Dzis wieczorem nad Australia ukaze sie niebianski usmiech: Ksiezyc,
Jowisz i Wenus ustawia sie tak, ze utworza emotikon usmiechnietej
twarzy.
A smile that will light up the night sky
Richard Macey December 1, 2008 - 10:55AM
THE world may be facing its worst economic turmoil in decades, but
the heavens are about to smile on Australia.
A rare cosmic alignment tonight will produce a smiling face - or an
emoticon, depending on your generation - high over the country.
If you take a picture of tonight's Smiley Sky, email us with your
images and we will display the best on smh.com.au tomorrow.
From soon after 8pm until just before 11pm the planets Venus and
Jupiter will stare down from the western sky like two brilliant
eyes. Directly below, the crescent moon will form a happy mouth.
"I think it will be very spectacular," Sydney Observatory's
astronomer, Nick Lomb, said. "The three brightest objects in the
night sky will all be in the same patch of the sky."
As the night draws on, Dr Lomb predicted, "the smiley face" - with
Venus playing the left eye and giant Jupiter the right - "will
improve and become a little more compact".
To the superstitious, unusual astronomical apparitions were often
seen as omens. While Dr Lomb said he did not believe in such things,
he noted that Monday's smiling face will appear on the eve of the
next Reserve Bank's meeting at which it will consider interest rates.
"There was an upside-down sad face visible on the morning of April
23, 1998," he recalled. That day's Herald was dominated by news of
conflict on Australia's waterfront, protests against child-care
costs, big rises in bank fees and executions in Rwanda.
Dr Lomb urged people to attempt to photograph tonight's heavenly
show, which will not smile on the US or Europe.
"It should be very easy to take a photograph with a digital camera
and a tripod. Use a one-, two- or three-second exposure and, of
course, no flash."
However the cosmic cheeriness will be a fleeting affair. Another
smiley face will not grin over Australia until the early hours of
July 21, 2036.
Sydney Observatory will stay open for tonight's show, allowing
people to stare back through telescopes and glimpse Jupiter's moons,
Venus's gibbous shape and lunar craters.
For bookings ($15 adults, $10 children), phone 9921 3485.
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