Northern Norway’s Lyngen Alps lit by the moon. Tommy Richardsen took this shot on February 7, 2017.
Track of the vessel Nathaniel B. Palmer in the Weddell Sea, with the remnants of the Larsen-B Ice Shelf and Antarctic Peninsula in the background. Image via Alpha Galileo/ McGill University/ Galen Halverson.
Galen Halverson of McGill University took this wonderful photo. He has a new study out on the origin of Antarctica’s glaciers, in which he links 2 competing theories on how Antarctica’s ice sheets formed so rapidly, about 34 million years ago.
The ship that made this track in the sea ice around the Antarctic continent is the U.S. Antarctic Programs’ Nathaniel B. Palmer. It’s a scientific research vessel, a platform for global change studies in biology, oceanography, geology, and geophysics. It can accommodate 37 scientists, has a crew of 22, and is capable of 75-day missions.
Maureen Allen in Yankeetown, Florida caught the zodiacal light (l) and Milky Way in February, 2016.
Jim Peacock is in northern Wisconsin, which is farther to the north on Earth’s globe than usual for easy viewing of the light. Yet he caught this zodiacal light in February, 2013. He said: “Yes, it was very visible to the eye … it reached high above the horizon. Was so cool to see over Lake Superior.” You can also see the Circlet of Pisces to the lower right of center – and the Y-shaped Water Jar of the constellation Aquarius to the lower right of the Circlet, just above the sunlit cloud.
December 30, 2016 Bonneville Salt Flats Marc Toso
Funnel Clouds February 07, 2017 Helio C. Vital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
February 07, 2017 Helio C. Vital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
February 07, 2017 Helio C. Vital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
February 07, 2017 Helio C. Vital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
February 07, 2017 Helio C. Vital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
February 07, 2017 Helio C. Vital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
February 07, 2017 Helio C. Vital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
February 07, 2017 Helio C. Vital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
February 07, 2017 Helio C. Vital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
In some areas of Death Valley National Park, Geraea canescens can cover the valley floor or small hills. Hairy desert-sunflower and desert gold are used as common names.
Perhaps I should have waited until my birthday to post something from this genus. Geraea is derived from the Greek geraios, meaning “old”, while canescens is from the Latin canescere, meaning “to become grey or white”. The Jepson eFlora account for Geraea canescens notes the generic name is specifically in reference to the white hairs of the involucre, perhaps best shown in this photograph by Keir Morse. However, most parts of these plants are covered in white hairs, including the fruits.
