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 - Fireworks, Moonlight and Streaking Stars

December 31, 2021

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Happy New Year! Every weekend we present a notable item from our
archives.

This EPOD was originally published January 11, 2015.

Photographer: Miguel Claro

Summary Author: Miguel Claro
Shown above is a 360 degree, all sky, long exposure view of the
area around Almada, Portugal, captured from the top of a high-rise
building late on New Year's Eve 2014 and early on New Year's Day
2015. Fireworks celebrating the arrival of the New Year can be seen
erupting from various locations around the horizon, including
Lisbon (at bottom between the 6:00 and 7:00 position) and
Sexial (at right at the 3:30 position). The waxing gibbous Moon
is the elongated white blob at left center. Above the Moon, at
center, are the stars of Orion. Jupiter is the bright streak at
far right, near the TV antenna.

Photo details: Canon 6D camera; f/6.3; ISO 800; 10 second exposure;
8mm; Canon L circular fisheye lens. Taken on December 31, 2014 and
January 1, 2015 between 22:42 and 00:10 -- a sum of 474 images with a
total time integration of 1 hour and 20 minutes.

* Almada, Portugal Coordinates: 38.6803, -9.1583

Related EPODs

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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 3 weeks, 6 days, 20 hours, 43 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.


Earth Pyramids In South Tyrol, Italy

February 01, 2022

Piramidi_di_terra

Photographer: Salvatore Cerruto

Summary Author: Salvatore Cerruto

The earth pyramids (Erdpyramiden in German) are a fairly common
natural monument in the province of South Tyrol, Italy. These
geologic landforms are unique creations made by the erosion of
loose deposits of glacial origin, characterized by a certain degree
of consolidation. These deposits are distinguished by the presence
of gravel and large boulders abundantly immersed in fine silty
sediments. The severe erosion creating these pyramids is caused by
surface water runoff gradually forming deeper furrows separated
from each other by sharp ridges. Where large rocks exist in the
landscape, the erosion is significantly slowed and causes the spires to
be isolated with a boulder on top acting as a protective cap. Over
time, the erosional force of the surface runoff leads to a progressive
thinning of the column, which eventually will topple the structure.
Photo details: Nikon D800 + Samyang 14mm @f/18, ISO 320, 1/40 sec
* South Tyrol, Italy Coordinates: 46.8049519,12.0194615

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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
* MyShake - University of California, Berkeley
* 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 8 weeks, 2 days, 20 hours, 43 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.


Iridescent Pileus Cloud Over Barra Grande, Brazil

March 01, 2022

20211205172648

Photographer: Christine Albuquerque

Summary Author: Christine Albuquerque

On the evening of December 5th, 2021, I observed this colorful
iridescence formed on a pileus cloud while walking by the beaches
of Barra Grande near Cajueiro da Praia, Brazil. This colorful cloud
was annex to a huge cumulus cloud. I was quite amazed by the vivid
and spectacular colors of this phenomenon, which were further enhanced
by the picturesque setting of Barra Grande. As the time passed, the
pileus cloud showed intricate twisted patterns that added a special
beauty to that evening sight and resembled large moving veils in the
sky.

In addition to the iridescence, something else caught my attention on
the scene. Perhaps victim of a pareidolia event caused by such an
amazing view, the cumulus cloud resembled to me a dog that was wearing
a colored hat and staring at something far away out of the field of
view. The pileus clouds, when favorably positioned relative to the
Sun, can yield iridescences of incredible beauty and show an
eye-catching view that we will never forget.

Photo details: Canon SX60 HS, f/8, 1/400 second exposure, ISO-160
* Barra Grande, Cajueiro da Praia, Brazil Coordinates: -2.910470,
-41.420123

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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 1 day, 20 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.


