V-Shaped Poniatowski’s Bull Asterism Lies in Constellation Ophiuchus

Summary: V-shaped Poniatowski’s Bull asterism lies in constellation Ophiuchus as a reminder of an obsolete constellation honoring Polish King Stanisław II August.

v-shaped asterism (right) in Taurus Poniatovii (Poniatowski’s Bull) constellation, depicted in Johann Elert Bode’s 1782 star catalogue and atlas, Vorstellung der Gestirn auf XXXIV Kupfertafeln, Plate X: Public Domain Mark 1.0, via Internet Archive

The V-shaped Poniatowski’s Bull asterism lies in constellation Ophiuchus as a starry reminder of its namesake, an obsolete constellation honoring the reign of Stanisław Antoni Poniatowski (Jan. 17, 1732-Feb. 12, 1798) as Stanisław II August, last King and Grand Duke of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Poniatowski’s Bull asterism comprises a tight vee of four stars in Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer constellation in the celestial northern hemisphere.

At the westernmost point of the vee, 66 Ophiuchi (66 Oph) is a fifth magnitude, slightly variable star. The U.S. Naval Observatory’s Washington Double Star Catalog (WDS) reports six observations of a companion, with a magnitude of 6.50, between 2007 and 2014. Its light year distance is 676.69. The blue main sequence dwarf star rates in telescopic astronomy as guide star to Barnard’s Star, a dim red dwarf distanced at 6 light years from Earth.

Located below 66 Ophiuchi, 67 Ophiuchi (67 Oph) is a fourth magnitude, blue supergiant. Four faint companions may actually occur as line-of-sight coincidences. The blue-white supergiant is distanced at 1,418.10 light years.

Marking the vee of the v-shaped asterism’s two arms, 68 Ophiuchi (68 Oph) is a blue-white subgiant. The near-fifth magnitude star has a companion with a visual magnitude of 7.48. The light year distance for 68 Ophiuchi is 264.96 light years.

Positioned in the v-shaped asterism’s eastern arm, 70 Ophiuchi (70 Oph) is a yellow-orange dwarf. The fourth magnitude star actually is a binary star system, with a fainter companion described by Admiral William Henry Smyth (Jan. 21, 1788-Sept. 8, 1865), English naval officer and astronomer, as creating a colorful contrast of “pale topaz and violet.” The light year distance for 70 Ophiuchi is 16.59 light years.

Two other stars often included, individually or jointly, in Poniatowski’s Bull asterism are 72 Ophiuchi (72 Oph) and 73 Ophiuchi (73 Oph). Multiple star system 72 Ophiuchi marks the bull’s horn, at a distance of 82.78 light years. Multiple star system 73 Ophiuchi represents the bull’s right eye, at a distance of 166.24 light years.

The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which was established July 1, 1569, primarily observed an elective monarchy. Stanisław Antoni Poniatowski was elected Sept. 7, 1764. His coronation as King Stanisław II August took place Nov. 25, 1764. King Stanisłlaw II August’s abdication November 25, 1795, ended his 31 year reign and the 226-year duration of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

In 1777, around 12 years after King Stanisław II August’s coronation, Polish-Lithuanian Jesuit astronomer Marcin Odlanick Poczobutt (Oct. 30, 1728-Feb. 7, 1810) discerned a new constellation in the celestial northern hemisphere between Aquila the Eagle and Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer. A v-shaped pattern of stars lying east of the Serpent Bearer’s shoulder recalled for Abbot Poczobutt the v-shaped Hyades star cluster in Taurus the Bull constellation as well as the bull on the coat of arms for Poland’s noble House of Poniatowski.

Abbot Poczobutt’s new constellation was first depicted in 1778. Copper plates for a revision of the second edition of Atlas Céleste, published in 1776 by French scientific instrument maker Jean Nicolas Fortin (Aug. 9, 1750-1831), incorporated the new constellation under its French name, le Taureau Royal de Poniatowski (“Poniatowski’s Royal Bull”). German astronomer Johann Elert Bode presented the abbot’s constellation under its German name, der Königliche Stier von Poniatowski, in his 1782 star atlas and catalogue, Vorstellung der Gestirn auf XXXIV Kupfertafen (“Presentation of the Stars on 34 Copper Plates”). In 1822, Taurus Poniatowski (Latin: “Poniatowski’s Bull”) appeared in A Celestial Atlas by Scottish rhetorician Alexander Jamieson.

Abbot Poczobutt’s constellation, however, became obsolete in 1922. Along with other constellations, Poniatowski’s Bull was not included in the 88 modern constellations approved in May in Rome, Italy, by the inaugural General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union (IAU).

The takeaway for v-shaped Poniatowski’s Bull asterism is that the core quartet often completes the bull’s face, with a horn and the right eye, by welcoming one or two other fairly aligned stars in constellation Ophiuchus.

v-shaped asterism (upper left) in Poniatowski’s Bull constellation, depicted in Alexander Jamieson’s A Celestial Atlas (1822), Plate IX: Public Domain, via U.S. Naval Observatory

