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S1mplevV

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  1. Hundreds of Bay Area folks - both stay-up-laters and early risers - watched a colorful total eclipse of the moon before dawn Tuesday as foggy skies cleared and the moon’s bright white surface slowly turned to coppery red and brown. The eclipse was on full display even in parts of San Francisco - along Market Street and in the Mission, for example - but fog over the Sunset and the outer Richmond disappointed anyone who had hoped to watch the event. As scheduled, the Earth’s shadow started covering the moon’s face at 1:51 a.m. and the eclipse became total at 2:52 a.m. By 4:22 a.m., the moon emerged from the shadow, and by 5:24 a.m. the show was over. Comments e-mailed to The Chronicle and SFGate.com, its online news site, came from everywhere - some anonymous and some not. This one from “Lianna†was typical: “The Goddess of Fog granted a reprieve for those who crossed the Golden Gate Bridge to see the eclipse - Spectacular.†In Oakland, a crowd of more than 400 enthusiasts watched the event from the deck of the Chabot Space and Science Center, where astronomer Ben Burress explained the phenomenon, guided watchers with binoculars and telescopes, and also showed a simulated version in the center’s Planetarium. Many also joined Chabot astronomy instructor Celeste Burrows on a “midnight eclipse hike†along nearly 3 miles of trails from the center, winding through the Redwood Regional Park and Joaquin Miller Park. “The whole night was exceptional,†said Burress. “The sky was brilliantly clear, and the red colors were brilliant, too, making the moon’s disk appear three-dimensional. Folks brought their bedrolls and sleeping bags and spent the whole night - it was a real party!†Joanne Backman, a Chabot staff member, was just as excited. She joined the throngs who crowded the center’s desk all night. “It was amazing!†she said. “The moon put on the most spectacular performance possible, with colors that went from pinks to yellows to orange to every other warm shade.†And in San Francisco Daniel Kopyc, a software engineer, was out near the corner of Church and Market streets with his digital camera, and caught the full eclipse through the branches of palm trees and illuminated Muni railway signs. “I always like to look at the moon,†Kopyc said, “and I kept telling folks who were passing by to look up. †‘Do you see what’s happening,’ I’d say, and some of the people - I don’t know what they were thinking - but they just didn’t seem to want to bother. But a lot of others did look up, and they’d say, ‘Oh wow! Look at that! Hey that’s cool, great!’ †Kopyc posted his images on the web at: http://www.themyspacer.com and said he would buy a better camera before the moon is eclipsed by the Earth’s shadow again. The next total lunar eclipse is due for West Coast viewing Feb. 20, at 7:01 a.m. Pacific time, according to NASA eclipse guru Fred Espenak. || http://www.kingresume.com/employment_links/ ||
  2. Two Chinese brothers who tunneled their way out of a coal mine collapse after being trapped for nearly six days survived by eating coal and drinking urine, a local newspaper reported on Tuesday. Brothers Meng Xianchen and Meng Xianyou became trapped while working at an illegal mine in Beijing's Fangshan District late on Saturday, August 18, the latest in a series of disasters to strike the world's deadliest coal mining industry. Two days later, rescue efforts were called off and relatives began burning "ghost money" at the entrance of the mine for the dearly departed. "At first there was no feeling, but then I was so hungry I couldn't crawl any more," Xianchen told the Beijing News. "I got so hungry, I ate a piece of coal, and I thought it quite fragrant. "Actually, coal is bitter and unsmooth but you can chew up pieces the size of a finger. In the mine, we picked up two discarded water bottles, and drank our urine. You can only take small sips, and when you've finished, you just want to cry." He said because they were eating coal, and were in the mine for nearly six days, they did not defecate. "We were only able to do that the day before yesterday in hospital. It was full of coal." Both said they would not go back into mining. But their younger brother, Meng Xianjun, who has a decade of experience in the mines, cut in to the interview to add: "I'll still do it." Chinese mine owners regularly flout safety regulations to meet insatiable demand for a fuel powering the country's booming economy. A gas explosion in an Inner Mongolian mine that was operating illegally killed seven people on Saturday, as officials began handing compensation to families of 181 miners trapped and presumed dead after a flood last week in eastern China. But in a second miraculous rescue, four builders trapped more than a week ago inside a collapsed tunnel at a hydropower project in the southwestern province of Yunnan were pulled out alive early on Tuesday, Xinhua news agency reported. Rescuers in Yunnan's Yingjiang County dug an extra passage to reach the workers and used a ventilation pipe to carry food and drinking water to the four, who were being treated in a local hospital following their rescue || http://www.kingresume.com/employment_links/ ||
