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.


Effect of Rainfall on Ornamental Flowers

April 26, 2022

Menashe_Picture1_Feb22a

Menashe_Picture2_Feb22a
Photographer: Menashe Davidson

Summary Author: Menashe Davidson

Many researchers, including Charles Darwin, have speculated that
flowers may have evolved certain traits or structures to protect
themselves against the damaging effects of rain, which can wash away
pollen grains and dilute nectar. This finding could explain why many
species in rainy areas either have droopy flowers or close their
petals.

The photos above were taken in my home garden in Rishon Le Zion Israel,
on December 21, 2021, following a stormy day with 2.75 inches (70 mm)
of rainfall. Three ornamentals' flowers, adjacent to each other,
demonstrate different traits regarding their reaction to the rainfall.

At center is a petunia, genus in the family Solanaceae. Without any
structure or trait to protect itself against the heavy rainfall,
significant reproductive damage was caused. We can see that the petals
are considerably withered.

At right is a cyclamen, perennial in the family Primulaceae. With a
flower shape in which the sexual organs are facing the ground, the
pollen is nearly completely protected by the flower structure. At left
is a narcissus, perennial plant of the amaryllis family. Here we
can that temporal bending of the flower stalks changes the orientation
of the flower to protect its sexual organs.

On the collage at bottom, pictures of the same species were taken
4-days later, on the first sunny day after the storm event. I was
astonished by the revival of the petunia plant! A new, gorgeous flower
had just opened. Note that the withered flowers were cut.

As can be observed by their vigor, all of these plants seem to be
positively responding to the increased soil moisture and the sunshine.
* Rishon Le Zion, Israel Coordinates: 31.9730, 34.7925

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Plant Links

* Discover Life
* Tree Encyclopedia
* What are Phytoplankton?
* Encyclopedia of Life - What is a Plant?
* USDA Plants Database
* University of Texas Native Plant Database
* Plants in Motion
* What Tree is It?

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

https://epod.usra.edu

--- up 8 weeks, 1 day, 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.


Trapped in a Spider Web

May 26, 2022

Spider vs. Bee RIP Bee

Photographer: George Seielstad

Summary Author: George Seielstad

A backlit spider web is a thing of symmetry and beauty. However,
it is also a trap, as this unfortunate bee has discovered. Although
only a few micrometers across, the tensile strength of the spider
web is very impressive. As is shown above, only two strands is
sufficiently strong to support the combined weight of the bee and
spider.
The second photo shows a more securely wrapped wasp, who was
subsequently dragged up to the spider's hideout under the eaves of our
garage. The two stages of entrapment spanned 21 minutes.
* Missoula, Montana Coordinates: 46.872, -113.994

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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 12 weeks, 3 days, 20 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.


Sun Plunging into the Mist and Sea

June 24, 2022

Sole e foschia

Photographer: Emanuele Nifosì

Summary Authors: Emanuele Nifosì; Cadan Cummings

Shown above is the setting Sun captured as it passed through a
thick layer of clouds and mist on the horizon. The vibrant hues of
sunset and sunrise are a product of atmospheric scattering. When
the Sun is low to the horizon, the incoming sunlight must pass through
a greater amount of our atmosphere. During these times of the day,
shorter wavelengths of light (violet, blue, green) are more
strongly scattered out of sight compared to the longer wavelength hues
(orange and red). Looking closely at the solar disk, it is also
possible to appreciate, without a filter, the sunspot AR 2976 at 12
o'clock. Always protect your eyes and optics when viewing the Sun.
Photo taken on March 24, 2020, at around 6:19 pm local time.

Photo details: Nikon D700, Skywatcher ED 50, Hyperion 17mm, ISO 1600,
exp 1/400 sec.
* Scicli, Ragusa, Sicily, Italy Coordinates: 36.7932, 14.7070

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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 16 weeks, 6 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.