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

v-shaped asterism (upper left) in Taurus Poniatovii (Poniatowski’s Bull) constellation, depicted in Johann Elert Bode’s 1782 star catalogue and atlas, Vorstellung der Gestirn auf XXXIV Kupfertafeln, Plate X: Public Domain Mark 1.0 Universal, via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_z3bvAAAAMAAJ/page/n92/mode/1up;
Public Domain, via HathiTrust @ https://hdl.handle.net/2027/hvd.32044027949825?urlappend=%3Bseq=103;
via Google Books Read free of charge @ https://www.google.com/books/edition/Vorstellung_der_Gestirne_auf_XXXIV_i_e_v/JKURAAAAYAAJ?hl=en

v-shape asterism (upper left) in Poniatowski’s Bull constellation, depicted in Alexander Jamieson’s A Celestial Atlas (1822), Plate IX: Public Domain, via U.S. Naval Observatory @ http://aa.usno.navy.mil/library/

For further information:

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“18003+0422 WSI 65 (66 Oph).” Stelle Doppie > Double Star Database.
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“18006+0256 BU 1124AB (67 Oph).” Stelle Doppie > Double Star Database.
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“18018+0118.” Stelle Doppie > Double Star Database.
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“18018+0118 BU 1125AB (68 Oph).” Stelle Doppie > Double Star Database.
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“18096+0400.” VizieR Information Service > The Washington Double Star Catalogue.
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“18096+0400 STF2281AB (73 Oph).” Stelle Doppie > Double Star Database.
Available @ http://stelledoppie.goaction.it/index2.php?iddoppia=73315

Astro Bob (Bob King). “Double Star in Poniatowski’s Bull Simply Gorgeous.” AreaVoices. July 7, 2012.
Available @ https://astrobob.areavoices.com/2012/07/07/double-star-in-poniatowskis-bull-simply-gorgeous/

“Autorius: Oleškevičius, Juozapas, 1777-1830.” Lietuvos Dailės Muziejaus Rinkinys (Lithuanian Art Museum Collection).
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Bode, J.E. (Johann Elert). Astronomisches Jahrbuch fr das Jahr 1785. Nebst einer Sammlung der Neuesten in die Astronomischen Wissenschasten Einschlagenden Abhandlungen, Beobachtungen und Nachrichten. Berlin, Germany: George Jacob Decker, 1782.
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Bode, J.E. (Johann Elert). Vorstellung der Gestirn auf XXXIV Kupfertafeln Nach der Pariser Ausgabe des Flamsteadschen Himmelsatlas. Berlin and Stralsund, Germany: Gottlieb August Lange, 1782.
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Whitworth, Nigel. “66 Ophiuchi - HD164284 - HIP88149.” Universe Guide > Star.
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Available @ https://www.universeguide.com/star/72ophiuchi

Whitworth, Nigel. “73 Ophiuchi - HD166233 - HIP88964.” Universe Guide > Star.
Available @ https://www.universeguide.com/star/73ophiuchi

Royal Opera and the V&A Open Operatic History Exhibit September 2017

Summary: The Royal Opera and the V&A open an operatic history exhibit, Opera: Passion, Power and Politics, in September 2017 in the new Sainsbury Gallery.

The Victoria and Albert Museum's Sainsbury Gallery hosts the Opera: Passion, Power and Politics exhibit: London Informer @london_informer, via Twitter May 23, 2017

In September 2017, The Royal Opera and the V&A open an operatic history exhibit, Opera: Passion, Power and Politics, that presents the dramatic musical art form’s development through the lens of seven premieres in seven European cities from the 17th to the 20th centuries.

Opening day is Saturday, Sept. 30. Closing day is Sunday, Feb. 25, 2018. Daily hours for the exhibit are 10 a.m. to 12 noon and 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

The collaborative venture is staged as the inaugural exhibition in the Victoria and Albert Museum’s new Sainsbury Gallery. The purpose-built subterranean gallery encompasses 1,100 square meters of column-free space and qualifies as one of the UK’s largest temporary exhibition spaces.

The inaugural exhibition in the V&A’s Sainsbury Gallery aims to present the creation of new operas as reflections of urban artistic, political and socioeconomic environments. Opera: Passion, Power and Politics also traces the operatic process, from libretto to score and from design to performance.

The exploration of premieres and their cities begins with L’Incoronazione di Poppea, an Italian opera by Italian composer Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (May 9, 1567-Nov. 29, 1643). The historic opera treats an episode in the life of Roman Emperor Nero (Dec. 15, 37-June 9, 68). Venetian librettist and poet Giovanni Francesco Busenello (Sept. 24, 1598-Oct. 27, 1659) wrote the Italian libretto.

L’Incoronazione di Poppea premiered during Carnival season 1642. The venue was Teatro Santi Giovanni e Paolo, located on Calle della Testa in the Castello sestiere of Venice.

Operabase, an online database, places Claudio Monteverdi at number 30 in a ranking of 1,281 most popular composers for the five seasons from 2011/2012 to 2015/16. L’Incoronazione di Poppea places at 115 in the list of 2,658 most popular operas.

The exhibition switches to London for the second premiere, Rinaldo by German-born English late-Baroque composer George Frideric Handel (Feb. 23, 1685-April 14, 1759). Set at the end of the First Crusade (1095-1099), the three-act Italian language opera is loosely based upon Gerusalemme Liberata (“Jerusalem Delivered”), an epic poem by Neapolitan poet Torquato Tasso (March 11, 1544-April 25, 1595). London-based Italian librettist and poet Giacomo Rossi wrote the Italian libretto.

Rinaldo premiered Feb. 24, 1711, as the first Italian language opera specifically composed for the London stage. The venue was Queen’s Theatre in the St. James’s area of the City and inner London borough of Westminster.

