Red, red rainbow

Yesterday at sunrise, I photographed the rainbow on the left. The mild shower and sparse cloud cover made for a red sunrise, and accordingly, the rainbow from this sunrise appears to be refracting only red light, instead of the typical yellow, green and violet of the rainbow on the right. I tried saturating the colors green and yellow but that failed to change the color of the rainbow.

  jg

Spiders and Snakes

I'm wondering if we have an abundance of rattlesnakes in Riverside County, CA this year. I hike the snake-invested hills weekly -- have been doing so for over 10 years -- and typically I see a rattlesnake once a year, or less frequently. And all of these sightings are in spring or early summer. This year, however, I've seen five, and during the summer months, with the most recent being four days ago. A friend reports that his network of mountain bikers also have observed an increase in rattlesnake sightings.

I've never felt threatened by a rattlesnake, though I've seen them over a dozen times. The snakes were either quick to get away -- why I have so few good pictures of them -- or they just laid were they were, very passive. Three times (and all were this summer) the snake scurried to the nearest protective crack or bush and then rattled at me. From my experience, I've seen no reason for anyone to attack a snake. You either scare them, or they scare you -- either way, the solution is to back off quickly.

Once I encountered a teen-aged hiker carrying a machete. When asked why, he said it was to defend from rattlesnakes. I commended his watchfulness but pointed out that to use a machete, at least the one he was carrying, he would have to put his hand within striking distance of the snake.

Watching your step and staying on trails or open rocks is the best approach.

Also, don't take bumps on a rock for granite (and old joke but it fits):

How many toads do you see in this picture?

Recent sightings: Two snakes and one tarantula

jg

Irridium Flare

Below is is an Iridium flare caused by sunlight reflecting off the parabolic dish of a satellite that is part of the Iridium system. This one occurred due north of my location at Sept 1, 8: 25pm PDT. Polaris is the star next to the flare. You can see the little dipper extend up and left from Polaris. The photo was about 30 seconds at F3.2 at ISO 200.

jg

Parhelia at Julian Starfest, 17 Aug 2012

This Friday I'll be presenting at the Julian Starfest. My topic is parhelia, like this circumzenithal arc (below) I observed this afternoon around 5:45. My presentation is at 7:00 pm, 17 August, at the Menghini Winery in Julian. More information about this 4 day event is available at the www.julianstarfest.com.

This is the first circumzenithal arc I've seen in summer, and it was probably 100 degrees F when I took the photo. Though it was hot on the ground, there was plenty of ice crystals aloft to make this arc.

jg

Perseids: 2 out of 80 per minute

A high end estimate of perseids is 80 per minute. I believe that may have been the case last night for anyone under a dark sky. I counted 32 between 11:15 and 12:15. Of these perhaps ten were bright fireballs like the brighter meteor in my photos. Most were faint and barely detectable from my semi-urban sky. (My--I mean "our" -- sky here in Wildomar isn't too bad, as I could see the Milky Way all the way to Cassiopiea).

jg

A Coal Sequestration Illustration

I've contributed an illustration (see below) to this post on Skeptical Science:

http://www.skepticalscience.com/coal-natural-carbon-sequestration.html

The post argues that in terms of net energy gained and used, it is impractical to burn coal with the expectation that we can later capture the CO2 and sequester its carbon in a form that is as stable as the coal it came from.

jg

Lake Skinner Star Party cancelled

The star party for Aug 11 at Lake Skinner is cancelled due to thunderstorms. The event will be rescheduled.