Posted: Mon Jul 31, 2006 9:52 pm
I do like the IOTM contest but to be honest, I just don't have enough time to devote to putting together entries for it. I do like to see others entries and hope it can continue.
So, what's on your mind?
http://www.bundysoft.com/phpBB2/
dEaThMaStEr wrote:Well, mines in finally. Hope ya like it
I do like the IOTM contest but to be honest, I just don't have enough time to devote to putting together entries for it.
Anyway, I must admit I'm a little surprised the community have contributed so few images this month (kudos to Ch3rokee). Are we likely to receive any more next month, or should we drop the concept? It's not really a competition when there's only one entry.
DeathTwister wrote:What was that by the way? a huge solar flare or just us getting closer to the sun with the new rotation we now have since the Tsunami we had 2 years ago when it caused a 3 % shift in our rotation, which I new when it happened but the powers that be are finally admitting to around the world in the last few weeks.
I probably shouldn't rise to the bait, but here goes:
Earthquakes and tsunamis can’t change our orbit. They change neither the total mass nor the linear velocity of the planet, thus by Kepler's laws the orbit does not change (~2nd year undergraduate physics). They do, however, change the mass distribution, hence the moment of inertia, and so can change the length of the day. In the case of the 2004 tsunami, the day got longer by about 1 part in 33 billion. Tidal forces from the moon have a greater effect (~1 part in 6 billion, per year).
Anyway, it wasn't a solar flare either. If a solar flare ever dumped that much thermal energy in the lower troposphere (where you and I live), everyone on the surface would have been killed by the ionising radiation. Solar flares are nasty that way.
I believe, in this case, the meteorologists claim you were hit by an unusual weather pattern. [Hey, did someone mention global warming?]