Winter Rainbow Observed Over Southern Slovakia

April 01, 2022

R. Barsa - Winter rainbow

Photographer: Robert Barsa

Summary Authors: Robert Barsa; Cadan Cummings

This photo of a winter rainbow was taken on January 1, 2022, in
southern Slovakia. The weather was abnormally warm over New Year’s,
which caused the snow in the region to partially melt. Clouds to
the east were producing light rain just before sunset. As a result
of the water droplets suspended in the air from the rain and melting
snow, a winter rainbow appeared over the nearby hills opposite the
setting Sun.

Although bows are visible throughout the year, liquid water droplet
must be present in the air because snowflakes cannot produce the
reflection required to produce the colorful phenomenon. In addition to
the rainbow, Krásna Hôrka Castle is also visible in the left side
of the photo on a hill over the village Krásnohorské Podhradie.

Photo details: Sony A7III + Sony GM 16-35 mm, f/2.8 , panorama of 18
images with exposure of 1/125 second exposure, ISO-100, @f/5.6
* Jablonovské sedlo, Slovakia Coordinates: 48.6196, 20.6293

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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 4 weeks, 4 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.


Multicolored Aurora Over Finland

June 01, 2022

RedAuroraSmaller

Photographer: Dennis Lehtonen

Summary Authors: Dennis Lehtonen; Cadan Cummings

The photo above features a beautiful aurora display that occurred
over Finland on February 11, 2022. This aurora event occurred due to
energetic particles emitted from a coronal mass ejection on
February 6^th interacting with the Earth’s magnetosphere.
Although our planet’s magnetic field protects us from the solar
wind, the energetic particles from geomagnetic storms are steered
towards the north and south magnetic poles where they interact with
oxygen molecules in the upper atmosphere to create a spectacular
green and red display.

To get a clear view of the event, I packed my gear and cycled a few
kilometers to a swamp area located in middle of a forest. After around
one hour of waiting, I saw something I had never seen before. Half of
the sky began to be covered in faint red auroras. I knew something
huge was about to happen and remarkably the sky came raining down with
vibrant auroras. At around midnight the auroras had escaped to the
south horizon, giving people in south- and mid-Finland an impressive
display as well.
* Sodankylä, Finland Coordinates: 67.416, 26.589

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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 13 weeks, 2 days, 20 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.


The Wonder of Roots

July 01, 2022


IMG_2570

Photographer: Ray Major
Summary Author: Ray Major

I couldn’t help but notice this tree and its tentacle-like roots on a
trail to Twin Falls in Pickens County, South Carolina. The
roots appear to be crawling across a rock. It’s a testament to the
tenacity of life on this planet. The small patch of soil on top of the
rock, where the tree (possibly a Tree of Heaven, Ailanthus
altissima) began to grow, was too small to support a mature tree.
However, it was able to extend its roots and find deeper soil to draw
in nourishment. After beginning life under less-than-ideal
circumstances, it was able to survive, and thrive. It made quite a
spectacle of itself in the process. Photo taken on July 7, 2008.

Twin Falls, Pickens County, South Carolina Coordinates: 35.0098,
82.8214


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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

--- up 17 weeks, 4 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.


Atacama Desert and Volcanic Twilight

August 01, 2022


DuskOnMarsWSMALLer

Photographer: Tomas Slovinsky
Summary Author: Tomas Slovinsky; Jim Foster

The photo above showing a reddened twilight sky over a barren landscape
comes from San Pedro de Atacama, Chile. It was taken on April 22, 2022.
The Atacama Desert is almost at the same latitude as the Tonga
Volcano that erupted in December of 2021. Throughout the autumn months
(spring in the Northern Hemisphere), during each twilight period the
sky was imbued with deep red colors as volcanic ash in the upper
atmosphere acted to increase the pathlength of sunlight (and
moonlight), thereby effectively extinguishing the shorter wavelength
colors from our view.

In many ways, the resulting landscape/nightscape resembled that of
Mars at sunset. Also found in the Atacama are ancient, dry
riverbeds, not too dissimilar from the ones discovered on Mars,
where water once flowed in the past. On evenings such as this, you
could almost imagine that you were on the Red Planet. Note that the
patch of light at right center, to the right of the Milky Way, is the
Large Magellanic Cloud.


