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Astronomy Picture of the Day -- A Picturesque Equinox Sunset
NASA ^ | Sunday, March 20, 2016 | (see photo credit)

Posted on 03/20/2016 4:13:32 AM PDT by SunkenCiv

Explanation: What's that at the end of the road? The Sun. Many towns have roads that run east - west, and on two days each year, the Sun rises and sets right down the middle. Today is one of those days: an equinox. Not only is today a day of equal night (("aequus"-"nox") and day time, but also a day when the sun rises precisely to the east and sets due west. Featured here is a picturesque road in northwest Illinois, USA that runs approximately east -west. The image was taken one year ago today, during the March Equinox of 2 west? Tonight at sunset, with a quick glance, you can actually find out.

Sunday, March 20, 2016

(Excerpt) Read more at 129.164.179.22 ...


TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; astronomy; illinois; science
[Credit and Copyright: Roland Christen]

1 posted on 03/20/2016 4:13:32 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
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To: brytlea; cripplecreek; decimon; disndat; KoRn; Grammy; steelyourfaith; Mmogamer; dayglored; ...
The Big One

2 posted on 03/20/2016 4:16:52 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Here's to the day the forensics people scrape what's left of Putin off the ceiling of his limo.)
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To: SunkenCiv
I can't BEGIN to tell you how many times I have stumbled on a photo and have no camera

BEAUTIFUL shot !

3 posted on 03/20/2016 4:25:38 AM PDT by knarf (I say things that are true ... I have no proof ... but they're true)
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To: SunkenCiv; knarf

Only about 93 million more miles to go on that lonely road to reach the Sun. But if you could get your car to travel at light speed (186,000 miles per second) you can get there as soon as 8 minutes! :)


4 posted on 03/20/2016 4:53:04 AM PDT by ETL (Cruz 2016!! For a better, safer, SANER, America!)
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To: SunkenCiv; knarf

Strange how celestial objects appear much larger near the horizon than when they are high in the sky. Experts say it’s an illusion. Because if you measured the size/width of the Sun or Moon with a precise measuring device when they are low in the sky vs high above, they would have the same apparent diameter. They claim it has something to do with “perspective” —having nearby earth objects (buildings, trees, etc) in the immediate foreground.


5 posted on 03/20/2016 5:12:02 AM PDT by ETL (Cruz 2016!! For a better, safer, SANER, America!)
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To: ETL

Thousands of years from now some historians will wonder about Stonehedge Road and it’s mystical meaning.

To the people of the present it was a big annoyance and they would chant in unison “What fool built this road to point into the setting sun!”


6 posted on 03/20/2016 5:45:54 AM PDT by minnesota_bound
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To: minnesota_bound

But the Sun only sets precisely there twice a year. Any road roughly pointing east-west will have the Sun setting (and rising) directly down it at some point in the year.

During the course of a year the Sun sets (and rises) within a range of about 23 degrees north and south of due east-west. During the spring and fall equinoxes, it rises and sets precisely east and west. The northern most extent (Sun highest in the sky) is summer. Southern most extent (Sun lowest in the sky), winter. I think I got this right.(?)


7 posted on 03/20/2016 6:00:51 AM PDT by ETL (Cruz 2016!! For a better, safer, SANER, America!)
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To: ETL

If you are going to use science to explain things then you are a heretic! : )


8 posted on 03/20/2016 6:06:58 AM PDT by minnesota_bound
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To: ETL

You’re pretty much right, although the north-south deviation you describe varies with the latitude, becoming more pronounced as you approach the poles and less so (zero, in fact) at the equator.

And while the sun only rises and sets exactly on the east-west line twice a year, its variation on any given day is pretty slight. So it may not be directly in your eyes, but it’s pretty close.


9 posted on 03/20/2016 6:12:25 AM PDT by IronJack
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To: ETL
Because if you measured the size/width of the Sun or Moon with a precise measuring device

A paper clip works well.

10 posted on 03/20/2016 6:27:19 AM PDT by dznutz
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To: IronJack

Correct on both. Thanks for clarifying.


11 posted on 03/20/2016 6:30:09 AM PDT by ETL (Cruz 2016!! For a better, safer, SANER, America!)
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To: dznutz

Bizarre coincidence, that at this point in time, both the Sun and Moon appear to have very nearly the same angular diameter: one half of a degree. Meanwhile, the Sun is about 92.5 million miles away. The Moon, only about 240,000.


12 posted on 03/20/2016 6:33:20 AM PDT by ETL (Cruz 2016!! For a better, safer, SANER, America!)
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To: SunkenCiv

How many people will be standing in the road today taking a selfie of themselves, a setting sun, and an approaching Mack truck?


13 posted on 03/20/2016 6:35:29 AM PDT by Larry Lucido
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To: ETL

...they say we are ever so slowly losing the Moon. It is drifting away at the rate of about 2 inches a year. The Moon is very important to life on Earth, as it helps maintain our 23.5-degree rotational axis tilt. Once the Moon drifts far enough away, the Earth will begin to wobble uncontrollably and climate zones will shift dramatically. :0!


14 posted on 03/20/2016 6:42:42 AM PDT by ETL (Cruz 2016!! For a better, safer, SANER, America!)
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