Earth and Space News

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

J. Herschel Crater Parents Five Outlying Satellites on Mare Frigoris

Summary: J. Herschel Crater parents five outlying satellites on Mare Frigoris (Sea of Cold) as a near side north polar crater system of 10 satellites.

Detail shows lunar near side’s J. Herschel Crater system of parent and 10 satellites on northwestern Mare Frigoris; G. E. Ulrich’s Geologic Map of the J. Herschel Quadrangle of the Moon (1969): Dept. of Interior-US Geological Survey/NASA/USAF ACIC, via USGS Publications Warehouse

J. Herschel Crater parents five outlying satellites on Mare Frigoris (Sea of Cold) as a north polar crater system of 10 satellites in the lunar near side’s northwest quadrant.

J. Herschel Crater is centered at 62.31 degrees north latitude, minus 41.86 degrees west longitude, according to the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. The lunar impact crater’s northernmost and southernmost latitudes extend to 64.86 degrees north and 59.77 degrees north, respectively. Its easternmost and westernmost longitudes reach minus 36.37 degrees west and minus 47.35 degrees west, respectively. J. Herschel Crater’s diameter spans 154.44 kilometers.

J. Herschel classifies as a crater system, with parentage of 10 satellites. All of the system’s satellites occupy easterly placements with respect to their parent.

The crater system evenly divides its satellites in their external and internal placements. Five lie within their parent’s borders.

Five of J. Herschel Crater’s 10 satellites lie outside of their parent crater. Satellites P and R are found to the east. Satellites F, M and N are sited on Mare Frigoris.

J. Herschel P claims the most northerly position of the 10 satellites. P is centered at 63.61 degrees north latitude, minus 33.01 degrees west longitude. P narrows its northernmost and southernmost latitudes to 63.71 degrees north and 63.51 degrees north, respectively, and its easternmost and westernmost longitudes to minus 32.78 degrees west and minus 33.23 degrees west, respectively. With a diameter of 6.06 kilometers, P is the smallest of its parent’s 10 satellites.

J. Herschel R claims the most easterly position of the system’s 10 satellites. R is centered at 62.59 degrees north latitude, minus 30.7 degrees west longitude. R slims its southernmost and northernmost latitudes to 62.74 degrees north and 62.45 degrees north, respectively, and its easternmost and westernmost longitudes to minus 30.38 degrees west and minus 31.01 degrees west, respectively. R’s diameter measures 8.73 kilometers.

Satellite P in the terra (highland, upland) east of its parent traces a fairly straight, north-south line through satellites M and N in Mare Frigoris. All three satellites express center longitudes around minus 33 degrees west.

J. Herschel N somewhat approximates the imaginary line’s midpoint, with centering at 60.15 degrees north latitude, minus 33.04 degrees west longitude. N trims its northernmost and southernmost latitudes to 60.26 degrees north and 60.03 degrees north, respectively, and its easternmost and westernmost longitudes to minus 32.81 degrees west and minus 33.27 degrees west, respectively. N has a diameter of 6.93 kilometers.

J. Herschel M anchors the line’s southernmost terminus, with centering at 57.35 degrees north latitude, minus 33.11 degrees west longitude. M slims its northernmost and southernmost latitudes to 57.49 degrees north and 57.21 degrees north, respectively, and its easternmost and westernmost longitudes to minus 32.84 degrees west and minus 33.37 degrees west, respectively. M’s diameter measures 8.59 kilometers.

J. Herschel F forms the western apex of a triangle with satellites M and N in Mare Frigoris. F is centered at 58.87 north latitude, minus 35.5 degrees west longitude. F obtains its northernmost and southernmost latitudes at 59.18 degrees north and 58.56 degrees north, respectively. Its easternmost and westernmost longitudes reach minus 34.9 degrees west and minus 36.11 degrees west. With a diameter of 18.88 kilometers, F is the largest of its parent’s 10 satellites.

The takeaways for J. Herschel Crater’s parentage of five outlying satellites on Mare Frigoris in the near side’s northwest quadrant are the north polar region crater system of 10 satellites evenly divides its internal and external satellites, that two of the system’s five outlying satellites occupy eastern highlands while three lie on Mare Frigoris and that a fairly straight, north-south line, aligned at minus 33 degrees west longitude, links two Mare Frigoris satellites (M, N) with one (P) of the upland satellites.

Detail shows J. Herschel Crater system of parent and 10 satellites, including north-south alignment of satellite P in eastern upland with satellites N and M on Mare Frigoris: LAC (Lunar Aeronautical Chart) 11: NASA / GSFC (Goddard Space Flight Center) / ASU (Arizona State University), Public Domain, via U.S. Geological Survey / Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

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Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/29362303
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/reportofbritisha63brit/page/9

Boint, Steve. “Profiles of Features in the J. Herschel Crater, Fontanelle Crater, and La Condamine Crater Area.” Selenology Today, no. 9 (February 2008): 1-12.
Available @ http://www.lunar-captures.com//Selenology_Today/selenologytoday9.pdf

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Bowker, David E.; and J. Kenrick Hughes. “Photo No. IV-139-H1 Plate 84.” Lunar Orbiter Photographic Atlas of the Moon. Prepared by Langley Research Center. NASA SP-206. Washington DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Scientific and Technical Information Office, Jan. 1, 1971.
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Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/8045

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Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/2477

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Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/2557

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Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/10056

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Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/2779

International Astronomical Union. “J. Herschel B.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/10156

International Astronomical Union. “J. Herschel C.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/10157

International Astronomical Union. “J. Herschel D.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/10158

International Astronomical Union. “J. Herschel F.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/10159

International Astronomical Union. “J. Herschel K.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/10160

International Astronomical Union. “J. Herschel L.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/10161

International Astronomical Union. “J. Herschel M.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/10162

International Astronomical Union. “J. Herschel N.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/10163

International Astronomical Union. “J. Herschel P.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/10164

International Astronomical Union. “J. Herschel R.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/10165

International Astronomical Union. “Mare Frigoris.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/3674

Levy, David H. Skywatching. Revised and updated. San Francisco CA: Fog City Press, 1994.

