North American River Otters

First, Australia is on alert for wildfires. They have high heat, winds in places and it is dry.
This is an image by Chris Hadfield, Canadian Space Agency, aboard the International Space Station. He took this picture of Australia a few days ago.

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology had to add a new color to their weather map because it has been so hot. They added the color purple for the hottest temperature. This map is from them.

North American River Otters weigh in at around 30 pounds as adults. They are versatile in that they swim, run on land and can handle warm and cold weather. They have their burrows near the edge of water.

This is an otter swimming at the Oregon Zoo  by, User Cacaphoney, Wikipedia Commons.

Two otters on marshland  by, Jim Leopold, US Fish and Wildlife Service.

These otters are in Quebec, Canada  by, D. Gordon E. Robinson, Wikipedia Commons.

Two otters  by, Dmitry Azovtsev, Wikipedia Commons.

Tracks of otters in snow  by, Cephas, Wikipedia Commons.

Otters can walk and slide on ice. By, National Park Service, Rocky Mountain.

A close up of an otter  by, Ken Thomas, Wikipedia Commons.

This last picture is of an otter at the Buffalo Zoo, New York, USA  by, Dave Pape, Wikipedia Commons.

It Might be a Camellia, But it Might Not

Camellias are delicate looking flowers. The ones I’ve seen are usually a kind of pink, white or red.
Camellias are bushes and they are under the category of Tea Plants.
While I was looking at pictures of camellias, I noticed that there was confusion about some of the flowers. Photographers wondered if the picture they took was a Camellia or a certain kind of Camellia.
There are a lot of cultivars, which means they mixed types of plants together to get different plants.
All the pictures are from Wikipedia Commons. One of the categories used for these pictures was Camellia japonica.

The first picture was taken by, Fg2.

By, Alvesgaspar.

By, Rocko Pier Luigi.

By, Kurt Stuber.

The last four pictures were taken by Olaf Leillinger.

Young Peacocks and Peahens

I was thinking about young birds that are out of the nest and into the world.  When I looked at pictures of young peacocks and peahens, I noticed something that I had taken for granted without thinking about it.
If you see a young version of a peacock, you would have trouble recognizing him as a peacock. This is because the youngsters are brownish in color. The young ones are cute as little buttons.
The coloring of a lot of young birds who aren’t able to be on their own is dull. I figure that the bland colors help them be protected from predators. The little birds blend right into their natural backgrounds.

All of the pictures are from Wikipedia Commons.

This first picture is by, Ann Harrison. She called the little peacocks pealets. That is the best name for them. I wish it would come into standard use.

By, 4028mdk09.

By, EVO.

Mr. Peacock is full of bright color when he grows up. By, 10mpx cg.

Mrs. Peahen has muted color.  By, Postdif.

This picture of Mrs. Peahen and child refutes my theory. By, cuatrok77 hernandez.

The rest of the pictures show mother peahens and children.

By, Tangopaso. At Zoo, d’Attilly.

By, Eryn. At the Calgary, Canada Zoo.

By, Hugh Veables. He also called the chicks pealets. It’s catching on.

At the Zurich Zoo, Switzerland  by, Winkleboehner from Sxhwietz.This last picture is also by Ann Harrison. The caption is: Baby it’s cold outside. Parent and children are stepping very carefully so that they don’t slip.

 

 

Landsat 8, Will be Looking Down on us Soon

This logo is used for the Landsat program. LCDM means Landsat Data Continuing Mission.
Satellite images have been around since 1946. Landsat 7 launched into orbit in 1999 and is still there. The satellite images I have here are from her.

This is a NASA satellite image of Belcher Islands in Southeast Hudson Bay, Canada.

Landsat 8 is like Landsat 7 with some bells and whistles added.
I am going to do a basic post on this.
Part of this mission, which is for 3 years, is to measure the temperature of the land on Earth.
This is a drawing of finding the hottest spots on Earth, by NASA.

The instrument that will do this is called Thermal Infrared Sensor, TIR for short.
I like pictures of parts. These are pictures of TIR.
The first picture is of the internal assemble of TIR.

This is what TIR looks like before they put it into the spacecraft. First is a drawing of it, second is the part itself. Third is technicians working on it.

I have to say that I got highly confused about which part was which. This is normal to me.
TIR will be used to record surface temperatures. One thing it will be doing is sensing the different temperatures in the states in the US that have large crops fields. This has to do with the amount of irrigation used for the crops. There is a lot of irrigation for crops and the temperature of the irrigated land is different that the dry land. It will also help with sensing drought areas.

