when traveling on an airplane as demonstrated by these quick pics on the first leg of my travel southward.
East face of Steen’s Mountain in east-central Oregon, catching the morning light.
Basin and Range physiography of northern Nevada.
View to west across the high Sierra toward the deeply shadowed Yosemite Valley. Half Dome is prominent.
at the bottom of the world in order to join the expedition staff aboard the M/V Silver Explorer for two months as we explore the sub-Antarctic islands and the Antarctic Peninsula in the Scotia Sea. Stay tuned to this blog for occasional posts during the next two months - there will be penguins!
The development of the Scotia Sea (plate) gradually opened the Drake Passage between South America and Antarctica beginning approximately 30-40 million years ago, allowing the formation of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, thereby isolating the southern icy continent from warmer ocean waters.
the night after the shortest day of the year in Castle Valley, Utah.
in Castle Valley, Utah. (Click image to enlarge.)
as I move out of the office I have occupied for more than 34 years at EWU. It’s amazing how much stuff had fallen into the event horizon defined by these walls! IMPORTANT NOTE: This is not at all a sad occasion, as my next “office” is a staff cabin on an expedition ship exploring the world, specifically Antarctica, my third season on the icy continent!
My good friend and erstwhile colleague Nigel contributed the image above. Thanks!
by a fraction. Considerably more than 100 bald eagles were easily spied in the trees in Wolf Lodge Bay on Lake Coeur d’Alene this morning, and many were fishing kokanee during their annual migration south. Most eagles were successful in their efforts, however these are very lucky kokanee salmon seen in the first two images below. The juvenile bird in the third image was successful in its quest for breakfast.
All images: Canon 5Div w/ Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM Lens: ISO=1000, 1/1000s, f/8.
Short-period comet 64P/Wirtanen is well placed for what could be a naked eye view the next few nights. I’ve created a chart where you can generally locate the fuzzy object with binoculars as it arrives at perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) today. It’s a worthwhile challenge to spot the glowing object as appears early in the night sky, above and to the right of the constellation Orion.
Furthermore, the Geminid meteor shower should be at its highest activity Friday night, and its radiant is located to the left of Orion. So if the weather is clear, and you can see Orion, then you should be able to spot the comet and enjoy a few meteors if you brave the evening chill.
Good luck and keep your expectations low. I’ll post a shot of the comet if I can manage a good one.
Here’s a finder chart showing the comet directly above the constellation Orion several hours after sunset.
External links to Sky and Telescope:
… at Higgins Point this morning. The recent frigid weather has apparently caused the number of eagles to drop dramatically this week as compared to last.
BLM Weekly Counts
2018/2019
December 7, 2018: 182 adults and 27 juveniles = 209 total (*Visibility was tough resulting in lower than average numbers.)
November 29, 2018: 299 adults and 44 juveniles = 343 total
November 21, 2018: 95 adults and 15 juveniles = 110 total
November 15, 2018: 47 adults and 8 juveniles = 55 total
Here’s most of my last senior class in sedimentology and stratigraphy, celebrating the end of my long career! I could not have hoped for a better bunch of students… thank you all.
I am delighted to share the news of being awarded Emeritus status after more than 34 years of teaching and research at Eastern Washington University!