These baby loggerhead sea turtles hatched from their eggs and began their march to the sea on Friday night, July 25, around 9 p.m.
Using infrared lighting, a live-streaming, high-definition turtle webcam – positioned on a beach in the Florida Keys – recorded the hatch and march to the sea of about 100 baby loggerhead sea turtles on Friday night, July 25, 2014.
Source::: You Tube & Earth sky news
Natarajan
The MESSENGER spacecraft is now dropping closer to Mercury, and long anticipated, super-close views of the planet are beginning to come in.
The image above is one of the highest resolution images ever returned of Mercury. MESSENGER acquired it on June 11, 2014. Last Friday – July 25, 2014 – MESSENGER’s periherm(closest point to Mercury) dropped below 100 kilometers / 62 miles. MESSSENGER is the first manmade object ever to come this close to Mercury.
On June 17 – around the time the image above was taken – the periherm had dropped to 113.80 kilometers / 70.80 miles. The image has absolutely incredible 2.90-meter resolution, showing a cluster of tiny secondary craters within the northern intercrater lava plains in a 3.00 kilometer / 1.86 mile wide area within Mercury’s North Polar Borealis Quadrangle.
The craters seen here are a few hundred meters at most in width, many much smaller. These are secondary craters from an impact out of this frame, where impact ejecta fell back on ballistic trajectories forming smaller craters. Many can be hundreds of kilometers away from the primary impact if the impact was large enough.
There are a handful of much smaller craters in the area too.
All of these craters in this image are of the simple bowl shaped type.
The image is a little ‘noisy’ due to the very short exposure required to prevent blurring of the image as MESSENGER was lower and faster than usual above the surface of Mercury.
On August 19, 2014, periherm will drop below 50 kilometers / 31 miles. On September 12, 2014, periherm will have lowered to 25 kilometers / 15.52 miles.
The number of such high resolution and even higher resolution images will increase as periherm continues to lower.
The fuel on board MESSENGER is expected to be depleted on January 21, 2015. MESSENGER is expected to impact Mercury during the last weekend of March, 2015.
Source:::: earth sky news site
Natarajan
A golden wedding anniversary had passed silently by and nobody noticed. I allude to that of Rukmini and Rajagopalan, which took place, as I see from the invitation card, on April 29, 1963. I am assuming that the couple had a happy married life and were still around to celebrate the 50 anniversary of tying the knot.
What is all this you ask. And what is so unusual about a Tambrahm wedding that happened 51 years ago? Well, in the first place, it took place in Washington, a rather unusual location for those times. And secondly, considering that it took place in an era when media was in its infancy and the Internet was something that the army used, thousands of Tamils followed the build up to the actual event with bated breath all across the world.
Those belonging to that era would have caught my drift. Those who came in later will need explanatory notes and here they are – it was in 1963 that the well-known Tamil writer, humourist and editor of the magazine Dinamani Kadir, Sa Viswanathan (Saavi) embarked on his entirely fictitious account of a Tambrahm wedding in Washington, courtesy the wealthy Mrs. Rockefeller.
The plot in brief is like this – the well-to-do Hopes family based out of New York is extremely close to the Murthy family, whose head works for the UNESCO. From Vasantha, the Murthy daughter, Loretta, the Hopes child, hears about the wonders of India. When Vasantha gets married in Thanjavur, the Hopes come down and participate in a full-length wedding.
Back in the US, the Hopes brief Mrs Rockefeller about the wondrous Tambrahm wedding and she is keen to see one; not by herself but in the company of all her family and friends. She therefore, using the good offices of Murthy, selects a South Indian couple who are to be married in Madras, to come over the US. They are of course accompanied by their respective clans, an assortment of cooks, priests, musicians (Ariyakkudi, Lalgudi and Palghat Mani Iyer) and nagaswaram artistes, countless other service providers and above all, a battalion of Mamis who are brought in to make appalams.
What follows is a grand wedding at R Street, Washington DC. Wielding a facile pen, Saavi created a hilarious account of how a Brahmin wedding is organised, contrasting it with the wonderment of the Americans. As you read it, you also get the feeling that Saavi was laughing at us. The story when serialised, was accompanied by the sketches of veteran Gopulu, making for a big hit. Alliance Publishers later released it as a book, which is still in print.
Washingtonil Tirumanam became a successful play, staged by every sabha in the city. Making his theatrical debut in it was Poornam Viswanathan. The highlight was the audience participating in the traditional procession accompanying the bridegroom, conducted every evening around the venue.
51 years later, Washingtonil Tirumanam remains evergreen – a testimony to Saavi, and our weddings that keep getting bigger.
Keywords: hidden histories column, sriram v column, Washingtonil Tirumanam
Natarajan
USGS released this cool geologic map of Mars this week, which was prepared for NASA. What to see first? Notice impact craters, in yellow.
