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Nov. 21st, 2007 10:29 pmAfter bouncing up and down and squeeing on the third floor balcony outside of ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
posicat's apartment in excitement over the first snow of the year (and thank you so much for the lovely dinner and company Posi, tybis, and moiracoon!), I had to drive home in it. While driving, I found myself noticing a neat visual trick of the falling flakes.
There seems, when you're in your car in the middle of falling snow that's being blown in a given direction by the wind, to be a central vanishing point that all the snow is originating from. When I was sitting at a stop and facing east, and the wind was from the north, the vanishing point seemed to the north as well. Looking north, I could see a central point that all the snow seemed to radiate from as it flew down and around my vehicle. Looking east, out the windshield, I saw only innumerable snowflakes dashing sidelong past the glass.
So it occurred to me that as I start driving, and as my speed increases toward the east, as long as the wind stays steady to the south, this vanishing point should appear to migrate around the car and toward the east. It's exact position should be a function of the current speed of the wind (higher values of which would pull the point toward the north) and the current speed of the car (higher values of which would pull the point toward the east). At a car velocity of 0, snow will appear to move directly north to south (not counting it's change in height of course). As I move eastward, the snow should maintain it's southward movement, but since I'll also be moving eastward through it, it should appear to be coming from the west. In fact, I should be able, assuming the wind and my direction are relatively constant, to predict, as a function of my speed of travel, exactly where the point of origin of the falling snow will appear to be to me, the observer.
Playing with this idea on the way home and watching the location of the vanishing point swing around me as though it were on the tip of the arm of a great clock as I varied my speed seemed like a fantastic idea! After the first time I realized that I could easily slide off the newly slick roads and into a ditch while I stared intently at falling bits of frozen water, I realized that, regretfully, this may be a theory that is better left unverified. Still, fun to think about.
I'm sleepy, and Andrea and I have Thanksgiving with the family tomorrow. I think I'm going to head to bed. Thank you so much, everyone who read and commented on my post regarding my facial recognition problems. It is very much appreciated, and I have a plan of action to try to make things better. Thank you.
posicat's apartment in excitement over the first snow of the year (and thank you so much for the lovely dinner and company Posi, tybis, and moiracoon!), I had to drive home in it. While driving, I found myself noticing a neat visual trick of the falling flakes.There seems, when you're in your car in the middle of falling snow that's being blown in a given direction by the wind, to be a central vanishing point that all the snow is originating from. When I was sitting at a stop and facing east, and the wind was from the north, the vanishing point seemed to the north as well. Looking north, I could see a central point that all the snow seemed to radiate from as it flew down and around my vehicle. Looking east, out the windshield, I saw only innumerable snowflakes dashing sidelong past the glass.
So it occurred to me that as I start driving, and as my speed increases toward the east, as long as the wind stays steady to the south, this vanishing point should appear to migrate around the car and toward the east. It's exact position should be a function of the current speed of the wind (higher values of which would pull the point toward the north) and the current speed of the car (higher values of which would pull the point toward the east). At a car velocity of 0, snow will appear to move directly north to south (not counting it's change in height of course). As I move eastward, the snow should maintain it's southward movement, but since I'll also be moving eastward through it, it should appear to be coming from the west. In fact, I should be able, assuming the wind and my direction are relatively constant, to predict, as a function of my speed of travel, exactly where the point of origin of the falling snow will appear to be to me, the observer.
Playing with this idea on the way home and watching the location of the vanishing point swing around me as though it were on the tip of the arm of a great clock as I varied my speed seemed like a fantastic idea! After the first time I realized that I could easily slide off the newly slick roads and into a ditch while I stared intently at falling bits of frozen water, I realized that, regretfully, this may be a theory that is better left unverified. Still, fun to think about.
I'm sleepy, and Andrea and I have Thanksgiving with the family tomorrow. I think I'm going to head to bed. Thank you so much, everyone who read and commented on my post regarding my facial recognition problems. It is very much appreciated, and I have a plan of action to try to make things better. Thank you.