Operabase places George Handel at number 12 in the ranking of 1,281 most popular composers for the five seasons from 2011/2012 to 2015/16. Rinaldo places at 137 in the list of 2,658 most popular operas.

The exhibition’s third premiere is Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) by Classical era composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Jan. 27, 1756-Dec. 5, 1791). The four act opera buffa (comic opera) is based upon La Folle Journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro (The Mad Day, or the Marriage of Figaro), a stage comedy by French playwright Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (Jan. 24, 1732-May 18, 1799). Italian-born American librettist and poet Lorenzo da Ponte (March 10, 1749-Aug. 17, 1838) wrote the Italian libretto.

Le Nozze di Figaro premiered May 1, 1786. The venue was the Burgtheater in Vienna, Austria.

Operabase places Wolfgang Mozart at number 2 in the ranking of 1,281 most popular composers between the 2011/12 and 2015/16 seasons. Le Nozze di Figaro places at number 8 in the list of 2,658 most popular operas.

The exhibition’s fourth premiere is Nabucco by Italian opera composer Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901). The four act opera lirica (lyric opera) concerns the Babylonian exile of Jews as presented in the Old Testament books of Jeremiah and Daniel. Italian librettist and poet Temistole Solera (Dec. 25, 1815-April 21, 1878) wrote the Italian libretto.

Nabucco premiered March 9, 1842. The venue was Teatro alla Scala in central Milan, northwestern Italy.

Operabase places Giuseppe Verdi at number 1 in the ranking of 1,281 most popular composers during the 2011/12 to 2015/16 seasons. Nabucco places at number 17 in the list of 2,658 most popular operas.

The fifth premiere explored by the collaborative exhibition is the revised version of Tannhäuser by German composer Wilhelm Richard Wagner (May 22, 1813-Feb. 13, 1883). The three act opera’s full title is Tannhäuser und der Sängerkrieg auf Wartburg (Tannhäuser and the Minstrel’s Contest at the Wartburg). The four act opera weaves Wagner’s recurring theme of love, death and redemption through German medieval legends concerning Tannhäuser, a renowned Minnesänger (minstrel; love song singer), and the Wartburg Song Contest. Wagner composed the music and wrote the German libretto.

The world premiere of Tannhäuser happened Oct. 19, 1845, in the historic center of Dresden in east central Germany. The venue was the first building for Königliches Hoftheater (Royal Court Theatre), known as Semperoper in honor of Gottfried Semper (Nov. 29, 1803-May 15, 1879) and Manfred Semper (May 3, 1838-Sept. 13, 1913). The father-and-son architects built the opera house’s first and second buildings, respectively.

Tannhäuser underwent a number of revisions. The collaborative exhibition considers the revision that Wagner prepared for the opera’s Parisian premier on March 13, 1861. The venue was Salle Le Peletier, home of Opéra de Paris, France’s primary opera company.

Operabase places Richard Wagner at number 5 in its 2011/12 to 2015/16 ranking of 1,281 most popular composers. Tannhäuser places at 49 of 2,658 most popular operas.

The exhibition’s sixth premiere is Salome by German late Romantic and early modern composer Richard Georg Strauss (June 11, 1864-Sept. 8, 1949). The one-act opera’s source is Salomé, a one-act, French language tragedy about a determined dancer in the New Testament by Irish writer Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde (Oct. 16, 1854-Nov. 30, 1900). German poet and translator Hedwig Lachmann (Aug. 29, 1865-Feb. 21, 1918) wrote the German libretto.

Strauss’ Salome premiered Dec. 9, 1905. The venue was the same city, Dresden, as Tannhäuser’s 1845 world premiere. The building, however, was Semperoper’s second building, which was completed in 1878 as a replacement for the first, destroyed by fire in 1869.

Operabase places Richard Strauss at number 10 of 2011/12 to 2015/16’s 1,281 most popular composers. Salome places at 40 of 2,658 most popular operas.

The seventh and last premiere featured at the V&A is Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District by Russian composer and pianist Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich (Sept. 25, 1906-Aug. 9, 1975). The four-act tragedy’s source is the same named novel by Russian writer Nikolai Semyonovich Leskov (Feb. 16, 1831-March 5, 1895). Shostakovich co-wrote the Russian language libretto with Russian librettist and playwright Alexander Preis (1905-1942). Often shortened to Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, the opera centers on an unhappy 19th-century Russian woman’s tragic affair.

Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk premiered Jan. 22, 1934. The venue was Maly Operny (Maly Opera Theatre) in the historic center of Leningrad (Saint Petersburg), northwestern Russia.

Dmitri Shostakovitch is number 40 on Operabase’s 2011/12 to 2015/16 list of 1,281 most popular composers. Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk places at 97 of 2,658 most popular operas.

An exhibition covering seven premieres in seven different European cities on a timeline spanning 1642 to 1934 traverses a plethora of historical landscapes. The musical and visual expressions that compose Opera: Passion, Power and Politics likely shape a compelling, impressive profile of opera’s enduring appeal across a wide play of European settings.

