Here’s a book for you:
Privileged Planet.
You can get the DVD at the library as an intro, but read the book.
The “rules” in our universe are such that those conditions necessary for life are also conducive to exploration and discovery of the universe around us.
The “moon size” “coincidence” will blow your mind.
Two weeks from now, on the afternoon of May 20th 2012, the moon will be in its new phase, passing between Earth and the sun.
The result will be a solar eclipse — one that will be visible in a strip of the Western United States, stretching southeastward from the Oregon-California border to Lubbock, Texas.
It should be a spectacular sight, visible from Reno, Albuquerque, Zion National Park and parts of the Grand Canyon — but it won’t be the kind of eclipse you most often see pictured.
Recall that on Saturday the moon, at perigee, will appear 14 percent larger? On May 20, it will seem 14 percent smaller — in other words, not quite enough to block the sun.
The result will be what’s known as an annular eclipse. A blindingly-bright ring of sun (”ring” in Latin is “annulus”) will surround the black disc of the moon.
Privileged Planet bump....
Excellent video!