Hailstone!!

Yesterday was raining like a drum! It's hailstone! Didn't expecting the icy rain since it was so bright and hot sunny morning earlier.. Suddenly the gloomy cloud came and poured the hail.. Quite big, as big as the thumbnail..

Here are some shots for the icy day yesterday:








































What is hail? (Ref: http://weather.about.com/od/h/g/hail.htm)

Definition: Hail is a form of precipitation that falls from the sky as pellets of ice. The pellets can range in size from small pea-sized pellets, to hailstones as large as grapefruits. Hail is especially damaging to crops. In the central US, where many hail storms are reported each year, delicate wheats and other crops are often ruined. Annually, hail can cause over 1 billion dollars in damages.

How Does Hail Form?

Hail forms as a result of the strong updrafts common in severe weather systems. When a strong convective cell forms, warm air rises and cool air sinks. If there is a sufficient amount of supercooled water, accumulation of ice can begin in the clouds.
Rising air will often reach a point in the atmosphere that is below freezing (hence, ice will form). The ice is suspended in the air by the strong updrafts and will later fall back down. This process will occur over and over adding layer upon layer to the hailstone. If you cut a hailstone in half, you would see alternating concentric layers inside it. As the hail falls, it may melt to varying degrees only to be picked up again and carried high into the atmosphere to re-freeze. Therefore, very large hailstones form with many repeated cycles.

What is the Largest Hailstone Found

Many states have records for the largest hailstones. Nationally, the largest hailstone on record based on diameter and circumference was found in Aurora, Nebraska on June 22, 2003.

What are the Dangers of Hail?

The formation of hail means there is usually a severe thunderstorm. A severe thunderstorm is the precursor of tornadoes and should be closely monitored.


- Posted by Ecomel from my iPad

Indentify trees with smartphone.. So smart indeed!

(Ref: http://earthsky.org/earth/now-you-can-identify-trees-with-your-smartphone)

Now you can identify trees with your smartphone

As summer turns into autumn in the Northern Hemisphere, our attention often drifts to trees and their changing colors. From what we hear via social media today, the leaves are just beginning to change in parts of the U.S. and elsewhere in this hemisphere. No matter what the season, you can now take advantage of an electronic field guide that makes it easier than ever to identify the trees you’re looking at with your smartphone. The free mobile application application is called Leafsnap, and it uses visual recognition software to identify tree species from photographs of leaves that users upload to their phones.

Leafsnap was developed in 2011 by scientists from Columbia University, the University of Maryland and the Smithsonian Institution. The idea for the application came from Peter Belhumeur of Columbia University and David Jacobs of the University of Maryland, who work in the field of Computer Science. They realized that facial recognition software might also be useful for identifying non-human species, and they collaborated with John Kress, Chief Botanist at the Smithsonian Institution, to design one of the first electronic field guide for trees.

Weather Channel’s fall foliage maps and drives


Leaves are beginning to change along this Pennsylvania roadway, and in other parts of the Northern Hemisphere, in late September, 2012. This image is from September 19, 2012 via EarthSky Facebook friend Carla Fink.


Autumn leaves. Image Credit: Jenny Downing via Flickr.

With Leafsnap, users can take a photograph of a leaf placed on a white background and upload the image to a database that uses visual recognition software to identify potential matches for the tree species. After browsing through high-resolution images of leaves, flowers, fruit, petioles (the stalk that joins a leaf to the stem), seeds and bark, users can select the correct species match and start to build their own electronic collection of trees that they’ve observed.

According to the Leafsnap website:

Leafsnap turns users into citizen scientists, automatically sharing images, species identifications, and geo-coded stamps of species locations with a community of scientists who will use the stream of data to map and monitor the ebb and flow of flora nationwide.

Currently, Leafsnap can only identify trees that occur in the northeastern United States. However, the Leafsnap program eventually plans to expand the application to include all trees that grow in other regions of the United States as well. If you don’t live in the northeastern United States, you can still start using the application today by browsing through Leafsnap’s encyclopedia of species to identify trees such as quaking aspen and weeping willows that have a large habitat range. Leafsnap also contains two games aimed at improving environmental education.

Autumn leaves. Image Credit: Jenny Downing via Flickr.

