A flash from the Wedding Wormhole! Just received this photo of the June 23 double rainbow over Baltimore. Paul M. Novak Jr. shot it from the 13th floor of his building downtown. Wow!

Pretty sure that's Johns Hopkins Hospital at the end of the arcs. They oughta buy this image for their annual report. On the other hand, I believe the long, low building at lower right is the state's troubled Juvenile Justice building. Maybe there's hope for the place, or at least its residents.

Now, back into the Wormhole...

Posted by Frank Roylance at 6:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
                    

Those lightning-sparked wildfires that have been plaguing Californians this week are producing enough smoke to be clearly visible from orbit. NASA's Aqua Earth Observing Satellite has sent back a remarkably clear image showing numerous smoke plumes drifting across the state. The hottest spots are sensed by infrared detectors and outlined in red.

Posted by Frank Roylance at 12:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Hope. Forgiveness. A beautiful play of refracted sunlight in raindrops. Anyway you look at them, a rainbow is a surprise and a delight whenever you spot one. Sun videographer Karl Merton Ferron captured this colorful and eerie display after a light shower in Baltimore on Monday.

Rainbows are so striking, and unusual, that we long remember where we were and what we were doing when we spotted them. I can recall a rainbow that appeared after my wife and I arrived in Bar Harbor, Maine, for our honeymoon. Seemed like a good omen, and we're still hitched after 38 years. I can remember a spectacular double rainbow that astonished our kids (and us) during a summer camping trip in the 1980s. We were driving south from Flagstaff, across the desert, after a visit to the Grand Canyon. We just pulled over and gawked.

Have any special memories of rainbows you'd like to share? Leave a comment.  

There was a double rainbow yesterday in Washington, and CapitalWeather.com has posted a terrific photo gallery. There's a link in the comments below.

Posted by Frank Roylance at 10:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
                    

A huge tornado (not the one pictured here) struck near Fort Collins, Colo. today, and was captured on video by a local TV crew as it blackened the sky and pelted the camera operator with hailstones. 

Meanwhile, a fledgling storm-chasing organization in Hungary managed to film a tornado there as it formed on May 20 - a comparative rarity in Europe. Click here for that one.

Posted by Frank Roylance at 3:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Satellite imagery can help us visualize large-scale events in ways that TV pictures - even those shot from helicopters - cannot.

Here is a satellite view of the smoke from the Florida wildfires, which is easily seen from space. The smoke can have a serious impact on people living downwind who may have asthma or other breathing difficulties. Here's more on the image.

And here is an image developed from radar data gathered from NASA's Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, with an overlay of quake data from the US Geological Survey.

It shows the sharply contrasting topography of the region of China devastated by this week's 7.9 earthquake. The quake was the result of the continuing uplift of the Tibetan plateau - the high country to the west of Chengdu - as the Eurasian continental plate is rammed by the Indian subcontinent in one of the planet's most dramatic manifestations of continental drift. 

The dots represent the main quake (largest circle) and subsequent, smaller aftershocks to the northeast. Read more here.   

Posted by Frank Roylance at 1:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

The terrible cyclone Nargis that swept in from the Andaman Sea onto  the low-lying coastal territories of southern Burma this week killed tens of thousands and left more than a million homeless. It was an impressive storm, even when seen from Earth orbit. Here's more on the image above.

Here's more from AccuWeather,com. And here are some color images shot before and after the storm.

Cyclones are no different than the hurricanes we see each summer in the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. But the geographic protocol that applies to these storms states that those that affect South Asia are to be called cyclones.

When they occur in the Atlantioc or the eastern Pacific, they're called hurricanes, and when they spin up in the central and western Pacific, they're called typhoons.

Each geographic locale within those larger regions also gets its own list of names. It's a bewildering array. And, each region sets its own rules.

Our hurricane names run in six-year cycles, so that a list repeats in the seventh year, minus any that have been retired because of their notoriety. The names also alternate between male and female, and mix the cultural origins of the region. 

But the other lists draw from their own ethnic name traditions and cycle with different patterns.

Nargis is the sixth name on List 2 under the Northern Indian Ocean category. The next cyclone out there will be Abe, followed by Khai Muk. Go figure.

Our first three storms this season will be Arthur, Bertha and Cristobal.

Continue reading "Burma cyclone from space" »

Posted by Frank Roylance at 5:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

                                                                                       Fred Bruenjes - used with permission

Some people will go anywhere to watch a total eclipse of the sun, even to the bottom of the world. The image above was shot Fred Bruenjes, of the Moonglow Observatory, during the Nov, 23, 2003 eclipse in Antarctica.  