Water Eruption

July 25, 2022

Eruzione d'acqua 2

Photographer: Emanuele Nifosì

Summary Author: Emanuele Nifosì

Near the village of Sampieri, Italy, there is an approximately
three foot or one-meter diameter natural well along the cliff that
connects to the sea through a canal. This opening is the result of
natural erosion that happened over the past centuries and consists
of two main segments- the first part is on the surface while the other
section is underground. Depending on the meteorological and marine
conditions, which on the day of these photos included wind from the
south-east with gusts of 25-30 miles per hour (40-50 kilometers per
hour) and rough sea, the water column reaches this opening and explodes
upwards to over six and a half feet or two meters in height. Photo
taken on April 2, 2022.
* Sampieri, Ragusa, Sicily, Italy Coordinates: 36.7219, 14.7370

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Hydrology Links

* Current Sea Surface Temperature
* NOAA Ocean Explorer Gallery
* Ocean Color
* What is hydrology?
* Tides and Currents
* Water Resources of the United States
* World Waterfall Database
* The USGS Water Science School
* World Water Database
* The World’s Water
* USGS Surface Water Information Pages

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

https://epod.usra.edu

--- up 21 weeks, 1 day, 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.


Yellow-bellied Sapsucker in North Carolina

August 26, 2022

PattiW_DSC02848 (005)

PattiW_IMG_9459 (005)

Photographer: Patti Weeks

Summary Author: Patti Weeks

The Yellow-bellied sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) is “one of the
most migratory of woodpeckers,” as stated on the audubon.org
website. Thus, this male sapsucker, whose photo I took February 3,
2022, on a sugar maple tree in an eastern North Carolina arboretum,
departed this spring for a breeding ground somewhere in the
northeastern United States, eastern Alaska or Canada. The range of this
sapsucker’s breeding territory has edged even further northward
however, due to global warming. The Yellow-bellied sapsucker’s
winter territory includes the southern and southeastern United States,
Mexico, Central America and the West Indies. Territories of the other
sapsuckers (Red-napped, Red-breasted and Williamson’s) are further west
in the U.S. and Canada.

The sapsucker perches vertically on the tree trunk, propping itself
with its tail, and drills holes in neat rows (as seen in the second
photo on a pecan tree.) It returns to the “ sapwells” to consume
the sap as it oozes (inset is a close-up photo of oozing sapwells on a
sugar maple). The moniker ‘sapsucker’ is misleading, as the bird
actually sips the sap with hairlike structures on its tongue. Up to
1,000 trees and woody plants have been identified as food sources for
Yellow-bellied sapsuckers, but they prefer maple and birch trees.
They also feed on insects, fruit, berries and nuts. Sapsuckers are
considered a “ keystone” species, providing a crucial role in the
health of their surrounding ecological community. Many other
organisms are drawn to the sap, including bees, wasps, butterflies,
squirrels, bats and other types of birds, particularly hummingbirds. In
some areas, as many as 35 bird species have been reported to feed on
the sap and the insects it attracts.

Patti_inset

The elevation of the Yellow-bellied sapsucker’s range can vary from
10,000 ft. (3200 meters) to sea level. The Pitt County Arboretum here
in Greenville, North Carolina is 56 ft (17 m) above sea level. Perhaps
I will see this fella again, when it returns here to its wintering
territory.


Pitt County Arboretum, Greenville, North Carolina Coordinates: 35.6396,
-77.3606

Frozen Sap of a Yellow Birch Tree

Harvesting Maple Syrup


Categories: _AnimalLinks | Animals | Trees & Shrubs |
Permalink |

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Animal Links

* Animal Diversity Web
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* 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 25 weeks, 4 days, 20 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.


Total Lunar Eclipse of May 15/16, 2022

September 26, 2022


LunarEclipseComposite.2022May15-16
Photographer: Howard L. Cohen
Summary Author: Howard L. Cohen
The total lunar eclipse of May 15/16, 2022 was extraordinary as it
was not only visible over most of the Americas but also its duration of
totality lasted about 85 minutes. In addition, the Moon was at perigee
and thus a Supermoon. Unfortunately, cloudy weather occurred over
some areas, including my location in north Florida. In fact, rain,
lightning, and thunder during the early evening delayed me from setting
up my telescope and camera. However, skies started clearing by 9:00
p.m. local time, allowing the first good views during the ongoing
penumbral portion of the eclipse. Though clouds now and then hid
the Moon, I still managed to assemble a number of useful images for
this eclipse composite.
Photo details: APO Refractor telescope; Tele Vue 76 (76 mm); f/6.3;
iOptron, iEQ30 mount; Canon DSLR EOS 5D II camera; variable exposures
times


Gainesville, Florida Coordinates: 29.6516, -82.3248


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Night Sky Links

* Space Weather Live
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* 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

--- up 30 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.


