| Happy spinning! | 4 comments |
 7 Jan 2010 @ 19:43Don't you feel dizzy? No, that is not only from the after effects of the new year party. Our blue planet has just celebrated the completion of another cycle around this local medium sized star, called the Sun. The planetary population signifies this special occurrence by some typical actions: in Denmark throwing dishes at friends doors, in Spain eating 12 grapes, in Italy and Hungary cooking lentils and in Brazil putting on bright yellow underwear... What all this have to do with completing another full circle around the Sun? Beats me. I guess we just love to think in cycles. Of course it is a good reason to celebrate - as our home planet is still in one piece, it was not blown up by humans, was not hit by a stray asteroid or comet, its magnetic field is still in place - though not very stable. Have you realized, that we are spinning around and around, in many different direction at once, all the time? First of all, Earth is spinning around its axis, very fast (too fast) - many of us would prefer to slow it down a little, so a day would last more like 30-40 hours... Then, Earth is cycling around the Sun, giving a good reason to have a big party and legally explode a large amount of fireworks at midnight once a year. But it goes further. The whole solar system, with the sun in the middle, is spinning around the center of our galaxy called the Milky Way (no, it's not the chocolate bar) on a complicated orbit at a pretty high speed of 217.215 Km/s. The Solar System completes one track around the galaxy each 226 million years, so it is unlikely that we will celebrate a new galactic year's eve nowadays, unless we assign the start of a new cycle as of now. 
Here is some more info about all the different motions the solar system is performing on its way. Finally our galaxy is also spinning around on its course through the space and dark matter of this universe... maybe the whole universe is also spinning, on that subject I have not yet found many references - but there are times when I have a strange feeling... Dizzy yet? Dizzy or not, there is almost no way to get off of this carousel ride! So, we just keep on spinning happily - looks like one can get pretty much used to it. There are some interesting stellar times ahead, as it is just confirmed by official sources that our solar system is just passing through an interstellar cloud consisting of 6000 degree Celsius hot Helium atoms held together by a magnetic field. But don't trouble your mind over all this. The chance of being hit by a sizable asteroid is pretty small, it only happens once in every 100 million years. To end off on a lighter note, I tell you a secret that I heard new years eve, which you can test next new years eve: standing on a table or couch, holding your wealth in your hands and jumping off exactly at midnight, will bring wealth and double whatever you held in your hand. I was holding my cat accidentally, so I can certainly expect some kittens in 2010... HAPPY SPINNING!  |