Lunar and Planetary Institute. “Digital Lunar Orbiter Photographic Atlas of the Moon: Photo Number IV-152-H1.” USRA LPI (Universities Space Research Association’s Lunar and Planetary Institute) > Resources.
Available via Universities Space Research Association’s (USRA) Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) @ https://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/lunar_orbiter/bin/info.shtml?430

Lunar and Planetary Institute. “Digital Lunar Photographic Orbiter Atlas of the Moon: Photo Number IV-152-H2.” USRA LPI (Universities Space Research Association’s Lunar and Planetary Institute) > Resources.
Available via Universities Space Research Association’s (USRA) Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) @ https://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/lunar_orbiter/bin/info.shtml?431

Lunar and Planetary Institute. “Digital Lunar Orbiter Photographic Atlas of the Moon: Photo Number IV-164-H1.” USRA LPI (Universities Space Research Association’s Lunar and Planetary Institute) > Resources.
Available via Universities Space Research Association’s (USRA) Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) @ https://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/lunar_orbiter/bin/info.shtml?470

Lunar and Planetary Institute. “Digital Lunar Photographic Orbiter Atlas of the Moon: Photo Number IV-164-H2.” USRA LPI (Universities Space Research Association’s Lunar and Planetary Institute) > Resources.
Available via Universities Space Research Association’s (USRA) Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) @ https://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/lunar_orbiter/bin/info.shtml?471

Marriner, Derdriu. "C. Herschel Crater Honors German-British Astronomer Caroline Herschel." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, March 16, 2011.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/03/c-herschel-crater-honors-german-british.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "J. Herschel Crater Honors British Astronomer John Herschel." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, March 2, 2011.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/03/j-herschel-crater-honors-british_2.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Near Side Crater J. Herschel Parents Five Satellites Within Its Borders." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, March 9, 2011.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/03/near-side-crater-j-herschel-parents.html

The Moon Wiki. “J. Herschel.” The Moon > Lunar Features Alphabetically > J Nomenclature.
Available @ https://the-moon.us/wiki/J._Herschel

The Moon Wiki. “Mare Frigoris.” The Moon > Lunar Features Alphabetically > F Nomenclature > Frigoris, Mare.
Available @ https://the-moon.us/wiki/Imbrium,_Mare

Moore, Patrick, Sir. Philip’s Atlas of the Universe. Revised edition. London UK: Philip’s, 2005.

Nelson, Edmund. “J. Herschel.” The Moon and the Condition and Configurations of Its Surface: 255-256. London UK: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1876.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/moonconditioncon00neis/page/255

Royal Astronomical Society Council. “Obituary: W.R. Birt.” Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, vol. XLII, no. 4 (Feb. 10, 1882): 142-144.
Available via Harvard ADSABS @ http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/full/seri/MNRAS/0042//0000143.000.html

Smyth, W.H. (William Henry), Capt. “Chapter IV: Origin of the Observatory.” Ædes Hartwellianæ; or, Notices of the Manor and Mansion of Hartwell: 223-. London UK: Printed for private circulation by John Bowyer Nichols and Son, MDCCCLI (1851).
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/deshartwellian00smytrich/page/223

Ulrich, G. E. (George Erwin). “Geologic Map of the J. Herschel Quadrant of the Moon.” Geologic Atlas of the Moon. IMAP-604 (LAC-11). Prepared in cooperation with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the USAF Aeronautical Chart and Information Center. Department of the Interior United States Geological Survey, 1969.
Available USGS Publications Warehouse @ https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/i604

Ulrich, G.E. (George Erwin). “Probable Igneous Relations in the Floor of the Crater J. Herschel.” Astrogeologic Studies Annual Progress Report July 1, 1965 to July 1, 1966. Part A Lunar and Planetary Investigations:123-132. Washington DC: Department of the Interior United States Geological Survey, December 1966.
Available via NASA NTRS (NASA Technical Reports Server) @ https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19670022605.pdf

U.S. Geological Survey. Color-Coded Topography and Shaded Relief Map of the Lunar Near Side and Far Side Hemispheres. U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Investigations Series I-2769. Page last modified Nov. 30, 2016. Flagstaff AZ: U.S. Geological Survey Astrogeology Science Center, 2003.
Available via USGS Publications Warehouse @ https://pubs.usgs.gov/imap/i2769/

Wilhelms, Don. The Geologic History of the Moon. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1348.
Available via Arizona State University Space Exploration Resources (SER) @ http://ser.sese.asu.edu/GHM/

