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	<title>The Blog of Juan Ivaldi</title>
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	<link>http://skybrain.net</link>
	<description>Essential Astronomy</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Mon, 12 Mar 2012 02:19:10 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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		<title>A Spectacular Pair</title>
		<link>http://skybrain.net/2012/03/11/a-spectacular-pair/</link>
		<comments>http://skybrain.net/2012/03/11/a-spectacular-pair/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Mar 2012 02:19:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Juan Ivaldi</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Solar System]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[conjunction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[planets]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://skybrain.net/?p=81</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In case you are wondering, I am referring to the planets Venus and Jupiter on the 11th through the 15th of March, 2012.   They are absolutely spectacular in the western sky just after the Sun has set. To see them, go outside after sunset but before the sky is fully dark and look up in [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>The 2011 Perseid Meteor Shower: A Great Time to Look Up.</title>
		<link>http://skybrain.net/2011/08/10/the-2011-perseid-meteor-shower-a-great-time-to-look-up/</link>
		<comments>http://skybrain.net/2011/08/10/the-2011-perseid-meteor-shower-a-great-time-to-look-up/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 10 Aug 2011 11:57:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Juan Ivaldi</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Meteors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sharing the Sky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[kids]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[meteors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Perseids]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://skybrain.net/?p=75</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Imagine an impact between the Earth and a tiny rock the size of a grain of sand.  The outcome of such an impact is one of the most exciting sights in the night sky, a shooting star.  The accepted term for a shooting star is a meteor.  When Earth passes through a stream of such [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Family Sky Fun: Fives Ways to have Fun with the Sky</title>
		<link>http://skybrain.net/2011/07/18/family-sky-fun-fives-ways-to-have-fun-with-the-sky/</link>
		<comments>http://skybrain.net/2011/07/18/family-sky-fun-fives-ways-to-have-fun-with-the-sky/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 19 Jul 2011 01:12:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Juan Ivaldi</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Sharing the Sky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[kids]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sky]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://skybrain.net/?p=69</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Children and adults alike repeatedly demonstrate their wonder about the Sun, the Moon, and the stars by asking me a wealth of interesting questions at the public astronomy programs where I volunteer my services as an amateur astronomer and sky guide.  It never ceases to amaze me when I see how naturally inquisitive children are [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>What happened to Pluto?</title>
		<link>http://skybrain.net/2010/01/03/what-happened-to-pluto/</link>
		<comments>http://skybrain.net/2010/01/03/what-happened-to-pluto/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 03 Jan 2010 22:11:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Juan Ivaldi</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Solar System]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kuiper belt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[planets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pluto]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://skybrain.net/?p=44</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Quick answer: It is still out there and continues to orbit the Sun as it has for eons. Pluto is a distant and frozen world orbiting the Sun once every 249 years at an average distance of 3.7 billion miles away. To the best of our knowledge, it continues to be a frigid ball of [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Why do planets orbit in the same direction around the Sun?</title>
		<link>http://skybrain.net/2009/12/03/why-do-planets-orbit-in-the-same-direction-around-the-sun/</link>
		<comments>http://skybrain.net/2009/12/03/why-do-planets-orbit-in-the-same-direction-around-the-sun/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 04 Dec 2009 04:01:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Juan Ivaldi</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Solar System]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nebular hypothesis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[planetesimals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[planets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[solar nebula]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://skybrain.net/?p=37</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Quick answer: The planets all orbit around the Sun in the same direction because they retain the rotation of the original cloud of gas and dust from which they formed. If you had a spaceship and were able to blast off from the North Pole of the Earth and rise a few hundred million miles [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Why do we see phases of the moon?</title>
		<link>http://skybrain.net/2009/11/29/why-do-we-see-phases-of-the-moon/</link>
		<comments>http://skybrain.net/2009/11/29/why-do-we-see-phases-of-the-moon/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov 2009 00:24:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Juan Ivaldi</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Earth and Moon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lunar phase]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[month]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[moon]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://skybrain.net/?p=27</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Quick answer: What we see as the lunar phase is the portion of the Moon which appears illuminated by sunlight.  The angle of illumination changes as the Moon orbits around the Earth, thereby changing the phase. The Moon is about 240 thousand miles away from the Earth.  As the Moon orbits around the Earth, we [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>What causes the seasons?</title>
		<link>http://skybrain.net/2009/11/15/what-causes-the-seasons/</link>
		<comments>http://skybrain.net/2009/11/15/what-causes-the-seasons/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 15 Nov 2009 06:38:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Juan Ivaldi</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Earth and Moon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Earth]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[equinox]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[seasons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[solstice]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://skybrain.net/?p=22</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Quick answer: The seasons occur because of the tilt of the Earth’s axis of rotation. Each year the Earth travels through space orbiting around the Sun.  As it does so we observe the passing of the seasons.  Although the amount of variation in the seasons depends on where we live, the trends are the same. [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Why Do Stars Shine?</title>
		<link>http://skybrain.net/2009/11/05/why-do-stars-shine/</link>
		<comments>http://skybrain.net/2009/11/05/why-do-stars-shine/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:38:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Juan Ivaldi</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Stars]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[photons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[starlight]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://skybrain.net/?p=14</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Quick answer: Stars shine because they are hot. Stars shine because their surface temperatures are very hot.  The temperatures of stars are so high that they defy human comprehension.  The Sun has a surface temperature of about 5,700°C.  Many stars visible to the unaided eye in the night sky are known to have surface temperatures [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
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		<title>Can Earth be struck by a large asteroid or comet?</title>
		<link>http://skybrain.net/2009/11/01/can-earth-be-struck-by-a-large-asteroid-or-comet/</link>
		<comments>http://skybrain.net/2009/11/01/can-earth-be-struck-by-a-large-asteroid-or-comet/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 02 Nov 2009 03:23:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Juan Ivaldi</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Solar System]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[asteroid]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[comet]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Earth]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[impacts]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://skybrain.net/?p=8</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Quick answer:  Yes, this has happened many times over the history of the Earth.  It will happen again but no one knows when.  Fortunately, such big events are extremely rare and unlikely to occur in our lifetimes. Earth is about 4.6 billion years old.  Throughout this enormous stretch of time, Earth has been impacted by [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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