A1news

Really fascinating Universe!!!

2008-01-31T23:17:00.000-08:00

Hi I certainly thought this was enlightening. Beyond our sun .... It's a big universe..

I certainly thought this was enlightening. Beyond our sun .... It's a big universe.
Antares (α Scorpii / Alpha Scorpii) is the brightest star in the constellation Scorpius and the sixteenth brightest star in the nighttime sky (sometimes listed as fifteenth brightest, if the two brighter components of the Capella quadruple star system are counted as one star). Along with Aldebaran, Spica, and Regulus it is one of the four brightest stars near the ecliptic. The similarly colored Aldebaran lies almost directly opposite Antares in the Zodiac
Antares' name derives from the Greek Αντάρης, meaning "(holds) against Ares (Mars)", due to the similarity of its reddish hue to the appearance of the planet Mars. Its distinctive coloration has made the star an object of interest to many societies throughout history. According to ancient Arab tradition, Antares is the warrior-poet Antar's star. Many of the old Egyptian temples are oriented so that the light of Antares plays a role in the ceremonies performed there. Antares was also known as Satevis in ancient Persia and was one of the four "royal stars" of the Persians around 3000 BC^{[citation needed]}. It was also known as Jyeshtha in ancient India. In the religion of Stregheria, Antares is a fallen angel and quarter guardian of the western gate. In astrology Antares is one of the Behenian fixed stars and has the symbol .^[2]

Antares is a class M supergiant star, with a diameter of approximately 700 times that of the sun; if it were placed in the centre of our solar system, its outer surface would lie between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Antares is approximately 600 light years from our solar system. Its visual luminosity is about 10,000 times that of the Sun, but because the star radiates a considerable part of its energy in the infrared part of the spectrum, the bolometric luminosity equals roughly 65,000 times that of the Sun. The mass of the star is calculated to be 15 to 18 solar masses.^[3] Its large size and relatively small mass give Antares a very low average density.

The best time to view Antares is on or around May 31 of each year, when the star is at "opposition" to the Sun. At this time, Antares rises at dusk and sets at dawn, and is thus in view all night (depending on your position on Earth). For approximately two to three weeks on either side of November 30, Antares is not visible at all, being lost in the Sun's glare; this period of invisibility is longer in the Northern Hemisphere than in the Southern Hemisphere, since the star's declination is significantly south of the celestial equator.

Antares is the 15th brightest star in the sky. It is more than 1000 light years away.
Now how big are you? Ha Ha

World's Biggest Gold Coin Registered in Guinness Book of Records

2007-10-23T05:09:00.000-07:00

The Royal Canadian Mint was highly appreciated in the Guinness Book of Records for its innovative approach towards producing coinage products. The RCM created a 100-kg (220lb) bullion coin, being made of 99.999 percent pure gold, which was registered in the Guinness Book of Records. Coin's face value is $1 million.
Not only has the price of the coin surprised but its parameters as well.
The coin was huge enough to bust the Guinness World Record as the largest gold coin ever created.
"This recognition is a wonderful endorsement of the incomparable skill and imagination of the people who work at the Royal Canadian Mint. The Mint has long been recognized as one of the most innovative in the world and the Guinness World Record is further evidence of this fact" outlined off the record Ian E. Bennett, the President and CEO of the Royal Canadian Mint.
The coin is definitely amazing, but what is more important is its $1 million face value, which is really small if compared to the true value of gold content of the bullion coin.
On October 18, the price of the gold spot closed at a price of $764.15 per ounce. Considering the weight of the gold coin, which is 3,215 troy (troy ounce = 31,103 grams) the real value of the coins, according to calculations, in fact is $2,456, 742.
It is worth noting that the Royal Canadian Mint has produced five of such coins.

Indian housewives suffer 4+ years of torture on average

2007-10-23T04:56:00.000-07:00

NEW DELHI: Women victims of domestic violence endure torture and abuse for an average 4.2 years before filing a complaint with the police. An overwhelming 78% of such victims say they faced physically aggressive behaviour in front of in-laws, children and in public. About 60% took support from their children after facing violent behaviour. Nearly 17% said that children became human shields to protect them.

And only 23% women found their parents supportive after being thrown out by their husbands or their families. These disturbing facts came to light in a five-year study conducted between 2002 and 2007 on 1,805 victims who came to Delhi Police’s Crime Against Women Cell for help and were referred for counselling to a team of clinical psychologists from the NGO Swanchetan.

On an average, the counselling lasted an hour with about three sessions per couple.

Psychologists concluded that 1,531 of the women faced constant domestic abuse while 274 cases were overstated. "The situation could be much worse in north India’s smaller towns where police often treat domestic violence as a family matter, where the social dice is loaded against women lodging a protest and where support services such as short-stay homes or women’s organisations are either rare or absent," says Ranjana Kumari, director, Centre for Social Research. The study shows that dowry remains a major reason for marital discord and often leads to violence. A huge 54% of the victims said that the dowry demands began with sudden violence.