Comments on: Libration libretto

By: Matt B.

Matt B. — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 21:11:25 +0000

It looks like most of the roll (as opposed to pitch and yaw) here is due to keeping the celestial equator horizontal while the moon travels on the ecliptic. The axis of the terminator does change by about 47 degrees (23.5 x 2). If the video kept the ecliptic horizontal I’d expect much less “steering wheel” action.

By: Messier Tidy Upper

Messier Tidy Upper — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 05:35:13 +0000

Classic. Love it.

Good music, singing and astronomy – always a good combination.

By: wright1

wright1 — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 03:31:16 +0000

Very nice. The cadence and phrasing of the lyrics reminds me of Virginia Lee Burton’s wonderful “Life Story”.

By: Thomas Siefert

Thomas Siefert — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 12:25:36 +0000

In your face, Bizet….

By: Brian

Brian — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 06:51:31 +0000

GregoryInSeattle: Yes indeed, Peter Schickele is Matthew’s father. Check out their podcast’s very cool episode on humor in music: http://scopesmonkeychoir.com/2011/08/smc-40-doppler-fun-humor-in-music/

By: TheVirginian

TheVirginian — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 05:12:25 +0000

You might double-check the spelling of her name. Her website has it “Chinn,” unless my old, tired eyes were misreading it. (Would not be the first time.)

By: Chris

Chris — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 00:31:06 +0000

Now I know how I should teach my class. 70 minute impromptu opera three days a week. I wonder what the student evaluations will be

By: T Ray

T Ray — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 23:53:05 +0000

So, libration is basically Moon-specific parallax?

Anyway, I googled libration and one of the image results caught my eye.
http://phys.org/news203690340.html (ARTEMIS – the first Earth-Moon libration orbiter)

Kidney-shaped orbits around virtual points in space? What the phooey is that? I tense up when I read “If a train leaves the station…” I can’t even imagine the complexity of calculations regarding the planning and maintenance of these orbits. If there’s any doubt about who’s smarter, brain surgeons or rocket scientists, ARTEMIS should dispel all doubt.

I can’t help but think this whole experiment started with two nerds thinking it was impossible and in an effort to better understand the difficulties conquered gravity and inertia. Probably on a bet.

By: GregoryInSeattle

GregoryInSeattle — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 23:22:39 +0000

Matthew Schickele… any relation to Peter Schickele, aka PDQ Bach? Or Peter’s brother David, movie director and also an accomplished musician?

By: Neil Haggath

Neil Haggath — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 22:09:41 +0000

No apostrophe in “orbits”, either!