The three stars in the constellation Orion's belt may look alike to you and I; however, they substantially differ under closer scrutiny.
Magnitude 1.85 Alnitak (left) and magnitude 1.65 Alnilam (center) shine with almost the same brightness even though Alnilam is almost twice as far away. Magnitude 2.4 star Mintaka (Orion's right hip) is substantially dimmer. Both Alnilam and Mintaka are bright white and Alnitak is blueish in tone.
Photo Credit - Constellation Guide
Composed by Chip Taylor and originally recorded by Evie Sands this song first charted in 1968 with a version recorded by Merrilee Rush.
It was originally pitched to Connie Francis who declined the offer considering the tune was too risqué for her image.
It has been covered by countless artists since then including PP Arnold (backing vocals on the on the first recording), Billie Davis (UK), Liliane Saint-Pierre (Belgium), Bettye Swann (soul), Connie Eaton, Olivia Newton-John and (famously) Juice Newton.
The Rush recording peaked at the No. 7 slot on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached the No. 1 spot in Canada, Australia and New Zealand and No. 4 in the Netherlands.
Camp St. Michael had a public address system almost identical to the one featured in the television series M*A*S*H*. Like most everything else from bunks, to tents, and cutlery it was probably military surplus. Anyway, the summer of 1968 it was featured multiple times a day on the PA system. It was here that it was permanently seared-into my brain.
Angel of the Morning.....
The very earliest memory of night sky objects I learned-of as a child is the Pleiades. This cluster of stars commonly known as the Seven Sisters is found in the constellation Taurus, The Bull. In Greek mythology Atlas' daughters turned into this group of stars. If, like me, you've ever owned a Subaru automobile you would be reminded of it on almost a near daily basis.
With cold, clear, viewing conditions this evening you can observe our moon eclipse this star cluster. This is technically known as an occultation. Because of the moon's orbit, from time-to-time it occults the Pleiades.
Look high above the east as soon as it gets dark and you will observe a waxing gibbous moon alongside the Pleiades and over the next three or four hours will over across the star cluster.
If you have binoculars, use them to counter the brightness of the moon.
Image credit - Chris Vaughan Starry Night
The villagers assert that fumes from the factory have been causing spontaneous arousal among men in the area.
“One whiff and you’re stiff,” claimed Debbie O’Grady, a resident quoted by the Sunday Times.
You can learn more about this phenomenon here.
Meanwhile, follow this blog for more international travel tips.
Wisconsin's wild pheasant hunting season closed on Sunday.
Look who showed-up at the feeder in the front yard to taunt the dog today....
Speaking of surviving deer and with the temps approaching single digits this weekend there was no grilling; and certainly no brick oven cooking.
So, there was this.
Fresh, sautéed mushrooms,
Along with a piled-high tater.
Pretty good chow if you can get it.
Cheers!
Pro Tip - Rub your taters in bacon drippings before baking to crispy goodness using the convection setting on your new GE Profile range.
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Edit To Add - There was leftover venison to slice cold and serve on buttered rye bread with Dusseldorf mustard for game day.
Yesterday was a sunny, 17F day that by early afternoon appeared deceptively tropical.
Doggo had been following me around the house giving me the side eye and
with only a couple days left to the pheasant season we gave it a try.
If you live on the peninsula it doesn't take long to figure-out that when you are situated on a narrow landmass, surrounded by water, weather conditions can be both quirky and unpredictable.
In the summertime the sun could be shining brightly enough to require a hat and your shades; while a mile to the east it is raining cats and dogs and you can see it unfolding before your very eyes.
During dry stretches and hoping with all your might for a good summer soaking you might be tracking a storm front and all of its accompanying rainfall approaching from the the prevailing southwest and as soon as it hits Green Bay, just like Moses parting the Red Sea, the front splits in two dropping all of that precious rainfall on the bay of Green Bay and Lake Michigan. The peninsula landmass remains parched.
Winter is no different except for the results impacted by colder temperatures. One minute it is sunny and clear; and moments later there is a popup snow squall approaching whiteout conditions that materialized out of nowhere and disappears just as suddenly leaving the sun shining on snow-covered ground.
From last month there was this.....
This happens all the time and woe be unto anyone driving in these conditions.
Recently, the Missus and I were chatting it up about this local anomaly so this has been on my mind as I am reminded of it by looking out my window and having to delay walking my dog. These types of weather patterns are called Lake Effect at our latitude and are a consequence of the proximity to large bodies of water. Just talk to the good citizens of Buffalo, NY. I cannot recall a winter where I haven't read news reports of the entire community digging out from the effects of a very localized snow dump.
You can read all about the science of here in great detail; but the Cliff Notes version goes something like this. Colder air masses have a tendency to travel from Canada southward and across the Great Lakes region. The air above these large bodies of water tends to be warmer (relatively-speaking) and contain large amounts of moisture from the lakes. Then the two air masses collide, clouds are formed, clouds contain precipitation and when the clouds reach the coastal landmass you get snow this time of year and rain during the spring, summer and fall.
If you live in a coastal community in northern Wisconsin, Michigan's Upper Peninsula, northeast Wisconsin (Door County) or northwest Michigan (Traverse City) Lake Effect can be responsible for a snow dump.
Sometimes it can cover the yard around the house deeply enough to cover the porch with drifts reaching the windows on the machine shed.
Anything more than four inches summons the plow guy who is on retainer during the snowy months.
It's not all bad - especially if you enjoy winter like we do. Summers on a coastal community are less severely hot than inland communities. Our micro-climate here on the peninsula is ideally-suited to growing orchard crops; and in the last decade an increasing number of vineyards have materialized. What's not to like about local fruits, cider and wine?
I suppose the trade-off is that you do have to take the out-of-place blizzard when you least expect it. Take it from me, it can mess-up your spring turkey hunt in April with an unpredictable snow dump. It's happened to me more times than I can count...
Go out immediately following sunset as this is an early evening event because all of the participants will set in rather short order.
The planet Saturn looks like a bright star immediately below the moon. Venus is the much brighter star to the lower right.
Use an app like Night Sky to aid in locating and when they will set below the horizon.
Clear here. Hope it's the same for you.
Fingers-crossed....
Edit To Add -
iPhone photograph and a screenshot from Night Sky from the same perspective. Brutal cold out there and I need a camera that can shoot the moon without blurry glow.
From the trail camera trap line there have been some good photos captured of some of the surviving buckaroos.
Good thing as they'll freshen the local gene pool.
Darwin likely was on to something.....
Composed by singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson and originally performed by Roger Miller and Fred Foster, who share the writing credit, this song was recorded by Janis Joplin only a couple of days before her death in October 1970. Kristofferson was unaware she had recorded the song until after her death - hearing it for the first time the day after death.
Joplin's version topped the charts becoming her only number one single; eventually ranked #148 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Me And Bobby McGee.....
Newton's First Law of Motion, also known as the Law of Inertia, states that an object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.
The grand kids asked if they could write LET IT SNOW on the porch windows.
The bottom photo is the view from the street.
Happy New Year.....
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