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.


Moondogs and Paraselenic Arc

March 24, 2022


MatthewC_moon-photo (003)

Photographer: Matthew Chin
Summary Author: Matthew Chin; Jim Foster
The photo above show the evening sky and the Moon as viewed from Yuen
Long, Hong Kong on December 17, 2021. Faintly colored arcs in the
vicinity of the Moon are annotated. Though it’s not unusual to be able
to see a 22-degree lunar halo, observing moondogs (on both
sides of the Moon) and the paraselenic circle is much more
challenging. The Moon must be bright, near the full phase, in order
to detect these dim arcs. Note that the paraselenic arc passes
through the center of the lunar disk and circles around the sky ---
best seen with a fisheye lens. The bright streak at upper is a jet
contrail.
* Yuen Long, Hong Kong Coordinates: 22.4445, 114.0222

Related EPODs

Moondogs and Paraselenic Arc Crepuscular Rays in the
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Atmospheric Effects Links

* Atmospheric Optics
* Optic Picture of Day: Gruppo Astrofili Galileo Galilei
* 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 3 weeks, 3 days, 21 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.


Archive - Great Sand Dunes National Park

April 23, 2022

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Every weekend we present a notable item from our archives.

This EPOD was originally published on December 9, 2011.

Photographer: Ingrid Wood
Summary Author: Ingrid Wood; Jim Foster
The photo above shows the massive tan-colored dunes in Great
Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, Colorado. Hikers in the
foreground give scale to the immense size of these windblown sand
dunes, which reach up to about 750 ft (230 m) above the surrounding
landscape -- perhaps the tallest in North America. These dunes cover
some 39 sq mi (100 sq km) and over thousands of years have settled up
against the windward flank of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains,
pushed by prevailing southwest winds across the San Luis
Valley. The source of the sand was a widespread sand sheet, sand
left behind when ancient lakes dried up, in the central portion of the
San Luis Valley. Photo taken on August 22, 2007.

Photo Details: Camera: Canon PowerShot A530; Focal Length: 9.8mm;
Aperture: f/7.1; Exposure Time: 0.0031 s (1/320).
* Great Sand Dunes, Colorado Coordinates: 37.73287, -105.51212

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Geology Links

* Earthquakes
* Geologic Time
* Geomagnetism
* General Dictionary of Geology
* Mineral and Locality Database
* Mohs Scale of Mineral Hardness
* This Dynamic Earth
* USGS
* MyShake - University of California, Berkeley
* USGS Ask a Geologist
* USGS/NPS Geologic Glossary
* USGS Volcano Hazards Program

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

https://epod.usra.edu

--- up 7 weeks, 6 days, 21 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.


Rainshaft Spotted in New York

May 24, 2022

Rainshaft2

Photographer: Jack Widner

Summary Author: Jack Widner

Shown in the photo above is a rain shaft spotted in August 2016
while driving southwest of Buffalo, New York. This specific cloud
burst was one of several that occurred day, including one east on I-90
near the New York-Pennsylvania border. Rain shafts are a type of
convection storm that have strong centralized updrafts and
downdrafts and produce very localized precipitation.
* Angola, New York Coordinates: 42.638, -79.027

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Severe Weather Links

* World Severe Weather Information Center
* Enhanced Fujita Scale
* A Lightning Primer
* More About Thunderstorms
* Staying Safe Outdoors in Severe Weather
* NOAA Storm Prediction Center
* Patterns of Lightning Activity
* US National Weather Service

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

https://epod.usra.edu

--- up 12 weeks, 1 day, 20 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.


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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From the Air Over the South Atlantic Ocean
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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, 4 days, 21 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.


Nature Reclaims Lost Shoe

July 22, 2022

Epod-tris

Photographer: Rosario Catania

Summary Author: Rosario Catania

The picture above shows a lost shoe in the woods near the Etna
volcano. As is happening above, nature always reclaims the spaces that
belong to her. It’s just a matter of time before plants and organisms
begin to grow and utilize the discarded items on the forest floor.
Commonly found on fallen trees and rocks, moss is considered both a
producer and decomposer since it typically helps breaking down
items into available nutrients. This work has a larger significance
within the lifecycle of ecosystems because it makes nutrients available
for surrounding organisms.

Now in perfect camouflage, time for the shoe pictured above will pass,
but it will devour its contents. A time that for our existence means a
lot, but in the cycle of nature is only a flash.
* Bronte, Sicily, Italy Coordinates: 37.7883, 14.8307

Related EPODs

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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 20 weeks, 6 days, 21 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.


Eastern Flank of Mt. Etna

August 24, 2022

Epod-etna-bove-02062022

Photographer: Rosario Catania
Summary Author: Rosario Catania
The photo above shows Mt. Etna as seen in its eastern guise, above
its ancient eruptive centers. The majestic Valle del Bove
(foreground) is a wide basin more than 3,280 ft (1,000 m) deep, 3 miles
(5 km) wide and 4 miles (7 km) long. This depression, dating back
between 7 and 10 thousand years, was caused by the collapse of these
eruptive centers.

On the left of the photo, visible in the distance, is the city of
Catania, with the Ionian Sea extending southward, and on the
right is the coast of Calabria (mainland of Italy).

During eruptions over the past 30 years, millions of cubic meters
of lava have poured from this stratovolcano into the Valle del Bove
Bove, which was once rich in vegetation and cultivated fields. Etna, a
natural laboratory par excellence, has been a World Heritage Site
since 2013. Photo taken on June 2, 2022.