USGS released this geologic map of Mars yesterday (July 14, 2015), which was prepared for NASA. If you click to the map at USGS’ site, and use the tools at the lower right, you can explore Mars. Popular Science has a good explanation of what you’ll be seeing:
All the different colored parts represent areas of crust that were formed at different times and from different processes. For example, the extensive green area near the north pole represents lowland plains formed during the Red Planet’s Hesperian Epoch, about 3.7 billion to 3 billion years ago. Scientists think those northern plains are covered in sediment from what were once Martian rivers and lakes. You can learn more about the green area, or any other colored area, in the extensive key on the right side of the map sheet.
One easy thing to spot are impact craters, which are roundish and marked on the map in bright yellow. Can you find Gale Crater, the site where NASA’s Curiosity rover landed? Gale Crater is just southwest of Elysium Planitia, which is the mostly pink area on the right side of the map.
Explore the larger, interactive map sheet here, from USGS
Source:::: Earth sky news site
Natarajan
Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters
A man walks inside the Simon Bolivar airport in La Guaira, outside Caracas.
As if flying wasn’t bad enough these days (we even have to keep our cellphones pre-charged now, egh), one airport has taken air travel to its most comical (read:worst) : Simon Bolivar International Airport is charging passengers for clean air, starting this month.
Well, really what they’re doing is charging flyers for the right to breathe clean air, in the form of a tax — not that that’s much better, really.
From July onwards, anyone flying to or from Simon Bolivar International Airport of Maiquetia in Caracas is going to have spend 125 bolivars — roughly $20, depending on the highly variable exchange rate — on what the airport has called a “breathing tax.”
Ostensibly, the fee is in order to pay for a “state-of-the-art” air purification system, which “deodorizes” and “sanitizes” the building (just how smelly and dirty was it before, you have to wonder). It’s the first of its kind in South America, the ministry of water and air transport boasts, and will help “protect the health of travelers.”
If you’re thinking that this sounds suspiciously like a pricey air conditioning unit, you’re not alone. The move has caused a furor on social media in Venezuela, where people are already pretty unhappy with the government of Nicolas Maduro.
Recently, Maduro’s office has put in place certain currency controls that have stopped international airlines — like Delta and American Airlines, for example — from repatriating what they make from selling tickets in Venezuela. What this has meant is that Delta, American, United and Canada Air have all severely cut down their flights to the country — which, as you can imagine, has not been so good for Maiquetia Airport’s revenues.
“We are isolated as airlines have reduced flights to the U.S. by more than 80 percent,” Jesus Ernesto Ortiz, president of Caracas travel agency Happy Tour Group, told Bloomberg earlier this week. “Venezuela is going to receive less flights than Cuba or Haiti. It is the first time the Venezuela airlines sector is facing a crisis like that.”
Well, it certainly puts Easyjet’s fees into perspective, if nothing else.
Source:::: Business Insider .com
Natarajan
Jos Stiglingh captured this stunning video with a GoPro Hero 3 Silver, showing the view from a DJI Phantom 2 quadcopter flying in and above a fireworks display. He filmed it in West Palm Beach, Florida. Jos said:
Be sure to watch in HD!
Not everyone agrees flying a drone through fireworks is a good idea. Gregory S. McNeal said today (July 4, 2014) on Forbes that flying a drone through fireworks might land you in prison:
There’s no doubt that [Stiglingh’s] HD video is stunning. It’s also dangerous and likely unlawful (at least if it occurred in the United States). The flight is unsafe as the existence of the drone in the airspace above the fireworks display creates an increased risk of hazardous debris (from the fireworks or the drone) falling into spectator areas. There is also the possibility that a firework colliding with a drone may divert the pyrotechnic downward into spectator areas, causing it to detonate where it otherwise should not.
McNeal later adds that Steglingh’s drone might have been directed through a safety zone over the ocean, established by the coast guard.
Bottom line: Don’t try this at home! Jos Steglingh has captured a video of a drone flying through fireworks that many are viewing today. No wonder. It’s stunning.
Source:::: Earth Sky News
Natarajan
Dramatic shots of the July 3 dust storm – aka haboob – in Phoenix. Thanks to all who posted on EarthSky’s Facebook page.
Phoenix, Arizona got its first big dust storm yesterday (July 3, 2014). These storms, also known as haboobs, occur the summer months in the southwest United States. They’re caused by the monsoonal flow that helps provide rain for parts of Arizona. If some storms develop away from a dry area, then the outflow and winds from that storm can produce dust storms in the region. Check out these amazing images of yesterday’s storm!
Abc15.com has a huge gallery of images of the July 3, 2014 storm in Phoenix
Source:::: Earth sky news
Natarajan
A farmer captured this photo of a serious storm sweeping through northern Illinois on Monday, June 30.
