There has been a lot of celestial activity these days, which inspired me to create this illustration of a meteorite falling over an Icelandic landscape. This is a composite photo: the sky is a night sky I found on google images—I removed the moon—while the landscape comes from a day picture of a cotton field in Iceland, taken by a National Geographic reporter. The meteorite is basic vector art. By the way, here’s the difference between a comet and a meteor: Meteoroids are small chunks of debris in space. When they enter our atmosphere they start to burn and and streak across the sky, blazing bright for a few seconds. They are then called meteors (or shooting stars). When meteors are large enough to survive their trip through the atmosphere and hit the ground, they are called meteorites. Comets are also chunks of space debris such as rocks, but they have ice mixed in as well. Contrary to meteoroids, they have very long orbits, and when they come close to the Sun, the heat boils off their frozen ice and pushes it into a long, bright tail. Comets are much bigger than meteors and they do not have to enter our atmosphere to be seen. 
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There has been a lot of celestial activity these days, which inspired me to create this illustration of a meteorite falling over an Icelandic landscape.

This is a composite photo: the sky is a night sky I found on google images—I removed the moon—while the landscape comes from a day picture of a cotton field in Iceland, taken by a National Geographic reporter. The meteorite is basic vector art.

By the way, here’s the difference between a comet and a meteor:

Meteoroids are small chunks of debris in space. When they enter our atmosphere they start to burn and and streak across the sky, blazing bright for a few seconds. They are then called meteors (or shooting stars). When meteors are large enough to survive their trip through the atmosphere and hit the ground, they are called meteorites.

Comets are also chunks of space debris such as rocks, but they have ice mixed in as well. Contrary to meteoroids, they have very long orbits, and when they come close to the Sun, the heat boils off their frozen ice and pushes it into a long, bright tail. Comets are much bigger than meteors and they do not have to enter our atmosphere to be seen. 

Thunderstorms!

There are 4 types of thunderstorms: single-cell, supercell, multi-cell, and squall line.

A single-cell thunderstorm or pulse storm is usually not threatening. When it is of substantial intensity, it only produces severe weather for a brief period of time, usually under 40 minutes. Weather events can include downbursts, hail, heavy rainfall, and occasionally weak tornadoes.

A supercell thunderstorm is characterized by the presence of a deep, persistently rotating updraft (mesocyclone). Supercells may look like spaceships about to land on Earth. They are the least common type of thunderstorm and have the potential to be the most severe. Supercell storms can produce tornadoes that stay on the ground for long periods of time, with winds exceeding 200 mph.

Multi-cell thunderstorms are composed of several storm cells, each being at a different lifecycle stage. Each cell lives for about 20 minutes and dissipates as new cells form, each taking its turn as the dominant cell in the group. A multi-cell storm cluster can last for hours, sometimes evolving into a squall line storm. 

A squall line storm is a line of severe thunderstorms that forms along or ahead of a cold front. It contains heavy precipitation, hail, frequent lightning, strong straight-line winds, and sometimes tornadoes and waterspouts.

Stay at home.

Photos: public domain.

Where Martians Come From

I learnt something disconcerting today, about astronomer Percival Lowell (1855-1916). Lowell is famous for observing and describing channels or “canals” on the surface of Mars. Lowell speculated that these canals were non-natural structures built by intelligent beings to carry water from the polar ice caps to martian cities, where water was scarce. This theory was highly popular among the public, nurturing the fantasy that there was life on Mars. 

The scientific community, however, remained skeptical as no one was able to come to the same observations. There is indeed a giant canyon (Valles Marineris) on Mars—a sign that there was once water flowing on the surface—but nothing like the complex structures Lowell was describing. Here is a drawing he made of his observations:

Lowell also turned his telescope to Venus, and there too observed canals. Lowell maintained that Venus displayed a network of massive canals emanating from a central hub or black spot:

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I tried taking a few pictures of the Sun eclipse this afternoon, but even when 50% of the Sun was covered, the luminosity was still too high (around 90%) to capture phenomenon. Even with a low ISO and fast shutter, I could barely see the modified shape of the disk (second picture).

A cool thing happened, however: I was able to catch a few sun flares in the shape of the eclipse (third photo). They danced upside down around the Sun as I moved the camera. 

The last three photos were taken through the lens of eclipse sunglasses. 

These two books arrived in the mail today. The author, Neil deGrasse Tyson, was recommended to me by my friend XLYD (that’s in fact a secret code for his name). XLYD and I’s friendship is truly unique in the sense that we cannot stand each for more than 2 hours straight. Yet once in a while, we’ll randomly walk into each other downtown San Francisco, talk for 1 hour and 58 minutes, and cool stuff will come out of it. This time, these books.
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These two books arrived in the mail today. The author, Neil deGrasse Tyson, was recommended to me by my friend XLYD (that’s in fact a secret code for his name).

XLYD and I’s friendship is truly unique in the sense that we cannot stand each for more than 2 hours straight. Yet once in a while, we’ll randomly walk into each other downtown San Francisco, talk for 1 hour and 58 minutes, and cool stuff will come out of it.

This time, these books.