Originally, the terms "morning star" and "evening star" applied only to the brightest planet of all, Venus. It is far more dazzling than any of the actual stars in the sky and does not appear to twinkle. Instead, it glows with a steady, silvery light. The fact that Venus was a wandering star soon became obvious to ancient skywatchers, who noticed its shifting back and forth from the early hours of the eastern morning sky to the western sky in the early evening. Nicolas Camille Flammarion, a noted French astronomer in the late 19th and early 20th century, referred to Venus as "The Shepherd's Star." I myself like to refer to Venus as the "night light of the sky." So, one can readily understand the origin of the terms evening and "morning star" if we only considered Venus.
Of course, Venus is not the only wandering "star" in the sky; there are four others that are also visible to the unaided eye (five, if you include Uranus, which is barely perceptible without any optical aid on dark, clear nights). The difference is that, with the possible exception of Jupiter and, on rare occasions, Mars, none of the others stands out in the same manner as Venus. Nonetheless, somewhere in the distant past, "morning star" and "evening star" became plural in order to account for the four other planets.
An interesting evening
It is quite understandable to see why the definitions of "morning star" and "evening star" can be confusing. Sometimes, for instance, we might see a bright planet like Jupiter shining brilliantly just above the eastern horizon in the evening. Within an hour or so, it has climbed well up into the eastern sky. "Ah!" you might say, "Jupiter certainly makes for a fine evening star." As the night wears on, Jupiter attains its highest point in the southern sky after midnight, and it will still be visible, sinking in the western sky at dawn. The giant planet is thus ideally situated for observations of its changing cloud bands and four big Galilean moons for much of the night.
The fact that Jupiter is already above the horizon during normal evening hours seemingly should qualify it for "evening star" status. But the distinction between these terms is not very precise, for yet, by the same reasoning, it is still considered strictly a "morning star."
So, in general, when either of these planets has a western elongation from the sun it is a "morning star"; with an eastern elongation it is an "evening star." When they are aligned more-or-less with the sun as seen from our Earthly perspective, they will make the transition from evening to morning or vice versa:
When Mercury or Venus is passing between the sun and Earth, we say they are at inferior conjunction and go from being categorized as "evening stars" to transitioning to "morning stars." When the alignment is such that they appear roughly on a line beyond the far side of the sun as seen from Earth, we then say that they are in superior conjunction; that is when they make the switch from being considered "morning stars" to "evening stars."
An interesting analogy is to consider being a spectator at a motor speedway or racetrack and watching a race between two cars. If we consider for a moment that the two cars represent Mercury and Venus, and that the starting point was on that side of the track closest and directly in front of you (with an imaginary sun at the middle of the track), then that could also be considered as the point of inferior conjunction. As the two cars pull away from you and veer off to the right, they would simulate the changing positions of Mercury and Venus as "morning stars"; they would appear speed away to the right (west) of the sun in the sky, and as such would appear to rise before the sun.
Eventually, the cars would arrive at that point where they would appear to curve around and sweep back to the left. When they reached that point on the far side of the track, but were again directly in front of you, we would consider that to be superior conjunction. Now, the two cars are sweeping around to the left from our perspective, and simulating the changing positions of Mercury and Venus as "evening stars"; they would appear speed away to the left (east) of the sun in the sky, and as such would appear to set after the sun.
Still, as we have already seen, the branding of a morning versus evening object might get a bit confusing, particularly in the few weeks leading up to opposition, when a superior planet is rising only an hour or two after sunset and is already well-placed for observation at a convenient evening hour and yet is still considered a "morning" star. This is particularly true during the wintertime when the sun sets rather early in the evening. If a planet like Mars, does not emerge above the eastern horizon until an hour or two after sunset, it will still be branded as a "morning star" even though it is shining brightly for all to see during convenient prime-time evening hours!