On Monday, June 30, 2014, flooding, downed trees and fires caused by lightning strikes snarled traffic, cut power and delayed or canceled hundreds of flights in and out of Chicago, Illinois. Steve Pitstick of Pitstick Farms in northern Illinois caught some of the storm clouds of this heavy-weather day on film.
Illinois was said to be hit particularly hard in Monday’s storms, but the central U.S. as a whole had tornadoes, high winds, hail and heavy rains that day. By Tuesday morning, hundreds of thousands of people were without power and trying to clean up damaged homes and roadways, according to the National Weather Service.
Source:::: Earth sky news site
Natarajan
Q. You come home one day as president of the company, just appointed, and your mom is not that impressed. Would you tell that story?
This is about 14 years ago. I was working in the office. I work very late, and we were in the middle of the Quaker Oats acquisition. And I got a call about 9:30 in the night from the existing chairman and CEO at that time. He said, Indra, we’re going to announce you as president and put you on the board of directors … I was overwhelmed, because look at my background and where I came from — to be president of an iconic American company and to be on the board of directors, I thought something special had happened to me.
So rather than stay and work until midnight which I normally would’ve done because I had so much work to do, I decided to go home and share the good news with my family. I got home about 10, got into the garage, and my mother was waiting at the top of the stairs. And I said, “Mom, I’ve got great news for you.” She said, “let the news wait. Can you go out and get some milk?”
I looked in the garage and it looked like my husband was home. I said, “what time did he get home?” She said “8 o’clock.” I said, “Why didn’t you ask him to buy the milk?” “He’s tired.” Okay. We have a couple of help at home, “why didn’t you ask them to get the milk?” She said, “I forgot.” She said just get the milk. We need it for the morning. So like a dutiful daughter, I went out and got the milk and came back.
I banged it on the counter and I said, “I had great news for you. I’ve just been told that I’m going to be president on the Board of Directors. And all that you want me to do is go out and get the milk, what kind of a mom are you?”
And she said to me, “let me explain something to you. You might be president of PepsiCo. You might be on the board of directors. But when you enter this house, you’re the wife, you’re the daughter, you’re the daughter-in-law, you’re the mother. You’re all of that. Nobody else can take that place. So leave that damned crown in the garage. And don’t bring it into the house. You know I’ve never seen that crown.”
Source:::: David Bradley, Atlantic …Excerpts of Interview with Indra K. Nooyi, the CEO of PepsiCo, ….as appeared in Business Insider AU
Natarajan
June 30 is the 10-year anniversary of the Cassini spacecraft’s successful insertion into orbit around Saturn. Imaging team leader Carolyn Porco expresses the wonder.
In the past 10 years, no spacecraft has consistently delivered the wonder of our solar system like the flagship-class NASA-ESA robotic spacecraft Cassini. No surprise, because it’s orbiting the amazing planet Saturn, world of rings and moons. June 30, 2014 is the 10-year anniversary of Cassini’s insertion into orbit around Saturn. It’s hard to convey in words how wonderful the Cassini images have been since that great day. They are stark, pleasingly symmetric and startling in their beauty. Carolyn Porco, who leads the imaging science team on the Cassini mission, had this to say today on CICLOPS, the official website of the Cassini imaging team.
On the night of June 30, 2004, we flawlessly guided ourselves into orbit around Saturn, and in doing so, took up residence in the house of the sun’s most glorious planet. Our long voyage to this faraway place was over, and we were about to embark on a scientific exploration that would make history. It was hard to take it all in. I was certain that evening there was nothing we could not do.
The last decade has been the kind that can define a human life. Wandering a distant, alien wilderness of endlessly moving worlds, all of us under the commanding and splendidly garlanded presence at its center, one can surely be forgiven for feelings of rapture and sacred calling. It changes you. It has changed me.
And it has changed all of us, Carolyn, who have been privileged to view these images. Thank you and congratulations, Cassini mission imaging team!
Want to see some of the images? Here are a few, from past EarthSky posts:
Best images of great Saturn storm of 2011
Saturn’s moon rains water onto Saturn
A 360-degree view of Saturn’s auroras
Saturn’s largest and second-largest moons
Video: Ride with the Cassini spacecraft orbiting Saturn
Cassini finds vortex at south pole of Saturn’s moon Titan
Image from Cassini captures five of Saturn’s moons
NASA Cassini spacecraft provides new view of Saturn and Earth
Yin and yang of Saturn’s moon Iapetus
Cassini spies Venus from Saturn’s orbit
Blazing objects in Saturn’s weirdest ring
Bottom line: June 30, 2014 is the 10-year anniversary of the Cassini spacecraft’s insertion into orbit around Saturn. Don’t we live in an amazing time of history?
Source::::Earth sky news
Natarajan
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