There’s Ice on Mercury

Mercury is the closet known planet to the sun. There is an object that does orbit the sun and it is even closer that Mercury, but they see only at the end of the century.
All thee images are from NASA. Except for the first one by, Scooter20, Wikipedia Commons.

The map, in a way. This is the line of Mercury, on the left, Venus, Earth and then Mars.

In August of 2004, Messenger was launched. It is a robot spacecraft, sent to orbit Mercury. I am only doing a tad of information on Messenger today. I’ll do a full post another time.

This is a diagram of Messenger.

This is a drawing of Messenger at Mercury.

AN image of Mercury taken by Messenger.

This is the north pole of Mercury where Messenger found the ice.

The last two images are taken of the ice on the north pole of Mercury by Messenger.  You are on your own, for now, until I figure all this out. In other words, you are on your own.

Lake Balkhash, Kazakhstan

I came across a satellite image of Lake Balkhash in Kazakhstan when I was looking up something else. It is an amazing lake. It is very large and it is the color turquoise.

The maps.

This is a composite satellite image of the world  by, NASA.

This is a satellite image of Asia by NASA.

A map of Kazakhstan by, CIA World facebook.

Lake Balkhash by, NASA MODIS.

Another satellite image of Lake Balkhash that shows how big it is  by, NASA.

The next pictures are pictures of parts of the lake.
This one is of the Balkhash Plain  by, Ds2006, Wikipedia Commons.

This is the Markaol Reserve in the Altay Mountains  by, Dimitry A. Mottl, Wikipedia Commons.

The next picture is by, athineus, Wikipedia Commons.

The next two pictures are by, Nikolay Yushnikov, Wikipedia Commons.

One last satellite image by NASA.

 

 

Mars November 2012 News

During the month of October, things have been busy.
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has seen a dust storm and then a new little dust storm.
Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity has taken readings of the atmosphere. It is a bit complicated and I will talk about that, more likely babble, in another post.
Curiosity did find that the pressure dropped during the dust storm.

This is a drawing of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. All the images are from NASA. I couldn’t find a clear diagram of the instruments on the Orbiter.

A diagram of Opportunity Exploration Rover.

A basic diagram of Curiosity.

The images  from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter put together to show the big dust storm.

This picture is of the little dust storm. They don’t think it will go all around Mars.

A picture of the five scoop marks from Curiosity. She has been carrying a soil sample in her hopper while she has been driving. She will do the tests between other chores.

The last picture. Curiosity saw this bright little object. They don’t know what it is yet.

 

 

 

 

First Snow, November 27, 2012

It started snowing this morning. It is the first of the season.
It isn’t sticking to the pavements because the ground isn’t cold enough. It may start to stick later as the temperature drops.

All the pictures are from Wikipedia Commons.

The first three pictures are of snowflakes.

By, National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration

By, Wilson Bentley

Snow crystals on a car  by, Barasoindarra.

Snow on a tree with foliage  by, Shilli.

Snow flurry in Dresden, Germany  by, Benutzer Andreas56.

Next, Sparkling Snow Fairytale  by, User:Introvert.

The last picture is called Dog Park! By, Sarah Naegels from Ottawa, Canada.

Palouse Regoin, Out There in The Northwest

I came across some picture of the Palouse hills. I found out that there were also grasslands in this region. Most of the grasslands have given way to farming and other development.

I am showing just a bit about this region.

The map. US Map of The States  by, the Environmental Protection Agency. I drew the little somewhat of a circle to show where the Palouse region is located.

The Palouse region is in Idaho, Washington and Oregon.

All of the pictures are from Wikipedia Commons, except for this first one. It is of the grasslands  by, National Park Service.

These next two pictures are of fields. The first is early summer and the second is of autumn. They were taken by, Dsugan from Kamiak Butte, Washington.

In Latah, Idaho, spring wheat  by, Robbigiles.

Wheat fields, plaid harvest  by, Cheryl Dudley.

In northern Idaho, in winter  by, charmar.

The last three pictures are of Palouse hills  by, Lynn Suckow, from Walla Walla, Washington, USA. The first picture was taken from Steptoe Butte. The second is from Washington and western Idaho. The third is from northeast of Walla Walla, Washington.

Big Ben

A few days ago, a business started up their electronic chimes that come through speakers on top of their building.
The chimes go off at each quarter hour with the hour having the bonging sound for each hour. Noon is especially long.
The chimes are just loud enough to be disturbing. At least they aren’t on at night.
The chimes are a bad imitation of Big Ben.

All of the pictures are from Wikipedia Commons.

It is nice to hear chimes from this distance.

By, Adrian Arpingstone

Or this distance.

By, Adrian Arpingstone

Sitting in your car, in traffic? The chimes are a pleasant diversion.

