Sunday, July 30, 2017

Really wordy Sunday with a guest blogger~~~clouds

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vMartin Deja/Moment/Getty Images
Martin Deja/Moment/Getty Images

6 Must-Know Facts About Clouds


Clouds are a common sight, but have you ever thought to ask these basic questions about them?

1. What are clouds?

Clouds are visible collections of tiny water droplets (or ice crystals if it's cold enough) that live high in the atmosphere above the Earth's surface.

2. How do clouds form?

Clouds form when a parcel of air rises from the surface up into the atmosphere. As the parcel ascends, it passes through lower and lower pressure levels (pressure decreases with height).
Recall that air tends to move from higher to lower pressure areas, so as the parcel travels into lower pressure areas, the air inside of it pushes outward, causing it to expand. This expansion uses heat energy, and therefore cools the air parcel. The farther upward it travels, the more it cools. When its temperature cools to that of its dew point temperature, the water vapor inside of the parcel condenses into droplets of liquid water. These droplets then collect on the surfaces of dust, pollen, smoke, dirt, and sea salt particles called nuclei. (These nuclei are hygroscopic, meaning they attract water molecules.) It is at this point--when water vapor condenses and settles onto condensation nuclei--that clouds form and become visible.

3. Why do clouds billow and change their shape?

Have you ever watched a cloud long enough to see it expanding outward, or looked away for a moment only to find that when you look back its shape has changed?
If so, you'll be glad to know it isn't your imagination. Clouds are ever-changing thanks to the processes of condensation and evaporation.
After a cloud forms, the process that grows it (condensation) doesn't stop. This is why we sometimes notice clouds expanding into neighboring sky. But as currents of warm, moist air continue to rise and feed condensation, drier air from the surrounding environment eventually infiltrates the buoyant column of air, a process called entrainment.
When this drier air is introduced into the cloud body, it evaporates the cloud's droplets and causes parts of the cloud to dissipate.

4. Why do clouds float?

Clouds start out high up in the atmosphere because that's where they're created, but the reason why they remain suspended there has to do with the tiny particles they contain.
A cloud's water droplets or ice crystals are very small, less than a micron (that's less than one-millionth of a meter). Because of this, they respond very slowly to gravity. To help visualize this concept, consider a rock and a feather; gravity affects each, however the rock falls quickly whereas the feather gradually drifts to the ground because of its light weight. Now compare a feather and an individual cloud droplet particle; the particle will take even longer than the feather to fall, and because of the particle's tiny size, the slightest movement of air will keep it aloft. Because this applies to each cloud droplet, it applies to the entire cloud itself.
(More: How much does a cloud weigh?)

5. How do clouds move?

Clouds travel with the upper-level winds. They move at the same speed and in the same direction as the prevailing wind at the cloud's level (low, middle, or high).
High-level clouds are among the fastest moving because they form near the top of the troposphere and are pushed by the jet stream.

6. How do clouds get their color?

A cloud's color is determined by the light it receives from the Sun. (Recall that the Sun emits white light; that white light is made up of all the colors in the visible spectrum: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet; and that each color in the visible spectrum represents an electromagnetic wave of a different length.)
The process works like this: As the Sun's light waves pass through the atmosphere and clouds, they meet the individual water droplets that make up a cloud. Because the water droplets have a similar size as the wavelength of sunlight, the droplets scatter the Sun's light in a type of scattering known as Mie scattering in which all wavelengths of light are scattered.
Because all wavelengths are scattered, and together all colors in the spectrum make up white light, we see white clouds.
In the case of thicker clouds, such as stratus, sunlight passes through but is blocked. This gives the cloud a grayish appearance.
Martin Deja/Moment/Getty Images








Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Haiku ~~~sight unseen




Still, misty, warm night air
century plant blossoms, so white
look! a tiny sparkle

Tuesday, July 18, 2017

haiku~~~forever

~~Mickie Autumn

wander among trees
on the path I used to walk
forever is here

Sunday, July 16, 2017

A sorta silent Sunday with Birthday wishes



Cake and ice cream for everyone!
It's not my birthday, but it surely is someone's.

