Belt of Venus…

2006-09-05 07:50:30.000 – Jim Salge,  Observer

Undercast and Earth Shadow…

I don’t always like surprises, but even at 4:30 in the morning, a knock on the bedroom door doesn’t necessarily mean bad things at the Observatory. Sure sometimes, especially in winter, the late night wrap usually mean an instrument has failed and you have to go from deep sleep to -100F windchills, but these times are rare. Given the morning forecast when I went to bed though, I couldn’t rationalize why they were waking me up this morning.

“Jim … Undercast” was the only message I needed to get me moving though. I walked outside to the scene pictured at right…as well as calm winds, and relatively warm sunshine above!

There is one portion of the picture that I’d like to highlight this morning…the thin blue strip just above the horizon. This strip is called the ‘Belt of Venus’ and can sometimes be seen shortly after sunrise, or just after sunset. The strip is actually caused by the shadow of the earth itself, projecting out into the atmosphere. A bit of a confusing thing to picture, so here’s a nice schematic and explanation!

 

Jim Salge,  Observer

Wildfires in New England

November 4th, 2024|0 Comments

Wildfires in New England By Francis Tarasiewicz My last blog was about an extreme flash flood event in southwestern Connecticut and so you can probably understand my feelings of irony as I write a

Notes from the “Ameri-Corner”

October 24th, 2024|Comments Off on Notes from the “Ameri-Corner”

Notes from the “Ameri-Corner”  By Amelia Gross I was lucky to arrive at Mount Washington Observatory in late May just as the last bit of snow was melting and the Sherman Adams Summit Building

100+ mph, Rime and Snow on the Summit!

October 16th, 2024|Comments Off on 100+ mph, Rime and Snow on the Summit!

100+ mph, Rime and Snow on the Summit! By Alexis George Winter-like conditions have been in full swing at Mount Washington since I first arrived on the summit last week. Summit staff enjoyed high

Find Older Posts