A Bunch of Grapes

"The Sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent upon it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do."

- Galileo

Today in Astronomy

Giovanni Domenico Cassini died on this day in 1712 in Paris. He was an Italian mathematician, astronomer, engineer, and astrologer. Cassini, also known as Giandomenico Cassini, was born on June 8, 1625 in Perinaldo, near Sanremo, at that time in the Republic of Genoa.

Cassini was an astronomer at the Panzano Observatory, from 1648 to 1669. He was a professor of astronomy at the University of Bologna and became, in 1671, director of the Paris Observatory. He thoroughly adopted his new country, to the extent that he became interchangeably known as Jean-Dominique Cassini —although that is also the name of his great-grand-son.

Along with Robert Hooke, Cassini is given credit for the discovery of the Great Red Spot on Jupiter (ca. 1665). Cassini was the first to observe four of Saturn's moons, which he called Sidera Lodoicea; he also discovered the Cassini Division (1675). Around 1690, Cassini was the first to observe differential rotation within Jupiter's atmosphere.

In 1672 he sent his colleague Jean Richer to Cayenne, French Guiana, while he himself stayed in Paris. The two made simultaneous observations of Mars and thus found its parallax to determine its distance, thus measuring for the first time the true dimensions of the solar system.

Cassini was the first to make successful measurements of longitude by the method suggested by Galileo, using eclipses of the satellites of Jupiter as a clock.

Named after Cassini

• Cassini-Huygens Mission to Saturn
• The Cassini Division in Saturn's rings
• Cassini Regio, dark area on Iapetus
• Cassini crater on Mars
• Cassini crater on the Moon
• Cassini's Laws
• 24101 Cassini, an asteroid
• Cassini's identity for Fibonacci numbers
• Cassini oval
• Cassini Web Server

For more information visit the Astronomy Compendium.

The Moon became Mind, and Entered the Heart.

Atman, the Creator, made Fire, Wind, Sun, Moon, and other divinities.

They said to him: ‘Find out for us an abode wherein we may be established and may eat food.’ He led up a bull to them. They said: ‘Verily, this is not sufficient for us.’ He led up a horse to them. They said: ‘Verily, this is not sufficient for us.’ He led up a person to them. They said: ‘Oh! well done!’—Verily, a person is a thing well done.— He said to them: ‘Enter into your respective abodes.’

Fire became speech, and entered the mouth.

Wind became breath, and entered the nostrils.

The Sun became sight, and entered the eyes.

The Moon became mind, and entered the heart.

The Moon: Myth and Image

By Jules Cashford, p. 118

Hindu myth circa eighth to sixth century BCE.

Irish Blessing

“May you have warm words on a cold evening, a full moon on a dark night and a smooth road all the way to your door.”

- Irish Blessing

A&E Entertainment Presents...

The Annual Parkway Square-Dance
and Pig-Holler Hoe-Down!

Here we have the M.C. and his beautiful co-host, Sweetie!
This is a couple that likes both kinds of music - Country and Western.

The crowd get excited waiting for the festivities to begin...

The couples prepare for the grueling competition.

And the show begins!!


And it's at this point that things begin to go sadly awry...







The performances just weren't up to last years' standards.




The crowd turns hostile...





People begin leave...






And let's not even mention the pig holler...




Yet, despite all this, the day was not a complete loss.

The food, the games and the friendship was top notch!!

If you want to see more highlights -

and instructions on how to wear a hat properly -



Step on over to Lunar Mark's Picasa Web Albums.

The Day

“The day, water, sun, moon, night - I do not have to purchase
these things with money.”

- Titus Maccius Plautus

LVAAS Star Party - September 6, 2008

The Lehigh Valley Amateur Astronomical Society - LVAAS - is holding its monthly Star Party on Saturday, September 6, 2008. 

This event is free and open to the public. If you would like to learn more about the night sky or take a look through a telescope, please join us!

7 pm: Feature Program - “A Trip to the Moon ”

Club member Mark Tillotson will take us on a journey to our nearest neighbor, the Moon.  You will explore craters that are visible from Earth and see stunning new images of Tycho, taken by the Japanese lunar probe Selene. Learn about Tycho’s fascinating system of rays and the size of some of the incredible impact craters.

8 pm and again at 9 pm: Planetarium Show of the Night Sky

Assistant planetarium director Peter Detterliner will guide us through the September night sky this month. Please note: Planetarium seating is limited. Because the dome is lowered, visitors
must be seated under the dome to see the planetarium show.

7 pm – 10 pm: Telescope viewing of the Night Sky

Weather permitting, our observatory telescopes, plus individual club member telescopes, will be available for you to look through at various night sky objects. Feel free to ask questions about the objects you see or the telescopes you are looking through.

You can learn more about LVAAS and the Star Party at www.lvaas.net.