Thursday, July 13, 2017

Guest Blogger~~~Manhattenhenge


What is New York's famous Manhattanhenge?

By Ashley Williams, AccuWeather staff writer
Four times per year, thousands of New Yorkers and fascinated tourists flock to Manhattan’s streets for a glimpse of the spectacular celestial sunset known as Manhattanhenge.
Occurring twice in May and twice in July, the unique phenomenon features a perfectly aligned sunset beaming down the east- and westward roads of the borough’s grid.
The event can be seen when the sun is either partially or fully visible above Manhattan’s skyline.
The result is a dazzling glow that illuminates the north and south sides of the streets’ towering buildings.
Jacqueline Faherty, senior scientist at the American Museum of Natural History, called Manhattanhenge and similar events “delightful by-products of gridded cities.”
Manhattanhenge sunset 42nd Street The sun sets between the street grid of midtown 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City. (Photo/zxvisual/Getty Images)


“In all, if you have a city built with east-west facing streets in 90-degree angles with the avenues, you can have such an event,” Faherty said.
“The beauty of it will depend on the horizon and the buildings that frame your view,” she added.
Visibility also depends on possible clouds ruining the display, which can happen in a matter of minutes, according to AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Elliot Abrams.
If unfavorable weather conditions are kept at bay, hopeful spectators are treated to a breathtaking, picturesque view of the Manhattan sunset.
It’s no coincidence that Manhattanhenge sounds a lot like another world-famous “-henge.”
Stonehenge, Europe’s best-known prehistoric monument, inspired the name coined by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson in 2002.
That such a striking urban phenomenon exists is completely unintentional, however.
“The city planners of Manhattan certainly didn't expect for this to happen,” said Faherty.
Both Manhattanhenge occurrences happen to coincide with Memorial Day and Major League Baseball’s (MLB) All-Star Game.
Because of this, deGrasse Tyson wrote on his blog, “Future anthropologists might conclude that, via the sun, the people who called themselves Americans worshiped war and baseball.”
Part of what makes Manhattan such a great “-henge” location is its relatively low skyline, which gives it a somewhat flat horizon as seen from the borough’s streets, Faherty said.
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“On top of that, Manhattan has iconic buildings that many people around the world can recognize,” Faherty said. “Those buildings frame the sun perfectly for an epic photograph.”
According to deGrasse Tyson, Manhattanhenge would have coincided with the spring and fall equinoxes if the borough’s grid were aligned perfectly with the geographic north-south line.
“But Manhattan's street grid is rotated 30 degrees east from geographic north, shifting the days of alignment elsewhere into the calendar,” he wrote.
For the best Manhattanhenge experience, deGrasse Tyson wrote that observers should find the easternmost point in Manhattan as possible, ensuring that New Jersey is still visible when looking west across the avenues.
DeGrasse Tyson also suggested cross streets including 14th, 23rd, 34th, 42ndand 57th streets as prime sunset-viewing spots.
Manhattanhenge times [occur] in an ideal part of the year: summer, when the sun sets late, the outside temperatures are warm and comfortable and people are in generally good moods,” Faherty said.
Though Manhattanhenge seems to be the most talked about, other “-henge” events also occur in other cities with uniform street grids, including Torontohenge, Bostonhenge and Chicagohenge.
Those who can’t make it to New York City for the popular event can still spot amazing “mini-henges” throughout the year.
Online mapmaking company Carto created a map called NYCHenge, which displays optimal sunset days and New York City locations year-round.

Tuesday, July 11, 2017

haiku~~~overthinking


humid and thunder
colored lights shine  thru the leaves
it's lightening not snow









Sunday, July 9, 2017

Sorta Silent Sunday~~~Chistmass in July


This year I "m not writing a Christmas in July post, instead I choose for your viewing pleasure some warmhearted images.










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