EPOD - a service of USRA

The Earth Science Picture of the Day (EPOD) highlights the diverse processes and phenomena which shape our planet and our lives. EPOD will collect and archive photos, imagery, graphics, and artwork with short explanatory
captions and links exemplifying features within the Earth system. The
community is invited to contribute digital imagery, short captions and
relevant links.


Archive - Star Trails Above Pemaquid Point Lighthouse, Bristol, Maine

August 07, 2021

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Each weekend we present a notable item from our archives. This EPOD
featuring a lighthouse for this weekend's Lighthouse Day was
originally published December 1, 2012.

Photographer: John Stetson
Summary Author: John Stetson
The photo above showing the Pemaquid Point Lighthouse and trails of
overhead stars was captured just before dawn in Bristol, Maine on
October 23, 2012. The camera was facing east. Venus is the
brightest trail, rising from the Gulf of Maine. At the latitude of
the Pemaquid Point Lighthouse, approximately 44 degrees north, all
stars having a declination greater than 46 degrees (stars at the
top left of the photo) would be circumpolar -- they never rise and
set but are above the horizon throughout the year. Said in another way,
at a latitude of 44 degrees any star will be circumpolar if it's less
than 44 degrees from the north celestial pole. At the North
Pole, all of the stars in the sky are circumpolar. Note that the
Tiangong-1 satellite appears as an arc perpendicular to the star
trails above the lighthouse.
* Pemaquid Point Lighthouse, Bristol, Maine Coordinates: 43.8369528,
-69.5060472

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Night Sky Links

* Space Weather Live
* Space Weather Live Forum
* About the Moon
* American Meteor Society
* Arbeitskreises Meteore e.V.
* Global City Lights
* Heavens Above Home Page
* The International Meteor Organization
* Lunar and Planetary Institute
* MoonConnection
* NASA Eclipse Web Page
* Understanding The Moon Phases

-
Earth Science Picture of the Day is a service of the Universities
Space Research Association.

https://epod.usra.edu

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EPOD - a service of USRA

The Earth Science Picture of the Day (EPOD) highlights the diverse processes and phenomena which shape our planet and our lives. EPOD will collect and archive photos, imagery, graphics, and artwork with short explanatory
captions and links exemplifying features within the Earth system. The
community is invited to contribute digital imagery, short captions and
relevant links.


Earth’s Rotation and Revolution

September 08, 2021

Ormefoto - eq sol

Photographer: Orazio Mezzio

Summary Author: Orazio Mezzio

The image above shows a composite photo shot during the vernal
equinox (March 20, 2020) and the summer solstice (June 21, 2021).
The Earth experiences two types of motion, namely rotation and
revolution. Rotation is defined as the spinning motion of an object
about its axis. Earth rotates around its axis once per day,
which causes each day to be 24-hour long. Conversely, revolution is the
motion of an object around another object. In the case of Earth, it
revolves around the Sun once per year, thus producing the 365-day
year.

On the left of the image above, the apparent path of the setting
sun (rotation) is shown on the day of the vernal equinox (revolution).
During the golden hour, the sky fills with warm colors (rotation).
On the right side of the image, the crepuscular rays on the day of
the summer solstice (revolution) are clearly visible. It is the
blue hour and the sun is far enough below the horizon that only the
blue, colder light of the sunset is visible (rotation).

Photo Details: Equinox: Nikon D750; Ob., Nikkor 105mm; Exposure Time:
Sun 14 frames, 1/4000 sec – f/29 – iso 100; Church 2 frames, 1/640 sec
– f/6.3 – iso 100. Photoshop CC. Image Date: March 20, 2020 ; Solstice:
Nikon D750; ob. Signa art 20mm; 1/80 sec. - f/4.5 – iso 100. Image Date
June 21, 2021.
* Sortino, Italy Coordinates: 37.156667, 15.025833

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Sun Links

* NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory
* NASA Solar Eclipse Page
* NOAA Solar Calculator
* The Sun-Earth Connection: Heliophysics
* The Sunspot Cycle
* Solar System Exploration: The Sun
* The Sun Now
* This Week’s Sky

-
Earth Science Picture of the Day is a service of the Universities
Space Research Association.

https://epod.usra.edu

--- up 5 days, 21 hours, 55 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)

EPOD - a service of USRA

The Earth Science Picture of the Day (EPOD) highlights the diverse processes and phenomena which shape our planet and our lives. EPOD will collect and archive photos, imagery, graphics, and artwork with short explanatory
captions and links exemplifying features within the Earth system. The
community is invited to contribute digital imagery, short captions and
relevant links.


