Sunday, January 4, 2015

Strange Natural Occurrence Today

Today, January 4, Pluto will pass directly behind Jupiter, in relation to Earth. According to British astronomer Patrick Moore, this rare alignment will cause the combined gravitational force of Pluto and Jupiter to exert a stronger tidal pull that will temporarily counteract Earth's gravity. This is expected to happen at exactly 9:47 a.m. PST, which is 12:47 p.m. EST. To experience the phenomenon of partial weightlessness, Moore suggests jumping into the air at exactly 12:47 p.m. If you do this, he predicts, you will experience "a strange floating sensation," because it will take about 3 seconds to land back on the ground instead of the usual 0.2 seconds. Read more about it here.

4 comments:

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    1. Yes, it is. I happened to be standing in my kitchen when the digital clock on the stove hit 12:47. On a lark, I jumped up and can report that the pull of gravity was at that moment as strong as ever.

      Of course, there was always the possibility that this was something that would only happen in California. :-)

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  2. This hoax may be just the PR Pluto needs. A little something about the planet that was... and may be again? http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2014/10/02/pluto-planet-solar-system/16578959/

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