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Week of July 12-18, 2009
It occurred 40 years ago next week. Nearly everyone on the planet then remembers where they were and what they were doing.
On the evening of Sunday, July 20, 1969, more than 1 billion people huddled around their televisions to watch the most …
Week of July 5-11, 2009
Anyone who heads outdoors during the late evening this week will surely notice, low in the eastern sky, the brilliant planet Jupiter outshining all else except the moon.
But there is something you won't see. Jupiter now lies almost directly along …
Week of June 28-July 4, 2009
Try this fun experiment.
Ask some friends which season of the year they think the Earth is closest to the sun. Unless your acquaintances are atypical, I'll bet most will guess that we're nearer the sun during our summertime.
But this just isn't true.…
Week of June 21-27, 2009
I don't know why, but it seems that every time I'm out under the stars and introduce people to the constellation Draco, the Dragon, I hear chuckles — as if they think I'm making it up.
Now I admit I've done this from time to time — …
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Week of Aug. 3-9, 2008I always look forward to August. For one thing, the searing desert heat where I live is almost at an end. For another, the skies are particularly generous with their offerings. But my favorite reason for enjoying August is that I get to write a word I can use only once a year: "Thither." It comes up every year around this time because it's when we're approaching the annual Perseid meteor shower. It was the ancient Chinese who first documented this shower in the year 36 and wrote, "more than 100 meteors flew thither in the morning". Of course, they used a corresponding word in Chinese, but you get the idea. The New Lexicon Webster's Dictionary of the English Language defines the word "thither" as an adverb that means "to or toward that place." And my guess is that the "place" to which they referred was the shower's "radiant." Stand outside during any meteor shower and you'll see meteors, or shooting stars, all over the sky. But if you trace their paths backwards, they all appear to come from one specific location in the sky. This year's peak occurs late during the night of Monday, Aug. 11, and early the morning of Tuesday, Aug. 12. Typically we spot most meteors before dawn. This isn't a conspiracy to prevent evening stargazers from watching the show; it occurs because it's during those hours that we face the direction of our planet's motion and can watch as the atmosphere sweeps up meteoric particles. During the shower's peak, stargazers can expect to count as many as 50 or 60 meteors per hour once the bright, gibbous moon sets low in the west. For the best view, many people camp in the mountains or countryside, or park their cars alongside rural roads away from traffic. Be sure to take a lawn chair or sleeping bag, a blanket or hot chocolate to keep warm, and gaze up toward the northern and northeastern sky. And I'll just bet that, before the night is over, you actually hear someone utter the word "thither"! To find out more about Dennis Mammana and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2008 CREATORS SYNDICATE INC.
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