Echeclus
60558 Echeclus is a centaur located in the outer Solar System named after Echeclus in Greek mythology.
Giant green elephant captivates Moscow park before it heads off to Burning Man art fest. Photo: Michael Tsaturyan
An eight-story-tall artistic representation of an elephant has been inflated and is hovering in one of Moscow's popular parks. The artist behind the sculpture is getting ready to take it to the Burning Man festival in August.
Sun (creativity, creative self-expression) conjunct Echeclus (abstract, conceptual, abstract art, conceptual theories) conjunct G!kun||'homdima (aardvarks, pythons, elephants, antelope, totem meditation) sextile Thereus (object oriented, promotional photos that project an image).
Slonik (the Russian for 'little elephant') is green, inflatable and tall. At 23 meters, it rivals the height of a typical Moscow multi-story apartment building. Posed as though rearing up, with its hooves upraised and trunk pointing straight up, the figure aims to attract attention to the inhumane treatment of elephants in the wild.
This elephant is far from Africa or India and has been on display in Moscow's Kuzminki partk. The artist behind the project, Mikhail Tsaturyan, is aiming at a different audience: he wants to bring the Slonik to Nevada's Black Rock Desert, to take part in the world's most famous annual art event, the Burning Man.
International exhibition by homeless artists showing on K Rd. Photo: Merge Cafe
Homelessness is a growing problem both internationally and in New Zealand. Too many of us assume rough sleepers have little to offer - an exhibition of works by international artists affected by homelessness challenges that assumption.
Sun (creative self-expression, creative potential, creativity) sextile Chiron (healing) conjunct Echeclus (abstract art) semi-sextile Hades (poverty, (homelessness)).
It was cold on Wednesday night - the unseasonably warm weather Auckland had been enjoying this May giving way to rain. Cold nights hit the homeless hard, and many rough sleepers in the CBD could be seen lying under sleeping bags for warmth.
Inside Merge Cafe on K Rd, a different side of homelessness. Artwork by international artists lined the cafe wall. All of them have spent time living on the street.
A reckless overtake caught on dashcam could have resulted in a head on collision with an oil-tanker. Facebook/Jonathon Kerr
Hair-raising dashcam footage of an overtaking manoeuvre by a ute that saw it miss an oncoming petrol tanker by mere metres has been posted online.
Mercury (transport, travel) conjunct Mars (accident proneness). Pluto (recklessness) trine Echeclus (forced decisions under time pressure, close calls).
Footage of the risky driving was captured yesterday along State Highway 7 near the town of Ahaura by Greymouth resident Jonathon Kerr as he returned home as part of a convoy of 4WDs after a weekend off-roading trip.
On a downhill section of State Highway 7 between the towns of Greymouth and Reefton on the South Island's West Coast, a ute overtook three of the vehicles in the convoy in one go.
Shouts of terror can be heard from within Kerr's vehicle as the ute makes the dramatic overtaking move from out of nowhere, just pulling back in front of them with barely a second to spare.
Socrates (In the form of a 9-year-old) shows up in a suburban backyard in Washington.
When he rang the doorbell, Zia hadn't planned to step inside. He was there to pick up his fiancee who was babysitting, but she couldn't leave (the parents were running late) so Zia agreed to hang out for a bit. His fiancee said, 'Let me introduce you to the kids" — the 2-year-old girl, the 7-year-old boy and, most important, squatting, with no shoes on, surrounded by ants on the back patio, the oldest — the 9-year-old — the one he would make world-famous on YouTube.
Echeclus (abstract, conceptual, the mental balance between the abstract and linear logic, conceptual theories) bi-quintile Jupiter (belief system, broad-mindedness) sextile Mean Node (18 sc 22'50" Rx).
This is the boy he now calls 'The Philosopher.'
Nine is what fourth-graders are. You don't expect them to be wise; they're still boys. When the two started talking, there was no hint of what was about to happen, except for the slightly odd introduction. His girlfriend said he 'is interested in cosmology." 'Really?" Zia thought, 'cosmology?" So he leaned in and asked — just to be a badass — 'What do you think about dark matter? Any ideas?"
Discovery
2000 EC98/60558 Echeclus is a centaur, approximately 84 kilometers (52 miles) in diameter, located in the outer Solar System. It was discovered by Spacewatch on March 3, 2000 and initially classified as a minor planet.
Research in 2001 by Rousselot and Petit at the Besancon observatory in France showed no evidence of cometary activity, but in late December 2005 a cometary coma was detected. In early 2006 the Committee on Small Bodies Nomenclature (CSBN) gave it the cometary designation 174P/Echeclus. It next comes to perihelion in April 2015, and is expected to reach about apparent magnitude 16.7 near opposition in September 2015.
60558 Echeclus is only the second comet (after Chiron) that was named as an asteroid, rather than after the name of its discoverer. Chiron is also a centaur; other centaurs are being observed for signs of a cometary coma.
On 30 December 2005, when 13.1 AU from the Sun, a large chunk of Echeclus was observed to break off, causing a great cloud of dust. Astronomers have speculated this could have been caused by an impact or by an explosive release of volatile substances.
