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Week of Nov. 29 -- Dec. 5, 2009
With the holiday season racing toward us like an out-of-control train, it won't be long before we begin seeing and hearing ads to have a star named after someone special.
Now, I'm a huge proponent of the free enterprise system, but, much like P.T. …Read more.
Week of Nov. 22-29, 2009
Anyone frequenting singles bars back in the '70s has surely heard the question "What's your sign?" And while most of us know the answer, not many know what it actually means. It's really quite simple.
The sun's annual path through the …Read more.
Week of Nov. 15-21, 2009
There are few sights more beautiful than the glistening stars and planets on a clear, dark rural night. But just where do all those heavenly bodies go during the daytime? And why can't we see them when the sky is bright?
As I'm sure you already know,…Read more.
Week of Nov. 8-14, 2009
Anyone who has ever gazed at a dark sky for more than a few minutes has almost certainly seen a burst of light appearing out of nowhere that disappears just as quickly.
We call such a startling phenomenon romantic names like a "falling …Read more.
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Week of Oct. 25 - 31, 2009It's known as Algol, the Demon Star, and it shines diabolically in our sky each year as Halloween approaches. To find it, go outdoors in the evening and look low toward the northeast. The accompanying sky map should help you locate it. After it becomes dark, you will easily spot the bright star Capella twinkling wildly over the northeastern horizon. Above lies the famous "W" of Cassiopeia and, just below, you'll find the stars of Perseus and its bright stars, Mirfak and Algol. To the writers of classical times, Algol represented the head of the horrible monster Medusa, held by Perseus. Ancient and medieval astrologers considered it the most dangerous star in the heavens. What makes Algol intriguing to modern astronomers, however, is that it does not shine with a steady light, but exhibits a strange variability. Every 2.85739 days, the star dims noticeably for about five hours, then gradually brightens again. Algol, also called Beta Persei, represents a class of stars known as eclipsing binaries — two stars orbiting a common center of gravity along nearly the plane of our line of sight. As the one star passes in front of the other, the light dims and we on Earth see an eclipse. Next week, Algol reaches its faintest when stargazers around the U.S. can be watching: on Nov. 5 at 5:54 a.m. EST, at 2:43 a.m. EST on Nov. 8, and again at 11:32 p.m. EST on Nov. 10. If you keep an eye on Algol for a few hours after this time and compare its brightness to any nearby star whose light shines steadily, you'll be able to watch it emerge from eclipse. You won't need a telescope or binoculars to monitor its progress, though these certainly can help the view. By plotting Algol's brightness over time, astronomers have learned that one of its stars is about three times larger than our sun while the other is only 20 percent larger. As these two stars orbit each other and the fainter one eclipses the brighter, we on Earth see the system's total light drop by about three times. In fact, extremely careful observations over the years have shown that there's actually a third star orbiting this pair every 1.86 years. 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 2009 CREATORS.COM 
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