San Pedro de Atacama, Chile Coordinates: -22.9087, -68.1997


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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 22 weeks, 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.


First Light on the Circle Cliffs Anticline

September 01, 2022

TomMc_EPOD.TomCircleCliffsBurrWolverineTrailUT2022b (004)

TomMc_EPOD.CircleCliffsStratigraphyB (003)

Photographer: Thomas McGuire

Summary Author: Thomas McGuire

Baseball player Yogi Berra was famous for quotations such as “It’s
so crowed, nobody goes there anymore.” Perhaps they shouldn’t.

While places such as the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone and Yosemite host
crowds that often overrun the facilities, as well as overrunning the
visitor experience, other scenic sites in the United States are,
arguably, just as beautiful and virtually undiscovered. One such place
is the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southern
Utah. Both the variety of landforms and the expansive size make this a
crown of the hidden jewels.

The Circle Cliffs is an anticline in which the central portion has
been eroded down, while exposing the youngest layer as cliffs that
surround the internal valley. This anticline encompasses hundreds of
square miles of juniper, dotted high desert. In most of the
Monument, facilities are non-existent. The Burr Trail is a paved
road that crosses the Circle Cliffs Valley. Other roads are unpaved.

TomMc_EPOD.CircleCliffsUpliftStratigraphyUTB (003)

Geology of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah: Hellmut
H. Doelling, Robert E. Blackett, Alden H. Hamblin, J. Douglas Powell,
and Gayle L. Pollock



Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah Coordinates: 37.4609,
-111.5943



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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
* MyShake - University of California, Berkeley
* 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 26 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.


Wafer Thin Moon and Pumpkin Sky

October 31, 2022


MatthewC_DSC_1834s2s

Photographer: Matthew Chin
Summary Author: Matthew Chin; Jim Foster
Can you spot the sliver of the crescent Moon? Because it was only about
1.3% illuminated when this photo was snapped, at dawn on June 28, 2022,
it isn’t exactly conspicuous against the pumpkin-colored sky. As night
has now lost its grip, hordes of bats are returning to their caves
(could this be the source of the dark smudge at lower right?) and other
spooky, nocturnal creatures will soon be asleep in their lairs. Photo
taken in Yuen Long, Hong Kong, on June 28, 2022, at 05:12 a.m. local
time.

Yuen Long, Hong Kong Coordinates: 22.4445, 114.0222


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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 35 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.


Mt. Baker at Sunrise

December 01, 2022


220830-3

Photographer: Marli Miller
Summary Author: Marli Miller

Reaching an elevation of 10,781 feet (3,286 m), Mt. Baker dominates
the landscape of northern Washington. This view, towards the WSW from
near Lake Ann, shows two of the more than 15 named glaciers that
descend in a radial pattern around the volcano: the Park Glacier on
the right; and Boulder Glacier on the left.
Mt. Baker, a stratovolcano, erupted andesite and dacite
lavas from as far back as 140,000 years ago, but its most active period
occurred between 25,000-12,000 years ago. It was during this time that
it built its base and summit cone. Since then, it’s only erupted ash,
although a collapse of one of its flanks occurred some 6700 years ago.
Multiple small events took place during the 1800s and an increase in
gas emissions in 1975 suggested the presence of new magma in the
volcano. These emissions have tapered off through time.
The USGS maintains an active monitoring program at Mt. Baker.
Because of the extensive glaciers, even small eruptions can trigger
devastating lahars (volcanic mudflows), which can flow great
distances away from the volcano. Photo taken on August 22, 2022.

Mt. Baker, Washington Coordinates: 48.832, -121.643


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Tracks from the Old West? First Light on the Circle Cliffs
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More...

Geology Links

* Earthquakes
* Geologic Time
* Geomagnetism
* General Dictionary of Geology
* Mineral and Locality Database
* Mohs Scale of Mineral Hardness
* This Dynamic Earth
* USGS
* MyShake - University of California, Berkeley
* 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 39 weeks, 3 days, 21 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)