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 - Prayer Rock Petroglyphs

February 06, 2021

Prayer Rock Petroglyphs

Every weekend we present a notable item from our archives. This EPOD
was originally published February 6, 2004.

Provided by: Mike Barondeau
Summary author: Mike Barondeau

Many years ago, a glacial boulder was discovered, southeast of
Mobridge, South Dakota, which weighs about five tons and has life-sized
human hands etched on it. A well-beaten trail led to the site.
Archeologists think Native Americans may have placed their hands in the
imprints while praying. The rock was moved to the public library
grounds in Ipswich, South Dakota, care being taken to orient the stone
precisely as it originally lay. The sign accompanying the rock reads
"Medicine or Prayer Rock." Part of the inscription mentions that this
rock was a symbol of great power and venerated by the Indians who
believed it the work of the Wakan or Great Spirit. The public library
in Ipswich is located on Main Street, about four blocks south of U.S.
Highway 12, also known as the Yellowstone Trail.


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History Links

* Paleoclimatology Data
* USGS: Age of the Earth
* What is Geologic Time?
* GSA Geologic Time Scale
* Earth Facts
* Earth History Courses

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

https://epod.usra.edu

--- up 7 weeks, 3 days, 21 hours, 27 minutes
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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.


Sunrise from the Roque de Los Muchachos Astrophysical Observatory

April 06, 2021

20210116 0803 Panoramic view of Tenerife and Izaña Observatory

Photographer: Massimo Cecconi
Summary Authors: Massimo Cecconi; Jim Foster

I was greeted by this striking sunrise after a long night of
astronomical observing, on January 16, 2021, at the Roque de Los
Muchachos Astrophysical Observatory ( Canary Islands, Spain). Thanks
to exceptional seeing conditions above the stratus cloud deck,
details on Teide Volcano (12,188 ft or 3,715 m), some 87 mi (140
km) to the northwest, were visible, including the solar towers of the
Izaña Astrophysical Observatory – to the lower right of the summit.
Note that because the atmosphere was so clean (relatively free of
dust and salt particles) on this winter morning, deep red and
orange colors were lacking as the Sun approached the horizon.
* Roque de Los Muchachos Astrophysical Observatory, Spain
Coordinates: 28.7636, -17.8947

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Atmospheric Effects Links

* Atmospheric Optics
* 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 1 week, 4 days, 22 hours, 10 minutes
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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.


Circular Rainbow Viewed from the Tower of Viterbo Airport, Italy

May 06, 2021

Arcobaleno-torre-180_DXL1111

Photographer: Marco Meniero

Summary Authors: Marco Meniero; Jim Foster

Shown above is a nearly complete rainbow as observed from the top
of the control tower at Viterbo Airport, Italy. It was captured using a
fisheye lens on December 7, 2020. When viewed from aloft, it can be
seen that rainbows are circular structures, as first described by
Renes Descartes almost 400 years ago. The shadow of the camera is
at the center of the rainbow circle, facing the antisolar point.
Note also the faint secondary bow.


Viterbo Airport (Rome), Italy Coordinates: 42.436111, 12.061667


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Atmospheric Effects Links

* Atmospheric Optics
* 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, 2 days, 10 hours, 19 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.


The Colorado Plateau and a Small Model of Subduction Compression

June 04, 2021


TomMc_EPOD.CottonwoodCanyonRoadUtah copy (005)

TomMc_EPOD.DuctileAndBrittleFoldsPhylliteCT.WallRockB (005)

Photographer: Thomas McGuire
Summary Author: Thomas McGuire

The cause of the uplift and the compressional features on the
Colorado Plateau during the Laramide Orogeny (mountain building
roughly 60 million years ago) were not understood until it was proposed
that the Farallon Tectonic Plate is subducting at a low angle
beneath the North American Plate. This is what raised the whole
plateau. Additionally, compressional folding, including dozens
of asymmetric folds ( Cockscomb, San Rafael Swell, Comb Ridge,
Raplee Anticline, Waterpocket Fold, and many others) was caused by
frictional drag with the remains of the subducting Farallon plate. Many
of the folds are also related to sub-surface compressional
faulting.