Wilhelms, Don E. To a Rocky Moon: A Geologist’s History of Lunar Exploration. Tucson AZ: University of Arizona Press, Jan. 1, 1993.
Available via USRA LPI (Universities Space Research Association’s Lunar and Planetary Institute ) @ https://www.lpi.usra.edu/publications/books/rockyMoon/

Saturday, March 19, 2011

North American Blue Jay Habitats: Blue Body, Cup Nest, Marked Pale Egg

Summary: North American blue jay habitats year-round in southern Canada and the United States east of the Rockies hold blue bodies, cup nests and marked pale eggs.

blue jay (Cyanocitta cristata) in Johnston County, central North Carolina; Feb. 16, 2006: Ken Thomas, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

North American blue jay habitats allay cultivator anxieties through Corvidae family predatory wildlife associations with pests and naturalist apprehensions through distribution ranges seasonally in Canada and year-round there and the United States.

Blue jays bear their common name from colors bestowed with the French loan word jai (gay, merry) and the scientific name Cyanocitta cristata (crested, dark-blue chatterer). Ornithologists consider bromia (boisterous), cyanotephra (dark-blue ashes) and semplei subspecies since Carl Linnaeus's (May 23, 1707-Jan. 10, 1787) nominate Cyanocitta cristata cristata subspecies classification in 1758. Large-sized northern bromia, mid-sized coastal cristata, mid-sized inland cyanotephra and small-sized Florida semplei subspecies respectively designate North America's dull, vivid, strikingly color-contrasted and pale blue jays.

Seven-year lifespans expect coniferous, deciduous or mixed forests, parklands or woodlands, forest edges, tree-edged fields, meadows or pastures, suburban or urban woods or tree-lined city streets.

March through July facilitate brooding one two- to seven-egg clutch, followed by another if the first fails in the north, or two to three further south.

Parents-to-be gather bark, feathers, grass, leaves, mosses, stems, sticks and twigs into mud-bound, rootlet-lined, 4- to 4.5-inch- (10.16- to 11.43-centimeter-) high, 2.5-inch- (6.35-centimeter-) deep cup nests. Seven- to 8-inch (17.78- to 20.32-centimeter) outer, 3.5- to 4-inch (8.89- to 10.16-centimeter) inner diameter nests house eggs at 5- to 50-foot (1.52- to 15.24-meter) heights. Mothers-to-be implement 16- to 18-day incubations of American crow-like, 0.91- to 1.26-inch (23- to 32-millimeter) by 0.71- to 0.87-inch (18- to 22-millimeter), oval, semi-glossy, smooth eggs.

American crows, bobwhites, cardinals, falcons, grackles, hawks, mockingbirds, mourning doves, opossums, owls, raccoons, scrub-jays, snakes, squirrels, white-winged doves and woodpeckers jeopardize North American blue jay habitats.

Eggshell- and excrement-eating parents keep brown-, gray-, olive-, purple-blotched, dotted, flecked, speckled, spotted blue-green, buff, cream-buff, gray-white, green-white, olive, pink-buff eggs, helpless hatchlings and nests predator-free.

Nestlings live off parent-foraged, parent-portioned food while they look around with unsealed eyes as five-day-olds and, as seven-plus-day-olds, less cream- or pale yellow-skinned, red-mouthed and thin. They manage feathering as eight- or nine-day-olds and move to nearby roosts as 17- to 21-day-olds and, after another parent contact-filled three weeks, to physical independence. Adults need acorns, beechnuts, beetles, berries, carrion, caterpillars, cicadas, corn, fruits, grains, grasshoppers, hazelnuts, hickory nuts, lizards, mice, peanuts, snails, spiders, sunflower seeds and tree frogs.

North American blue jay habitats through 3,280.84 feet (1,000 meters) above sea level offer winter's coldest temperatures at minus 45 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 42.77 degrees Celsius).

Alder, beech, cherry, dogwood, elderberry, fir, hazelnut, hemlock, hickory, pitch pine, red spruce, sour-gum, sunflower, viburnum, white oak and white pine promote blue jay life cycles.

Downy, fluffy, pale scruffiness and visible beak-based gapes versus slightly paler colors and smaller sizes respectively qualify as juvenile female and male and mature female hallmarks. Black-beaked, black-collared, black-footed, black-legged, blue-crested, blue-mantled, dark-eyed, gray-under-bodied, long-billed, white-throated adults reveal black bill-to-eye patches, black-barred, long, white-cornered blue tails and white trailing-edged, white-streaked blue wings. Flapping, flat-winged, gliding flight on 13.38- to 16.93-inch (34- to 43-centimeter) wingspans suggest 9.5- to 12-inch (24- to 30-centimeter), 2.25- to 3.5-ounce (65- to 100-gram) adults.

Adults and juveniles turn out typically ethereal queedle-ee-dee chortles, feeding-related soft clucks and harsh jay-jay screams in nests and roosts in North American blue jay habitats.

illustration of eggs and nest of blue jay (Cyanocitta cristata) under scientific synonym of Cyanurus cristatus; Illustrations of the Nests and Eggs of Birds of Ohio, Plate XXXVI, between pages 122-123: Public Domain, via Biodiversity Heritage Library

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

blue jay (Cyanocitta cristata) in Johnston County, central North Carolina; Feb. 16, 2006: Ken Thomas, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blue_Jay-27527.jpg

Baicich, Paul J.; and Harrison, Colin J.O. Nests, Eggs, and Nestlings of North American Birds. Second edition. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, Princeton Field Guides, 2005.

Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia, 2nd edition. Volumes 8-11, Birds I-IV, edited by Michael Hutchins, Jerome A. Jackson, Walter J. Bock and Donna Olendorf. Farmington Hills MI: Gale Group, 2002.

Jones, Howard. 1886. Illustrations of the Nests and Eggs of Birds of Ohio. Illustrations by Mrs. N.E. Jones. Vol. I. Circleville OH: s.n. (sine nomine).
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/34907587

Linnaeus, Carl. 1758. "8. Corvus cristatus." Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, Secundum Classes, Ordines, Genera, Species, cum Characteribus, Differentiis, Synonymis, Locis, Tomus I, Editio Decima, Reformata: 106. Holmiae [Stockholm, Sweden]: Laurentii Salvii [Laurentius Salvius].
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/727011

Peterson, Alan P., M.D. "Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus) 1758." Zoonomen: Zoological Nomenclature Resource > Birds of the World -- Current Valid Scientific Avian Names > Passeriformes > Corvidae > Cyanocitta.
Available @ http://www.zoonomen.net/avtax/pass.html

Oberholser, Harry C. (Church). January 1921. "The Geographic Races of Cyanocitta Cristata: Cyanocitta cristata bromia nom. nov." The Auk, vol. XXXVIII (old series vol. XLVI), no. 1 (January-March): 86-89. Lancaster PA: The American Ornithologists' Union.
Available via SORA (Searchable Ornithological Research Archive) @ https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v038n01/p0083-p0089.pdf

Sutton, George Miksch. April 1935. "A New Blue Jay From the Western Border of the Great Basin: Cyanocitta cristata cyanotephra subspecies nova." The Auk, vol. LII (old series vol. LX), no. 2 (April-June): 176-177. Lancaster PA: The American Ornithologists' Union.
Available via SORA (Searchable Ornithological Research Archive) @ https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v052n02/p0176-p0177.pdf

Todd, W.E. (Walter Edmond) Clyde. July 1928. "A New Blue Jay From Southern Florida: Cyanocitta cristata semplei, subsp. nov." The Auk, vol. XLV (old series vol. LIII), no. 3 (July-September): 364-365. Lancaster PA: The American Ornithologists' Union.
Available via SORA (Searchable Ornithological Research Archive) @ https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v045n03/p0364-p0365.pdf

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

C. Herschel Crater Honors German-British Astronomer Caroline Herschel

Summary: C. Herschel Crater honors German-British astronomer Caroline Herschel, discoverer of eight comets and sister of Uranus discoverer William Herschel.

Black-and-white, 70 mm Hasselbad camera photo shows C. Herschel Crater’s (upper left) placement across Dorsum Heim’s (center) traversal of western Mare Imbrium; Apollo 17, lunar revolution 62, December 1972; NASA ID AS17-155-23712: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

C. Herschel Crater honors German-British astronomer Caroline Herschel, who discovered eight comets and who assisted her older brother, Uranus discoverer William Herschel, in his astronomical pursuits.

C. Herschel Crater is located on the western Mare Imbrium (Sea of Showers) in the lunar near side’s northern hemisphere. The vast lava plain occupies the lunar near side’s northwestern quadrant. Mare Imbrium is centered at 32.8 degrees north latitude, 15.6 degrees west longitude and is sized at 1,123 kilometers (697.79 miles), according to details for photo number IV-122-H1 (Plate 96) in the Lunar and Planetary Institute’s Digital Lunar Orbiter Photographic Atlas of the Moon database.

The small lunar impact crater cuts across Dorsum Heim (Heim Wrinkle Ridge), a low sinuous ridge that makes a southeast-to-northwest trek to C. Herschel. Dorsum Heim is centered at 32.2 degrees north latitude and minus 29.83 degrees west longitude, according to the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Dorsum Heim’s length measures 146.79 kilometers.

C. Herschel Crater is centered at 34.48 degrees north latitude and minus 31.29 degrees west longitude. The impact crater registers northernmost and southernmost latitudes of 34.71 degrees north and 34.26 degrees north. It obtains easternmost and westernmost longitudes of minus 31 degrees west and minus 31.55 degrees west, respectively. C. Herschel’s diameter measures 13.7 kilometers.

C. Herschel Crater parents four satellites. All four favor westerly locations, with three to the northwest and one to the southwest, with respect to their parent.

C. Herschel E claims the southernmost and westernmost position of the four satellites. E is centered at 34.21 degrees north latitude and minus 34.69 degrees west longitude. The satellite’s northernmost and southernmost latitudes occur at 34.29 degrees north and 34.13 degrees north, respectively. It finds easternmost and westernmost longitudes at minus 34.58 degrees west and minus 34.79 degrees west, respectively. Satellite E has a diameter of 5.03 kilometers.

C. Herschel C assumes the northernmost position of the four satellites. C is centered at 37.23 degrees north latitude and minus 32.62 degrees west longitude. The satellite obtains northernmost and southernmost latitudes at 37.34 degrees north and 37.11 degrees north, respectively. It finds easternmost and westernmost longitudes at minus 32.47 degrees west and minus 32.76 degrees west, respectively. With a diameter of 7.04 kilometers, Satellite C is the largest of the four satellites.