Lunar Corona Above the Rocca del Brunelleschi

October 08, 2021

VIcopisano-con-Luna-FINALE

Photographer: Marco Meniero

Summary Author: Marco Meniero; Jim Foster

Featured above is a charming lunar corona as observed above the
Rocca del Brunelleschi in Tuscany, Italy, on the night of July 12,
2021. Coronas consist of two or more concentric, pastel-colored rings.
The central bright area is called the aureole, which has the
appearance of a bluish-white disk that fades to reddish-brown towards
the edge. Note that the aureole is sometimes the only visible portion
of a lunar or solar corona. Diffraction of moonlight by minute
water droplets that compose mid-level clouds is responsible for the
formation of coronas.

The Rocca del Brunelleschi and its renowned tower was commissioned
to the architect Filippo Brunelleschi in 1434 when the village of
Vicopisano, where the tower now stands, was successfully defended
after being besieged for eight months by the Florentines.

Photo details: Eos 1DXMK2 camera; Sigma 105; f/1.4.
* Vicopisano, Tuscany, Italy Coordinates: 43.6991, 10.5831

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Over Ontario, Canada
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Atmospheric Effects Links

* Atmospheric Optics
* Color and Light in Nature
* The Colors of Twillight and Sunset
* Refraction Index
* Image Gallery: Atmospheric Effects
* What is a Rainbow?

-
Earth Science Picture of the Day is a service of the Universities
Space Research Association.

https://epod.usra.edu

--- up 5 weeks, 21 hours, 55 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)

EPOD - a service of USRA

The Earth Science Picture of the Day (EPOD) highlights the diverse processes and phenomena which shape our planet and our lives. EPOD will collect and archive photos, imagery, graphics, and artwork with short explanatory
captions and links exemplifying features within the Earth system. The
community is invited to contribute digital imagery, short captions and
relevant links.


Patterns Created by a Water Strider

November 08, 2021

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Photographer: Bertrand Kulik

Summary Authors: Bertrand Kulik; Jim Foster

The curious wave pattern featured above was made on a small stream by a
water strider, at center. The contrast between light and dark is so
strong here because the photo was snapped in bright sunlight. Thanks to
surface tension, a strider’s (also known as water spiders, or pond
skaters) long, thin legs and micro hairs, over its entire body, enable
it to “ walk” over the water’s surface. Note that where its legs
touch the water, minute depressions are formed on the surface that act
as miniature mirrors.

Can you see the smiley face? Photo taken from l’Evêque, Burgundy,
France on August 29, 2021.

Photo details: Canon EOS 5D Mark III camera; EF100-400 mm;
f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM +1.4x III; ƒ/8.0; 560.0 mm; 1/8000 sec. exposure;
50 ISO.
* l’Evêque, Burgundy, France Coordinates: 47.7201, 3.5473

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Animal Links

* Animal Diversity Web
* ARKive
* BirdLife International
* Bug Guide
* Discover Life
* Integrated Taxonomic Information System
* Microbial Life Resources
Earth Science Picture of the Day is a service of the
-
Universities Space Research Association.

https://epod.usra.edu

--- up 9 weeks, 3 days, 22 hours, 55 minutes
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EPOD - a service of USRA

The Earth Science Picture of the Day (EPOD) highlights the diverse processes and phenomena which shape our planet and our lives. EPOD will collect and archive photos, imagery, graphics, and artwork with short explanatory
captions and links exemplifying features within the Earth system. The
community is invited to contribute digital imagery, short captions and
relevant links.


Shelf Cloud and Squall Line Approaching Syracuse, Italy

December 08, 2021

Squall-line

Photographer: Barbara Pindo

Summary Author: Barbara Pindo; Cadan Cummings

The photo above shows a shelf cloud that formed on the leading side
of a squall line, also known as a Groppo line, near the city of
Syracuse, Italy. This distinct cloud formation was visible over the
city in the afternoon on May 10, 2021 and appeared as a long, narrow
band of strong storms that continually regenerated. Squall-line
formations can at times be 60 to over 180 miles (100 to 300 km) long
and often precede severe weather. These events develop on the
separation line between warm, humid air present on the ground, and
colder, heavier air in the atmosphere that is being pushed by a
cold front. The cold, dry air raises the warm, humid air forming a
series of cumulonimbus clouds parallel to the advancing front.
At the transition of a Groppo Line, there are several weather
conditions that often occur together or in succession. Initially very
strong wind-- just as what was experienced in Syracuse-- develops and
precedes heavy rain or mixed rain/ hail and an ensuing area of lighter
rain from stratiform clouds. Prior to this event, I had not seen
this phenomenon before but luckily I was able to capture it in this
panoramic photo.

Photo details: Canon Eos 1100D; Focal length 18.00 mm; Exposure 1/200
sec; f/3.5; ISO-200. Five photos combined into a single panoramic
photo.
* Syracuse, Sicily, Italy Coordinates: 37.0755, 15.2866

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Cloud Links

* Atmospheric Optics
* The Cloud Appreciation Society
* Cloud Atlas
* Color and Light in Nature

-
Earth Science Picture of the Day is a service of the Universities
Space Research Association.

https://epod.usra.edu

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