Here's more.

The next total solar eclipse that will be visible from the continental U.S. is now just over nine years away, in 2017. Here's more on that one.

Posted by Frank Roylance at 11:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Rainfall yesterday and today has done a good job of knocking down last week's sky-high pollen counts. Unfortunately, it has also put an end to the spring blossoms we've enjoyed in recent weeks.

For some, like this driver this morning on Harford Road, it also offers an unexpected decoration for the old gray ride. The picture was taken by Kurt Kocher, spokesman for the city's Department of Public Works. Thanks, Kurt!

Posted by Frank Roylance at 4:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

One reason we're enjoying this beautiful stretch of dry, sunny weather along the East Coast is that the high-pressure system that's generating our delightful conditions is being held in place by a deep low off the coast, to our east.

From space, the big storm can be seen clearly as it spins in this satellite loop, counter-clockwise, almost like a hurricane. It's also churning up the ocean, and sending strong surf ashore along the Carolina coast, where high surf advisories are up.

The storm is slowly moving off to the northeast, and our fine weather will begin to deteriorate late Saturday as the next low moves our way, with rain due on Sunday and Monday. Sorry.

Posted by Frank Roylance at 2:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Fifty years ago, in 1958, Flagstaff passed the nation's first lighting ordinance designed to protect the night sky from the ravages of "light pollution." In truth, it was an effort to protect the view into space from the neaby Lowell Observatory. The pioneering work in Flagstaff has subsequently preserved the riches of the night sky for a growing list of observatories situated in the nearby mountains, and thereby encouraged the growth of an important local industry.

This photo shows in a very dramatic way (aided by both a truly light-pollution-free sky and a time exposure) just how glorious the night sky over Flagstaff can be now that outdoor lighting has been shielded - so that it points down, where it's needed, instead of up at the bellies of passing birds. It also happens to save energy and money, since you don't need as much candlepower if you're not sending light where it's not needed.

Here in Baltimore (below), and in most other cities, we delight in urban lighting programs that illuminate our buildings from below, with most of the glare shining up into the sky and erasing the stars ! When was the last time YOU saw the Milky Way?

You can learn more about outdoor lighting ordinances, from the International Dark Sky Association.

The Flagstaff image, credited to Dan and Cindy Durisco, the US. Naval Observatory, the Lowell Observatory and the Flagstaff Dark Skies Coalition, shows the San Fransisco Peaks beneath the Milky Way and a stationary "lenticular cloud," formed as moist air flows up and over a mountain range, condensing as it cools. Here's an amazing gallery of lenticular clouds.

Credit: The Sun, Thomas Graves, 1998

Posted by Frank Roylance at 10:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

Midwesterners might have wished it were spring, but Monday's snowstorm disabused them of any notion that it actually WAS spring for them. The storm whitened the ground across a broad swath, from Nebraska and South Dakota to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. When the skies cleared, NASA's Aqua satellite snapped this picture of the results.

That broad brushstroke across the image is snow on the ground. The white patches on the right are clouds. Lake Superior is at upper right.  Here's more.

Posted by Frank Roylance at 4:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

That's spring in my book. Lake Erie is now largely ice-free for the first time in months. And the ice pack has broken up and left the St. Lawrence River at Quebec City.  Satellite data still shows a snow cover in upstate New York, but Pennsylvania looks mostly green (or brown, at least) again.

You can watch the snow retreat on this snow-cover loop for the last month. Time to set up the Tiki bars along the Niagara River (below)!

Posted by Frank Roylance at 12:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

I have no idea what this TV news interview today was all about. CNN does not provide any context. But we can say one thing for sure: it was taped on one heckuva windy day in Texas. Have a look.

I wonder who the roofing contractor was on that job. Yikes!

Posted by Frank Roylance at 5:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Back doing the NEW journalism this morning after a day doing the OLD journalism and chasing the Goob down in College Park. Got back to Calvert Street and had a chat with Kurt Kocher, the spokesman for the city's Department of Public Works, about the easing drought conditions.

Kurt sent me this terrific photo he shot of a rainbow that appeared over Baltimore during Sunday's wild weather transitions. The location is Belair Road, near the county line.

 The rainbow appeared as a cold front swept across Maryland. A broad gap in the cloud cover allowed sunshine to beam through the departing rain showers, producing the rainbow. Then another bank of clouds and showers moved in.

Here's what the gap in the clouds looked like from space.

Continue reading "Rainbow spectacle over Baltimore" »

Posted by Frank Roylance at 10:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

Sounds like plenty of Marylanders got a look at last night's eclipse, and many have left their impressions as comments on last night's post.