C. Herschel V is located to the southwest of C. Herschel C. V is centered at 36.46 degrees south latitude and minus 33.49 degrees west longitude. V registers northernmost and southernmost latitudes at 36.52 degrees north and 36.4 degrees north, respectively. It marks easternmost and westernmost longitudes at minus 33.42 degrees west and minus 33.56 degrees west, respectively. V has a diameter of 3.46 kilometers.

C. Herschel U claims the closest location to its parent. Its northwest site distances U by only approximately two degrees from C. Herschel. U is centered at 36.2 degrees north latitude and minus 31.44 degrees west longitude. U obtains northernmost and southernmost latitudes at 36.26 degrees north and 36.15 degrees north, respectively. It registers easternmost and westernmost longitudes at minus 31.38 degrees west and minus minus 31.51 degrees west, respectively. With a diameter of 3.3 kilometers, U is the smallest of the four satellites.

The C. Herschel Crater system honors German-British astronomer Caroline Herschel (March 16, 1750-Jan. 9, 1848). The IAU approved the parent crater’s name in 1935, during the organization’s Vth (5th) General Assembly, held Wednesday, July 10, to Wednesday, July 17, in Paris, France. The four satellites received approval of their designations in 2006, during the IAU’s XXVIth (26th) General Assembly, held Monday, Aug. 14, to Friday, Aug. 25, in Prague, Czech Republic.

German-British astronomer and musician William Herschel (Nov. 15, 1738-Aug. 25, 1822) shared his first career as a musician and his second career as an astronomer with his sister Caroline. She assisted her brother in his astronomical pursuits and also gained recognition for her own astronomical accomplishments. Caroline Herschel is credited with discovering eight comets and 14 nebulae.

The takeaways for C. Herschel Crater, which honors German-British astronomer Caroline Herschel, are that the small impact crater lies on the western Mare Imbrium in the lunar near side’s southwest quadrant and parents four satellites and that the crater system’s smallest and largest satellites, C. Herschel U and C. Herschel C, with respective diameters of 3.3 and 7.04 kilometers, are roughly one-quarter and one-half the size of their parent.

Detail shows Dorsum Heim (lower right) and C. Herschel Crater system of one parent and four satellites on lunar near side’s western Mare Imbrium; LAC (Lunar Aeronautical Chart) 24: NASA / GSFC (Goddard Space Flight Center) / ASU (Arizona State University), Public Domain, via U.S. Geological Survey / Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

Black-and-white, 70 mm Hasselbad camera photo shows C. Herschel Crater’s (upper left) placement across Dorsum Heim’s (center) traversal of western Mare Imbrium; Apollo 17, lunar revolution 62, December 1972; NASA ID AS17-155-23712: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AS17-155-23712_-_Dorsum_Heim.jpg; No known copyright restrictions, via NARA (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration) & DVIDS (Defense Visual Information Distribution Service) Public Domain Archive @ https://nara.getarchive.net/media/as17-155-23712-apollo-17-apollo-17-south-west-of-patheas-beta-e83b94

Bowker, David E.; and J. Kenrick Hughes. “Photo No. IV-139-H1 Plate 84.” Lunar Orbiter Photographic Atlas of the Moon. Prepared by Langley Research Center. NASA SP-206. Washington DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Scientific and Technical Information Office, Jan. 1, 1971. Available via NASA NTRS (NASA Technical Reports Server) @ http://hdl.handle.net/2060/19730005152
Available via Universities Space Research Association’s (USRA) Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) @ https://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/lunar_orbiter/book/lopam.pdf

Consolmagno, Guy; and Dan M. Davis. Turn Left at Orion. Fourth edition. Cambridge UK; New York NY: Cambridge University Press, 2011.

Elger, Thomas Gwyn. “Caroline Herschel.” The Moon: A Full Description and Map of Its Principal Physical Features: 80. London UK: George Philip & Son, 1895.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/moonfulldescript00elgerich/page/80

Freudenrich, Craig. “How the Moon Works.” HowStuffWorks > Science > Space > Astronomy > The Solar System.
Available @ https://science.howstuffworks.com/moon1.htm

International Astronomical Union. “Dorsum Heim.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/1615

International Astronomical Union. “C. Herschel C.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/9930

International Astronomical Union. “C. Herschel E.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/8046

International Astronomical Union. “C. Herschel U.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/8048

International Astronomical Union. “Mare Imbrium.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/3678

Levy, David H. Skywatching. Revised and updated. San Francisco CA: Fog City Press, 1994.

Lunar and Planetary Institute. “Apollo Image Atlas: AS17-155-23712.” USRA LPI (Universities Space Research Association’s Lunar and Planetary Institute) > Resources.
Available via Universities Space Research Association’s (USRA) Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) @ https://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/apollo/frame/?AS17-155-23712

Lunar and Planetary Institute. “Digital Lunar Orbiter Atlas of the Moon: Photo Number IV-122-H1.” USRA LPI (Universities Space Research Association’s Lunar and Planetary Institute) > Resources.
Available via Universities Space Research Association’s (USRA) Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) @ https://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/lunar_orbiter/bin/info.shtml?332

Lunar and Planetary Institute. “Digital Lunar Orbiter Atlas of the Moon: Photo Number IV-139-H1.” USRA LPI (Universities Space Research Association’s Lunar and Planetary Institute) > Resources.
Available via Universities Space Research Association’s (USRA) Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) @ https://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/lunar_orbiter/bin/info.shtml?389

Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. “Figure 4-51. Near-terminator photograph in Mare Imbrium.” Apollo 17 Preliminary Science Report: 4-26. NASA SP-330. Washington DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Scientific and Technical Information Office, 1973.
Available via NASA NTRS (NASA Technical Reports Server) @ https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19740010315.pdf

Masursky, Harold; G.W. Colton; and Farouk El-Baz. “Chapter 4: The Maria.” Apollo Over the Moon: A View From the Orbit: 67-89. NASA SP-362. Washington DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Scientific and Technical Information Office, 1978.
Available @ https://history.nasa.gov/SP-362/ch4.1.htm

The Moon Wiki. “C. Herschel.” The Moon > Lunar Features Alphabetically > H Nomenclature > Lohrmann -- Herschel.
Available @ https://the-moon.us/wiki/C._Herschel

The Moon Wiki. “Heim, Dorsum.” The Moon > Lunar Features Alphabetically > H Nomenclature.
Available @ https://the-moon.us/wiki/Dorsum_Heim

The Moon Wiki. “Imbrium, Mare.” The Moon > Lunar Features Alphabetically > I Nomenclature > Mare Imbrium (Basin).
Available @ https://the-moon.us/wiki/Imbrium,_Mare

The Moon Wiki. “Lunar Dorsum.” The Moon > Special Features Lists > Dorsa -- Mare Ridges.
Available @ https://the-moon.us/wiki/Lunar_Dorsum

Moore, Patrick, Sir. Philip’s Atlas of the Universe. Revised edition. London UK: Philip’s, 2005.

Plotner, Tammy. “Jan 28 Sunday.” What’s Up 2007: 365 Days of Skywatching: 29. Universe Today, 2006.
Available via Google Books @ https://books.google.com/books?id=TOl6YMIclBUC&pg=PA18

Redd, Nola Taylor. “Caroline Herschel Biography.” Space.com > References > Science & Astronomy. Sept. 4, 2012.
Available @ https://www.space.com/17439-caroline-herschel.html

Stratton, F.J.M. (Frederick John Marrian), ed. Vth General Assembly Transactions of the IAU Vol. V Proceedings of the 5th General Assembly Paris, France, July 10-17, 1935. Cambridge University Press, Jan. 1, 1936.
Available @ https://www.iau.org/publications/iau/transactions_b/

van der Hucht, Karel A., ed. IAU Transactions: XXVI B Proceedings of the XXVIth General Assembly Prague, Czech Republic, August 14-25, 2006. Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press, Dec. 30, 2008.
Available @ https://www.iau.org/publications/iau/transactions_b/

Zeng, X.; L. Mu; X. Gao; and W. Yan. “Analysis of the Relative Geological Ages of the Lunar Maria.” American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2014. Washington DC: American Geophysical Union, December 2014.
Available via Harvard ADSABS (NASA Astrophysics Data System Abstracts) @ http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2014AGUFM.P13D3862Z

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Northern Saw-Whet Owl Habitats: Brown Bodies, Cavity Nests, White Eggs

Summary: North American northern saw-whet owl habitats along coastal Canada, Mexico and the United States get brown bodies, cavity nests and white eggs year-round.

North American northern saw-whet owl habitats adjust to cultivation through Strigidae family member appetites for farm and garden animals and to naturalism through distribution ranges from coastal Canada southward through coastal Mexico.

Northern saw-whet owls bear their common name for sounds like whetstone-sharpened saws and the scientific name Aegolius acadicus (screech-owl [in] Acadia) for specimens from Nova Scotia. Described in 1788 by German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin (Aug. 8, 1748-Nov. 1, 1804), they contain the British Columbian subspecies brooksi and the nominate subspecies acadicus. Allan Cyril Brooks' (Feb. 15, 1869-Jan. 3, 1946) namesakes, described in 1916 by James Henry Fleming (July 5, 1872-June 27, 1940), designate Queen Charlotte Island-dwelling owls.

Ten-year lifespans expect alder thickets, arid brush- and scrub-lands, cedar groves, coniferous, deciduous, mixed or riverside forests, coniferous swamps, pine plantations, tamarack bogs and wooded wetlands.

March through July one four- to seven-egg clutch fills cavities, former flicker or pileated woodpecker nests or nest-boxes at 14- to 60-foot (4.27- to 18.29-meter) heights.

Mothers-to-be gather, as sole lining, breast feathers for natural cavities in dead stubs or tall trees or for nest-box openings 2.76-plus inches (7-plus centimeters) in diameter. Cavity nests house non- to semi-glossy, 1.1- to 1.29-inch- (28- to 33-millimeter-) long, 0.94- to 1.02-inch- (24- to 26-millimeter-) wide, oval to near-spherical, smooth, white eggs. Mothers-to-be initiate 20- to 28-day incubations with the first or second of eggs laid at one- to three-day intervals while fathers-to-be implement native wood mouse hunts.

Cleared woodlands, drained wetlands, external parasites and great horned owls, as well as possibly also barred and long-eared owls, jeopardize North American northern saw-whet owl habitats.

Downy, helpless hatchlings keep their brown eyes closed the first eight to nine days after hatching and know sparse, white coats for the first two weeks.

