esrosedotblog

DARKEST MOMENT

Today at some time I can't figure out from the Universal Time (let me look on the converter).

YIKES

It was last night

21:20:00 Wednesday December 21, 2011 in America/Los_Angeles.

Anyway.

Here is woman made version of Stonehenge from APOD.

Explanation: Today the Sun stands still at 05:30 UT. Halting its steady march toward southern declinations and begining its annual journey north, the event is known as a solstice. In the northern hemisphere December's solstice marks the astronomical start of winter. And if you're in the Great Basin Desert outside of Lucin, Utah, USA, near solstice dates you can watch the Sun rise and set through Sun Tunnels. A monumental earthwork by artist Nancy Holt, the Sun Tunnels are constructed of four 9 foot diameter cast concrete pipes each 18 feet long. The tunnels are arranged in a wide X to achieve the solstitial sunset and sunrise alignments. In this dramatic snapshot through a Sun Tunnel the Sun is just on the horizon. The cold, cloudy sunset was near the 2010 winter solstice. During daylight hours, holes in the sides of the pipes project spots of sunlight on their interior walls, forming a map of the principal stars in the constellations Draco, Perseus, Columba, and Capricorn. Fans of planet earthworks and celestial landart should note that the Sun Tunnels are about 150 miles by car from Robert Smithson's (Holt's late husband) Spiral Jetty.

Labels: APOD, seasons

FLASH

This is the time of year that we always went to the Caribbean for three weeks. St. Croix.

There we encountered the mysteries of the "green flash".

Hotly contested at the sunset gathering, in our resort, the faithful split from the agnostics and atheists over the question of whether the "flash" existed or not.

We joined the fray and, after a few sunsets, saw the "flash". We were born again.

Many still deny its existence but this posting today from APOD tells the true story.

There is a green, sometimes blue, flash and it is good.

A Green Flash From the Sun

Conditions need to be right to see it. In the photo shown, not the APOD, there are two things that favor the flash. One is that the air is hazy. The other is that the photographer had the luck to snap at just the right instant.

You can go to Google images for photos of the flash and most of them do not show green at all. The finger is slower than the eye.

The other thing about this controversy, particularly in resort settings, is that it provides safe and sane opportunity for argument over drinks.

Beats politics and religion every time.

Labels: APOD, astronomy, astropix

THE BIG GUY

I have written that Orion is the only constellation I know.

That is because the first session of the Astronomy Club had only three kids in it and they folded the group.

But we did see Orion.

I still look at him every morning, now. In the spring he will re-emerge at sunset.

This has more detail to it if you go to the link.

Orion: Head to Toe.

Labels: APOD, astronomy, astropix

ROLLOVER

This is a great photo from APOD.

Teide Sky Trails

I still look at this site every day but most of the photos are of nebulae. Misty, milky swirls. Yawn. I know it is the universe and all but still. Quite boring.

Then every once in awhile they hit one like this and I am astounded by the beauty in the skies.

This, obviously, is not the photo I am referring to. You gotta go to the link and then roll your mouse over the photo.

Labels: APOD

BEIGED OUT

Go here to find

The Average Color of the Universe

Labels: APOD

KNOWING FROM A HOLE IN THE GROUND

I was here.

Inside Barringer Meteor Crater

I love the beam of sun on the impact zone.

The photo shown on the site does not do the hole justice. It is huge.

It is a fascinating experience to stand there and take it all in.

There aren't many of these around. Most meteroites are too small and the big ones, well, the really big ones did their job so that there was nothing much left.

This is a nice, neat hole without a cataclysmic result and we can all go look at it.

Here is what it looks like from far above.

Labels: APOD

HAPPY EQUINOX

Today, the Sun crosses the celestial equator heading north at 11:44 UT. Known as an equinox, this astronomical event marks the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere and autumn in the south. It also marks the beginning of Norouz, the Persian (Iranian) new year. Equinox means equal night. With the Sun on the celestial equator, Earth dwellers will experience nearly 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness. Of course, in the north the days will grow longer, the Sun marching higher in the sky as summer approaches. To celebrate the equinox, consider this scenic view of the setting Sun from the island of Naxos in the Aegean Sea. Recorded last June, the well-planned image captures the Portara (big door) in a dramatic silhouette. Measuring about 6 by 3.5 meters, the Portara is the large entrance to the Greek island's ancient, unfinished Temple of Apollo.