Two Types of Bewildering Sunset Mirages

October 26, 2022


1867A6DD-C0FC-43B5-8AF2-39B74FDA3B46 (1)

8849D44E-E8B3-485F-AC48-17BA9AA29E6D

Photographer: Mila Zinkova

Summary Author: Mila Zinkova

Have you ever seen a sun that just doesn’t want to set? Well, on
September 4, 2022, I did, over the Pacific Ocean near San Francisco. Of
course, the sun set at the time it should have. I was watching
miraged images of the sun and, believe me, this miraged sun was in
no hurry to set. A few times, miraged images of the sun appeared at the
same level they disappeared from a few minutes before, giving an
appearance of the rising, rather than the setting sun. And then, for a
few minutes the miraged sun hardly changed or moved at all. It was as
if the world suddenly stood still. Actually, I was observing a
beautiful Novaya Zemlya sunset mirage. The photo at top is a
screenshot from a video I filmed. Click here to see it.

On the very next day, September 5, 2022, during a heat wave in
California, I filmed another confounding sunset mirage (bottom photo).
Click here to see the video. The atmospheric optics are quite
complex. Because sometimes the density differences of the air are so
great, rays become almost trapped within the air layers. This is
referred to as ducting. It may take some time and large distances
before the rays can escape these layers. Dr. Andrew Young helped
interpret this odd sunset.

"It starts out looking like a fairly typical leaky-duct sunset, with a
moderate amount of wave modulation within the duct ( inversion
layer). But then at the end, you do indeed have a blank strip that
fails to close up; the Sun simply fades away in the extinction
( loss of light in the atmosphere)."

In the video, you'll notice a green-flash bit or two in the early
part of the display, before the Sun dips down into the really thick
part of the extinction.

Dr. Young continues, "As always in these extreme Type B sunsets,
the path length of the rays through the air becomes longer and
longer as the Sun's geometric position goes farther below the
astronomical horizon."

Mirages such as this can be confusing to try to understand, but they're
a joy to behold.


San Francisco, California Coordinates: 37.7749, -122.4194


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Atmospheric Effects Links

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

https://epod.usra.edu

--- up 34 weeks, 2 days, 20 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.


Glacial Striations in Victoria, British Columbia

November 25, 2022


L1005811

Photographer: Joe LaCour

Summary Author: Joe LaCour

Just a few hundred meters southeast and across the street from where
the Coho ferry docks in downtown Victoria, British Columbia,
you can see a great example of the power of the glaciers from a
previous ice age. Some 15,000 years ago, a glacier flowed over what
is now Victoria. The surface of the outcrop shown above was
grooved, scratched, and polished by the cutting action of pebbles
and boulders dragged along like a piece of giant sandpaper frozen to
the bottom a glacier. This fascinating ice age relic might be easy to
miss as the attention of many passers-by is captured by the striking
Legislative Parliament Building (not in photo). Note that the
bronze plaque in the foreground - Glacial Grooves and Striations
- acknowledges Victoria's glacial history.

Photo details: Leica M9 Digital camera; 35mm Summicron lens; f13; 1/60
second exposure; ISO320; processed with DxO PhotoLab.


Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Coordinates: 48.4284, -123.3656


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Geography Links

* Atlapedia Online
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* Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection
* Types of Land
* World Mapper

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

https://epod.usra.edu

--- up 38 weeks, 5 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.


Lunar Occultation of Uranus

December 26, 2022

1Uranus Occultation

20221108

Photographer: Meiying Lee
Summary Author: Meiying Lee

During the total lunar eclipse of November 8, 2022, which was
observed here in Taiwan just after nightfall, a lunar
occultation of Uranus was underway at the same time as the eclipse, as
shown above. This rare celestial treat could only be seen in parts of
Asia and North America and was only visible through binoculars or a
telescope.


Yunlin, Taiwan Coordinates: 23.7092, 120.4313

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

https://epod.usra.edu

--- up 43 weeks, 20 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (21:1/186)