Halo Moon

Halo Moon 

A couple of nights ago, there was a beautiful halo around the moon. These don't really do it justice, but it's worth a try. Note: the green thing near the bottom is not 3I/Atlas, but part of a clothes line. 

It was a cold, clear night with great seeing, but ice crystals created a nice halo, that had quite quite a few colours in it, though primarily the GBIV part of ROYGBIV.

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And here is a book plug for a novel that features moons quite a bit (note that blogger seems intent on throwing in lots of different fonts today - that's just how it rolls sometimes):

The Witches’ Stones Book 2: Love and Intrigue Under the Seven Moons of Kordea

Go on a romantic science fiction adventure with Terran Confederation agents Sarah Mackenzie and Coryn Leigh as they grapple with the forces of Earth’s galactic rival, The Or, a their own growing attraction for each other. 

The novel is about 100,000 words and is priced at $3.99 U.S. (or equivalent in other currencies). It is also available on Kindle Unlimited and is periodically offered as free promotion.

 

It is also available in paperback at Amazon, currently priced at $9.99.

Amazon U.S: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00YGB2KC0

Amazon U.K.: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00YGB2KC0

Amazon Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00YGB2KC0

Amazon Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B00YGB2KC0

Amazon Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B00YGB2KC0

Amazon Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B00YGB2KC0

Amazon India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B00YGB2KC0

Amazon Spain: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B00YGB2KC0

Amazon France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B00YGB2KC0

Amazon Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B00YGB2KC0

Amazon Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B00YGB2KC0

Amazon Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B00YGB2KC0

Amazon Brazil: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B00YGB2KC0

Here’s a more detailed summary of the novel:

The feisty, ESP-talented Earth woman Sara Mackenzie has arrived on the anomalous planet Kordea to take up studies in Witch-lore, among the race of wise women on that planet, known as the Circle Witches of Kordea. The Terra Confederation Agent, Coryn Leigh, who helped her to escape the clutches of the authoritarian enemies of the democratic Terra Confederation, has also arrived on Kordea, taking on the diplomatic posting of the Kordean-Terran Liaison Officer. His duties include helping the Witches to keep Sarah and the cache of ESP-enhancing gems known as amartos, or Witches' Stones, safe from their enemy’s hands. That adversary, known sometimes as The Organization, will stop at nothing in their attempts to grab the Stones and an ESP-capable human, in order to gain the ultimate power with which to take over the inhabited galaxy.

It is not long before the planet Kordea comes under attack. The Organization turns their latest weapon upon the planet and its unusual moon, Lina. That moon is nearly wrested out of its orbit - only the emergency interventions of Sarah and her colleagues can prevent planet-wide catastrophe.

It becomes clear that Sarah, Coryn, and others, including the Witches of Kordea, must undertake a risky project involving an undercover mission to destroy this threatening super-weapon, in order to safeguard Kordea and the peace of the galaxy.

At the same time Sarah and Coryn have to deal with their growing attraction to one another. Coryn is in a conflict-of-interest position, since he has taken on a guardianship role toward Sarah, necessitated by his new, diplomatic position. Sarah, on her part, must struggle with self-doubts: about her looks, her worth, even her identity—although not about her ESP abilities, which are considerable. They must struggle with their personal dilemmas, even while trying to counter the enormous threat to the democratic way of life of the humanity of the galaxy.

 

 

 

 

Northern Lights

Northern Lights

Some Northern Lights last night. Not spectacular, but ok for a backyard view in the city. This was actually looking south, so the aurora was obviously looping a long way from the polar regions last night. The northern sky was somewhat cloudy, so I don't know how it was from that direction. 

 

 

 Aurora Pictures (Northern Lights)

My son took these pictures of the Aurora on May 11, 2024.  (He actually has a PhD in astrophysics, but this was just taken with his iPhone after watching the Oilers-Canucks playoff hockey game that night).

 

The Aurora or Northern Lights are a product of the solar wind, which is a flow of subatomic particles coming off of our sun and intersecting the Earth's atmosphere.  When that flow is heavy, such as after a solar storm or solar flare, we get the aurora.  Usually, you have to be fairly far up in latitude to see it, but in some cases it can be seen quite far south.

