Tag: Earth

Blood moon

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Tonight there is a full lunar eclipse which is when the Earth comes between the Sun and the Moon and the earth casts its shadow on the moon.

As it progresses first there is shadow on one side of the moon. Gradually. Like a solar eclipse the curve of the Earth cuts into the Moon. As it progresses the white light from the sun is cut out by Earth’s shadow until only red light passes through Earth’s atmosphere and the Moon turns orangey red. Then the Moon starts to pull out of the shadow and gradually returns to normal

Tonight the moon is at its closest approach to earth so it is known as a super moon.

As a matter of interest I decided to try and draw what a flat earth would look like…. It would cast a flat shadow.. When it was fully eclipsed the moon would appear to be cut in half. Possibly by a red line? Other effects of a flat earth would be daylight all over the upper side then darkness all over the upper side as we tumbled through space. Also what is on the underside and is there a Trumpesque wall round the edge to keep the water in? I recently read an article about gravity. On a flat earth the people on the edge would be lying down as the gravity would be pulling everyone towards the centre of the disc……

Anyway enough rambling

X

When the sun sets

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The sun was setting and the sky turned pink at spode today. I looked up and saw the moon. A tiny bit bigger than half moon and I realised that you could work out where the sun was setting. Basically imagine you were shining a torch on a ball. If the torch was directly to the side if the ball the ball would be exactly half light and 🌗 half dark  Now if the torch was lower but shining directly on the ball it would be half light and half dark but tipped at an angle depending how low below the horizon the torch (or ☀ sun) was. Now imagine if the torch was level but was shining slightly to the side of the moon nearest us? Then the line between light and dark would shift and curve. The line shifts every night till full moon, then as it passes full moon the shadow starts to get cast on the other side. This leads to the understanding that when we get an eclipse the Earth gets directly between the Moon and the Sun… . Oh I know all of this is simple, but I’d never actually thought it out for myself……

P.S. now 5 hours later the angle of the moon is tipped up so that the curve is on a slant … so the sun is clearly lower down and the moon has moved. .but it also shows the world is rotating too…

Tide

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Time and tide wait for no man

Tidal reef,

High tide……

Why tide?

The Moon pulls on the Earth and the Earth pulls on the Moon. They are gravitationally linked so that one face of the Moon always faces us and the water in our oceans is attracted upwards towards it by its gravity. On the other side of the world there is also a rise in the waters because there is less gravitational pull on the oceans because they are futher away from the moon…..

Why high tides?

The water is pulled up so far by the moon, but as water flows inwards towards the land as the tide comes in it can also rise further if it is pushing into a narrowing area such as a gap between two islands or into the narrowing channel of a river or stream. In this case sometimes the water can overtop the banks if it is a particularly high tide, such as a spring tide. The water will rise higher if it is forced into the estuary by wind as well as tidal forces.

One third of the world’s population live on various coast lines around the world. If the world continues to warm up then these people will be at risk from the rising tides caused by global warming. Many countries have built costal defenses but these are being damaged every year during stormy weather. Replacing the damaged protective barriers is being abandoned in some places as not cost effective and some costal salt marshes are being recreated to protect the land.

Astronomical paintings

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I love the challenge of trying to paint and draw astronomical objects. I have painted the Earth a few times, but also the Moon, the nebula shown here, Jupiter, and done digital drawings of the Earth and Moon, and the Veil Nebula plus other objects. I have also drawn Jupiter and Saturn.

I’m not an expert. They were all done without measuring the positions of features or stars, so for a real astronomer they probably look totally inaccurate. Still the universe is a wonderful place and the objects in it are amazing.

So if you can recommend an object I could have a go at painting I would be interested. I can’t promise it will be perfect. But I would have a go.

X

Skies

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One thing about living in a temperate climate in the Midlands of England is the variations in the sky. We might have just had one of the hottest summer’s on record, but like most people here I am waiting for the rain to come back. The country usually gets enough, but at the moment satellite imagery shows the grass burnt to brown instead of the greens of summers. Trees seem to be fairing better because they have deep roots. But hopefully when the rain comes down from the sky the land will recover.

Skies….

Clouds fly on the breezes and winds,

Blue skies soon turn grey,

Magic sunsets illuminate the sky,

Stars shine out on high.

Shooting stars obscured by clouds,

Planet’s seem so bright.

Moon and Sun in turn appear,

Sometimes Moon hides Sun.

Look up, look up, into the air, not just to the ground,

Above your head the sky astounds,

The world below is gone.

 

Well I do like skies. There is something called the cloud appreciation society which has interesting information about clouds. They suggest blue skies are boring, and watching the different sorts of clouds is the thing to do, from cirrus, cumulo nimbus, asperatus, mammatus, stratus, so many names. New cloud formations identified. ..

Skies are such a barometer (no pun intended) of our atmosphere. I would hate to live in a country where the weather stayed the same for months.

X

Don’t stare at me. .

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Instead of poetry a few words……

Large green eyes, look out of a dark green face. Paper thin skin, layers of chlorophyll ? What are you,  green, sap green, olive green, hookers green, lime green, a green apparition. Staring eyes that cast a spell over my mind. A sneer on your lips, worldly thoughts cascade in your brain.

What are you? Again, I think. Some mammalian plant? A simulacrum of humanity?

Leaves break out through your skin, vines, ivy, convolulus. Grow longer, twisting violently across your face. Your hair is fern fronds, feathery, tiny leaves on twining stems….

Your body is green as grass, a cauliflower and cabbage mass of leaves, courgette fingers, marrow thighs, feet stretching into the mud, but mobile like a human woman.

Veins like phloem and xylem gather fluids, rise up your trunk. Transpiration instead of breath. Are you deciduous or evergreen? Do you have an autumn season and wither into winter? Or are you still young in the cold months? Red berries blossoming on your lips? Heart of Oak or Yew?

You stand and stare at me. Looking into my room, glass holding back your strength. Your witch like hands or twigs beat on the widow pane. You cannot enter. But I cannot leave. Trapped by your tangled leaves. Tendrils fight their way in through the letter box. Green woman, earth, Gaia ….