SEP 29, 2003 - Predictable Astronomical Events is an online treasure trove for anyone with an interest in things celestial. Author Jan Curtis, who apparently abandoned these pages upon his appointment as State Climatologist for Wyoming, is well known for stalking the wild aurora. But somewhere along the line - surprise! - he became an amateur astronomer. And so it was that he fell under a spell not unlike that which holds sway over many an astrologer: "The importance in our ability to explain and therefore predict an outcome of something we are observing is what makes it
beautiful . . . Beauty is one's ability to make sense from all the unpredictable noise we call randomness." Anyone wondering about celestial cycles would do well to start with Curtis' thorough catalog of Predictable Periodic Events, from short term (a day to a decade in length) to long term (over a decade to as much as a Platonic Year). And that's just for starters, as you'll see if you drop in at Predictable Astronomical Events.