  3. Quick Heads Up For Tomorrow Morning, Aug. 28 Second total lunar eclipse of 2007. Those living in the Western Hemisphere and eastern Asia will be able to partake in at least some of this sky show. The very best viewing region for viewing this eclipse will fall across the Pacific Rim, including the West Coast of the United States and Canada, as well as Alaska, Hawaii, New Zealand and eastern Australia. All these places will be able to see the complete eclipse from start to finish. Europeans will miss out on the entire show, as the Moon will be below the horizon during their mid and late morning hours. What to look for The eclipse will begin when the Moon enters the faint outer portion, or penumbra, of the Earth's shadow about an hour before it begins moving into the umbra. The penumbra, however, is all but invisible to the eye until the Moon becomes deeply immersed in it. Look for a slight hint of shading or smudginess on the eastern (left) edge of the lunar disk about 40 minutes after the Moon first enters the penumbral shadow. The most obvious part of the eclipse will be when the Moon is passing through the dark umbral shadow of the Earth. On this occasion, the full Moon will track just to the south of the center of the Earth's umbra; deep path almost through the center of the umbra which will result in a total phase lasting an unusually long 1 hour 30 minutes (the maximum possible is 1 hour 47 minutes). Because some of the sunlight striking our planet is diffused and scattered by our atmosphere, the Earth's shadow is not entirely dark. Enough of this light reaches the Moon to give it a faint orange or reddish glow even when it's totally eclipsed. At greatest eclipse the Moon's southern limb will pass 1,039 mi. (1,672 km.) from the outer edge of the dark shadow. This should produce a relatively dark eclipse, with the Moon glowing a dull coppery color along its lower portion and a deep brown or gray over its upper portion. SPACE.com encourages viewers to estimate the Danjon value - a five-point scale of lunar luminosity ("L") to classify eclipses - at mid-totality. The Moon enters the umbra at 4:51 a.m. EDT (1:51 a.m. PDT). Totality begins at 5:32 EDT (2:52 PDT) and ends after sunrise on the East coast and at 4:22 a.m. PDT. Where you can see it As for the region of visibility for this eclipse, it pretty much is the "flip side" of the last eclipse, in March: Whereas Africa, Europe and western Asia had ringside seats for that late-winter spectacle, this time they are completely out of luck. The timing of the eclipse comes during their late morning and early afternoon hours, with the eclipsed Moon below the horizon. Conversely, almost the entire Pacific Ocean is turned toward the Moon during this August eclipse. In fact, at mid-totality the Moon will appear directly overhead for a spot over the open waters of the Pacific, roughly 1,800 mi. (2,900 km.) south of Hawaii. And whereas, for the March lunar eclipse those near and along the Pacific Rim could catch a brief view at dawn, while the Americas view coincided with moonrise, in August we are presented with the converse of these circumstances. For the eclipse will already be underway at moonrise for Japan and much of Australia on the evening of Aug. 28. The rest of eastern Asia will either have the Moon rise during totality, or will see it as it is exiting the Earth's shadow. But from North America, the eclipse occurs during the early morning hours of Aug. 28. The Canadian Maritimes will miss totality, as the Moon will set in partial eclipse before it begins. Across the eastern third of the United States, moonset arrives in the midst of the total phase. So, less than six months after easterners watched the Moon rise during totality, comes the opportunity to be treated to the sight of the Moon setting during totality! However, thanks to advancing morning twilight, plus horizon haze, for those living in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic States it is likely that the dim Moon (some 10,000 times fainter than a normal full Moon) will more-or-less vanish from view near or just after the onset of totality. Over the central states, the Moon will set in partial eclipse, while emerging from the umbra; the farther west, the less of the Moon so covered. An interesting observation for watchers in this zone who have an unobstructed eastern and western horizon is to attempt seeing the partially eclipsed setting Moon and the rising Sun at the same time. The Moon will remain above the horizon for a few minutes after sunup. From the western states, all umbral stages will be visible before moonset affording the best views of totality (in a dark sky) within the contiguous states and more than making up for being completely shut-out of a view of last March's eclipse. And Alaska and Hawaii will see the eclipse happen in the middle of their night. Mid-totality for Anchorage comes at 1:37 a.m. Alaskan Daylight Time and for Honolulu at 12:37 a.m. Hawaii Standard Time. (http://www.kingresume.com/employment_links/archives/34)
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