When charged particles (electrons=negative, protons=positive) encounter the Earth's magnetic field they interact with it, traveling along the Earth's magnetic field lines, which extend out into space around the Earth (the nickel-iron core of the Earth acts like a dipole since charges flow within it).  On the night side, the magnetic field lines stretch far away and can become discontinuous, with the line sort of snapping back towards the Earth, carrying the charged solar wind particles with it.  They can then be accelerated into the Earth's atmosphere, where they can interact with gases there.

The colours and intensity of the light depend on the energy and charge of the particles, which particular gas with which they collide and the altitude of the collision.   Reds are usually produced far up (240-400 km), greens more intermediate (100 to 240 km) and blues lower down (80-100 km).  For references "space" is usually considered to start at about 100 km, though there is a very tenuous atmosphere at these altitudes.  Collisions with nitrogen are generally red, violet or blue.  Oxygen is usually green or yellow.  The vast majority of the atmosphere is made of these gases (with traces of others such as argon, CO2, etc.).

Charged particles in motion within the Earth's magnetic field can create induced currents that affect communications and electrical infrastructure.  So, they are pretty but can be very disruptive.  I guess you could say that about other pretty things too.  :)

In the photos below, I have matched the original iPhone picture with one that was enhanced with the image processing program GIMP, via fiddling with the exposure and contrast setting, as well as some strategic cropping.  But nothing is added, just enhanced.

1 -Violets and Greens - nitrogen and oxygen.

 

 

2 - Mostly Green with hints of Violet (mostly oxygen, a bit of nitrogen).

 

3 - Mostly Green, hint of Violet again. Sort of a curtain effect.

4 - Similar to above. the pictures were taken in a neighborhood park, thus the houses, proving that these were pretty impressive Northern Lights, even in the middle of a rather large city (million plus).

5 - Mostly Green, hint of Violet again.

6 -Violets and Greens, a rather psychedelic effect.

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If you like Northern Lights and Magnetic Anomalies, you should read this short story (soon to be a novel):

The Magnetic Anomaly: A Science Fiction Story

“A geophysical crew went into the Canadian north. There were some regrettable accidents among a few ex-military who had become geophysical contractors after their service in the forces. A young man and young woman went temporarily mad from the stress of seeing that. They imagined things, terrible things. But both are known to have vivid imaginations; we have childhood records to verify that. It was all very sad. That’s the official story.”

You can purchase it for all of 99 cents.  Alternatively, keep your eyes open for a free promotions, which occur periodically. Or, get it with Kindle Unlimited.

Amazon:

U.S.: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0176H22B4

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0176H22B4

Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0176H22B4

France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0176H22B4

Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B0176H22B4

Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B0176H22B4

Spain: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B0176H22B4

Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0176H22B4

Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B0176H22B4

Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0176H22B4

Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0176H22B4

India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0176H22B4 

Brazil: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B0176H22B4

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 What to Expect During a Total Solar Eclipse

 Here is my response that I wrote recently, to a question on Quora.  With another solar eclipse coming up, the subject has become timely, so it got a fairly good response, so I thought I would share it on this blog. 

When there's a solar eclipse, do you have to protect your eyes? Doesn't it just get dark?

Yes, you should take reasonable care with your eyes while watching an eclipse. I have actually experienced at total solar eclipse and it does get rather dark and rather cool as the sun is eclipsed. That said, it is by no means pitch dark nor night-time cold, as the eclipse doesn’t last long. For that reason, it doesn’t cool down all that much (though it is noticeable) and it doesn’t get majorly dark (though you might see Venus or some other bright stars). Here’s a photo of the 2017 eclipse from Idaho:

 

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I should add a couple of things to my post, as I submitted prematurely by accident. You can safely look at an eclipse without filters, during totality (it is quite remarkable at that time). While it is in partial eclipse state, it is best to have some solar filters to look through (they are quite inexpensive), though a quick glance without a filter won’t render you instantly blind. That said, the whole event is rather amazing, so you could forget yourself and stare too long during partiality, so best to use the filters then.

