and excitement in all parts of India. However, the festival is

celebrated in all parts of the country at different time and in different

manner. India is a land of diversities yet with unique culture and

traditions.
Please visit for more detail
http://desidirectory.com/indian-festival-events/

And, if I remember correctly, it’s every 25 hours rather than every 24, isn’ it?

Assume you remember it correctly. Since the earth rotates in the same direction as the Moon orbits the Earth, this would mean that the Moon advances on its orbit equivalent to one hour in one day, as seen from the Earth. Consequently, the Moon would orbit the Earth in 24 days, which would be the time interval between, say, two full moons. This estimate is already pretty close to the observed time interval of about 27 days.
We can make a further refinement by taking into account the orbital motion of the Earth around the Sun, which affects the full moons, because during the full moon the Sun, the Earth and the Moon are aligned along a straight line. We can multiply our estimate by (1+1/12) and end up with 26 days, which is closer still.

This calculation is rather crude (there are more than 12 full moons a year), but seems to support the idea that the tides should occur twice in about 25 hours rather than twice in 24 hours.

Regards
Eric

Your assertion, “The Earth orbits the Sun in an ellipse, remember.”,
is NOT strictly correct, for, the trajectory is much more complex than
that of an ellipse, I believe!

[[Please explain why we have two high tides every (approx) 24 hours. Very many moons ago Isaac Asamov wrote an article about this. After 40 years, I cannot remember his explanation, though, at the time, it made perfect sense. ]]

Gravity works by an inverse square law. The ocean just under the moon is pulled a little more strongly than the Earth under the ocean, and the Earth is pulled a little more strongly than the ocean on the side opposite the Moon, so you get two tidal bulges rather than one. And, if I remember correctly, it’s every 25 hours rather than every 24, isn’ it? Dr. Plait, am I remembering that wrong?

And I didn’t even get any champagne!

MJ

All of us must be bleary-eyed. You wrote “as I write this, it’s already 2007 in Australia”

Indeed. For the still bleary-eyed, at the top of the entry, Phil also said

I don’t usually repost blog entries, but it’s the end of the year, and my post at this time last year took me forever to research and write, and I like it so much I’m gonna just plop it down here to end 2007. Enjoy.

So it was truly 2007 in Australia when he wrote it, a year ago.

A happy, healthy, and productive New Year to all!

MJ, who is still recovering the use of her legs after First Night

Put down the champagne and back slowly away from the computer. You shouldn’t be surfing teh intertubes right now.

You mean 2008.

Happy New year!

Here’s to your health and BA in ’08..!

But what gravitational effect does the collapsing star Dick Clark have on the timing and velocity of that big shiny ball in Times Square?

the lesser stamina

Bummer! I blew the joke: “a lesser stamina” of course, to be supported by any speculations.

That’s what posting under the influence of the new years spirit(s) get you. Oh, btw, Happy New Year!

Can someone help me untangle my hair from this lampshade please?