orbit Archives - James Rush Manley

Fri, 15 Jun 2018

Lagrange Points—Orbits to Nowhere

Milky Way in night sky above a lake shore — Without gravity, everything we see here—water, trees, rocks, and stars—would fly apart

Gravity glues our universe together. Without it, neither we nor any life could exist. The Earth spins at just over 1,000 miles per hour at the equator. Without gravity, anything loose on the surface like water, cars, picnic tables, and people would immediately fly off into space. Without gravity, Earth couldn’t keep an atmosphere. As soon as it drifted free from the surface, the fierce solar wind would blast it away. Without gravity the Sun itself would expand, dissipating in a fine, cold mist of dust and gas. read more ...

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Tue, 22 Aug 2017

Shadow Dance of the Eclipses – Handling Light (updated)

Early part of 21 August 2017 solar eclipse — Photo of a projection onto a screen through a telescope of the early part of the 21 Aug 2017 eclipse. Two groups of sunspots are visible—a cluster of three near the center, and a cluster of two near the bottom edge.

Eclipses come in two varieties. The first kind occurs because our moon is the solar system’s odd duck.

For example, it travels a special orbit. Like ballroom choreography that looks simple until close inspection, the Moon only appears to orbit the Earth. In fact, it orbits the Sun. The Earth, 80 times heaver than the Moon, moves steadily on its course about the Sun. But the Moon weaves rhythmically either side of the Earth’s orbit, first outside farther from the Sun, then in front of the Earth, then inside closer to the Sun, and then trailing the Earth. The two dancers interlock gravity arms and sway in 29-day rhythm. read more ...

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Tue, 15 Dec 2015

A Unique Substance

City lights seen from mountain — Our lights pollute the night sky, denying us a clear look at the ‘Big Picture’

Get away! Escape! Man-made lights—suburbs, cities, car lots, malls, stadiums, soccer fields and freeways— invade the sky, stealing the ‘Big Picture.’

Run to the country side. Climb the mountains. Search out a dark field. Look up at night sky.

Imagine two things: first, your feet firmly fastened to Earth. Second, turn it over so ground is up, sky is down. Now hanging from the planet, stop looking at a flat, speckled mat. Instead, peer into the deep vault of heaven. Dive into the sea of stars, each a local neighbor. read more ...

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Fri, 09 Oct 2015

Open Doors & Launch Windows

It started simply enough. Repaint the front door. Flacked varnish revealed bare wood, but closer inspection uncovered serious cracks.

So, no simple mask and paint this time. Instead removed the door and prepared for a major strip and rebuild before painting. And, once the door was off, decided to redo the sidelite styling we never liked. Also should have been simple enough—remove a little siding, shift the window mounting slightly right, recover and paint to match the door’s new finish. Piece of cake. Not exactly. read more ...

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Wed, 23 Sep 2015

Shadow Dance of the Eclipses

Eclipses come in two varieties. The first kind comes because our moon is the solar system’s odd duck.

For example, it travels a special orbit. Like ballroom choreography that looks simple until close inspection, the Moon only appears to orbit the Earth. In fact, it orbits the Sun. The Earth, 80 times heaver than the Moon, moves steadily on its course about the Sun. But the Moon weaves rhythmically either side of the Earth’s orbit, first outside farther from the Sun, then in front of the Earth, then inside closer to the Sun, and then trailing the Earth. The two dancers interlock gravity arms and sway in 29-day rhythm. read more ...

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James Rush Manley – Writer

Tag: orbit

Lagrange Points—Orbits to Nowhere

Shadow Dance of the Eclipses – Handling Light (updated)

A Unique Substance

Open Doors & Launch Windows

Shadow Dance of the Eclipses