Labels: APOD, astropix, nature

CAROUSEL

Go to Today's APOD

Circle Round the Moon

Savor the photo and then link to the panoramic view in the lower right of the text.

You will have to tweak around on the panorama to get it all in but it is fun and informative to do the job. Very nice.

Labels: APOD

UFOs

I have talked about our lenticular clouds before.

Here is a great photo of the things.

Somehow big mountains seem to encourage their production.

Lenticular Clouds Over Washington.

Labels: APOD, weather

SPACE SHIPS

We had never seen lenticular clouds before we moved to the desert.

You need mountains as well as a drying air mass.

They are here quite often and have a remarkably alien look to them.

This APOD shows a giant lenticular.

This is bigger than any I have seen alhough we can get some real "mother ship" masses here.

Labels: APOD

NEW YEARS' MEDITATION

Happy new year!

2009 will be the International Year of Astronomy.

Here is a good start in keeping my head in the air and not looking at my feet.

Click on above for a larger version.

Labels: APOD

EQUALITY

Tomorrow is the winter solstice.

Thank heavens! It is dark and cold enough now. I am ready for a return of the sun.

I usually show Stonehenge or another British henge but here is something different.

This is the Astronomy Picture of the Day or APOD which I follow religiously.

Here is what they say about it.

Tomorrow's solstice marks the southernmost point of the Sun's annual motion through planet Earth's sky and the astronomical beginning of winter in the north. In celebration of the northern winter solstice and the International Year of Astronomy 2009, you can watch a live webcast of the the solstice sunrise from the megalithic tomb of Newgrange, in County Meath, Ireland. Newgrange dates to 5,000 years ago, much older than Stonehenge, but also with accurate alignments to the solstice Sun. In this view from within the burial mound's inner chamber, the first rays of the solstice sunrise are passing through a box constructed above the entrance and shine down an 18 meter long tunnel to illuminate the floor at the foot of a decorated stone. The actual stone itself would have been directly illuminated by the solstice Sun 5,000 years ago. The long time exposure also captures the ghostly figure of a more modern astronomer in motion. To watch the live webcast follow the indicated link below. The webcast is planned to go live at 0830 coordinated Universal Time (for example, at 3:30am Eastern Time in the US) tomorrow, Sunday, the 21st.

Webcast of the solstice sunrise from Newgrange.

Labels: APOD

ORION IS EVERYWHERE

I see my one and only constellation in this great APOD photo

He in Turkey these days.

I wondered.

He has left our morning skies and is just here in evening.

I wondered where he was spending his days.

Labels: APOD, astropix

PANORAMIC

I look at the APOD every day. Usually it is a bunch of galaxies and stuff all colorized which I don't much appreciate somehow. Not too close to home.

But everyonce in awhile they get something that hits me right across the brow. I look and look.

Maybe you would like to take a look too.

Yes. You have to scroll horizontally.

It is not unusual to have the sun setting and the moon rising at the same time. Or visa versa!

I remember being in one of our first desert trips to Death Valley. I got up and saw the two at once. A big fat moon going "down" and the sun coming "up".

I got John up to see it.

We were alone in the desert outside the Furnace Creek Inn area.

I think that it is the setting that does it to me.

Here in the APOD we see anything but a desert. Still, it is riveting.

Labels: APOD, astropix, internet

THREE IN ONE

Comet Between Fireworks and Lightning

Labels: APOD

WHO DO?

We loved Bryce Canyon. And it snowed the days that we were there. White on red.

Here is a great picture of another kind of Bryce scene.

Hoodoo Sky

Labels: APOD

AMAZING PHOTO

The first image ever of a spacecraft descending to the surface of another planet.

The Phoenix is terrific too. Feet the size of dinner plates.

Phoenix at Mars

Labels: APOD

MARSY PAN

This is a great film of the Mars Landscape.

Flying over the Columbia Hills

Labels: APOD

MOON 'N MARS

I got John up to see the sky this morning about 5AM.

In case you missed it, here is the view.

This is not my photo. I found it at APOD.

Moon and Mars Tonight

We had to see it just before it went behind our mountains.

Labels: APOD

WOBBLE

I have been long fascinated by the analemma effect which affects the location of the sun on rising and setting.

It accounts for the sudden changes in rise and set time as well. Uneven incremental changes.

Movie: Analemma Over New Jersey

I had seen photos of this phenomenon before but never a time lapse movie.

Watch the seasonal change on the ground.

Labels: APOD, nature