I was as surprised and delighted as anyone when I spotted the full moon on my drive home last night. Somehow there were still some flakes in the air, but the the clouds had cleared out beautifully, providing us with one of the best nights for a lunar eclipse that many of us can remember. Except for the 22-degree cold.

Baltimore's Streetcorner Astronomer Herman Heyn was on station in Charles Village. He reports something close to 100 people stopped by to see the eclipse through a friend's telescope, and Saturn through his. "People were thrilled by both," he said. "It revived my enthusiasm about lunar eclipses." After a series of them obscured by clouds here, "I'd sort of given up on them."

That's stargazing for you. You have to put up with clouds, and cold, and no-show meteor showers. But when everything aligns, as they did last night, the show is spectacular and unforgettable. I hope lots of kids got to see the eclipse last night. Mine are in their 30s now, and they both remember me waking them up one night when they were little, and shooing them to the back door to see a lunar eclipse. Spooky and exciting. 

Anyway, here's a photo shot last night by Hal Laurent from East Baltimore as the eclipse got underway. If anyone else has any good shots, send them to me and I'll post them.

In the meantime, here's a gallery of eclipse photos from around the world.

Continue reading "Eclipse was a hit" »

Posted by Frank Roylance at 10:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
                    

Jon Goldberg awoke to a frosty morning in Elkton on Dec. 31. went out to his car, and captured this image of Jack Frost's handiwork on the windshield. Amazing what water vapor, cold glass and ice crystals can do.  Thanks to Jon for sharing it. 

Here are two more.

Posted by Frank Roylance at 4:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

On August 2, 2005, NASA's Maryland-built Messenger spacecraft flew past Earth at the start of a series of planetary flybys needed to send it sunward to the planet Mercury. The flybys of Earth, Venus and Mercury are designed to use the planets' gravity to slow Messenger down enough to enter orbit around Mercury in 2011.

The Messenger Web site includes this movie assembled from still images taken during the Earth flyby in 2005 - a year after Messenger's launch. It shows an astonishingly beautiful blue planet, rotating in the sunshine as we - aboard Messenger - speed away from our world, and everything - and everyone - we've ever known. Amazing.

Posted by Frank Roylance at 10:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Scientists and engineers at Johns Hopkins' Applied Physics lab have released the first closeup image of Mercury from Monday's flyby by the Messenger spacecraft. The photo includes some never-before-seen terrain that looks just like, well, the rest of Mercury, first (and last) photographed by the Mariner 10 spacecraft in 1974-1975. It also looks a lot like our moon.

That's okay. There's plenty more to come, and you can be sure there will be some surprises. Here's the release from APL. And here's an approach "movie" assembled from stills shot as Messenger neared Mercury on Sunday and Monday.

More to come. Here's Messenger's home page.

Posted by Frank Roylance at 10:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

All those big rain, snow and wind storms crashing ashore on the West Coast have been producing some titanic surf. And a few brave - nay, certifiably crazy - surfers have paddled out to take them on. For a gallery of stupefying photos from this past weekend, click here.

The waves at Cortes Bank, pictured above, occur 100 miles offshore, but surfers take long boat rides out there to get their jollies. Yikes!

Want video? Click here.

Posted by Frank Roylance at 11:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Vacation is good for the soul, but you miss stuff while you're away. Here are some images that have come across my desk in the last couple of weeks, which need to be shared.

Here's a NASA satellite one of the snow left behind by the New Year's storm that swept across the Midwest and Northeast, missing us.

Continue reading "Cool pictures we missed" »

Posted by Frank Roylance at 2:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Here's a way-cool photo, shot yesterday by one of NASA's Earth Observing satellites, of the northeastern United States in the wake of the Dec. 5 snowstorm that swept across Maryland's northern counties. It was a sunny day, so the white you're seeing on the ground is snow cover. The white streaks out over the ocean are clouds.

I'm guessing the white on Lake Ontario is clouds, too - lake-effect snow in the air? Too early in the season for ice there.

My only complaint about these images is that NASA always feels compelled to superimpose the states' boundaries. I'd rather see it the way visiting aliens see the place. Here's more.

Continue reading "Our snow cover, seen from orbit" »

Posted by Frank Roylance at 2:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

There's another big wildfire burning in the Malibu area in Southern California. A NASA satellite has snapped some dramatic pictures of the smoke drifting far off the coast in the northeast Santa Ana winds. Here's more.

And here's the AP story on the fire, with links to photos and video.

Posted by Frank Roylance at 10:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)