This is a picture of pivot irrigation from US Department of Agriculture.

A picture of wheat fields in Ukraine  by, Raimond Spekking, Wikipedia Commons.

Corn field in Ohio. Ohio is a state in the US. By, graylight, Wikipedia Commons.Another major part is called Operational Land Images, OLI. This will be able to take pictures of Cirrus clouds and coastlines as well as land images.

A schematic of OLI.

This is a drawing of what OLI looks like when it’s put together.

OLI by itself before being put into the spacecraft.

This is a picture of Cirrus clouds in the background with a regular camera  by, Dave Young from Coastal Taranaki, New Zealand, Wikipedia Commons.

This is a picture of Monti Cristi coastline, Dominican Republic. It was taken with a regular camera. There wasn’t a photographer’s name given. It is from Wikipedia Commons.

A picture of the two instruments together in the lab.

After Landsat launches on February 11, 2013, I will post pictures she sends back. I use universal time. In California where they will launch her, it will be the 10th.

This is a parts drawing of Landsat 8. The rectangular thing on the right is the solar array that will capture sunlight to power the spacecraft.

This last picture is a drawing of Landsat 8 in orbit around the Earth.

Sierra Nevada Mountains, Not For The Faint of Heart

The first thing I noticed about this mountain range is that it is mostly in California and not Nevada.
Two maps to show what I mean.

The first map is by EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) US map of the states. I put the blue X on the state of California.

This map shows the state of California with the mountains drawn in blue  by, John D. Dale, US Forest Service.

The Sierra Nevada Mountains are rugged. The Donner Party got stranded in them when the snows blocked the trail and they couldn’t go anywhere. They ran out of food. This is a famous pioneer party because of false claims that some of the party ate the others. That is for another post.

I will use WC for Wikipedia Commons.

The highest peak in the range is Mount Whitney  by, Stoutsenberger from San Gabriel California, USA, WC.

This is an aerial view of part of the Sierra Nevada Mountains  by, Jeffrey Pang from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, WC.

Kings Canyon National Park is in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It is looked after by the National Park Service.
The Sierra Nevada Mountains are the longest mountain range in the US. They are around 400 miles long. The are about 70 miles wide east to west.

This is a NASA Earth Observatory image of the area.

This is Angora Lake in California in the Northern Sierra Mountains  by, Bob Gries, WC.

This picture of the mountains is by, Terabass, WC.

The rest of the pictures are in the Kings Canyon National Park.

This is Muir Pass  by, wetwebwork from London, UK, WC.

Kings River, South Fork  by, Joseph Cesara, WC.

Kings Canyon Waterfall by, Joseph Cesara, WC.

The next two pictures are of trees. The first is Giant Sequoia trees. The second is the General Sherman Tree. Both pictures were taken by Miguel v, WC.

This last picture is called, Moon over Tuolumne Meadows  by, Jon Sullivan, WC.

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Tasmania, Australia is having an ordeal with wildfires. I read that Australia is on the look out for fires.  May all stay safe.

This is a topographical map of Tasmania  by, Zamonin, Wikipedia Commons.

Satellite image of Tasmania  by, NASA.

This is a picture of the sun when it’s quiet  by Canadian Space Agency.

On December 31, 2012, there was an eruption on the sun. Picture is by NASA.

On January 2, 2013, NASA took this satellite image of snow on the desert in China.

The Dawn spacecraft sent back images of the asteroid, Vesta. The first picture is of Vesta. The second is of a crater on Vesta. The third is a drawing of the Dawn spacecraft.

The last picture is of the Earth  by NOAA.

Cold Weather Gardening, Part One

There are ways to start gardens early, when the weather is still cold.
If you have room, you can buy or build different kinds of enclosures to protects new plants or seeds.
Location is everything. If the winters are very cold, you can’t keep anything over the winter. Perennials, which are plants that will die and come back in the spring can stay outside.
If you live in an area that has weather that isn’t too cold, you can start seeds and young plants in March. Warmer areas allow for growing plants through the winter months.
I have found pictures of four types of enclosures.

The greenhouses and Orangeries are elaborate enclosures. They have, in cold places, heat and ventilation.
A glass greenhouse has panels that open in the roof to let in air. They can also have  panels on the sides. Sun pours through the glass to provide the energy for plants to grow.

