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Here are some tips for those grieving for a loved one during holidays
'The Lacuna' is well worth 10-year wait
Feast your eyes on essays from Times food writer
'Twilight' legends alter community
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College student mistaken for deer, shot to death
Browns' roster nearly devoid of consistent players
Review: You've never seen 'Sound of Music' like this
Blogs:
Pets:
Cat-loving chihuahua suckles seven abandoned kittens
The Heldenfiles:
Friday Night Notebook
Patrick McManamon:
For your Saturday entertainment …
Akron Zips:
Hitchens leads Zips in second-half comeback
Tribe Matters:
Seven players added to Tribe’s 40-man roster
Cleveland Browns:
Holmgren expresses interest in Browns position
Kent State Sports:
Kent State blown out in second half, loses to Temple 47-13
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Gameblog: Cavs vs. Philadelphia 76ers
Buckeye Blogging:
OSU – Michigan college football rivals meet in Baghdad
Varsity Letters:
Four area football teams play tonight
All Da King's Men:
Headed For Disaster
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Will Health Care Reform Pass?
Akron Law Café:
Health Care Financing Reform: (68) Democrats Secure 60 Votes for Cloture
See Jane Style:
Vintage Chic
Car Chase:
TIME TO GET YOUR COLLECTOR CARS WINTERIZED
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Silverdome Potentially SOLD!
Ohio Travels with Betty:
George is looking for a Thanksgiving buffet in Akron.
Sound Check:
Steely Dan Plays "The Royal Scam" at E.J. Thomas Hall
HRLite House:
Colloquium at University of Akron
Akron Gamer:
Nintendo's Mario endures even as games come and go
You'll need binoculars for spotting some planets
By David L. Richards
Special to the Beacon Journal
Published on Monday, May 26, 2008
The planet Neptune makes a great appearance — and disappearance — next month.
On June 23, the waning gibbous moon will occult Neptune about 3:48 a.m. The giant gas planet will reappear from behind the moon an hour and a half later, during twilight, about 5:11 a.m. Neptune's brightness, at magnitude 7.9, is a bit beyond the limit of human vision, so you will need at least binoculars to view this rare event.
Mercury, fairly bright at magnitude 1.7, can be seen over the last week of June during morning twilight in the constellation Taurus, on the east-northeast horizon. Again, binoculars will be necessary to spot the planet against the brightening sky.
Venus remains near the sun in June, but reappears in July as an evening planet, and will remain so for the rest of 2008.
Mars continues its journey, moving from Cancer back into Leo. At midnight June 7, Mars passes within 2 degrees of the waxing crescent moon on the west-northwest horizon. Within half an hour, both the moon and Mars will drop below the horizon.
At 2:50 a.m. June 20, Jupiter stands right in the south, 30 degrees above the horizon, within 4 degrees of the waning gibbous moon.
Saturn remains near Regulus in Leo. You still have a few months to catch the ring system before it closes up this winter, and then you'll have to wait until next spring to see the rings as open as they appear right now.
June 21 marks the summer solstice, the longest day and the shortest night of the year. The peak of the Lyrid meteor shower is June 14-16. You may see up to 10 meteors per hour during these nights.
Q&A
Q: I know that the Earth rotates on its axis, and that we also revolve around the sun. Just how fast are we traveling? — S.R., Canton
A: At the equator, the Earth is spinning about 1,040 mph. The earth orbits the sun at 66,600 mph.
Beyond that, the whole solar system travels around the galactic center (once every 225 million years) about 450,000 mph, and the entire Milky Way galaxy is moving (relative to nearby galaxies) at 1,342,262 mph.
Dizzy yet?
Program
The Hoover-Price Planetarium is showing Comet Tales through July 11. Throughout history, comets have been portents of good and bad events, but are mostly just beautiful objects in the night — and sometimes day sky. We'll be looking at some of these old and very new visitors from the far reaches of the solar system.
Presentations are at 1 p.m. Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays. From June 9 through Labor Day, weekday planetarium shows are at 1 p.m. The planetarium is included with admission to the William McKinley Presidential Library & Museum. Call 330-455-7043.
David L. Richards is director of the Hoover-Price Planetarium at the William McKinley Presidential Library and Museum, 800 McKinley Monument Drive N.W., Canton, 44708, http://www.mckinleymuseum.org. He can be reached at 330-455-7043 or e-mail hooverpriceplanetarium@hotmail.com.
The planet Neptune makes a great appearance — and disappearance — next month.
Get the full article here.
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