Nestlings live off food from fathers for three weeks and, after mothers locate from fecal matter- and prey residue-filled nests to nearby roosts, from both parents. They manage downy feathering successors to downy coats two to four weeks after hatching and move away to independent roosts 27 to 34 days after birth. Adults need cardinals, chickadees, chipmunks, deer, heather, meadow, montane, red-backed or red-tree voles, frogs, gophers, harvest or jumping mice, insects, juncos, kinglets, pigeons, sparrows and squirrels.

Northern saw-whet habitats 6,233.59 to 10,170.6 feet (1,900 to 3,100 meters) above sea level offer winter-coldest temperatures at minus 45 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 42.77 degrees Celsius).

Aspens, balsam firs, black, blue, Norway and white spruces, black locusts, Douglas-firs, Gambel oaks, jack, ponderosa, red and white pines, oleaster, red-cedars and willows protect saw-whets.

Dark bills, feathered feet and legs, white eyebrows and patches between eyes, white-spotted chestnut-brown upper-parts, white-streaked crowns and foreheads and yellow eyes quicken northern saw-whet identifications. Saw-whets, with brown-streaked buff underparts on Queen Charlotte Island and brown-streaked white underparts elsewhere, reveal rounded wings, short tails and unmarked, white undertail feathers in flight. Direct, low-ground, quick-beat swoops on 16.54- to 18.89-inch (42- to 48-centimeter) wingspans suggest 7.09- to 8.27-inch (18- to 21-centimeter), 2.29- to 5.33-ounce (65- to 151-gram) adults.

North American northern saw-whet owls transmit constant-pitched, rapid whistles, squeaks and whines along east and west coastal Canada and the United States and in central-north Mexico.

female northern saw-whet owl (Aegolius acadicus) with eggs in U.S. Forest Service’s Seward Ranger District Adopt-an-Owl-Box Program, Chugach National Forest, south central Alaska; 2008: Amy Birtwistle/USDA Seward Ranger District-Chugach National Forest, Public Domain, via USDA Forest Service Kenai Critter Newsletter

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

Northern saw-whet owl (Aegolius acadicus) at George C. Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary, Delta, southwestern British Columbia, western Canada; Sunday, Feb. 10, 2008, 01:06: Brendan Lally from Delta, Canada, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Northern_Saw-whet_Owl,_Reifel_BC_3.jpg; Brendan Lally (brendan.lally....away), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/pictiurfear/2256527792/

Baicich, Paul J.; and Harrison, Colin J.O. Nests, Eggs, and Nestlings of North American Birds. Second edition. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, Princeton Field Guides, 2005.

Fleming, J.H. October 1916. “A Saw-Whet Owl of the Queen Charlotte Islands: Cryptoglaux acadicus brooksi.” The Auk, vol. XXXIII (old series vol. XLI), no. 4: 422-423. Cambridge MA: The American Ornithologists’ Union.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/15982898

fs.fed.us. “Northern Saw-whet Owl With Eggs [Pinterest post].
Available via Pinterest @ www.pinterest.com/pin/470978073502396728/
Available via Pinterest @ https://www.pinterest.com/source/fs.fed.us/

Gmelin. Jo. Frid. (Johann Friedrich). 1788. Caroli a Linné Systema Naturae, tom. I, pars I: 296. Editio Decima Tertia, Aucta, Reformata. Lipsaie [Leipzig]: Impensis Georg Emanuel Beer.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/2896896

Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia, 2nd edition. Volumes 8-11, Birds I-IV, edited by Michael Hutchins, Jerome A. Jackson, Walter J. Bock and Donna Olendorf. Farmington Hills MI: Gale Group, 2002.

Peterson, Alan P., M.D. "Aegolius acadicus (Gmelin) 1788." Zoonomen: Zoological Nomenclature Resource > Birds of the World -- Current Valid Scientific Avian Names > Strigiformes > Strigidae > Surniinae > Aegolius.
Available @ http://www.zoonomen.net/avtax/stri.html

U.S.D.A. Seward Ranger District-Chugach National Forest. 2008. “Adopt-an-Owl.” USDA Forest Service Kenai Critter Newsletter, vol. 2, issue 1 (October 2008): 1, 3.
Available @ https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5052546.pdf

Saturday, March 12, 2011

North American Killdeer Habitats: Brown Bodies, Cavity Nests, Buff Eggs

Summary: North American killdeer habitats year-round in-between Canada and Central America pull brown bodies from buff eggs in cavity nests.

A female killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) feigns broken-wing injury as a distraction display to draw attention away from nest; Tuesday, June 10, 2008, 17:24: Audrey from Central Pennsylvania USA, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons

North American killdeer habitats advance cultivation through Charadriidae plover family member appetites for excess grasshoppers and snails and expired fish and naturalism through distribution ranges from Canada through Mexico and the Caribbean.

The killdear bears its common name as the sound of female and male flight calls and the scientific name Charadrius vociferus as a crying, ravine-dwelling shorebird. Collisions with vehicles, predation and secondary poisoning from pesticide-riddled prey challenge the killdeer, described in 1758 by Swedish zoologist Carl Linnaeus (May 23, 1707-Jan. 10, 1787). Camouflage for eggs in nests defensible daily by mothers-to-be and nightly by fathers-to-be draw adult killdeer flocks to cinder-, glass-, gravel-, pebble-, rubble-, woodchip-lined ground cover.

