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.


Kelvin-Helmholtz Wave Clouds Over Taipei

March 31, 2022

833BCB43-E4A2-4582-8A6F-4B58A1F33708

Photographer: Wei-Chun Lin

Summary Author: Wei-Chun Lin; Cadan Cummings

The photo above shows Kelvin-Helmholtz wave clouds taken on January
5, 2022 near Taipei, Taiwan. From this vantage point on Datun
Mountain, the wave structures were visible over the skyline for less
than three minutes. A rare atmospheric phenomenon, Kelvin-Helmholtz
wave clouds form between two air layers where there is a strong
vertical wind shear and signal air turbulence in the lower
atmosphere.

Photo details: Nikon D850, 24mm, f/2.8, 6 second exposure
* Taipei, Taiwan Coordinates: 25.1767, 121.5219

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Kelvin-Helmholtz Wave Clouds Over Taipei Fallstreak Hole and
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Brazil Summer Convection Rain Shaft Thermal Inversion from the
Biellese Prealps
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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

--- up 4 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.


Reflections on the Southern Wasatch Mountains

May 31, 2022

NeboUtCo1450c_11mar22

Photographer: Ray Boren

Summary Author: Ray Boren

A rural pond mirrors the majestic southern peaks of the Wasatch
Mountains in this photograph, taken on March 11, 2022, a mild day
poised between winter and spring. The pasture lands, just south of
Utah Lake, are wet but mostly free of snow. Conversely, fresh snow
blankets the mountains and their alluvial slopes almost down to the
Utah Valley floor.

The Wasatch Range, a western outlier of the Rocky Mountains, is
often called “the spine of Utah,” because it extends north and south
through the middle of the state. The mountains stretch about 250 miles
(402 km) from near the Utah-Idaho border to terminate on the south at
Mount Nebo, the peak shown to the right in this photograph. It is
the range’s highest in elevation, at 11,933 feet (3,637 m.) above sea
level. Other prominent summits pictured are Loafer Mountain, dominating
to the left, and Dry Mountain. The southern Wasatch, a product of the
Laramide Orogeny and the Wasatch Fault, include sedimentary,
volcanic and metamorphic rocks and strata from the Precambrian,
Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras.

The pond is fed by runoff from winter precipitation and offers a lovely
example the law of reflection. Specifically visible in the photo above
is specular reflection, which occurs when rays of light bounce off
the clear, calm water to produce a mirror-like, albeit inverted, image.
* Wasatch Range, Utah Coordinates: 39.926, -111.872

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Reflections on the Southern Wasatch Mountains A Year of
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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 13 weeks, 1 day, 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.


Mature Snapdragon Flowers Remain Closed

July 29, 2022

Menashe_snapdragon1a

Menashe_snapdragon2

Photographer: Menashe Davidson

Summary Author: M enashe Davidson

The time of flower opening marks the onset of a period in which
pollinators are attracted by the flower sweetness, leading a pollen
removal and pollination. In many species the flowers are open
permanently, whereby the opening period is terminated by a closure
movement, or by petal withering or abscission. But there are few
species, such as snapdragons, where mature flowers stay closed.

Snapdragons (Antirrhinum majus, family Plantaginaceae) have a wide
range of flower colors, and they’re easily grown in gardens. The
snapdragon flowers are closed flowers (top photo) with two modified
petals, described as lips, that essentially prevent honeybees from
penetrating them. Note, however, that the flowers can be opened when
they're pressed on their sides (bottom photo). Here we can see the
inside of the flower, where there are four stamens with white
filaments surrounding a pistil (green stalk). Bumblebees, which
are much bigger than honeybees, are the main pollinators for
snapdragons because they’re larger size permits them to open the closed
flowers. Photos taken in March 2022, from my home garden in Rishon
LeZion, Israel.


Rishon LeZion, Israel Coordinates 31.9730, 34.7925


Recent EPODs

idahos_granitic_city_of_rocks
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nature_reclaims_lost_shoe dungeness_spit_beach
dendrite_inclusion_in_opal
-
Earth Science Picture of the Day is a service of the Universities
Space Research Association.

https://epod.usra.edu

--- up 21 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.


Sea of Clouds Above the Pain de Sucre

August 31, 2022

Sea-of-clouds-over-milky-way

Photographer: Jean-François Gely:
Summary Author: Jean-François Gely:

The photo above shows the view from the top of Pain de Sucre
(located in the French Alps at an altitude of 10,525 ft or 3,208
m). The sea of ​​clouds featured here wasn’t totally planned, but
actually many conditions were met to achieve the photograph I had in
mind.
The weather forecast on the day I climbed this summit called for
overcast conditions for a good portion of the day, which was what I was
hoping for because in addition to giving a pleasant feeling of
well-being, the presence of such a sea of ​​clouds below the summit
reduces the diffusion of light pollution, blocks atmospheric
turbulence and thus offers exceptional sky transparency. It was even
possible to see the faint green color in the sky due to the phenomenon
called " airglow."

Access to the summit is difficult, particularly when carrying
equipment, requiring a walk of a little over 1 mile or about 2 km (no
marked path) and an elevation gain of 1.640 ft (500 m). But the effort
was certainly worth it. Photo taken on May 30, 2022.


Pain de Sucre, Hautes-Alpes, France Coordinates: 44.69028, 6.99639


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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 26 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.


Crepuscular Rays Observed from Italian Alps

December 30, 2022


Tramonto sull'Aiguille Noire de Peuterey

Photographer: Valter Luna

Summary Authors: Valter Luna; Jim Foster

Shown above is a breathtaking set of crepuscular rays that I
observed over the Aiguille Noire de Peuterey in the Italian Alps.
Rays such as this while most often associated with clouds near the
horizon can also take shape when sunlight filters through mountain
passes, as was the case on this mid-summer’s evening. However, for
these rays to be seen, the atmosphere must be dusty. Sunlight
scattered by dust particles, and or other aerosols suspended in
the atmosphere, act to project the rays across the sky. Photo taken on
July 29, 2022.

Photo details: Nikon D100 camera; Sigma lens 18-250 mm (18 mm); 1/250
sec exposure; f / 16; ISO 200


Aiguille Noire de Peuterey, Italy Coordinates: 45.815, 6.893611


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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 43 weeks, 5 days, 20 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)