With Leafsnap, users can take a photograph of a leaf placed on a white background and upload the image to a database that uses visual recognition software to identify potential matches for the tree species. After browsing through high-resolution images of leaves, flowers, fruit, petioles (the stalk that joins a leaf to the stem), seeds and bark, users can select the correct species match and start to build their own electronic collection of trees that they’ve observed.

According to the Leafsnap website:

Leafsnap turns users into citizen scientists, automatically sharing images, species identifications, and geo-coded stamps of species locations with a community of scientists who will use the stream of data to map and monitor the ebb and flow of flora nationwide.

Currently, Leafsnap can only identify trees that occur in the northeastern United States. However, the Leafsnap program eventually plans to expand the application to include all trees that grow in other regions of the United States as well. If you don’t live in the northeastern United States, you can still start using the application today by browsing through Leafsnap’s encyclopedia of species to identify trees such as quaking aspen and weeping willows that have a large habitat range. Leafsnap also contains two games aimed at improving environmental education.



Structure of a leaf. Image Credit: University of Missouri.

Funding for the development of Leafsnap was provided by in part by a National Science Foundation Grant titled “An electronic field guide: plant exploration and discovery in the 21st century” and the Washington Biologists’ Field Club.

The Leafsnap application is currently available for the iphone and ipad. A version of the application for Android phones is under development.

The Smithsonian Institution has created an excellent video showing Leafsnap in action that you can view here.

Bottom line: Scientists have developed an electronic field guide that makes it easier than ever to identify what trees you’re looking at with a free mobile application for your smartphone. The application, called Leafsnap, uses visual recognition software to identify tree species from photographs of leaves that users upload to their phones. Leafsnap was developed in 2011 by scientists from Columbia University, the University of Maryland and the Smithsonian Institution.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Earth in Mars' Sky.. Awesome!!

Earth in Mars’ sky

I ran into this image recently and had to post it here for you to see. Isn’t it awesome? It’s Earth as seen in Mars’ sky by the rover Spirit on March 8, 2004. This is Mars’ sunrise sky. Earth has risen into view just before the Martian dawn.



Earth in Mars’ sky on March 8, 2004, as seen by NASA’s Mars rover Spirit. Make larger. Thanks to: NASA Goddard Photo and Video on Flickr. Image credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell/Texas A&M

NASA says it’s an historic image, the first-ever image of Earth from the surface of a planet beyond our own Earth-moon system. The Mars rover Spirit captured this image one hour before sunrise on the 63rd Martian day, or sol, of its mission on March 8, 2004. Here’s what NASA has to say about this image:

The image is a mosaic of images taken by the rover’s navigation camera showing a broad view of the sky, and an image taken by the rover’s panoramic camera of Earth. The contrast in the panoramic camera image was increased two times to make Earth easier to see.The inset shows a combination of four panoramic camera images zoomed in on Earth. The arrow points to Earth. Earth was too faint to be detected in images taken with the panoramic camera’s color filters.

By the way, you can see Mars in nearly this same position in Earth’s sky now – nearly drowned in the glare of the nearby sun that sustains both Earth and Mars – except that Mars in Earth’s sky is visible in the evening now, instead of before dawn. Mars is tough to spot from Earth’s Northern Hemisphere now, but easier from the southern part of Earth’s globe. Still, I’ll bet you can spot it if your sky is clear! To learn how to spot Mars in late September 2012, click here.

Bottom line: Earth seen in Mars’ sky by the Mars rover Spirit on March 8, 2004. This is the first image of Earth taken from the surface of a world beyond our Earth-moon system. Awesome!

(source: earthsky)

- Posted by Ecomel from my iPad

Water...

Water..the source of life..














- Posted by Ecomel from my iPad

It's Spring!

as happy as can be







Posted by Ecomel from my iPad

"blue moon"

Very bright n shiny moon..




Source: http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/when-is-the-next-blue-moon

The August 31, 2012 full moon is a Blue Moon

August 2012 is a month with two full moons. And, by popular acclaim, that means it’s a Blue Moon month – but Blue in name only. That’s because a Blue Moon is sometimes defined as the second full moon in a calendar month. The first full moon was August 1. The second full moon is today – August 31, 2012. The second full moon of August 2012 is the Blue Moon. Happy Blue Moon, everyone!


