A Slightly Different Riddle
Comments(52)
UPDATE: SOLVED at 1:56 pm CDT, by Nick
We have some smart people out there reading the blog, so I decided to mix things up a little bit this week, and see if I could make you think. The answer to today’s riddle will not be an object. It will be an event. We’re operating under the same rules: This deals with astronomy; it’s something with which you are familiar; it’s something you grew up knowing.
I think I’ll make you work a little this week.
Image shamelessly lifted from Space.Com
This event occurred within recent history.
It was known globally while it was happening.
It has happened before.
It will happen again.
Image: National Archives circa 1938-1945, ID 195876
It left traces behind.
It is at the top of the heap for its type of event within recorded history.
After it occurred, there was no evidence of this event in space (this is not a contradiction).
The depiction of this event occurring at any time makes for a thrilling plot line.
STS112 EVA Image: NASA
Your final clue, just to save us all time: The event in question is NOT an asteroid strike.
Hmmmm. Any guesses? Come on out and play — I’ll see you in the comments.
Good luck!
Tunguska
retraction, passage of Halley’s Comet
Rob – HA! Good guesses, but not the event of today’s riddle.
SN 185
War of the Worlds broadcast.
I loved the WOW broadcast! Not it though.
Rob – Nope… “… left traces behind…”
Nick – SN185? That’s a supernova that happened in the year 185 AD. You’re on the right track as far as thinking about something big happening, but 185 AD is too old for “living memory”.
Maybe I should clarify that statement: It just means that it would have happened withing a reasonable human lifespan time difference. Something, oh, say 200 years ago is not within living memory… but something 100 – 150 years ago is. There’s no real set limit on it… I think I’ll take that clue down. It’s confusing.
Sorry, just testing something.
You go ahead and jump in anytime! Rob’s going to have me surrounded pretty soon… I may need back-up!
The 1989 geomagnetic storm?
Ohhhh, Mira! You’re getting close!
Shoemaker-Levy?
Nick – No, but that was quite an event, wasn’t it?
Solar eclipse of June 30 1973.
Rob – No, but I would say you’re in the right neighborhood for events.
NOTICE: I’m taking the clue “in living memory” down and replacing it with “in recent history”. That should clarify it more, since the term “living memory” doesn’t really have a definite meaning… it’s too ambiguous.
How about Hale Bopp
Was it Mere Satalite crashing to Earth
Trudy – Very good guess, but not the answer. It fits the first set of clues, the “general” ones, but it gets tossed out in the second set of clues, the “narrow-it-down” set.
Never mind..Those are both Objects..lol
Trudy – Satellite guess: “…happened before… will happen again…” Sorry, but you’re definitely narrowing the field.
Trudy – Yes, they ARE both objects, but they also “happened”. They just didn’t “happen” within the parameters of the clues!
Rob? Did you vapor-lock?
Umm How about the 1st ever seen pictures of the The aurora borealis
I know I am gasping at thin air..LOL
Actually, Trudy, you’re grasping in an area very close to where you will find the answer.
THIS IS ANOTHER CLUE, GUYS!!!
How about Possible sunspots that causes power outages across the globe ? I am not sure if 1 year is greater then another but it does run on an eleven year cycle right ?
Oh, I am going crazy here….
Oh, Trudy, you are SO in the right neighborhood! Keep thinking…
My little brain can only work so hard..LOL
Possible plants allignment
No, you just left the neighborhood.
LOL well I am playing in the backyard I think
will 1859 be too far back?
Yeah go back!
No, Nick, 1859 WOULD BE A REALLY GOOD PLACE TO LOOK
lol, then maybe it’s that solar storm
The ice age
And it’s called…..
I’ll give it to Nick – It’s sometimes called the “Solar Storm of 1859″…. it’s the Carrington Event, guys, the most powerful event of its kind in recorded history.
exactly!
a Cosmic Winter
Okay, Nick. You really had to work for that one. What would you like me to write about?
I was sooooo close,lol I even suprised myself
Great job again Marian
wtg Nick
well, since Trudy mentioned it, i’ve always been fascinated by aurora borealis (i don’t know if they have plural form heh), so i would like to know a bit more about them.
Trudy, you were so close it was unreal! You had the right idea, you just needed to think about the sun a little more.
Nick, you got it! I’ll have a post just for you Monday.
i’m kinda feeling guilty i stole that answer from Trudy lol
She was so close it singed her hair!
LOL no problem I got busy trying to put the fire out on my singed hair..
YAWN… hm? What now?
Without reading the clues closely enough, I was prepared to guess the Transit of Venus for this one. In fact, I was so sure I was correct that I nobly abstained from entering the contest because I already won one of these things recently and I wanted to give Trudy a chance to win one. (Go, Trudy! I’m rootin’ for ya!) So much for good intentions… it didn’t matter because I was hopelessly wrong anyway…