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.


Southern England Solargraph: Solstice to Solstice

December 21, 2022


GregP_2022Solargraph_EPOD
Photographer: Greg Parker

Summary Authors: Greg Parker; Jim Foster

Shown above is a pinhole camera’s view of the path of the Sun,
from solstice to solstice, captured from my location in the
south of England. The resulting trace is called a solargraph. The
topmost bright line here is the Sun's path on the date of the Summer
Solstice (June 21, 2022), and the very lowest bright line is the Sun's
path on date of the Winter Solstice (December 21, 2021). Note that the
dark striping translates to cloudy days -- times my observatories
(bottom of photo) got very little use. Remarkable here, though, is the
wide band of bright lines in late winter -- fine days to be outdoors
during the daytime and to set up my scopes at night. Compare this view
to that from 2015.

Photo details: For the first time since I’ve worked on these
solargraphs, I used color -- Ilford Multigrade IV RC De Luxe 8 x
10-inch photographic paper.


New Forest Observatory, U.K. Coordinates: 50.819444, -1.59


Related EPODs

Southern England Solargraph: Solstice to Solstice Partial Solar
Eclipse of October 25, 2022, Observed over Athens A Year of
Sunspots Sun Plunging into the Mist and Sea Dust Storm Sunset
over Portugal Sun Granules
More...

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 42 weeks, 2 days, 21 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (21:1/186)

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.


Detailed Image of Dragonfly Eye

November 21, 2022


GregP_Dragonfly_eye

Photographer: Greg Parker

Summary Author: Greg Parker

Shown above is a full resolution, microscopic image of a dragonfly’s
eye. The huge compound eyes of dragonflies are composed of up
to 30,000 facets or little lenses. These compound eyes have a dorsal
(upper) region that detects light directly from the sky above, and a
ventral (under) region that collects light reflected off objects on the
ground.

We humans like to think our eyesight is pretty good, and thanks in
large part to our big brains, we have excellent vision. We rely only on
three opsin genes, so we have three photoreceptors (cones),
that are sensitive to blue, green, and red light. It turns out that the
diversity of opsin proteins that animals have in their eyes is related
to the quality of their vision. Dragonflies have between 15 and 33
such opsin genes, which should give some indication of just how well
they can see.

Note that this image looks like it’s been taken with an electron
microscope as it has an enormous depth of focus. However, the
focus-stacking approach I use has a major advantage over electron
microscope images in that the image is reproduced in real color!

Photo details: Both focus-stacking and assembling a mosaic are required
to create an image such as this. I used a Canon 5D MkII DSLR and a
L300BHTG research trinocular microscope, operating at a magnification
of x20.


Hampshire, U.K Coordinates: 50.819444, -1.59


Related EPODs

Detailed Image of Dragonfly Eye Fossil Find in Sangiovannulo,
Sicily Black Widow Spider Morning Dew and Spider Web
Illumination Yellow-bellied Sapsucker in North Carolina
Summertime Fireflies and Star Trails
More...

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 38 weeks, 21 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (21:1/186)

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.


Inferior Mirage of Amerigo Vespucci

October 21, 2022

Miraggio Inferiore amerigo L

Photographer: Marcella Giulia Pace

Summary Author: Marcella Giulia Pace

Shown above is a sailing ship, the Amerigo Vespucci, that was
miraged on the horizon of the Ragusa Coast of Sicily, Italy. This
photo was taken from the seafront of Marina di Ragusa (Sicily) at a
height of about 9 m, and therefore the visible horizon was about 10 km
distant. Thus, the Earth's curvature actually conceals most of the
ship. Layers of warm air, beneath layers of cooler air generated this
inferior mirage, in which the visible parts of the ship are flipped
downward. This “overturning” made the ship's bowsprit appear like a
great, open mouth advancing towards the sea.

Note that the "Amerigo Vespucci", an Italian military school ship,
dates from 1931. Click here to see a video of this mirage. Photo
taken on August 28, 2022.

Photo details: Nikon D750 camera; sigma 150-600mm lens; 1200 focal);
1/640 second exposure; f13; ISO 100.


Marina di Ragusa (Sicily), Italy Coordinates: 36.7834, 14.5520


Recent EPODs

witches_broom_in_cygnus summer_storm_on_the_mediterranean
fossil_find_in_sangiovannulo_sicily
iridescent_clouds_observed_from_tuen_mun_hong_kong
fossil_find_in_sicily_italy dew_drops
-
Earth Science Picture of the Day is a service of the Universities
Space Research Association.

https://epod.usra.edu

--- up 33 weeks, 4 days, 20 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (21:1/186)