-----Original Message----- From: David Grinspoon [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Friday, June 15, 2001 5:55 PM Subject: Roll Your Own Blackout and Watch Mars Rise at its Brightest! Roll Your Own Blackout and Watch Mars Rise at its Brightest! By David Grinspoon You have most likely heard about the "Roll Your Own Blackout" being planned for June 21 as a protest against the Bush administration�s short-sighted energy policies. (If not, see the message appended at the bottom of this note - it has been reverberating around the internet for several weeks.) What you may not know is that this also presents a wonderful opportunity to observe a rare and beautiful natural phenomenon. It just so happens that right now, on our orbit, Earth is passing the planet Mars on the inside lane. On the night of June 21 of this year Mars will be the closest to us (42 million miles) and brightest that it has been in thirteen years! If enough people observe the voluntary blackout (from 7 p.m to 10 p.m. in every time zone), then the extra darkness will have the side benefit of enhancing Mars-viewing from everywhere on Earth. So, turn off the lights and, as darkness comes, look to the Southeast. Watch the bright red disk of Mars rise into the starry, moonless sky. A pair of binoculars or telescope will come in handy, but the naked-eye view should be gorgeous. By midnight, Mars will be high in the southern sky. As you gaze across the depths of space to our near planetary neighbor, consider that the world you are watching is a frigid place of windblown rusty, dust (hence the red color), a world where rivers ran billions of years ago but have long since dried up and frozen over. This is an extreme example of what can happen to a planet because of global climate change, and should remind us of the preciousness of our warm, wet, comfortable planetary home. The Earth�s habitability depends on a climate balance of unknown fragility. Lets not push it! On June 21, lets all turn off the lights and watch Mars rise. (By the way, another peculiar thing about the blackout is that, if enough people participate, the event will be visible from Mars if anyone is watching. This reminds me of early schemes to try to communicate with Martians. In the early 19th century Carl Friedrich Gauss proposed planting vegetation in Siberia in a geometrical shape representing the Pythagorean theorem, to show the Martians that there is intelligent life on Earth. His contemporary Johann Joseph von Littrow suggested cutting a giant circular or square canal in the Sahara, filling it with kerosene and setting it ablaze to signal the Martians. Now we know that, due to the very different climates of Mars and Earth and the geological desolation of Mars, it is unlikely that anyone is there to receive our signals. However, the picture of a rolling blackout passing slowly across the twilight zone of Earth, as it would appear from Mars, is nice to imagine�) Original message follows: ROLL YOUR OWN BLACKOUT THE FIRST DAY OF SUMMER JUNE 21, 2001 THURS EVE, 7-10pm worldwide, all time zones As an alternative to George W. Bush's energy policies and lack of emphasis on efficiency, conservation and alternative fuels, there will be a voluntary rolling blackout on the first day of summer, June 21 at 7pm - 10pm in any time zone (this will roll it across the planet). Its a simple protest and a symbolic act. Turn out your lights from 7pm-10pm on June 21. Unplug whatever you can unplug in your house. Light a candle to the Sungoddess, kiss and tell or not, take a stroll in the dark, invent ghost stories, anything that's not electronic - have fun in the dark. Forward this email as widely as possible, to your government representatives and environmental contacts. -- David Grinspoon Principal Scientist Division of Space Sciences Southwest Research Institute 1050 Walnut St., Suite 429 Boulder, CO 80302 (303) 546-6863 (303) 546-9687 (FAX) [EMAIL PROTECTED] President and Rhythm Guitar Funky Science, Inc. 1836 Blake St., Suite 100A Denver, CO 80202 (303) 292-4853 Phone/FAX [EMAIL PROTECTED] == You are subscribed to the Europa Icepick mailing list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Project information and list (un)subscribe info: http://klx.com/europa/