Small scale rocks often reflect larger regional features. The top image
is The Cockscomb monocline along Cottonwood Canyon Road in Arizona.
The second image is a rock from Connecticut. What is now western New
England was an area of subduction in the closing of the Ordovician
Pre-Atlantic Iapetus Ocean (about 400 million years ago), which
created the Pangea land mass. This rock is a smaller-scale model of
the Colorado Plateau’s asymmetric compressional folds, like The
Cockscomb. My drawing on the image shows how this smaller rock
represents The Cockscomb (a penny is used for scale).


Cottonwood Canyon Road, Arizona Coordinates: 37.306608, -111.886410


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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
* 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 4 weeks, 2 days, 12 hours, 15 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.


Moon Occultation of Mars

July 06, 2021

Sona_Mars Occultation 17th April 2021 Delhi

Photographer: Sona Shahani Shukla
Summary Author: Sona Shahani Shukla
Shown above is the Moon's occultation of Mars as observed
on April 17, 2021, from the rooftop of my home near New Delhi, India.
Fortunately, the weather cooperated as it had rained a-bit day before,
hence air pollution and haze were at relatively low levels. Because
the Moon is so bright compared to the Red Planet, photographing this
occultation was quite challenging. It should be noted that lunar
occultations are useful for studying the lunar limb and its
profile. It was a thrill to be able to witness this rare event.

Photo details: 8" Skywatcher Collapsible Dobsonian telescope; ZWO ASI
178MC; Manual Tracking; 6.4MP; 1200 mm; F/5.9; captured using Sharpcap
Pro Capture Area=3096x2080 Gain=130; 0.050971 miliseconds; stacked in
ASi3; Wavelets in Registax and Saturation in PS 2021.


* New Delhi, India Coordinates: 28.6139, 77.2090

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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

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

https://epod.usra.edu

--- up 8 weeks, 4 days, 12 hours, 15 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.


Smoke from Wildfires and the Planet Mars

August 06, 2021

Mars.Smoke.20210606_200314

NWCG.Satellite.Imagery20210606

Photographer: Steven Lunt
Summary Author: Steven Lunt

Shown above at top is the western sky of southeastern Arizona as
observed shortly after sunset on June 6, 2021. Smoke from several
wildfires along the Gila River and U.S. Route 70 produced a
wispy finger pointing upwards to the planet Mars. Summer is prime
firefighting season in the western U. S, especially in the forests and
range lands surrounded by the deserts of the southwest. It seems that
there’s a never-ending war against the fires, with battles won and lost
between humans and the elements. On the satellite image (bottom), the
faint, wandering green ribbon of the Gila River can be seen between the
Mescal Fire (top center), which charred more than 70,00 acres
(28,000 hectares), and my location in Duncan, Arizona (red dot).

Several weeks ago, China's Zhurong rover landed on Mars to begin
exploring the Red Planet. Zhurong takes its name from a personage in
Chinese mythology as the god of fire.
* Duncan, Arizona Coordinates: 32.7215, -109.1053

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Atmospheric Effects Links

* Atmospheric Optics
* 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 13 weeks, 12 hours, 15 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.


White-mouth Dayflower in Bloom

September 06, 2021

Menashe_White-mouth_dayflower

Menashe_white-mouth_dayflower2

Photographer: Menashe Davidson

Summary Author: Menashe Davidson

You can only be amazed while watching the marvelous white-mouth
dayflower ( Commelina erecta) during blooming (top photo). These
ephemeral flowers (perennial herb) only bloom for half a day, from
about sunrise until noon, but there are many buds on the plant that
will open in the following days.

Commelina erecta is native to much of the world but may be considered
invasive in some areas. The root pattern is rhizomatous with
underground stems sending roots and shoots everywhere along their
length. But these defects, from the gardening point of view, weren’t
sufficient to deter me from domesticating them in my home garden in
Rishon LeZion, Israel.

The name “white-mouth” likely results from the flower structure – two
earlike, lovely blue petals and a lower small white petal between and
below the others. The placement of the tiny white petal gives the
appearance of a small, white mouth. Stamens are long, quite curved
and pale purple, while pistils are bright yellow and conspicuous
(bottom photo). It’s a profuse bloomer and may remain in near constant
half-day flowering throughout the season. The white-mouth dayflower is
a beautifully designed flower! Click here to see a video of
Commelina erecta during its morning bloom.
* Rishon LeZion, 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

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