On the race track, our car would always be chasing, overtaking and ultimately leaving the slower cars that are representing the superior planets behind. They would all be positioned on the outside of the track, to our right. And because of this perspective, when a superior planet is on the far side of the track as seen by us (and becomes aligned with the sun), the more rapid motion of our Earth causes the slower planet to appear to drop back toward the sun in our evening sky until it arrives at solar conjunction. Then several weeks later it emerges back into view in the morning sky, rising before sunrise.
Interestingly, when they are passing behind the sun, the inferior planets appear to move from right to left, transitioning from the morning to the evening sky. But for the superior planets, it is just the opposite: They appear to move from left to right when making the transition from the evening into the morning sky.
You always need to first consider what are the things you find interesting. Many people think laughter is the best medicine which is probably why London locals and visitors visit clubs focused on comedy in London to hear some good jokes. Others might want to learn something new so they go to a museum or art gallery. There are those that love spending time outdoors, and for them, there are many evening activities to do in the city.
Consider also if you would like to spend time alone or with friends. An activity by yourself can be going for a walk in the park while an activity with friends can be going out for dinner and drinks. Knowing your preferences will help you choose the best evening activity for you.
There are all sorts of activities that extroverts can enjoy in the evening hours. If you like being around people but also want to be active, consider joining a local sports league or going to a dance class.
Professional and colloquial sleep hygiene guidelines often advise against evening physical activity, despite meta-analyses of laboratory studies concluding that evening exercise does not impair sleep. Now, a new collaborative study conducted by Polar Research Center, in collaboration with Flinders University and University of Helsinki, has investigated for the first time the association between objectively measured evening physical activity and sleep within a real-world big data sample.
To conduct this study, researchers analyzed a total of 153,154 nights from 12,638 individuals aged 18-60 years (M=40.1 SD=10.1; 44.5% female). Nighttime sleep and physical activity minutes were assessed using Polar wearable devices for 14 consecutive days. In 12.4% of the evenings, participants logged thirty minutes or more of moderate-to-near maximal physical activity during the three hours before sleep onset. Physical activity was more frequent on weekdays compared to weekends (13.3% vs 10.2% respectively, p
The results of the present study provide further evidence for the lack of meaningful links between sleep duration or quality and physical activity in the hours preceding sleep. Taken together with recent meta-analytic findings, these findings suggest that changes in public health recommendations are warranted regarding evening physical activity and its relation to sleep.
So the team prepares to play the Blue Jackets who are a very interesting team. The state of Ohio is already a confusing place; not quite Midwest and not quite East Coast. So it should not come as a surprise to anybody that this Blue Jackets team is 3-4 and at times has looked like a team that could compete in the East (beating the Rangers, Predators, and Canucks). Other times the team has been pretty pedestrian (struggling against Carolina, Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh, and Washington).
Even if neither of you are art connoisseurs or history buffs, touring a museum can be a lot of fun, especially as a date idea for a rainy day. Art and historical museums can be educational and surprisingly interesting, but for something even more fun, try to find the quirkiest museum in your area!
Much like cooking dinner together at home, taking a cooking class is a great bonding activity, with a delicious reward waiting for you at its end. Pick a theme together for what type of food and cuisine you want to try, book your space in advance, and get ready for an evening of giggles.
I went to New York City on Thursday and had an interesting talk in the afternoon with a committee of home economics teachers working in the public schools of New York City. They have a summer workshop in which they are discussing school curricula. The home economics teachers feel that every child should have training in this subject in the 7th and 8th grades and one year in high school. They believe this training is valuable to both boys and girls.
In the evening I went over to Brooklyn to a forum in the Girls' Commercial High School, where Mr. Agar, vice president of Freedom House, Dr. Clyde Eagleton, of New York University, and Mr. Clarence Streit spoke. It was an interesting evening and some of the questions at the very end were particularly valuable.
Friday evening was spent going to Saybrook, Conn., to visit my friends, Miss Esther Lape and Miss Elizabeth Read. On my way back on the train, I found myself sitting next to a charming young woman who was on her way to visit her brother in camp. 2ff7e9595c
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