Orangeries are buildings with a lot of glass.

Hoop frames are enclosures with metal hoop frames and are covered with special plastic. Hoop frames can also be covered with shade cloth to cut down on the amount of sun that comes into hoop frame. The shade cloth can be put over plastic or in warm weather, used by itself. Too much sun will make a plant enclosure too hot and the sunlight would burn the plants.

Cold frames are usually small. They have glass or plastic tops. The frames can be metal or wood. People use these to start seeds and very young plants in their yard. Cold frames are used when it’s still too cold to plant in the ground. In less cold regions, cold frames can be used all year round.

All the pictures are from Wikipedia Commons.

The first picture is of a simple cold frame  by,Moormand.

Another cold frame  by, KVDP. There is a reflection of a building on the top.

The next two pictures are of a hoop frame, covered with plastic. It is D-Town Farm  by, Michael Barera. First is the outside and second is the inside of the hoop frame.

This is a picture of greenhouses with side panels open  by, Chong Fat.

This is Starling Lane Winery greenhouse in British Columbia, Canada  by, Kyle Flood. There are panels open close to the top.

The last two pictures are of the Tower Hill Botanical Garden Orangery in Boylston, Massachusetts. The first is the outside  by, Daderot. The second is part of the inside  by, Moffet.

 

Citrus Fruits Season is Here

In the Us, it’s the season to buy citrus fruits. The most common ones I find are oranges, lemons, limes and grapefruits. There are a lot of different kinds of citrus fruits and I haven’t tasted that many of them.
In the US, the citrus fruits are grown in California and Florida. In Florida, they keep a watch on the temperatures. It can go below freezing. They have methods to prevent frost from settling on the trees.

I will use WC for Wikipedia Commons.

Red Citrus  by, Rik, WC.

Red grapefruit  by, tracy from North Brookfield Massachusetts, USA. There are also white grapefruit with white insides.

Limes  by, Steve Hopson, WC.

Lemons  by, Andre Karwath, WC.

Slices of lime, lemon, red grapefruit and orange  by, National Institute of Health.

Ambersweet oranges  by, US Department of Agriculture.

Blood Oranges  by, I, Allentchang, WC.

An orange crop that has been picked  by, Jak, WC.

Grapefruits on tree  by, Ben3john, WC.

This last picture has oranges and orange blossoms on a tree  by, Ellen Levy Finch, WC.

 

 

Danube River

I am going to show a bit of the Danube River. It is a long river and it would take a ton of pictures to show all of it. It is located in Central Europe.

All the pictures are from Wikipedia Commons.

The maps.

This is by Shannon. I wrote the big blue names of the countries.

The Danube River begins in the Black Forest in Germany. I wrote Germany in green.

The river ends by draining into the Black Sea. This is a NASA Earth Observatory image.

A barge on the river in Germany  by, Lyn Gatelwy.

In Vienna, Austria  by, Lyn Gatelwy.

A cruise ship in Bratslava, Slovakia  by, mbell1975.

Vukova port in Croatia  by, Peron.

I couldn’t find a decent picture in the public domain for Yugoslavia or Bulgaria.
This is on the border between Slovakia and Hungary  by, Miaow Miaow.

The last picture is of a river crane in Braila, Romania  by, Gabriel.

 

 

 

 

 

Landsat 5, Time For The Gold Watch

Landsat 5 is an artificial satellite that sends images and data back to Earth from her orbit.
Landsat 5 is being retired. She has been having trouble and it’s time. Landsat 8 will be launched this year and I will do two posts on her.
I am doing a very basic post about this. As for more complicated information, you are on your own.

Landsat 5 was launched on March 1, 1984, for a three year mission. The launchpad was on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

All pictures are from NASA.  I’m not sure who took pictures of the two scientific instruments that on display. It’s harder to get pictures of older NASA missions. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.

There are two scientific instruments on Landsat 5.
The Multispectral Scanners System scans the part of the Earth that the satellite is over.

This is what the MSS looked like before they put it into Landsat 5.

This is one of the images that MSS sent back to Earth.

This is a picture of the Thematic Mapper. It is on display. It does higher resolution images that MSS.

In 2006, Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper saw barrier islands that we didn’t know existed. There are 54 islands, about 335 miles long. They are located between the city of Sao Luis and the Amazon River in Brazil, along the Atlantic Ocean coast.

This is a diagram of the network that Landsat 5 covers.

This last picture is a drawing of Landsat 5.