Checking out the neighbor
Aug. 28th, 2003 01:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
magidI went to the MoS Mars extravaganza last night. Unfortunately, I timed it poorly, so when I arrived a little after 7, they were giving out tickets to an 11 pm planetarium show. The rooftop party hadn't started yet, so I walked home, got something to drink, and had some roasted veggies (three trays of roasted veggies, and I still have onions and tomatoes left!).
I went back for the rooftop party, which was more like a queue-ing fest: all I could see when I got up to the roof were lines of people snaking every which way. No way I was going to stand around for ages, so I checked out the view from each side. It was interesting to see things from a completely different angle, not to mention realizing there's a path under a bridge; I'll have to walk that sometime. By the fourth side, I found a very short line for one of the many telescopes astronomy geeks had set up on the roof. Mars was definitely visible without it, but looking through the telescope gave a bit more perspective, a largeish beigeish place. I don't know why it didn't seem red, but it didn't.
I ran into a couple of people from my friends list (*wave*), none of them the ones I thought I might see. If I'd managed to get together with a group, I think I might've been more willing to face the huge line to look at Mars from the observatory. Ah, well. There's always tonight at Harvard, even if our neighbor is a bit farther away, a bit more than the 26? 36? million miles it was at its closest.
The planetarium shows were running late, a bit more than half an hour late. Since the show itself was 20 minutes, I haven't yet figured out how they managed to do that (though one of the people working there mentioned that they'd expected a couple hundred people, not the mobs they got). Anyway. I made it to the last show, quite possibly the latest show they've had in there, and there were plenty of seats. I was able to sit back, put my feet up, and enjoy the glories that a pan galactic acorn launcher can make. There were interesting details about Mars' notable features, and a photo taken just that morning by the Hubble telescope. Very cool. Still, having the full night sky, without pollution, dazzled me most. It reminded me of all the stars I could see from the Cape (though Mars wasn't nearly so visible as it was in this night's sky). Just beautiful. Wish I didn't have to go inside to find the outside...
I went back for the rooftop party, which was more like a queue-ing fest: all I could see when I got up to the roof were lines of people snaking every which way. No way I was going to stand around for ages, so I checked out the view from each side. It was interesting to see things from a completely different angle, not to mention realizing there's a path under a bridge; I'll have to walk that sometime. By the fourth side, I found a very short line for one of the many telescopes astronomy geeks had set up on the roof. Mars was definitely visible without it, but looking through the telescope gave a bit more perspective, a largeish beigeish place. I don't know why it didn't seem red, but it didn't.
I ran into a couple of people from my friends list (*wave*), none of them the ones I thought I might see. If I'd managed to get together with a group, I think I might've been more willing to face the huge line to look at Mars from the observatory. Ah, well. There's always tonight at Harvard, even if our neighbor is a bit farther away, a bit more than the 26? 36? million miles it was at its closest.
The planetarium shows were running late, a bit more than half an hour late. Since the show itself was 20 minutes, I haven't yet figured out how they managed to do that (though one of the people working there mentioned that they'd expected a couple hundred people, not the mobs they got). Anyway. I made it to the last show, quite possibly the latest show they've had in there, and there were plenty of seats. I was able to sit back, put my feet up, and enjoy the glories that a pan galactic acorn launcher can make. There were interesting details about Mars' notable features, and a photo taken just that morning by the Hubble telescope. Very cool. Still, having the full night sky, without pollution, dazzled me most. It reminded me of all the stars I could see from the Cape (though Mars wasn't nearly so visible as it was in this night's sky). Just beautiful. Wish I didn't have to go inside to find the outside...