WEDNESDAY, April 11th 2012
news Your outlook on the World
Opinion & Comment n 27
the
“THE NEWS”WANTS TO HEAR YOUR VIEWS Send letters to the editor as part of an e-mail text to editorial@thenewsonline.es
FAMA The winner of FAMA’s Easter Basket was Caroline McVicar, seen here collecting her prize at “Someplace Else” in La Cala. In the picture along with the winner is Craig who is the proprietor, and Pauline who was representing FAMA. The staff and supporters worked hard at successfully
Ken Campbell I’ve just read the letter in today’s The News from someone in Alhaurin el Grande about being disappointed that the world is not going to end in December as they had arranged a family party to celebrate the event! I’m glad that they saw the funny side to it like in the tongue in cheek article I wrote in January. I knew that many
Irene Austin A lady from SOS (Spay Our Strays) on Saturday saw a boxer running and looking very lost on the road to Marbella from Coin. She stopped and thank goodness he came to her. She took him to Anna and he was
Peter Naylor I wonder if anyone else saw the huge fire in Coin on
Stargazing
by email getting all the ballots sold – 100% of what was collected goes to FAMA to help feed and nurse the rescued and abandoned dogs brought into the charity to be looked after.
By Ken Campbell
If you would like to be kept up to date or take part in any of the events then go to www.kencampbell.info
Saturn, the Return of the Rings
We would like to send a big “thank you” to Craig, his staff and all patrons for their great support – from all at FAMA.
by email from the UK people have been told that the world will end on 21st December 2012 as predicted by the Mayans but it’s a load of old rubbish! On the other hand I am starting an insurance policy for people to pay out £1,000,000 if the world does end. For a premium of just 20 euros I guarantee a payout (by cheque) posted on the day of the Apocalypse which can be
cashed at any bank still standing after the end of the world. Seems like a winner to me!
Editor says: Just in case you were wondering, Ken was joking about starting an insurance policy so please don’t send him any money! I’m surprised however that I haven’t heard yet of anyone actually trying a con like this already.
by email chipped. He lived in Tarifa but his owner was on holiday here and the dog had got out. Thank goodness the owner had him chipped and also a good job he had his mobile phone with him. The wonders of microchipping eh!
Editor says: What a lucky dog and owner and, as you say, thank goodness he had bothered to have his dog microchipped so they could trace him quickly. Losing a pet is agony, as we all know, so getting them found efficiently and quickly makes all the difference.
Coin Easter Sunday morning? There was smoke and flames high into the sky and fire engines everywhere. The place where it happened was a wood yard that has been there for years and it took all night to get the fire under control. Well done to our local fire service, and to the guys with the plane who bombed the rest of the building to stop
WANT MORE BUSINESS? If people don’t know you’re open, they won’t call you! For all your ADVERTISING needs in
THE
NEWS
call Geoff 622 050 409
them following suit. Editor says: I too was out walking my dogs when I saw the fire helicopter going over and smoke rising into the sky. Have a look on our local news pages for some photos, before and after the fire. Maderas Menur as was, is no more. The main building is just a shell.
Mail box services Storage rental www.residencia.nu +34 689 24 78 78 Calle Dionisia Redondo 8, Fuengirola
The best time to see the planet Saturn is here. April and May 2012 are when the lord of the rings is easiest to spot and at its brightest.
S
aturn was one of the very first things I ever saw through a neighbour’s telescope when I was about nine years old and I think it was this image that first ignited my interest in astronomy. We have all seen images of Saturn and its rings – no child’s pyjamas are complete without an image of a crescent moon, stars and a planet with rings around it. But nothing will compare to actually looking through a telescope and seeing those rings for yourself.
O
n April 15th, Earth will pass between Saturn and the Sun meaning that Saturn will rise in the east at sunset, it will be at its highest in the south at midnight and will set in the west at dawn. It will be very easy to find as it is very close to a bright star called Spica. Simply follow the natural curve of the handle in the constellation of the Plough or Big Dipper past the star Arcturus and straight on to Saturn and Spica.
O
ur Earth in its smaller, faster orbit around the Sun is gaining on Saturn as we speak. We fly through space at some 67,000 miles per hour, in contrast to Saturn’s 22,000 miles per hour. So naturally there will come a time when Earth passes between Saturn and the Sun. We do this every year, and as we do so we always see Saturn opposite the Sun in our sky. Our passage between Saturn and the Sun is called an opposition of Saturn.
L
ike the Earth, Saturn is also tilted over a little, and so at certain times during its 29½ year orbit around the Sun we occasionally see the rings edge on to us as they were in 2009. And although the rings are huge in diameter stretching over 120,000km from the planet they are only about 20 metres in thickness. So when they are edge on to us they are virtually invisible from Earth. Now however the rings have begun to open up again and are visible even through binoculars.
T
he rings are not solid but instead are made from billions of tiny pieces of rock and ice – probably the result of one of Saturn’s 62 moons being broken up by the immense gravity of the planet. The fragments still continue to orbit around Saturn, forming at least a dozen separate ring systems divided by gaps between them. The largest gap is known
as the Cassini division and is visible from Earth through a moderate sized telescope. The largest of Saturn’s moons is called Titan and is actually bigger than the planet Mercury and is the only moon in the Solar System known to have an atmosphere of its own. But the majority of the other moons are tiny, being less than 50 km in diameter.
S
aturn is the sixth planet out from the Sun and is the second largest in the solar system, only Jupiter is bigger, and like Jupiter, Saturn is also a gas giant being made mainly from hydrogen gas with possibly a tiny metallic core. When you see Saturn through a telescope dark bands can be seen running around the planet east to west. And because it spins so quickly – a day on Saturn is only 10 hours long – it is flattened at the poles and bulges at the equator.
I
f you would like the chance to see Saturn through a telescope then the Mijas Astronomy Society are organising a series of observing nights each Tuesday evening throughout April. Contact Lee Osborne at lopropertymanagement@hotmail.com for further details.
The ISS
W
atch out for the giant International Space Station as it passes directly over southern Spain tonight (Wednesday 11th April) look to the south west at 21.40 and you will see it looking like a very bright star moving quickly across the sky toward the north east. You will have to be quick though as it is travelling at 17,500 mph and takes less than 10 minutes to cross the whole sky.
H
appy Stargazing!