Zafferana, Etnea Sicily, Italy Coordinates: 37.6897, 15.1053


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Geography Links

* Atlapedia Online
* CountryReports
* GPS Visualizer
* Holt Rinehart Winston World Atlas
* Mapping Our World
* 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 25 weeks, 2 days, 21 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.


Celestial Parade of the Planets in June 2022

September 23, 2022

0623PlanetsandMoon-3 (1)

DSC_1140s2 (1)

Allineamento Planetario Tranego 7-4

Photographers: Matthew Chin; Meiying Lee; Alessandra Masi

Summary Authors: Meiying Lee; Matthew Chin; Alessandra Masi

Featured above are views of the visible planets in our solar
system, and the crescent moon, as seen from Taipei (top), Yuen
Long, Hong Kong (middle) and the Dolomite Range of Italy (bottom,
note that Neptune and Uranus are also visible here). Such an
unusual alignment can be observed only about once every 20-years.
Top and middle photos were taken on June 23, 2022, and the bottom photo
was taken on June 25, 2022. All photos were captured looking east, just
before dawn.


Yuen Long, Hong Kong Coordinates: 22.4445, 114.0222

Taipei, Taiwan Coordinates: 25.0330, 121.5654

Dolomites Mountains, Italy Coordinates: 46.433334, 11.850000


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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

--- up 29 weeks, 5 days, 21 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.


Meteors from Fragments of Chang Zheng 2F Rocket Launch

October 24, 2022


IMG_basura_cohete_chino_20-06-2022 (1 de 1)

Photographer: Ana García Suárez
Summary Author: Ana García Suárez
Near the summit of Mirador Infinito on the island of La Palma, a
group of stargazers were startled by a phenomenon they first thought to
be a meteor shower. Several aligned fireballs moved slowly crossing
the night sky leaving behind distinct trails. They later discover that
these meteors occurred as a result of one of the phases of the
Chang Zheng 2F rocket, launched on June 5 (2022), breaking up upon
re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere. White and orange lights formed a
row of fireballs from fragments of the rocket that became incandescent
as a result of friction with the upper atmosphere. Because at the
time these stargazers didn’t know the true explanation, it surely
looked like a scene from a dystopian movie. Photo taken on June 20,
2021.


La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain Coordinates: 28.7134, -17.9058


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Atmospheric Effects Links

* Atmospheric Optics
* Optic Picture of Day: Gruppo Astrofili Galileo Galilei
* 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 34 weeks, 20 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.


Below the Wasatch Range’s Storm Mountain

November 24, 2022


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RayB_bigcott837c_19oct22 (003)

Photographer: Ray Boren

Summary Author: Ray Boren

Geologic forces spanning millions of years — from estuarine
deposits and metamorphic pressures to mountain building and
never-ending erosion — are exposed in beautiful Big Cottonwood
Canyon, a cleft in the Wasatch Range southeast of Salt Lake City,
Utah. Accessible examples of these phenomena are found alongside a
graceful curve in the canyon highway below ominously named Storm
Mountain. Here, tinted in shades of oxidized red and darker black, are
layered Big Cottonwood Formation rocks, as illustrated in the first
photo, taken on October 19, 2022.

The eye-catching outcrops at Storm Mountain include quartzite,
a dense, quartz-rich sandstone, and argillite, a clay-rich
mudstone. The layers were originally laid down over 720 million years
ago, during the Neoproterozoic. They were subsequently uplifted,
folded and steeply tilted beginning about 75 million years ago,
creating this rugged landscape. The quartzites were originally
deposited in rivers and tidal channels, while the argillite comes from
calmer deposits — both evidence of an ancient, seaside estuary that
preceded the mountains themselves.

A second photograph, taken the same day from below an overhang in the
rocks and above the curving highway, partly shows Storm Mountain’s
steep, craggy face, to the left. The peak rises some 2,100 feet (700
meters) above the canyon, topping out at 9,528 feet (2,904 meters)
above sea level. The perspective also hints at the season under
way: The leaves of stream-side mountain maples, cottonwoods, oaks and
other deciduous trees and bushes have turned autumnal shades of red and
yellow, for their production of chlorophyll has ceased with the
arrival of fall’s cooler temperatures and shorter days.


Big Cottonwood Canyon, Utah Coordinates: 40.6373 -111.6330


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Limestone Stratification near Modica, Sicily Strawberry Moon
and Etna Exhaust Kodachrome Basin State Park, Utah
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Geography Links

* Atlapedia Online
* CountryReports
* GPS Visualizer
* Holt Rinehart Winston World Atlas
* Mapping Our World
* 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, 3 days, 21 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.


Halo Display Observed from Graubunden, Switzerland

December 23, 2022


Sean_4C5DBEC2-262F-4278-8E95-33DAF507563E

Photographer: Sean Lybrand
Summary Author: Sean Lybrand

Shown above is a portion of halo display I had the pleasure to
observe over the Swiss Alps on October 11, 2022. Ice crystals in
clouds or free falling through the atmosphere can create a medley of
beautiful halos; some very obvious and some quite faint.

Conspicuous here are the 22-degree halo, both sundogs or
parhelia, the parhelic circle, the upper tangent arc (tangent
to the 22-halo) and the suncave Parry arc (just above the upper
tangent arc). Not nearly as evident are the rarely seen upper and lower
Lowitz arcs (in the vicinity of the parhelia).


Sent, Graubunden, Switzerland. Coordinates: 46.81016, 10.34032


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Atmospheric Effects Links

* Atmospheric Optics
* Optic Picture of Day: Gruppo Astrofili Galileo Galilei
* 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 42 weeks, 5 days, 21 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)