There is a lot of weird lore around solar eclipses and the “struck instantly blind” is one of them. In practice, if looking directly at the sun for a short interval was that harmful, most of the human population would be blind by the time they were ready to go to school. But, there is the temptation to stare, so be careful.

I think there are also a lot of written accounts of eclipses that are quite “other the top”. It is a pretty remarkable experience, and worth going out of your way for it, assuming that you have the time and money. But, contrary to some accounts, you probably won’t have a mystical experience or see God.

Here are a couple of the people (relatives) that I went to the Idaho eclipse with, wearing their filter glasses. The binoculars also have solar filters. You won’t see God, but it will make you smile. There were little kids watching too. They got really excited, which was neat.

 

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While I am blogging this, I might as well plug my book about that trip.  It has a much more detailed description of the eclipse, as well as some associated touring from Alberta to Idaho.

The Great American Solar Eclipse of 2017

Here's a travel story about a trip to see the Total solar eclipse in 2017, in Idaho Falls U.S.A.. Total solar eclipses are quite fascinating to experience, some people even plan their lives (well, vacations, anyway) around seeing just one more total eclipse.

The trip involved some touring in the mountain parks of Alberta, Canada, followed by a journey through the rugged coulees and beautiful mountains of Montana and Idaho. It culminated with the spectacular total solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 as seen in totality from the scenic small city of Idaho Falls. The story also includes some scientific and historical background about the eclipse phenomenon in general.

The story is about 12000 words (about an hour reading time at typical reading speeds) and features many photographs. It is only $0.99 on Amazon (U.S. or equivalent in other currencies) and is also on Kindle Unlimited. You can also watch for it on free promotions, every 3 months or so.

Amazon U.S.: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BH7WBQ1

Amazon U.K: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07BH7WBQ1

Amazon Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07BH7WBQ1

Amazon Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B07BH7WBQ1

Amazon Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B07BH7WBQ1

Amazon Spain: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B07BH7WBQ1

Amazon Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B07BH7WBQ1

Amazon Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B07BH7WBQ1

Amazon Brazil: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B07BH7WBQ1

Amazon Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B07BH7WBQ1

Amazon Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B07BH7WBQ1

Amazon France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B07BH7WBQ1

Amazon India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B07BH7WBQ1

 

The Great American Solar Eclipse of 2017

We are featuring a free travel story, about a trip to see the Total solar eclipse in 2017, in Idaho Falls U.S.A.. Total solar eclipses are quite fascinating to experience, some people

even plan their lives (well, vacations, anyway) around seeing just one more total eclipse.

The trip involved some touring in the mountain parks of Alberta, Canada, followed by a journey through the rugged coulees and beautiful mountains of Montana and Idaho. It culminated with the spectacular total solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 as seen in totality from the scenic small city of Idaho Falls. The story also includes some scientific and historical background about the eclipse phenomenon in general.

The story is about 12000 words (about an hour reading time at typical reading speeds) and features many photographs. It is only $0.99 on Amazon (U.S. or equivalent in other currencies) and is also on Kindle Unlimited. You can also watch for it on free promotions, every 3 months or so.

Amazon U.S.: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BH7WBQ1

Amazon U.K: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07BH7WBQ1

Amazon Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07BH7WBQ1

Amazon Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B07BH7WBQ1

Amazon Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B07BH7WBQ1

Amazon Spain: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B07BH7WBQ1

Amazon Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B07BH7WBQ1

Amazon Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B07BH7WBQ1

Amazon Brazil: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B07BH7WBQ1

Amazon Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B07BH7WBQ1

Amazon Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B07BH7WBQ1

Amazon France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B07BH7WBQ1

Amazon India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B07BH7WBQ1

Constructing a Pleasant Little Solar-Heated Outdoor Reading Nook

With Covid-19 lockdowns and the possibility that vitimin D is helpful in preventing the condition, I decided to build a nice little solar-heated outdoor reading nook.  My deck faces south, so at noon there is a good deal of mid-winter sunshine, even at the high latitude where I live (about 54 degrees north).

