APOD and General Astronomy Discussion Forum
https://asterisk.apod.com/
It IS tough to see the stars through mulligan stewrstevenson wrote:fog, brume, cloud, effluvium, gloom, haze, miasma, murk, pea soup, smog, steam, vapor, wisp
Other than that, the viewing was fine.
Rob
Venus is in the early evening sky in the west. If you saw something in the east, it wasn't Venus. The most common thing people see close to the horizon as a new star is an airplane flying towards them with its landing lights on. That can look like a bright, unmoving star and last for several minutes (the plane might be 50 miles or more away). Of course, if you see it on another night, it probably is something astronomical.wonderboy wrote:Nah, I didn't I'm always looking up as well and it seemed strange to me, I hadn't seen it before. I'm assuming it was venus, because it was definetly the brightest thing in the sky I'll tell you.
Chris Peterson wrote:It's a very warm snowstorm. Warmer than yesterday, when the Sun was out. Well above freezing.BMAONE23 wrote:Dang that global warmingChris Peterson wrote:Four inches of fresh snow. And still coming down this morning.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartholomew_and_the_Oobleck wrote:
<<_Bartholomew and the Oobleck_ is a 1949 book by Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel). It follows the adventures of a young boy named Bartholomew, who must rescue his kingdom from a sticky substance called oobleck. The book is a sequel of sorts to The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins. Unlike most of Geisel's books, which are written in anapestic tetrameter, Bartholomew and the Oobleck, like its predecessor, is a prose work. Geisel said he drew inspiration for the book from a conversation he overheard while stationed in Belgium during World War II. During a rainstorm, one of his fellow soldiers remarked, "Rain, always rain. Why can't we have something different for a change?"
The book opens with an explanation about how people in the Kingdom of Didd still talk about "The year the King got angry with the sky," and how Bartholomew Cubbins, King Derwin of Didd's page boy, saved the Kingdom. Throughout the year, Bartholomew sees the king getting angry at rain in spring, sun in summer, fog in autumn, and snow in winter. The king explains he's angry because he wants something new to come down from the sky, but when Bartholomew points out that "even kings can't rule the sky," the king vows to prove Bartholomew wrong.
One spring night, as he's getting ready for bed, the king gets the idea that ruling the sky is the task of his Royal Magicians so he orders Bartholomew to summon them. After expressing his wish to the magicians, they announce they can make something called Oobleck which won't look like the regular weather the king doesn't want. The magicians soon return to their secret cave on Mount Neeka Tave to make the oobleck.
After watching the cave all night, Bartholomew sees the first sign that the oobleck has been made and is falling the very next morning. When the king wakes up and sees the oobleck, Bartholomew tries to caution him on how big the falling oobleck is getting, but the king orders Bartholomew to tell the Royal Bell Ringer that today will be a holiday.
Bartholomew does as he's told, but when the bell ringer tries to ring the bell, it doesn't ring because oobleck has gotten into it. When Bartholomew and the bell ringer see a mother bird trapped in her nest by the oobleck, they see that it could be dangerous, so Bartholomew makes the decision to warn the kingdom.
First, Bartholomew warns the Royal Trumpeter about the oobleck, but when the trumpeter tries to sound the alarm, oobleck gets into the trumpet and the trumpeter gets his hand stuck trying to remove the oobleck. When Bartholomew tries to tell the Captain of the Guards to warn the kingdom, the captain instead, thinking the oobleck to be pretty, tries to prove to Bartholomew that he's not afraid by scooping some oobleck up with his sword and eating it, only to get his mouth stuck and breathe out green bubbles. Bartholomew tries to go to the Royal Stables for a horse to warn the kingdom himself, but even the stables are covered in oobleck.
As Bartholomew goes back inside, the falling blobs of oobleck, now as big as buckets full of brocolli, start to break into the palace, creating even more mess inside than outside. Bartholomew runs around warning everybody to stay undercover, but the palace servants and guards are soon stuck in the oobleck.
In the throne room, the king, now covered in oobleck himself, orders Bartholomew to summon the magicians to stop the storm, but when Bartholomew brings up the bad news that even the cave is covered in oobleck, the king gets the idea to use the magicians' magic words ("Shuffle Muffle Muzzle Duff") to stop the oobleck. Bartholomew finally gets the courage to tell the king off for making such a foolish wish and tells him to use simple words, like "I'm sorry," instead of magic words. At first, the king insists that he never says sorry, but once after Bartholomew states that he's no sort of king if he's covered in oobleck does the king finally admit his mistake and say "I'm sorry."
Straight after the king says those simple words, the Oobleck Storm breaks up and the sun melts away all the oobleck, freeing everybody in the process. At this point, the narrator states that maybe those simple words the king said were the magic words to stop the storm. After the oobleck is gone, Bartholomew takes the king to the bell tower and the king rings the bell proclaiming the day a holiday, dedicated not to oobleck, but to rain, sun, fog, and snow, the four things that have, and always should, come down from the sky.>>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oobleck wrote:
<<The word "Oobleck" has since been adopted to describe a substance used to demonstrate the dilatant property of non-Newtonian fluids. Oobleck can be made by addition of 1.5 to 2 parts cornstarch to 1 part water. Mixing may take several minutes, and excess force should not be required. Applying excess force to Oobleck makes the non-Newtonian fluid harden.>>
- oobleck on a subwoofer:
Chris Peterson wrote:Venus is in the early evening sky in the west. If you saw something in the east, it wasn't Venus. The most common thing people see close to the horizon as a new star is an airplane flying towards them with its landing lights on. That can look like a bright, unmoving star and last for several minutes (the plane might be 50 miles or more away). Of course, if you see it on another night, it probably is something astronomical.wonderboy wrote:Nah, I didn't I'm always looking up as well and it seemed strange to me, I hadn't seen it before. I'm assuming it was venus, because it was definetly the brightest thing in the sky I'll tell you.
I think the beginning of just about everything is the most impressive part. It's the start of a new experience. After that, it becomes more or less - 'normal.'bystander wrote:I got to watch the moon black out and then turn red (totality beginning). Then I watched totality end. I think the beginning was more impressive.
Rob -- You are IN your own Eclipserstevenson wrote:Alas, we were (and still are) having a Nor'easter. The whole universe could be eclipsed and I wouldn't know it.
Rob
Enjoy it while you can. It won't be long before you are out of it and have to grab a snow shovel 
