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| a cosmic event takes place at Macy's T-day Parade |
Greetings, Gifted Reader!
Excitement is in the air! Literally…
>>Hours after a meteor exploded over Russia and injured more
than 1,000 people and an asteroid passed relatively close to Earth, residents
in California reported seeing an unusual flash of light over the San Francisco
Bay area that left many startled and thrilled.<<
Check it out:
What's your take
on these cosmic events of late? Have they always existed and humans just not
noticed them? If not, then why were certain civilizations like Maya, Hopi and
Dogon of Dahomey hyper-aware of the light shows taking place in our skies?
Below are some
observations from our favorite sky-watcher (and noted author), George Patton.
"This month
Gypsy Stars will take a look at a different type of star that will be gracing
our heavens in 2013. In the night sky beginning early March, we can witness the
first of two Great Comets--Comet PANSTARRS--that should put on a rarely
seen spectacular show. Called 'Broom Stars' by the pre-Christian era
Chinese and Korean astronomers, comets (as unannounced interlopers into the relative
order of the nighttime sky) were both feared and awed as the progenitors and
prognosticators of powerful change. In modern times, we herald these frozen 'dirty snowballs' as a wonderful reminder of the infinite diversity within the
heavens.
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| a different type of star |
While Comet
PANSTARRS promises to display a magnificent tail after rounding the Sun, the
hallmark of Great Comets, it will still pale in comparison to the Great Comet
of 1997--Hale-Bopp, which was not only the longest-lasting, at over eighteen
months in the night sky, but one of the ten brightest ever recorded. Of course,
PANSTARRS will be the warm-up for the expected return of Comet ISON, which
(after rounding the Sun on November 28) should become bright
enough to be one of only five comets visible in daylight. Unlike Comet Elenin,
which was visible only to the Southern Hemisphere, Comet ISON will be visible
at one time or another to the entire world."
A frequent
contributor to Gypsy Stars on Facebook, George Patton claims to have discovered
a periodic return pattern for this comet, which shares an orbital pattern
similar to the Great Comet of 1680; the one which Sir Isaac Newton used to
refine his mathematics of cometary revolutions, which was later proved by the
return of Halley's Comet.
"Comet
ISON should be named after Newton," said George in a recent interview.
"Moreover, if Comet ISON is the first return of Newton's Comet 333 years
later, we have a revolutionary period which we can track through time. So,
looking backward, we also have a bright Sungrazing comet appearing in the fall
in 1347 as in 1680 and 2013. Observers of the day called it Comet Negra and
associated it with the spreading Black Plague of Europe (Bubonic Plague), which
killed 25 million in Europe and 15 million in China. A further 333 years into
antiquity, we find mention of a terrifying comet in 1014 as reported by Ellie
Weisel (famed Nazi-Hunter) in his biography about a famed ancestor entitled Rashi."
"With the revolutionary
period firmly established," continues George, “I began to check the timeline
for reports of a spectacular long-tailed comet. As these were usually linked
with dramatic historical events like the death of kings, they were not hard to
find. I found one in 678 AD, three years earlier than expected (336 years) from
British records. Then, one in 336 AD preceding the death of Roman Emperor
Constantine, seven years early (340 years)."
The trouble,
Mr. Patton notes, is the lax reporting standards of the historians of the day.
"They'll be
like ‘this happened and, oh yeah, there was a comet about that time’ so they
lump it all together," he explains.
But what’s the
real mystery according to George?
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| they have no idea what's about to hit |
"The timeline
called for a comet appearance in 15 AD which was one year after the death of
Augustus Caesar. Now, since the reign of Julius Caesar, Roman rulers were
associated with comets. In fact, Augustus was the head of a comet cult centered
around Caesar's Comet (44 BC), but there was no mention of one until you check
the Chinese records for 5 BC. They reported a bright 'Broom Star' which began in the spring! Thus, adding another dimension to the Star of
Bethlehem story."
Mr. Patton
leaves us with one caveat regarding the reappearance of Long Period Comet
ISON.
"The fact that
the comet's orbit will bring it within 900 thousand miles of the Sun, well
within the Sun's Corona, opens the possibility of a super Carrington Effect
(circa 1859). That is, if the comet explodes when exposed to the extreme heat and gravity,
an electro-magnetic pulse could be released. Now because of the proximity of
the Earth at that time, our satellite network orbiting could be knocked
off-line for months. Some scientists even postulate the possibility of a meteor
shower based on the projected path of within 40 million miles, about the
distance of Earth to Venus. In any event it should be an unforgettable show."
So, the
expectations are high for an once-in-a-lifetime event. Could it fizzle out like
Halley's Comet in 1986 or will it be spectacular enough to rival Comet
Hale-Bopp in 1996-1997? The answer, as always, is in the stars.
"After all," George reminds us, "Comets are the truest ‘Gypsy Stars’."
Until we
meet again in our comet-filled cosmos,
Good luck,
light and love,
Gypsy
Stars