By, Joseph Plotz

This last picture by, DS Pugh is how close the chimes sound.

 

Snake River

Snake River is 1,079 miles long. It starts in Wyoming and ends in Washington. A lot of it is in Idaho.
It is west of the Continental Dives which means it empties into the Pacific Ocean in some way.
I am showing only a bit of the river. There’s a lot of it.
The Oregon Trail followed Snake River in Idaho and I will be talking about it when I do that post as part of the trail.

Map of the Snake River Watershed  by, US Geological Survey.

This is a map of the Snake River Plain in southern Idaho  by, Metrodyne, English Wikipedia.

And a NASA image of the Snake River Plain.

This is a picture of the Snake River in The Tetons in Wyoming  by, Ansel Adams.

Snake River at Alpine, Wyoming  by, Joe Tordiff, Wikipedia Commons.

In Idaho, this is Shoshone Fall  by, Karthikc, Wikipedia Commons.

Snake River is the largest tributary of the Columbia River. This picture is of Snake River and Columbia Plateau Trail  by, Willianborg, Wikipedia Commons.

From the National Park Service, a picture of the Snake River Plain.

Snake River at Hells Canyon. Hells Canyon is the deepest canyon in the US. It is 2,436 deep and 10 miles wide.  The picture is by, Ken Petty, FHWA, and I don’t know what that stands for.

The last picture is in Idaho  by, Becherka, Wikipedia Commons.

 

 

Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts, 1620

The Plymouth Colony was started when pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock on the coast of Massachusetts. They landed in November 11, 1620, in Provincetown Harbor This was the first spot they had a look at, didn’t like and then they sailed to another location close by and settled on that.
The pilgrims sailed from Plymouth, England on September 6, 1620. They got into rough seas in the North Atlantic ocean. It was cold, wet and awful.
On board were 30 crew members and 120 passengers.
The name of the ship was the Mayflower.

I’ll start with the maps.

This is a CIA map of the Atlantic Ocean. I drew a line to show where they sailed. It looks like a short hop, like going to the store for a quart of milk. It was anything but.

This is a satellite image location map of the Atlantic Ocean using Earthmap  by, NordNordWest, Wikipedia Commons.

A map of Plymouth England  by, Nifanian, using an ordinance survey map, Wikipedia Commons.

This is a pretty picture of the Atlantic Ocean. It is by Brazil and not on the route they sailed, but it gives an idea of seeing nothing but water all around the ship. By, Tiago Fioreze, Wikipedia Commons.

This is a picture of the Mayflower. The author is unknown. It is in the John Oxley Library, State Library, Queensland, Australia.

This is a picture of a tall ship, the same kind of ship like the Mayflower, have in a very rough time in high seas. The picture is the National Library, Australia. The author is unknown. It was taken between 1885 and 1954.

This is a map of the Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts by, Kmusser, Wikipedia Commons.

The next image of the east coast of the US showing Cape Cod, Massachusetts was taken with the Landsat 7 from NASA.

This is a painting by Harry A. Bacon of the pilgrims landing ashore in Massachusetts.

A painting of the first Thanksgiving  by, Jennie A. Brownscombe 1850-1936. It was painted in 1914.

These are two pictures of the Plymouth colony region by, Raime, Wikipedia Commons. The first is Plymouth Beach. The second is Plymouth Rock.

Here is a picture of the enclosure that the Plymouth Rock is kept in. It is also by Raime, Wikipedia Commons. It is a small bit of rock.

The last picture is of the Plymouth Rock  by, John O’Neill, Wikipedia Commons.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanksgiving, November 22, 2012, In Memory of President John. F. Kennedy

At Cape Canaveral, Florida on a NASA inspection. President Kennedy is with Astronaut Walter Shirrah. Cecil W. Stroughton was the official White House Photographer. June 6, 1962.

November 22, 1963

Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy. Fort Worth, Texas  by, Cecil W. Stroughton

Sweet Potatoes And Yams

I bought some sweet potatoes at the market yesterday. The skins were light and the potato itself is bright yellow. They do come in red. This is in this area. In other places, they can have different kinds of sweet potatoes.
Yams usually have dark orange skins and the potatoes themselves are bright orange.
There is a difference between a sweet potato and a yam. Yams are drier and take a lot more butter to moisten. The flavor of a yam is a bit stronger than a sweet potato.
All of the pictures are from Wikipedia Commons.

This picture is of three different types of these root vegetables  by, Pdemchick.

These are red sweet potatoes  by, Miya.

A yam  by, Aruna.

Yams for sale  by, C. Ford.

A sweet potato flower  by, Earth100.

Sweet potato plants  by, Pollinator.

The last picture is of sweet potato pie  by, Ernesto Angrade from San Francisco , California, United States.