's great for the children, especially after learning about it in school." The last total eclipse of the sun was Aug. 1, 2008, and was visible in Canada, across northern Greenland, the Arctic, central Russia, Mongolia and China. The next total eclipse will be July 22, 2009, and will be visible in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, China and some Japanese islands. Source __________________ Last edited by noodles; 01-26-2009 at 01:04 PM. Reason: Added another article