sidereal

[uncronopio]

From the Free Dictionary adj.
1. sidereal - of or relating to the stars or constellations; "sidereal bodies"; "the sidereal system"
2. sidereal - (of divisions of time) determined by daily motion of the stars; sidereal time.

Etymology: Latin sidereus, starry, astral.

[Slava]

Just in time for Valentine's Day.

Let me look into the sidereal depths of your glowing orbs.

[beck123]

Or "your growing orbs" on the West Coast.

[Slava]

Or "your growing orbs" on the West Coast.

I guess that depends on how high one is setting his sights.

[beck123]

There is an aspect of sidereal observations that throws even the best minds into a tizzy. Imagine two identical gears that mesh at one point. One gear is immobile, the other rolls around it, never losing contact, so that it arrives at the exact position in which it began. The question, "How many times did the moving gear spin around its own center," has two answers, depending on where the viewer stands. The earthbound answer (that is, the answer given by a viewer who stands in the middle of the immobile gear and watches the other gear roll around) is that it spins around once. The sidereal answer (which would be given by somebody looking down on the gears on a table, let's say) is that the moving gear spins around twice. Both answers are correct.

As confusing as this seems, remember: If this weren't the case, there would be no need for sideral-ness.

[LukeJavan8]

Do you lay awake at night thinking up these things/??

[LukeJavan8]

The full/blue moon, in January.
Saturn's rings again being visible.
Mars in the evening eastern sky.
Love it: Sidereal.

[beck123]

Do you lay awake at night thinking up these things/??

In a way: My job involves a good deal of translating technical things into language that non-scientists can understand. I don't think I did a good job on this one, so...

Let's try a sports example: You are participating in the hammer throw. You grasp the lanyard and swing the hammer around. As you look at the hammer while it's swinging, you only see the side to which the lanyard is attached, because that side always points toward you. From your perspective, then, the hammer obviously has not rotated at all.

As I watch you do this, however, I see the same side of the hammer that you do when you are beween the me and the hammer, but I see the opposite side of the hammer when the hammer is between you and me. In fact, I get to see all sides of the hammer as you spin it once around yourself. To me, the hammer has obviously rotated once each time you spin it around yourself. My view is called the sidereal view.

[LukeJavan8]

Right! Gotcha!
Don't get hit in the head.
Poor sidereal, probably rolling over in its dictionary grave.
yuk,yuk.

[beck123]

At least we've stayed on thread. Or lanyard, in this case.

[LukeJavan8]

With no jibs! (I am very poor with puns.)

[beck123]

Being good with puns is an oxymoronic phrase. They should evoke a groan, not a laugh.

[LukeJavan8]

Sidereal: on the side: a groan.
Saparris uses the pun well, as do you.
I placed some oxymorons on the site
the other day, but it will probably take
five years or so for a reply to them.
But puns do bring a groan from me.

Back to topic: sidereal. It has been so
cloudy here for so long that the stars and sky
are really not available. Mars is very close and
I would love to view it in my telescope. Saturns'
rings are coming back into view as well.

[beck123]

Mars is very dramatic here, too. It's almost at zenith around midnight, and it's in the same general part of the sky as the other big, red thing up there, Betelgeuse, which marks the point of Orion's left shoulder. (From our perspective, that is, assuming we are looking at Orion's ventral surface. He would call it his right shoulder.) I showed them both to my son last night.

Here's a question that probably belongs somewhere else, but here goes: If mirrors switch left and right, why don't they switch up and down, even if you're lying on your side in front of them?

[LukeJavan8]

And opposite from Betelgeuese is Rigel in Orion.
I love following the "Winter Hexagon":
Rigel, Sirius, Procyon, Pollux/Castor, Capella,Aldebaran.http://souledout.org/nightsky/winterhex ... xagon.html

unfortunately we've been cloudy for months now.