 

It was pretty easy to build, even for someone who isn’t much of a carpenter:

• 
  I bought some light panel boards.  I bought 3 panels, 2 feet by 4 feet, thickness of about a quarter inch.
• Since they are kind of flimsy, I reinforced them along the edges, with 1 by 2 studs, using ¾ inch number 8 wood screws.  I used these size screws throughout the project.
• Then, to add some extra strength at the corners, I added metal L-shaped brackets for bracing.
• I wrapped one side of the panels (the one without the 1 by 2 showing) with mylar, using packing tape to fix the mylar to the panels.
• To make a 3 piece unit that could be folded up (kind of like a triptych with the sun as my artwork), I put hinges in.  I had to be careful to use different sizes of hinges to ensure that the unit could fold up nicely.
•  Note also that you have to have the mylar surfaces arranged in such a way that they all reflect the sunlight centrally, once the unit is unfolded.
   
• 

  
  
   

I set the unit up with the mylar surface facing the sun at around local noon (solar time).  The left and right panels were put at about a 45 degree angle to the center panel, with the mylar surfaces facing the sun.  The unit stood up by itself nicely, though in an unsheltered spot the wind would probably be a problem.  One could add a bottom platform (a sort of stand) to take care of this.

On a day that was about at the freezing point, the area where I placed my chair was about 10 degrees Celius or 15 degrees Farenheit warmer than the ambient air.  While wearing a padded vest over my shirt, I could even roll up my shirt sleeves and dispense with headwear and gloves.

This also provides plenty of sunlight for reading, which is handy when using a kindle.  If you are using your phone or ipad, there can be some glare, though it is managable if you orient the screen the right way.  I found that I could comfortably sit and read for at least a couple of hours, especially after high noon.  Plus, I got a fair bit of sunshine and fresh air, which is good for the spirit.

Once I was done reading, I folded up the unit and stored it against the wall of the house, putting a home-made planter in front of it (weighted down with a few bricks), so that it wouldn’t fall or be blown down in the wind.

One warning – after finishing the project you can almost guarantee a spell of cloudy weather.  :)

Come spring, I plan to use this unit to jump-start our bedding plants.  In the summer, it would likely be too hot to use for much, except maybe keeping a coffee pot warm.  I will have to try that.

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And, here’s a pleasant little travel story about a place where a solar-heated reading nook could be quite useful.  You would definitely have to be careful about your unit being knocked over by the wind, though.

A Drive Across Newfoundland

 

U.S.: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NMR9WM8

U.K.:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07NMR9WM8

Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B07NMR9WM8

Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B07NMR9WM8

Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07NMR9WM8

Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B07NMR9WM8

India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B07NMR9WM8

Newfoundland, Canada’s most easterly province, is a region that is both fascinating in its unique culture and amazing in its vistas of stark beauty. The weather is often wild, with coastal regions known for steep cliffs and crashing waves (though tranquil beaches exist too). The inland areas are primarily Precambrian shield, dominated by forests, rivers, rock formations, and abundant wildlife. The province also features some of the Earth’s most remarkable geology, notably The Tablelands, where the mantle rocks of the Earth’s interior have been exposed at the surface, permitting one to explore an almost alien landscape, an opportunity available on only a few scattered regions of the planet.

The city of St. John’s is one of Canada’s most unique urban areas, with a population that maintains many old traditions and cultural aspects of the British Isles. That’s true of the rest of the province, as well, where the people are friendly and inclined to chat amiably with visitors. Plus, they talk with amusing accents and party hard, so what’s not to like?

This account focusses on a two-week road trip in October 2007, from St. John’s in the southeast, to L’Anse aux Meadows in the far northwest, the only known Viking settlement in North America. It also features a day hike visit to The Tablelands, a remarkable and majestic geological feature. Even those who don’t normally consider themselves very interested in geology will find themselves awe-struck by these other-worldly landscapes.