V&A and The Royal Opera House exhibition Opera: Passion, Power and Politics
Where: Sainsbury Gallery, Victoria and Albert Museum
Cromwell Road, London SW7 2RL
When: Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017, to Sunday, Feb. 25, 2018
Exhibit daily hours: 10 a.m. to 12 noon; 2 to 3:30 p.m.
Exhibition admission: £19 for non-members; free for V&A Museum members

General enquiries: (telephone) +44 (0)20 7942 2000;
(email) contact@vam.ac.uk
Membership enquiries: (telephone) +44 (0)20 7942 2271;
(email) membership@vam.ac.uk

Sponsorship: Société Generale
Sound partners: Bowers & Wilkins
Support: Blavatnik Family Foundation and The Taylor Family Foundation

The Royal Opera and the V&A's opera exhibit runs from Sep. 30, 2017, through Feb. 25, 2018: V&A @V_and_A, via Twitter March 4, 2017

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

The Victoria and Albert Museum's Sainsbury Gallery hosts the Opera: Passion, Power and Politicis exhibit: London Informer @london_informer, via Twitter May 23, 2017, @ https://twitter.com/london_informer/status/867640194341761024

The Royal Opera and the V&A's opera exhibit runs from Sep. 30, 2017, through Feb. 25, 2018: V&A @V_and_A, via Twitter March 4, 2017, @ https://twitter.com/V_and_A/status/838012435885920256

For further information:

Alexi Baker @AlexiBaker. “Opera: Passion, Power and Politics @V_and_A 30 September 2017 - 25 February 2018.” Twitter. March 7, 2017.
Available @ https://twitter.com/AlexiBaker/status/839215761826643974

Brown, Mark. “V&A Opera Exhibition Looks to Put to Rest Prejudice About Art Form.” The Guardian > Arts > Art & Design. March 3, 2017.
Available @ https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/mar/03/v-and-a-opera-exhibition-europe?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

“Composers: Composers Ranked by the Number of Performances of Their Operas Over the Five Seaons 2011/2012 to 2015/16.” Operabase > Opera Statistics.
Available @ http://operabase.com/

London Informer @london_informer. "Opera: Passion, Power and Politics at the Victoria and Albert Museum." Twitter. May 25, 2017.
Available @ https://twitter.com/london_informer/status/867640194341761024

“Opera: Passion, Power and Politics.” Royal Opera House > Exhibitions.
Available @ http://www.roh.org.uk/exhibitions/opera-passion-power-and-politics

“Opera: Passion, Power and Politics.” Victoria and Albert Museum > Exhibitions.
Available @ https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/opera

V&A @V_and_A. “400 years, 7 premieres in 7 cities … discover the passion, power and politics of opera’s vivid story.” Twitter. March 3, 2017.
Available @ https://twitter.com/V_and_A/status/837584664747470848

V&A @V_and_A. "Yesterday we were treated to a stirring performance by @ROHchorus in celebration of #OperaPassion. Watch it here: http://ow.ly/lvy5309yGzj." Twitter. March 4, 2017.
Available @ https://twitter.com/V_and_A/status/838012435885920256

North American Seaside Arrowgrass Gardens: Toxins and Water Quality

Summary: North American seaside arrowgrass gardens defend wetland populations and water quality but deal ingestors of marsh and seaside arrowgrasses toxic brews.

seaside arrowgrass (Triglochin maritimum): Steve Dewey, Utah State University, Bugwood.org, CC BY 3.0 United States, via Forestry Images

The phrase drop dead gorgeous assumes a poignant prescience when applied to North American seaside arrowgrass gardens whose native herbs accumulate toxins that act massively and mercilessly upon foraging livestock and people.

The toxic substances taxiphillin and triglochinin blast hydrogen cyanide into livestock grazing, and people foraging for, fresh shoots in early spring and bring on respiratory failure. Just 0.5 percent of body weight causes death by poisoning if ingestion comes in one fell swoop since repeated under-consumption never carries the non-cumulative toxins over. No federal, provincial, state or territorial legislation deems seaside arrowgrass a weed, whose designation describes damage to crop yields, ecosystem well-being, human health and species diversity.

The flowering, fruiting, seeding herb epitomizes poisonous and weedy plants that end soil erosion and surface runoff, enforce food chains and webs and ensure ecosystem integrity.

Seedlings furnish one dark green, 0.12- to 0.24-inch- (3- to 6-millimeter-) long embryonic leaf, called a cotyledon, with a bent or hooked tip and rounded cross-section. Seaside arrowgrass seedlings, as members of the Juncaginaceae family of arrowgrass herbs, grow into grasslike plants with grasslike leaves in such alkaline, grassy wetlands as marshes. Their mature stages have 7.87- to 39.37-inch- (20- to 100-centimeter-) long stems, whose bases hold the previous season's basal growth on short rootstalks with fibrous roots. A hoodlike projection, called a ligule, indicates the meeting of the leaf's loose upper part, called a blade, and the lower stem-encasing part called a sheath.

Last year's 0.28- to 0.98-inch- (7- to 25-millimeter-) long, 0.04- to 0.08-inch- (1- to 2-millimeter-) wide sheaths jumpstart foliar growth in North American seaside arrowgrass gardens.

Four to ten basal, fleshy, grasslike, 0.87- to 5.91-inch- (2.2- to 15-centimeter-) long, 0.04- to 0.24-inch- (1- to 6-millimeter-) wide leaves keep semicircular looks in cross-section.

Green-white, 0.04- to 0.16-inch- (1- to 4-millimeter-) wide flowers line terminal, 3.94- to 19.68-inch- (10- to 50-centimeter-) long, 0.06- to 0.28-inch- (1.5- to 7-millimeter-) wide racemes. Every flower mingles one pistil, three green 0.05- to 0.07-inch- (1.3- to 1.7-millimeter-) long sepals, three green same-sized petals, six stamens and six feathery wind-pollinated stigmas. Fruit production nudges three to six oblong, single-seeded, 0.19- to 0.28-inch- (5- to 7-millimeter-) long capsules per flower for a seed production of 600 per plant.

North American seaside arrowgrass gardens offer elliptical, yellow-brown, 0.06- to 0.14-inch- (1.5- to 3.5-millimeter-) long, 0.03- to 0.04-inch- (0.7- to 1-millimeter-) wide seeds of unknown viability.

Soil temperatures of 68 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit (20 to 30 degrees Celsius) provoke germination in seaside arrowgrass, also called saltmarsh arrowgrass, shore arrowgrass and spikegrass.

Defensive contributions to water quality and to wetland integrity and precise identification of soil viability qualify as two timely research concerns regarding dangerous, mysterious seaside arrowgrass. Like all arrowgrasses, seaside arrowgrass, described by Råshult-born Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus (May 23, 1707-Jan. 10, 1778) and scientifically called Triglochin maritimum (three-pointed sea-plant), remains treacherous. Marsh arrowgrass, a fellow Juncaginaceae family member and native North American perennial, likewise shares toxic substances and wetland occurrences and similarly suffers no unwelcome weed designations.

May- to August-blooming North American seaside arrowgrass gardens trouble wetland gardeners and naturalists least when signs tell of toxins too toxic to take in one gulp.

closeup of seaside arrowgrass flowers: Rob Routledge, Sault College, Bugwood. org, CC BY 3.0 United States, via Forestry Images

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

seaside arrowgrass (Triglochin maritimum): Steve Dewey, Utah State University, Bugwood.org, CC BY 3.0 United States, via Forestry Images @ http://www.forestryimages.org/browse/detail.cfm?imgnum=1459011

closeup of seaside arrowgrass flowers: Rob Routledge, Sault College, Bugwood. org, CC BY 3.0 United States, via Forestry Images @ http://www.forestryimages.org/browse/detail.cfm?imgnum=5497009

For further information:

Dickinson, Richard; and Royer, France. 2014. Weeds of North America. Chicago IL; London, England: The University of Chicago Press.

Linnaeus, Carl. 1753. "2. Triglochin maritimum." Species Plantarum, vol. I: 339. Holmiae [Stockholm, Sweden]: Laurentii Salvii [Laurentius Salvius].
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/358358

"Triglochin maritimum L." Tropicos® > Name Search.
Available @ http://www.tropicos.org/Name/17000015

Weakley, Alan S.; Ludwig, J. Christopher; and Townsend, John. 2012. Flora of Virginia. Edited by Bland Crowder. Fort Worth TX: BRIT Press, Botanical Research Institute of Texas.

North American Salt Cedar Gardens Change Soil pH and Collect Salt

Summary: North American salt cedar gardens compensate disrupted food chains, groundwater access and riparian species with free salt and soil pH changes.

flowering salt cedar (Tamarix ramosissima): Steve Dewey, Utah State University, Bugwood.org, CC BY 3.0 United States, via Forestry Images

Legislation in two provinces of southwestern Canada and in 11 states of the western United States applies unwelcome weed designations to introduced, non-native, ornamental, wind-breaking shrubs in North American salt cedar gardens.

Salt cedar's heavy groundwater use becomes problematic in riparian areas of Colorado, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Washington and Wyoming. Reduction in species diversity by covering riverbanks and by the woody plant's salt-secreting gland converting soil pH to alkaline ranges counts among criticisms of salt cedar. Salt cedar displaces cottonwood as the North American West's iconic tree and draws water by dropping its taproot all the way down into the water table.

The woody native of China, Iraq, Korea and Ukraine endures soil salts at 50,000 parts per million (ppm) and exudes salts onto its surroundings and itself.

Tiny seedlings in North American salt cedar gardens float from more drought-prone to less drought-sensitive niches in habitats where they flourish despite in-transit, 24-hour submergence experiences.

Germination within 24 hours of contact with water or wet soil generates the seedling's taproot within 24 hours and its embryonic leaves, called cotyledons, within 20. Salt cedar, described by German-Estonian botanist Karl Friedrich von Ledebour (July 8, 1786-July 4, 1851), handles 5.91-inch (15-centimeter) long roots on seedlings eight weeks after germination. The 4.33- to 4.72-inch (11- to 12-centimeter) heights increase until 13.12- to 26.25-foot (4- to 8-meter) ranges identify salt cedar as shrubs or as small trees.

Bark joins the branches, with their alternate, green scale-like, 0.06- to 0.14-inch- (1.5 to 3.5-millimeter-) long leaves, the trunk and the twigs into red-brown color schemes.

The salt-secreting glands in the foliage often keep the leaves white-speckled with salt, for tiny, winter snowflake-like looks around branching, pink flower-clustered, pyramid-shaped inflorescences called panicles.

Racemes, as 0.12- to 0.19-inch- (3- to 5-millimeter-) wide branches, with bloom times from June through August, load 20 flowers for every 0.98 inch (2.5 centimeters). Flowers with five sepals, five 0.04- to 0.07-inch- (1.1- to 1.8-millimeter-) long petals, four to 10 stamens and one pistil manage appearances by the third year.

The fruiting stage necessitates the yearly production of 2.5-plus billion seeds from eight- to 20-seeded, lance-shaped to oval, 0.12- to 0.19-inch- (3- to 5-millimeter-) long capsules.

Diameters less than 0.02 inches (0.5 millimeters) and hair-tufted ends called apices optimize 14- to 45-day viability of wind-dispersed seeds in North American salt cedar gardens.

Reproduction by resprouts, rhizomes and seeds provides salt cedar with multiple propagation means that push the perennial's life cycle well within 75- to 100-year life expectancies.

Eastern Asia's five-stamen salt cedar, northeastern Africa's and western Asia's Athel pine and southeastern Europe's small-flowered salt cedar qualify as salt cedar-related, weed-designated Tamaricaceae family members. Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Texas and Wyoming reduce the trio to weeds with salt cedar, commonly called tamarisk and scientifically Tamarix ramosissima (palm-like, very branched). Alberta and Saskatchewan and Colorado and North Dakota serve unwelcome weed status on five-stamen salt cedar and, along with Nebraska and Nevada, on small-flowered salt cedar.

North American salt cedar gardens thrive where gardeners and naturalists try to turn acid and neutral soils toward alkaline ranges and salt into natural pest control.

closeup of salt cedar (Tamarix ramosissima) flowers: Mr. and Mrs. Robert G. Young/USDA NRCS Wetland Science Institute (WSI), Public Domain, via USDA NRCS PLANTS Database

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

flowering salt cedar (Tamarix ramosissima): Steve Dewey, Utah State University, Bugwood.org, CC BY 3.0 United States, via Forestry Images @ http://www.forestryimages.org/browse/detail.cfm?imgnum=1624020

closeup of salt cedar (Tamarix ramosissima) flowers: Mr. and Mrs. Robert G. Young/USDA NRCS Wetland Science Institute (WSI), Public Domain, via USDA NRCS PLANTS Database @ https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=TARA (new URL @ https://plants.usda.gov/home/plantProfile?symbol=TARA)

For further information:

Dickinson, Richard; and Royer, Francis. 2014. Weeds of North America. Chicago IL; London, England: The University of Chicago Press.

"Tamarix ramosissima Ledeb." Tropicos® > Name Search.
Available @ http://www.tropicos.org/Name/31100008

von Ledebour, Karl Friedrich. 1829. "4) Tamarix ramosissima. m." Flora Altaica, tomus I (Classis I.-V.): 424-426. Berolini [Berlin, Germany]: G. Reimeri [Georg Reimer], MDCCCXXIX.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/6038725

Stavanger Bomb and Theft Four Months Before Munch Museum Art Theft

Summary: Oslo Assistant Police Chief Iver Stensrud says that solving the Stavanger bomb and theft April 5, 2004, solves the Munch Museum art theft Aug. 22, 2004.

Domkirkeplassen (Cathedral Square), Stavanger, was the site of the 2004 NOKAS robbery in Stavanger, Norway; Thursday, Aug. 7, 2008, 10:31: Helge Høifødt, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

A car explosion and a cash transport service robbery April 5, 2004, in Stavanger, Norway, perhaps anticipated the Munch Museum art theft Aug. 22, 2004, in Oslo by aggravating police response times.

Both cases became national priorities because of the machine-gunning of Lieutenant Arne Sigve Klungland (1950-April 5, 2004) and the masterpiece-stealing of the Munch Madonna and Scream. On-call equipment and uniforms respectively consisted of bullet-proof vests and of Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine guns and P30 pistols carried inside locked patrol car compartments. National Police Directorate-compiled data described Norwegian police firing 33 times and injuring 18 individuals between 2002 and 2014, with one fatality each in 2005 and 2006.

Oslo Assistant Police Chief Iver Stensrud expects from day one to establish cause-and-effect, by Norwegian locals "known to us," between the geographically and temporally estranged events.

Norges Bank, scene of 40-minute robbery of 57.4 million kroner ($10 million; £5 million), during NOKAS robbery of Monday, April 5, 2004; considered a highlight of 1960s architecture (1960-tallsarkitekturens høydepunkter), Norges Bank is assigned cultural monument number 131063 in the database of the Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage (Riksantikvaren - Direktoratet for kulturminneforvaltning); Monday, Sep. 26, 2011, 14:36: Jarvin, CC BY SA 3.0 Norway, via Wikimedia Commons

Online sources in English and Norwegian furnish figures of 10 police officer fatalities, including the Stavanger case, in the line of duty from 1945 to 2010.

Contemporary coverage gave 8 a.m. Central European Summer Time, CEST (6 a.m. Coordinated Universal Time, UTC) for two bombing the van and eight robbing the bank. One perpetrator hurled a tear gas canister into the white van in front of the police station before hustling into a passenger car with his driver. The Norsk Kontantservice, now NOKAS Cash Handling, robbery involved three gunmen outside, and five black-garbed, gas-masked, helmeted robbers inside, the Norges Bank (Norway [Central] Bank) basement. The bombing impeded police response, other than in two patrol cars, to the 40-minute robbery of 57.4 million kroner ($10 million; £5 million) in "untraceable cash."

Getaway cars joined the van as deoxyribonucleic acid- (DNA) and fingerprint-jeopardized, fire-gutted vehicles 1.24 miles (two kilometers) from Stavanger by 9 a.m. CEST (7 a.m. UTC).