Ten-year lifespans expect dry, gravelly, open surfaces and 1-inch (2.54-centimeter) vegetation accessible to running water or standing pools in fields, grasslands, lawns, mudflats, pastures and sandbars.

March through July facilitate killdeer flock members brooding one three- to six-egg clutch northward, two to three southward, at 100- to 200-foot (30.48- to 60.96-meter) intervals.

Parents-to-be generate 1- to 1.5-inch- (2.54- to 3.81-centimeter-) deep scrapes, with inner 5- to 7-inch (12.7- to 17.78-centimeter) diameters, into built or natural grounds and roofs. Cavity nests house black-, brown- or gray-blotched, capped, scrawled, speckled, spotted or wreathed, non- to semi-glossy, oval to pyriform, pale or creamy-buff to beige, smooth eggs. Parents-to-be initiate 22- to 28-day incubations of 1.42- to 1.49-inch (36- to 38-millimeter) by 1.02- to 1.06-inch (26- to 27-millimeter) eggs anywhere open, often near people.

Airport, golf course, parking lot, railroad and road traffic and predatory coyotes, crows, foxes, gulls, opossums, raccoons, ravens, skunks and snakes jeopardize North American killdeer habitats.

Downy, precocious nestlings know base-barred, black-edged buff- and gray-brown-mottled backs, black-tufted tails and one each of black eye-to-bill-base, eye-to-eye, lower nape, mid-back and upper chest bands. They always look buff and gray-brown on the mottled crown and white around the lower face and on the forehead, the hind-neck collar and the underside. They maintain daily contact with parents even though they move out of nests not long after hatching and manage feeding themselves, and, within 40 days, flying. Adults, sexually active since the year after hatching, need beetles, berries, brackish, freshwater, marine or terrestrial insect larvae, crayfish, earthworms, frogs, grasshoppers, minnows, seeds and snails.

North American killdeer habitats up to 7,874.02 feet (2,400 meters) above sea level offer winter's coldest temperatures at minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 23.3 degrees Celsius).

Adaptability to water-rich, water-scarce niches, broken-wing displays to pull hungry predators away from nests, penetrating, perturbing, piercing flight calls and run-pause-pick forages protect killdeer life cycles.

Browner faces and smaller sizes than male adults respectively qualify as adult female and breeding female hallmarks while buffed fringes and downy tails quicken juvenile identifications. Black breast-bands and neck-collars, brown upperparts, long, rufous-washed, white-barred wings, red eye-rings, red-orange rumps, rufous-washed backs, white underparts and yellow-pink legs reveal black-billed, brown-crowned, red-orange-tailed adults. Fast-, fluid-beat, twisting flight on 23- to 25-inch (58.42- to 63.5-centimeter) wingspans suggests 9- to 10-inch (22.86- to 25.4-centimeter), 2.25- to 3.12-ounce (63.79- to 88.59-gram) adults.

Agitated series of dee notes and rising trills, alarm-sounding dee-ee repetitions and drawn-out, rising deeee flight calls tell of flocked presences in North American killdeer habitats.

killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) eggs; Saturday, April 28, 2007, 15:49: Basil, CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

A female killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) feigns broken-wing injury to draw attention away from nest; Tuesday, June 10, 2008, 17:24: Audrey from Central Pennsylvania USA, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mother_Killdeer.jpg; Audrey (audreyjm529), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/98799884@N00/3567167561/

killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) eggs; Saturday, April 28, 2007, 15:49: Basil, CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Killdeer_eggs.jpg

For further information:

Baicich, Paul J.; and Harrison, Colin J.O. Nests, Eggs, and Nestlings of North American Birds. Second edition. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, Princeton Field Guides, 2005.

Bangs, Outram; Frederic H. (Hedge) Kinnard. 1920. "Oxyechus vociferus rubidus Riley Killdeer: Charadrius vociferus ternominatus nom. nov. West Indian Killdeer." A List of the Birds of Jamaica, Excerpted from "The Handbook of Jamaica 1920," page 8. Kingston, Jamaica: Government Printing Office.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/37468893

Chapman, Frank M. (Michler). 1920. "Description of a Proposed New Race of the Killdeer From the Coast of Peru: Oxyechus vociferus peruvianus new subspecies." The Auk, new series vol. XXXVII (old series vol. XLV): 106-108. Lancaster PA: Steinman and Foltz.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/15938585

Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia, 2nd edition. Volumes 8-11, Birds I-IV, edited by Michael Hutchins, Jerome A. Jackson, Walter J. Bock and Donna Olendorf. Farmington Hills MI: Gale Group, 2002.

Linnaeus, Carl. 1758. "4. Charadrius vociferus." Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, Secundum Classes, Ordines, Genera, Species, cum Characteribus, Differentiis, Synonymis, Locis, Tomus I, Editio Decima, Reformata: 150. Holmiae [Stockholm, Sweden]: Laurentii Salvii [Laurentius Salvius].
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/726991

Peterson, Alan P., M.D. "Charadrius vociferus Linnaeus 1758." Zoonomen: Zoological Nomenclature Resource > Birds of the World -- Current Valid Scientific Avian Names > Charadriiformes > Charardriidae > Charadrius.
Available @ http://www.zoonomen.net/avtax/char.html