Favorite photos of August 31, 2012 Blue Moon

There are two more definitions for Blue Moon. It can be the third of four full moons in a single season. Or, someday, you might see an actual blue-colored moon.


The August 31 Blue Moon will not be blue in color. This photo was created using special filters. This August 2012 Blue Moon will be called Blue because it is the second full moon of a month. Image via EarthSky Facebook friend Jv Noriega.

It’s very rare that you would see a blue-colored moon, although unusual sky conditions – certain-sized particles of dust or smoke – can create them. Blue-colored moons aren’t predictable. So don’t be misled by the photo above. The sorts of moons people commonly call Blue Moons aren’t usually blue. For more about truly blue-colored moons, click here.

Now on to folklore’s Blue Moons. Every month typically has a full moon (although sometimes February doesn’t). In fact, our word for “month” comes from the word “moon.” Most of the time, the names for full moons coincide with particular months or seasons of the year. So whether you define a Blue Moon as the second full moon in a month – or the third full moon of four in a season – the name Blue Moon accounts for times when there are more full moons than is ordinary.

Blue moon as second full moon in a month. In recent decades, many people have begun using the name Blue Moon to describe the second full moon of a calendar month.

The time between one full moon and the next is close to the length of a calendar month. So the only time one month can have two full moons is when the first full moon happens in the first few days of the month. This happens every 2-3 years, so these sorts of Blue Moons come about that often.

When is the next Blue Moon, according to this first definition? August 31, 2012.



Another beautiful image by our friend Jv Noriega – the moon among fast-moving clouds. Will the August 31 full moon be blue in color like this? No. This image was made using blue filters, too. Thank you, Jv!

The idea of a Blue Moon as the second full moon in a month stemmed from the March 1946 issue of Sky and Telescope magazine, which contained an article called “Once in a Blue Moon” by James Hugh Pruett. Pruett was using a 1937 Maine Farmer’s Almanac, but he simplified the definition. He wrote:

Seven times in 19 years there were — and still are — 13 full moons in a year. This gives 11 months with one full moon each and one with two. This second in a month, so I interpret it, was called Blue Moon.

EarthSky’s Deborah Byrd happened upon a copy of this old 1946 issue of Sky and Telescope in the stacks of the Peridier Library at the University of Texas Astronomy Department in the late 1970s. Afterward, she began using the term Blue Moon to describe the second full moon in a calendar month on the radio. Later, this definition of Blue Moon was also popularized by a book for children by Margot McLoon-Basta and Alice Sigel, called “Kids’ World Almanac of Records and Facts,” published in New York by World Almanac Publications, in 1985. The second-full-moon-in-a-month definition was also used in the board game Trivial Pursuit.

Can there be two blue moons in a single calendar year? Yes. It last happened in 1999. There were two full moons in January and two full moons in March and no full moon in February. So both January and March had Blue Moons.

The next year of double blue moons is coming up in 2018.


What most call a Blue Moon isn't blue in color. It's only Blue in name. This great moon photo from EarthSky Facebook friend Rebecca Lacey in Cambridge, Idaho.

Blue moon as third full moon of four in a season. The Old Farmer’s Almanac defined a Blue Moon as an extra full moon that occurred in a season. One season – winter, spring, fall, summer – typically has three full moons. If a season has four full moons, then the third full moon may be called a Blue Moon.

The next blue moon by this definition will fall on August 21, 2013.

In recent years, a controversy has raged – mainly among purists – about which Blue Moon definition is better. The idea of a Blue Moon as the third of four in a season may be older than the idea of a Blue Moon as the second full moon in a month. Is it better? Is one definition right and the other wrong? After all, this is folklore. So the folk get to decide, and, in the 21st century, both sorts of full moons have been called Blue.

As the folklorist Phillip Hiscock wrote in his comprehensive article Folklore of the Blue Moon: Old folklore it is not, but real folklore it is.

So enjoy Blue Moons!

Bottom line: A blue-colored moon is rare. But folklore has defined two different kinds of Blue Moons. A Blue Moon can be the second full moon in a month. Or it can be the third of four full moons in a season. The full moon of August 31, 2012 will be considered a Blue Moon.

- Posted by Ecomel from my iPad