The Guardian investigative reporter Kris Hollington finds that the 1994 National Gallery Munch art theft diverts police attention away from bank robberies by Tweitagjengen (Tveita Gang); Sunday, May 23, 2010, 15:39; Tveita Senter (Tveita Shopping Center), namesake of Tveita Gang: Vidar Iversen (Vidariv), CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

Oslo's National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design keeps the most famous of four versions by Edvard Munch (Dec. 12, 1863-Jan. 23, 1944) of The Scream. Its National Gallery lists the world-famous oil, tempera, pastel and crayon painting on cardboard as a theft survivor 10 years before the Munch Museum art theft. The 35.83- by 28.94-inch (91- by 73.5-centimeter) artwork manifests no damage from after-hours, unlawful movement from its second-story art gallery home Feb. 12, 1994-May 7, 1994. Kris Hollington, investigative journalist with The Guardian, noted the National Gallery Munch art theft as nudging police attention away from Oslo-area Tweitagjengen (Tveita Gang) bank robberies.

Assistant Police Chief Stensrud observed, "You can't sell The Scream, it's impossible. [Alleged NOKAS robbery "mastermind" David] Toska used the same methods as the Tveita Gang."

alleged NOKAS robbery mastermind David Toska during NOKAS robbery trial, Monday, Oct. 23, 2006, 14:17: Lapsklaus, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

A police reward June 2, 2005, almost one year after the Munch Museum art theft, promised 2 million kroner ($317,000, £170,000) for information that produces recovery. Terje Nyboe, Oslo public prosecutor, qualified the trio convicted May 2, 2006, of the Munch Museum art theft for lighter prison sentences, upon appeal, for recovery.

Nobody revealed the particulars behind the recoveries Aug. 31, 2006, even though the Jones article refers to a reportedly unremunerated "tip-off" by Øystein Storrvik, Toska's lawyer. Assistant Chief Stensrud stated, "It is a happy day for us in the police, for the owners of the paintings, and not least for the public."

It took police officers to tackle the Munch Museum art theft and paintings conservators to tease the Munch Madonna and the Munch Scream back from trauma.

Art conservators tackle restoration after Norway's police officers solve the Munch Museum 2004 art thefts; "The Scream" photo by Munch Museum art conservator Mie Mustad: Munch Museet (themunchmuseum), via Instagram April 11, 2016

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Domkirkeplassen (Cathedral Square), Stavanger, was the site of the 2004 NOKAS robbery in Stavanger, Norway; Thursday, Aug. 7, 2008, 10:31: Helge Høifødt, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Domkirkeplassen_Stavanger.JPG

Norges Bank, scene of 40-minute robbery of 57.4 million kroner ($10 million; £5 million), during NOKAS robbery of Monday, April 5, 2004; considered a highlight of 1960s architecture (1960-tallsarkitekturens høydepunkter), Norges Bank is assigned cultural monument number 131063 in the database of the Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage (Riksantikvaren - Direktoratet for kulturminneforvaltning); Monday, Sep. 26, 2011, 14:36: Jarvin, CC BY SA 3.0 Norway, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Norges_Bank_bygningen.jpg

The Guardian investigative reporter Kris Hollington finds that the 1994 National Gallery Munch art theft diverts police attention away from bank robberies by Tweitagjengen (Tveita Gang); Tveita Senter (Tveita Shopping Center), namesake of Tveita Gang; Sunday, May 23, 2010, 15:39: Vidar Iversen (Vidariv), CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tveita_senter.JPG

alleged NOKAS robbery mastermind David Toska during NOKAS robbery trial, Monday, Oct. 23, 2006, 14:17: Lapsklaus, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:David_Toska3.jpg

Art conservators tackle restoration after Norway's police officers solve the Munch Museum 2004 art thefts; "The Scream" photo by Munch Museum art conservator Mie Mustad: Munch Museet (themunchmuseum), via Instagram April 11, 2016, @ https://www.instagram.com/p/BEEE0-xRUrQ/; via Instagram April 11, 2016, @ https://www.instagram.com/p/BEEE0-xRUrQ/?taken-by=themunchmuseum

For further information:

Egeberg, Kristoffer. 4 March 2010. "Ti politimenn drept siden krigen." Dagbladet > Nyheter.
Available @ http://www.dagbladet.no/nyheter/ti-politimenn-drept-siden-krigen/64982491

Hollington, Kris. 13 June 2005. "Master Plan." The Guardian > US Edition > Arts > Art & Design > Art.
Available @ https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2005/jun/13/art.arttheft

Jones, Jonathan. 16 February 2007. "The Bigger Picture." The Guardian > US Edition > Arts > Art & Design > Art > Jones on Art.
Available @ https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2007/feb/17/art.arttheft

Marriner, Derdriu. 18 August 2017. "Munch Museum Scream Art Theft: FBI Art Crime Solved Within Two Years." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/08/munch-museum-scream-art-theft-fbi-art.html

Politidirektoratet. 1 June 2015. Politiets trussel om bruk av skytevåpen eller bruk an skytevåpen 2002-2014.
Available @ https://www.politi.no/vedlegg/lokale_vedlegg/politidirektoratet/Vedlegg_3021.pdf

Sullivan, Kevin. 1 September 2006. "Stolen 'Scream' Painting Recovered After 2-Year Search." Washington Post > Arts & Living > Entertainment News.
Available @ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/31/AR2006083100783.html

Weller, Chris. 30 July 2015. "American Police Kill More People in One Day Than Norway Cops Have in 9 Years." Business Insider > Tech News.
Available @ http://www.businessinsider.com/american-police-kill-more-people-in-one-day-than-norway-cops-have-in-10-years-2015-7

2017 Lunar Apogee Minimum Happens Aug. 30 at 404,307 Kilometers

Summary: The 2017 lunar apogee minimum, with the year’s lowest monthly apogee, happens Aug. 30 at 404,307 kilometers (251,224.723 miles).

map of Earth at instant of 2017 lunar apogee minimum, Wednesday, Aug. 30, at 11:25 UTC (7:25 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time): John Walker/Earth and Moon Viewer, Public Domain, via Fourmilab Switzerland

The 2017 lunar apogee minimum, which marks the lowest of the year’s monthly farthest center-to-center distances between Earth and its moon, happens Wednesday, Aug. 30, at 404,307 kilometers (251,224.723 miles).

According to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), the world's official time standard, the 2017 lunar apogee minimum occurs Wednesday at 11:25 UTC (7:25 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time). Earth’s time zone conversions of Coordinated Universal Time to local times yield a trio of dates, from Tuesday, Aug. 29, through Thursday, Aug. 31, for local observances of the 2017 lunar apogee minimum.

Time zones that are ahead of Coordinated Universal Time by 12 hours 45 minutes or more experience the 2017 lunar apogee minimum on Thursday, Aug. 31. Chatham Islands, located east of New Zealand in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, lies in the Chatham Island Standard Time Zone (CHAST). During standard time, the archipelago is 12 hours 45 minutes ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. The 2017 lunar apogee minimum happens Thursday, Aug. 31, at 12:10 a.m. CHAST.

The 2017 lunar apogee minimum happens Tuesday, Aug. 29, in one time zone. Known as Anywhere on Earth (AoE), the time zone lags behind Coordinated Universal Time by 12 hours. Its identifier expresses the lag as UTC-12. The unincorporated, unorganized U.S. territories of Baker Island and Howland Island, which lie barely north of the equator in the central Pacific Ocean, clock time at 12 hours behind Coordinated Universal Time. The 2017 lunar apogee minimum happens Tuesday, Aug. 29, at 11:25 p.m. AoE, at these two uninhabited atolls.

The 2017 lunar apogee minimum of 404,307 kilometers is 1,627 kilometers less than the previous month’s apogee minimum. July’s apogee minimum happens Thursday, July 6, at 4:27 UTC (12:27 a.m. EDT), at a distance of 405,934 (252,235.694 miles).

The 2017 lunar apogee minimum of 404,307 kilometers is only 35 kilometers less than the next month’s apogee minimum. September’s apogee minimum takes place Wednesday, Sept. 27, at 6:49 UTC (2:49 a.m. EDT), at a distance of 404,342 kilometers (251,246.471 miles).

The 2017 lunar apogee minimum of 404,307 kilometers is 256 kilometers greater than the 21st century’s lunar apogee minimum of 404,051 kilometers (251,065.652 miles). The 21st century, which spans Monday, Jan. 1, 2001, to Friday, Dec. 31, 2100, achieves the lowest of its 100-year-span of lunar apogee minimum values at 4:42 UTC (12:42 a.m. EDT), Wednesday, July 26, 2069.

By the time of the 2017 lunar apogee minimum, the moon has already phased into its first quarter. The first quarter onset, which preceded achievement of the 2017 lunar apogee minimum by 20 hours 12 minutes, took over from the month’s waxing crescent at 8:13 UTC (4:13 a.m. EDT), Tuesday, Aug. 29.

The somewhat elliptical shape of the moon’s orbit accounts for the existence of apsides, which are points of extreme distances. The moon’s apsides (Ancient Greek ἁψίς, hapsís, “arch, vault”) are designated as apogee, for the farthest, or greatest, center-to-center distance between Earth and moon, and perigee, for the closest, or least, center-to-center distance.

The takeaway for the 2017 lunar apogee minimum that happens at 11:25 UTC, Wednesday, Aug. 30, at a center-to-center distance of 404,307 kilometers, is the milestone’s double qualifications as minimum apogee for both the month of August and for year 2017.

first quarter moon, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 11:00 UTC, 25 minutes before 2017 lunar apogee minimum: Ernie Wright/Dial-A-Moon, Public Domain, via NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Scientific Visualization Studio (SVS)

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

map of Earth at instant of 2017 lunar apogee minimum, Wednesday, Aug. 30, at 11:25 UTC (7:25 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time): John Walker/Earth and Moon Viewer, Public Domain, via Fourmilab Switzerland @ https://www.fourmilab.ch/cgi-bin/Earth

quarter moon, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 11:00 UTC, 25 minutes before 2017 lunar apogee minimum: Ernie Wright/Dial-A-Moon, Public Domain, via NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Scientific Visualization Studio (SVS) @ https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4537

For further information:

Espenak, Fred. “Moon at Perigee and Apogee: 2001 to 2100 Greenwich Mean Time.” AstroPixels > Ephemeris > Moon.
Available @ http://astropixels.com/ephemeris/moon/moonperap2001.html

“Event in UTC on Wednesday, August 30, 2017 at 11:25:00 a.m.” Time And Date > Time Zones > World Clock > Event Time Announcer.
Available @ https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?p1=1440&iso=20170830T1125&low=4

Marriner, Derdriu. “2017 Lunar Perigee Minimum Happens May 26 at 357,210 Kilometers.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, May 24, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/05/2017-lunar-perigee-minimum-happens-may.html

“Time Zone Abbreviations - Worldwide List.” Time And Date > Time Zones.
Available @ https://www.timeanddate.com/time/zones/

Wright, Ernie. “Moon Phase and Libration, 2013.” NASA Scientific Visualization Studios. Nov. 20, 2012.
Available @ http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a004000/a004000/