Tuesday, May 19, 2009

TE - Rock me gently, rock me slowly

I can only assume that Andy Kim wasn't thinking about librations when he sang "Rock me gently".

Libration is derived from the Latin, which means scales. There are many types of scales but one of most accurate for weighing is the balance scale. Nowadays, the the balance scale is mostly seen as a blindfolded maiden holding in one hand the "scales of justice"

Although "Justice is blind", there are many examples were cases are miscarried.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Rock me gently, rock me slowly

The gentle rocking back and forth of the moon, over a given time period, is called libration. Even though, the front of the Moon is tidally locked to always face towards Earth, this phenomena allows an observer on Earth to see close to 60% of the lunar surface.

The ancient Greek Deity for the moon was Selene; hence selenology, the study of the geology of the Moon. Whereas her brother, Helios, was the personification of the other celestial body, the Sun.

Since the the second lightest and the second most abundant element in the observable Universe was first discovered using a mass spectrometer on sunlight, it's only fitting that it would have the name Helium.

Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica

Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica