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Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Apollo 10 Imaged Near Side’s Triesnecker Crater During Lunar Orbit


Summary: Apollo 10 imaged the near side’s Triesnecker Crater during one of 31 lunar orbits performed by Apollo Command Module Charlie Brown in May 1969.


Oblique, northwest-looking view shows Triesnecker Crater (lower center), with intersecting Triesnecker Rilles (right); May 1969 photograph taken from Apollo 10 spacecraft, at a distance of about 135 kilometers (85 statute miles) from Triesnecker Crater; NASA ID AS10-32-4819: Generally not subject to copyright in the United States, via NASA Image and Digital Library

Apollo 10 imaged the near side’s Triesnecker Crater during one of the 31 lunar orbits logged by the mission’s command module, Charlie Brown, in May 1969.
Triesnecker Crater occupies the lunar near side’s central, equatorial northern hemisphere. Its distinctive location hugs, to the east, the generally north-south oriented, 200 kilometer-long, channel-like system of rilles (German: “grooves”) known as Rimae Triesnecker.
The prominent impact crater is positioned in northeastern Sinus Medii (Latin: “Bay of the Center”). The moon’s equator and prime meridian (zero degrees longitude) intersect in Sinus Medii.
Triesnecker Crater’s western wall bulges noticeably. A central peak in the rough interior marks the crater’s midpoint.
Triesnecker Crater is centered at 4.18 degrees north latitude, 3.6 degrees east longitude, according to the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Triesnecker’s northernmost and southernmost latitudes reach 4.59 degrees north and 3.77 degrees north, respectively. Its easternmost and westernmost longitudes extended to 4.01 degrees east and 3.19 degrees east, respectively. The crater’s diameter spans 24.97 kilometers.
Triesnecker Crater honors Austrian Jesuit astronomer Franz de Paula Triesnecker (April 2, 1745-Jan. 29, 1817). The IAU officially approved the crater’s name in 1935.
Triesnecker Crater parents six named satellites. The IAU officially approved the satellites’ letter designations in 2006.
The largest satellite, Triesnecker D, with a diameter of 5.85 kilometers, lies southeast of its parent crater. F and G, with respective diameters of 3.24 kilometers and 3.52 kilometers, are sited between D and their parent.
E, with a diameter of 4.24 kilometers, is found to the northwest of its parent. Triesnecker E is positioned between its parent and Ukert, a somewhat triangular-shaped impact crater in a rugged strip north of Sinus Medii.
H and J are located southwest of Triesnecker Crater. Their diameters measure 2.55 kilometers and 2.92 kilometers, respectively.
The Apollo 10 mission launched Sunday, May 18, 1969, at 16:49:00 Greenwich Mean Time/Coordinated Universal Time (11:49 p.m. Eastern Standard Time; 12:49 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time) as the Apollo space program’s fourth crewed mission. Apollo 10 numbered as the second Apollo mission, after Apollo 8’s Christmas Eve and Christmas Day 1968 lunar orbits, to orbit the moon.
The firing of the service module’s propulsion engine began Wednesday, May 21, at 20:44:54 UTC (3:44 p.m. EST, 4:44 p.m. EDT), 75 hours 55 minutes 54 seconds (075:55:54.0 Ground Elapsed Time GET) after liftoff. The firing, at an altitude of 95.1 nautical miles above the lunar surface, aimed for the spacecraft’s insertion into an elliptical lunar orbit of 170.0 by 60.2 nautical miles. Lunar orbit insertion ignition lasted 356.1 seconds, with cutoff at 076:01:50.1 GET (Wednesday, May 21 at 20:50:50 UTC; 3:50 p.m. EST, 4:50 p.m. EDT), at an altitude of 61.2 nautical miles above the lunar surface. A 13.9-second maneuver, begun at 080:25:08.1 GET (Thursday, May 22, at 01:14:08 GMT/UTC; Wednesday, May 21, at 8:14 p.m. EST, 9:14 p.m. EDT), circularized the spacecraft's orbit at 61.0 by 59.2 nautical miles.
Apollo 10 was designed as a dress rehearsal for Apollo 11 (Tuesday, July 16, to Wednesday, July 24, 1969), with the exception of an actual lunar landing. As such, Apollo Lunar Module Snoopy undocked from the command module at 098:11:57 GET (Thursday, May 22, 1969, at 19:00:57 GMT/UTC; 2 p.m. EST; 3 p.m. EDT). Commander Stafford and LMP Cernan flew Snoopy to a descent orbit of 8.4 nautical miles (15.6 kilometers) above the lunar surface.  After four lunar orbits, the lunar module re-docked at 106:22:02 GET (Friday, May 23, at 03:11:02 GMT/UTC; Thursday, May 22, at 10:11 p.m. EST, 11:11 p.m. EDT).
All three Apollo 10 astronauts were veterans of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Project Gemini. As the Apollo program’s predecessor, Project Gemini began in 1961 and concluded in 1966.
The Apollo 10 mission marked the third spaceflight for Mission Commander Thomas Patten Stafford (born Sept. 17, 1930) and Command Module Charlie Brown Pilot John Watts Young (born Sept. 24, 1930). Commander Stafford had flown as pilot on Gemini VI (Wednesday, Dec. 15, to Thursday, Dec. 16, 1965) and as command pilot on Gemini IX (Friday, June 3, to Monday, June 6, 1966). CMP Young had flown as pilot on Gemini III (Tuesday, March 23, 1965) and as command pilot on Gemini X (Monday, July 18, to Thursday, July 21, 1966).
Lunar Module Snoopy Pilot Eugene Andrew Cernan (born March 14, 1934) claimed his second spaceflight aboard Apollo 10 and his second spaceflight with Thomas Stafford. Cernan’s first spaceflight had taken place, as pilot, aboard Gemini IX.
The mission’s activities included taking photographs of the lunar surface. Photographs were taken from the command module as well as from the lunar module.
The takeaway for Apollo 10’s image of the near side’s Triesnecker Crater during one of the mission’s 31 lunar orbits is that the black-and-white photograph, taken in May 1969, clearly captures the crater’s distinctive bulge and the adjacent, intersecting channel-like system of Rimae Triesnecker.

Triesnecker Crater with labeled satellite craters; image obtained with Meade LX200 14-inch telescope and Lumenera Skynyx 2-1 camera by David Campbell, principal technical officer, University of Hertfordshire’s Bayfordbury Observatory, East of England region; Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012: David Campbell (12dstring), Public Domain, 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:
Oblique, northwest-looking view shows Triesnecker Crater (lower center), with intersecting Triesnecker Rilles (right); May 1969 photograph taken from Apollo 10 spacecraft, at a distance of about 135 kilometers (85 statute miles) from Triesnecker Crater; NASA ID AS10-32-4819: Generally not subject to copyright in the United States; may use this material for educational or informational purposes, including photo collections, textbooks, public exhibits, computer graphical simulations and Internet Web pages; general permission extends to personal Web pages, via NASA Image and Digital Library @ https://images.nasa.gov/details-as10-32-4819.html
Triesnecker Crater with labeled satellite craters; image obtained with Meade LX200 14-inch telescope and Lumenera Skynyx 2-1 camera by David Campbell, principal technical officer, University of Hertfordshire’s Bayfordbury Observatory, East of England region; Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012: David Campbell (12dstring), Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Triesnecker_lunar_crater_map.jpg

For further information:
Baldwin, Ralph B. “Lunar Crater Counts.” The Astronomical Journal, vol. 69, no. 5 (June 1964): 377-392.
Available via Harvard ADSABS (NASA Astrophysics Data System Abstracts) @ http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/full/seri/AJ.../0069//0000392.000.html
Capelotti, P.J. (Peter Joseph). The Human Archaeology of Space: Lunar, Planetary and Interstellar Relics of Exploration. Jefferson NC: McFArland & Company Inc., 2010.
Cernan, Eugene; and Don Davis. The Last Man on the Moon: Eugene Cernan and America’s Race in Space. New York NY: St. Martin’s Press, 1999.
Consolmagno, Guy; and Dan M. Davis. Turn Left at Orion. Fourth edition. Cambridge UK; New York NY: Cambridge University Press, 2011.
Godwin, Robert, comp. and ed. Apollo 10: The NASA Mission Reports. Second edition. Burlington, Canada: Apogee Books, 2000.
International Astronomical Union. “Rimae Triesnecker.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/5146
International Astronomical Union. “Sinus Medii.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/5567
International Astronomical Union. “Triesnecker Crater.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/6081
International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN). “Triesnecker D.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/13523
International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN). “Triesnecker E.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/13524
International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN). “Triesnecker F.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/13525
International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN). “Triesnecker G.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/13526
International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN). “Triesnecker H.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/13527
International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN). “Triesnecker J.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/13528
International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN). “Ukert.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/6192
Levy, David H. Skywatching. Revised and updated. San Francisco CA: Fog City Press, 1994.
Marriner, Derdriu. “Jettisoned LM Snoopy Descent Stage Appeared Near Taruntius Crater.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, May 11, 2011.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/05/jettisoned-lm-snoopy-descent-stage.html
Marriner, Derdriu. “Nick Howes and Faulkes Telescope Project Seek Lost Apollo 10 LM Snoopy.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2011.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/09/nick-howes-and-faulkes-telescope.html
Marriner, Derdriu. "Nick Howes Considers Possible Orbits for Apollo 10 Lunar Module Snoopy." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/12/nick-howes-considers-possible-orbits_14.html
Marriner, Derdriu. “Snoopy and Charlie Brown Are Hugging Each Other in Apollo 10 Docking.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, May 18, 2011.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/05/snoopy-and-charlie-brown-are-hugging.html
Masursky, Harold; G.W. Colton; and Farouk El-Baz. Apollo Over the Moon: A View From the Orbit. NASA SP-362. Washington DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Scientific and Technical Information Office, 1978.
Available @ https://history.nasa.gov/SP-362/contents.htm
Orloff, Richard W. “Apollo 10 The Fourth Mission: Testing the LM in Lunar Orbit.” Apollo by the Numbers: A Statistical Reference: 71-88. NASA History Series. NASA SP 4029. Washington DC: NASA Headquarters Office of Policy and Plans, 2000.
Available @ https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4029.pdf
Shepard, Alan; Deke Slayton; Jay Barbree; and Howard Benedict. Moon Shot: The Inside Story of America's Race to the Moon. Atlanta GA: Turner Publishing Inc., 1994.
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. “Apollo 10: Facts.” Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum > Missions > Apollo 10.
Available @ https://airandspace.si.edu/explore-and-learn/topics/apollo/apollo-program/orbital-missions/apollo10-facts.cfm
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. “Apollo 10 (AS-505).” Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum > Missions > Apollo 10.
Available @ https://airandspace.si.edu/explore-and-learn/topics/apollo/apollo-program/orbital-missions/apollo10.cfm
Stafford, Thomas P.; and Michael Cassutt. We Have Capture: Tom Stafford and the Space Race. Washington DC: Smithsonian Books, 2002.
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 UK: Cambridge University Press, Jan. 1, 1936.
Available @ https://www.iau.org/publications/iau/transactions_b/
Time and Date. "Time Change 1970 in Florida, United States." Time and Date > Time Zones > Time Change Dates.
Available @ https://www.timeanddate.com/time/change/usa/florida?year=1970
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/
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/
Wade, Mark. “Apollo 10.” Astronautix > Encyclopedia Astronautica Index: A.
Available @ http://www.astronautix.com/a/apollo10.html
Whitaker, Ewen A. (Adair). Mapping and Naming the Moon: A History of Lunar Cartography and Nomenclature. Cambridge UK; New York NY: Cambridge University Press, 1999.


Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Curious George Co-Creator Hans Rey Redrew Virgo as a Reclining Woman


Summary: Curious George co-creator Hans Rey redrew Virgo as a reclining woman rather than as the standing female in traditional visualizations.


Curious George co-creator H.A. Rey’s redrawn Virgo the Virgin constellation alters the connecting lines but retains the constellation's original stars: AugPi at the English-language Wikipedia, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

Curious George co-creator Hans Rey redrew Virgo as a reclining woman, not as the standing female depicted in traditional visualizations.
German-born American author and illustrator Hans Augusto “H.A.” Rey (Sept. 16, 1898-Aug. 26, 1977) co-created the Curious George series of children’s picture books from 1939 to 1966 with his wife, Margarete “Margret” Elisabethe Waldstein Rey (May 16, 1906-Dec. 21, 1996).
German-born American author and illustrator Hans Augusto Rey (Sept. 16, 1898-Aug. 26, 1977) created the Curious George series of children’s picture books with his wife, Margret (May 16, 1906-Dec. 21, 1996). The husband-and-wife team’s seven original Curious George stories were published between 1941 and 1966.
Hans Rey’s interest in astronomy also provided an outlet for his creativity. Rey disagreed with traditional representations of the constellations. During his sky watches, Rey connected constellation stars differently from traditional outlines. He perceived his revisions as easier to remember and more suggestive of constellation names than traditional visualizations.
Rey presented his new method of visualizing constellations in 1952 in The Stars: A New Way to See Them and in 1954 in Find the Constellations. He noted in The Stars that his revisions retained the stars used in traditional representations. His revisions differed from traditional visualizations in the connecting lines.
Traditional connections of the stars in Virgo the Virgin constellation produce a standing, winged woman. One arm is upraised, and she holds a palm frond with that hand. The other arm hangs down, and that hand clasps an ear of grain.
Rey redrew Virgo as a large-headed reclining woman. His Virgo is attired modernly, with a short, knee-length skirt instead of the traditional visualization’s ankle-length gown.
Rey retained the upraised arm, but he envisioned an empty hand. In The Stars: A New Way to See Them, Rey considered that Virgo the Virgin is reaching for the beautiful tresses represented by neighboring constellation Coma Berenices the Hair of Berenice. In Find the Constellations, he suggested that, with her head positioned below the tail of neighboring Leo the Lion constellation, she is raising her arm in fear.
The traditional depiction of Virgo the Virgin places the constellation’s brightest star, Spica, in the ear of grain that the female figure holds. The traditional name of Spica for Alpha Virginis (α Virginis; Alpha Vir, α Vir) derives from Latin spīca virginis for “the virgin’s ear of grain.”
Rey, however, seemingly dispensed with the traditional symbol for agriculture and fertility. Rather, he mysteriously stated that his revised Virgo “carries her brightest jewel -- the bluish 1st-mag. star SPICA -- on an unusual spot.” The “unusual spot” appears to be Virgo’s left hip.
Rey also made changes to some of Virgo’s neighbors. Traditional depictions present Bootes the Herdsman as facing forward, standing upright and holding onto the leashes of Canes Venatici the Hunting Dogs. In The Stars: A New Way to See Them, Rey imagined Virgo as casting an unreciprocated gaze toward constellation Bootes. The Herdsman, however, has turned his back toward her. Rey’s Bootes is a seated pipe smoker. Rey transformed Leo the Lion from a pouncing lion into a walking lion.
Rey purposed with his revisions to ease constellation identification in order to restore enjoyment to stargazing. In The Stars: A New Way to See Them, he compared the efficacy of atlases for the 50 states of the United States with the ineffectiveness of constellation guides. He felt that studying an atlas leads to “pointing out the fifty states.” Yet, after reviewing constellation guides, “hardly any of us can point out fifty constellations.”
The takeaway for Curious George co-creator Hans Rey’s redrawn Virgo as a reclining woman wearing a modern, knee-length dress to replace traditional outlines of a standing female garbed in an ankle-length gown is that Rey’s revision only altered the connecting lines between stars, while still retaining all of the constellation’s component stars.

traditional visualization of Virgo the Virgin constellation, as depicted by British cartographer and engraver Sidney Hall (1788-1831) in Urania’s Mirror (1825), a set of 32 astronomical star chart cards; Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.: U.S. Library of Congress, Public Domain, 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:
Curious George co-creator H.A. Rey’s redrawn Virgo the Virgin constellation alters the connecting lines but retains the constellation's original stars: AugPi at the English-language Wikipedia, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Virgo_constellation_map_visualization.PNG
traditional visualization of Virgo the Virgin constellation, as depicted by British cartographer and engraver Sidney Hall (1788-1831) in Urania’s Mirror (1825), a set of 32 astronomical star chart cards; Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.: U.S. Library of Congress, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sidney_Hall_-_Urania's_Mirror_-_Virgo.jpg; No known restrictions on publication in the US., via Library of Congress (LOC) Prints & Photographs Online Catalog (PPOC) @ https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2002695512/

For further information:
Marriner, Derdriu. "Curious George Co-Creator Hans Rey Drew Gemini as Hand Holding Twins." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/02/curious-george-co-creator-hans-rey-drew.html Rey, H.A. Find the Constellations. Boston MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1954.
Rey, H.A. The Stars: A New Way to See Them. Boston MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1952.


Friday, May 2, 2014

Ficus Benjamina Botanical Illustrations and Elementary's Stunted Tree


Summary: Elementary series episode Paint It Black May 1, 2014, reveals a reclusive clue under reduced growth contrary to Ficus benjamina botanical illustrations.


Potted Ficus benjamina in indoor setting; Sarasota, Florida; Saturday, Nov. 8, 2003: Forest & Kim Starr, CC BY 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

One Ficus benjamina assumes an accelerated growth habit in Ficus benjamina botanical illustrations and in the Columbia Broadcasting System series episode Paint It Black May 1, 2014, even though another appears stunted.
Director Lucy Liu and writers Robert Doherty and Bob Goodman bury a game console, clue to two murders, in a container for a stunted Ficus benjamina. Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) comments, "It's a Ficus benjamina. Popular choice in decorative office greenery," to Mycroft's (Rhys Ihfan), "You keep looking at that plant." He describes, "Thrives even when neglected. The Ficus is an aggressive grower; it'll strain the limits of any container. But this one. This one seems stunted."
The episode errs in enclosing Ficus benjamina in a small pot, not a container the equivalent of two to three times the evergreen's extensive sidewise-spreading roots.

The Moraceae family relative of breadfruit, mulberry, osage orange and pineapple flourishes natively in Australia and Asia, where it functions as official tree of Bangkok, Thailand.
Ficus benjamina gets the literal English equivalent Benjamin fig and goes by Ficus tree and, because of the graceful droop of its brown-gray-white-barked branches, weeping fig. The woody plant and its variegated cultivar Starlight hold the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit and its Too Little cultivar helps indoor bonsai gardens. The clipped screen, indoor ornamental, natural hedge and urban landscape tree identified in 1767 by Carl Linnaeus (May 23, 1707-Jan. 10, 1778) is cold- and draft-intolerant.
Elementary's jeopardized second-season office ornamental juggles the jaunty canopy, jostled foliage, judicious, 19.68-inch (50-centimeter), smooth, straight-up stem and jumbled root ball in Ficus benjamina botanical illustrations.

Ficus benjamina knows indoor 10-foot (3.05-meter) and outdoor 100-foot (30.48-meter) heights in humid temperature ranges between 65 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit (18.33 to 23.88 degrees Celsius).
Ficus benjamina likes distilled and filtered water without the chlorine, fluoride and salts in tap water, when the topmost 2-inch (5.08-centimeter) soil layer looks somewhat dry. Daily mixes of 5 to 7 hours in bright sun and of partial shade make the end-tipped, oval, 2.36- to 5.12-inch (6- to 13-centimeter) leaves glossy. Ficus benjamina needs aerated, nutrient-rich, well-drained soils that nevertheless nurture horizontal, upward-heaving roots that, like Aceraceae maple tree family members, vertically nudge flooring, ground and pavement.
Ficus benjamina botanical illustrations offer optimal observations of branches, as asexual vegetative propagators, and of seeds, as natural, sexual propagators of indoor and outdoor ornamental landscapes.

Ficus benjamina propagates natively and naturally by seeds passed for soil-sowing by orange-bellied, ornate, pink-spotted, superb and wompoo fruit doves and purple-tailed and Torresian imperial pigeons.
Clipped branches in water one week and in coarse sand, peat moss and perlite two to four weeks queue up rooted Ficus benjamina by vegetative propagation. Asexual and sexual propagation results in a pathogen-, pest-, problem-unfriendly woody plant that requires paltry pruning other than for damaged, dangerous, dead, decaying and diseased parts. Both sustain a phytoremediator that subtracts formaldehyde, toluene and xylene gases from indoor air even as it seeps latex sap and supports allergic asthma and rhinoconjunctivitis.
Ficus benjamina botanical illustrations and scientific texts tell biological and ecological truths that Elementary's second-season tipster tree treats through above-ground troubles that track to below-ground trauma.

In Paint It Black (Elementary tv series season 2 episode 22), Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) discovers one of several Ficus benjamina plants in the office of missing Credit Versoix vice president Pierce Norman is stunted because it serves as a hiding place for a clue, a handheld game console; Norman's head of security, Kurt Yoder (Michael Gaston), watches, with a healthy Ficus benjamina to his right: NonstopShows @NonStopShows, via Twitter May 1, 2014

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

Image credits:
Potted Ficus benjamina in indoor setting; Sarasota, Florida; Saturday, Nov. 8, 2003: Forest & Kim Starr, CC BY 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Starr_031108-0243_Ficus_benjamina.jpg; Forest & Kim Starr, CC BY 4.0 International, via Starr Environmental @ http://www.starrenvironmental.com/images/image/?q=24047861113; Forest and Kim Starr (Starr Environmental), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/starr-environmental/24047861113/
In Paint It Black (Elementary tv series season 2 episode 22), Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) discovers one of several Ficus benjamina plants in the office of missing Credit Versoix vice president Pierce Norman is stunted because it serves as a hiding place for a clue, a handheld game console; Norman's head of security, Kurt Yoder (Michael Gaston), watches, with a healthy Ficus benjamina to his right: NonstopShows @NonStopShows, via Twitter May 1, 2014, @ https://twitter.com/NonStopShows/status/462112022705242112

For further information:
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. London England: George Newsnes Ltd., 1892.
Available via Project Gutenberg @ http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1661?msg=welcome_stranger
Marriner, Derdriu. 7 February 2014. “Dimetrodon Natural History Illustrations and Elementary's Dimetrodon.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/02/dimetrodon-natural-history.html
Marriner, Derdriu. 31 January 2014. “Nanotyrannus Natural History Illustrations and Elementary's Dead Clade Walking.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/01/nanotyrannus-natural-history.html
Marriner, Derdriu. 13 December 2013. “Fruit in Osage Orange Botanical Illustrations and Elementary Series.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/12/fruit-in-osage-orange-botanical.html
Marriner, Derdriu. 22 November 2013. “George Stubbs Painting The Godolphin Arabian and Elementary's Nutmeg.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/11/george-stubbs-painting-godolphin.html
Marriner, Derdriu. 15 November 2013. “John Wootton Painting The Darley Arabian and Elementary's Studhorse.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/11/john-wootton-painting-darley-arabian.html
Marriner, Derdriu. 8 November 2013. “John Wootton Painting The Byerley Turk and Elementary's Thoroughbreds.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/11/john-wootton-painting-byerley-turk-and.html
Marriner, Derdriu. 30 August 2013. “Turner Fighting Temeraire Painting in Elementary Series Episode The Woman.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/08/turner-fighting-temeraire-painting-in.html
Marriner, Derdriu. 7 June 2013. “Paul Gauguin Painting Tahitian Women on the Beach in Elementary's The Woman.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/06/paul-gauguin-painting-tahitian-women-on.html
Marriner, Derdriu. 31 May 2013. “Rubens Painting The Incredulity of St Thomas in Elementary's The Woman.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/05/rubens-painting-incredulity-of-st.html
Marriner, Derdriu. 24 May 2013. “Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Painting Rousse in Elementary Episode The Woman.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/05/henri-de-toulouse-lautrec-painting.html
Marriner, Derdriu. 17 May 2013. “The Bruegel Painted Parable in the Elementary Series Episode The Woman.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-bruegel-painted-parable-in.html
Marriner, Derdriu. 22 February 2013. “Osmia Avosetta Natural History Illustrations for Elementary's Bee.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/02/osmia-avosetta-natural-history.html
Marriner, Derdriu. 1 February 2013. “Russian Tortoise Natural History Illustrations and Elementary's Clyde Jan. 31, 2013.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/02/russian-tortoise-natural-history.html
Marriner, Derdriu. 25 January 2013. “Costliest, World-Most Expensive Chopard Watch: 201 Carats at $25 Million.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/01/costliest-world-most-expensive-chopard.html
Marriner, Derdriu. 18 January 2013. “Chopard Watch Worth $25 Million on Elementary Episode The Leviathan.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/01/chopard-watch-worth-25-million-on.html
Marriner, Derdriu. 11 January 2013. “Claude Monet Painting Nympheas 1918 in Elementary Series' Leviathan.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/01/claude-monet-painting-nympheas-1918-in.html
Marriner, Derdriu. 4 January 2013. “Paul Cézanne Still Life Painting Fruit in Elementary Series' Leviathan.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/01/paul-cezanne-still-life-painting-fruit.html
Marriner, Derdriu. 28 December 2012. “Paul Signac Painting Women at the Well in Elementary Series' Leviathan.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/12/paul-signac-painting-women-at-well-in.html
Marriner, Derdriu. 21 December 2012. “The Van Gogh Pietà Painting in Elementary Series Episode The Leviathan.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-van-gogh-pieta-painting-in.html
Marriner, Derdriu. 14 December 2012. “Edward Hopper Painting Western Motel in Elementary Series' Leviathan.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/12/edward-hopper-painting-western-motel-in.html
Marriner, Derdriu. 29 September 2012. "Are Lesser Clovers Sherlock's Lucky Shamrocks on Elementary's Pilot?" Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/09/are-lesser-clovers-sherlocks-lucky.html
NonstopShows ‏@NonStopShows. 1 May 2014. "Elementary -- Season 2, Episode 22 -- Paint it Black." Twitter.
Available @ https://twitter.com/NonStopShows/status/462112022705242112
"Paint It Black." Elementary: The Third Season. Los Angeles CA: Paramount Pictures Corporation, May 1, 2014.


Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Discovery Quadrangle Is 11th of 15 Quadrangles of Mercurian Surface


Summary: Discovery Quadrangle is the 11th of 15 quadrangles of the Mercurian surface and covers middle latitudes longitudinally from 0 to 90 degrees.


Map of Discovery Quadrangle shows area of southern midlatitude illuminated during the Mariner 10 robotic space probe's three Mercury flybys (March 29, 1974; Sept. 21, 1974; march 16, 1975), with notation of "area of darkness" for easternmost 15 degrees; Geologic Map of the Discovery Quadrangle of Mercury by (1984) by Newell J. Trask and Daniel Dzurisin, prepared on behalf of the Planetary Geology Program, Planetary Division, Office of Space Science, National Aeronautics and Space Administration: via USGS Publications Warehouse

Discovery Quadrangle is the 11th of 15 quadrangles of the Mercurian surface, and its map covers the Swift Planet's middle latitudes of 21 degrees south to 66 degrees south latitude, from 0 to 90 degrees west longitude.
As the 11th of Mercury's 15 quadrangles, Discovery Quadrangle has the letter-number designation of H-11 or H11. H represents Hermes, Greek mythology's equivalent of Roman mythology's Mercurius.
Discovery Quadrangle's provisional name, Solitudo Hermae Trismegisti, references a large light region on Mercury's surface. Greek French astronomer Eugène Michel Antoniadi (March 1, 1870-Feb. 10, 1944) placed Solitudo Hermae Trismegisti in the southern hemisphere's middle latitudes, between 30 and 60 degrees south latitude, on the map of Mercury's albedo features in his guide, La Planète Mercure, published in 1934 and translated into English by English amateur astronomer Sir Patrick Moore (March 4, 1923-Dec. 9, 2012) in 1974 (figure 5, page 26). Solitudo Hermae Trismegisti (Ancient Greek: Ἑρμῆς ὁ Τρισμέγιστος, "Hermes the Thrice-Greatest"; Classical Latin: Mercurius ter Maximus), "Desert of Thrice-Greatest Hermes," references the syncretism of Greek mythology's Hermes with ancient Egypt's god of wisdom, Thoth, in the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, an ancient Hellenistic, Egypt-based state existing from the commencement of the reign of Ptolemy I Soter (Ancient Greek: Πτολεμαῖος Σωτήρ, Ptolemaîos Sōtḗr, "Ptolemy the Savior"; ca. 367 BC-January 282 BC) in 305 BCE through the death of the last Ptolemaic Pharoah, Cleopatra VII Philopator (κοινή, Koinē, "Common," Greek: Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ; 69 BCE-Aug. 10, 30 BCE).
The names of Mercury's quadrangles conventionally derive from prominent local features. Discovery Quadrangle's namesake is Discovery Rupes. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) themes rupes (Latin: rūpēs, "cliff, escarpment") after "ships of discovery or scientific expeditions," according to the IAU's U.S.G.S. (U.S. Geological Survey) Astrogeology Science Center-maintained, online Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. The escarpment's name, approved in 1976, honors the HMS Discovery, the ship commanded by Royal Navy officer Captain Charles Clerke (Aug. 22, 1741-Aug. 22, 1779) during the third and last expedition to the Pacific Ocean (July 12, 1776-Oct. 4, 1780) conducted by 18th-century British explorer Captain James Cook FRS (Nov. 7, 1728-Feb. 14, 1779).
Discovery Rupes is centered at minus 54.7 degrees south latitude, 37.24 degrees west longitude, according to the IAU's U.S. Geological Survey Astrogeology Science Center-maintained Gazetter of Planetary Nomenclature. The southern hemisphere escarpment's northernmost and southernmost latitudes extend to minus 50.57 degrees south and minus 58.1 degrees south, respectively. Its easternmost and westernmost longitudes reach 33.65 degrees west and 42.66 degrees west, respectively. Discovery Rupes has a diameter, or length, of 412 kilometers.
The escarpment's northeast-to-southwest trend cuts across Rameau Crater. The crater's name, approved in 1976, honors 18th-century French composer and music theorist Jean-Philippe Rameau (Sept. 25, 1683-Sept. 12, 1764).
Rameau Crater is centered at minus 54.58 degrees south latitude, 37.24 degrees west longitude. The southern hemisphere crater obtains northernmost and southernmost latitudes of minus 53.9 degrees south and minus 55.26 degrees south, respectively. It posts easternmost and westernmost longitudes of 36.06 degrees west and 38.41 degrees west, respectively. Rameau Crater has a diameter of 58 kilometers.
Two additional rupes associated with Captain Cook are located near Discovery Rupes in rupes-rich Discovery Quadrangle. Adventure Rupes and Resolution Rupes lie to the southwest of Discovery Rupes.
Resolution Rupes is sited to the southwest of Discovery Rupes and to the northeast of Adventure Rupes. The escarpment's name, approved in 1976, honors the HMS Resolution, the Royal Navy sloop commanded by Captain Cook during his second (July 13, 1772-July 30, 1775) and third (July 12, 1776-Oct. 4, 1780) expeditions to the Pacific Ocean.
Resolution Rupes is centered at minus 63.25 degrees south latitude, 50.66 degrees west longitude. The southern hemisphere rupes finds its northernmost and southernmost latitudes at minus 62.11 degrees south and minus 64.15 degrees south, respectively. It marks its easternmost and westernmost longitudes at 48.62 degrees west and 53.72 degrees west, respectively. Resolution Rupes has a diameter, or length, of 139 kilometers.
Adventure Rupes is situated as the southernmost of Discovery Quadrangle's three Cook-associated rupes. Adventure Rupes lies to the southwest of nearby Resolution Rupes and distant Discovery Rupes. The escarpment's name, approved in 1976, honors HMS Adventure, the Royal Navy barque commanded by English navigator and Royal Navy officer Captain Tobias Furneaux (Aug. 21, 1735-Sept. 18, 1781) during Captain Cook's second expedition to the Pacific Ocean (July 13, 1772-July 30, 1775).
Adventure Rupes is centered at minus 65.48 degrees south latitude, 65.3 degrees west longitude. The southern hemisphere escarpment establishes northernmost and southernmost latitudes of minus 63.5 degrees south and minus 65.56 degrees south, respectively. Its easternmost and westernmost longitudes occur at 58.39 degrees west and 72.78 degrees west, respectively. Adventure Rupes has a diameter, or length, of 340 kilometers.
In their article, "Large-Scale Lobate Scarps in the Southern Hemisphere of Mercury," in the December 2001 issue of Planetary and Space Science, planetary geologist Thomas Robert Watters and two co-authors noted the formation of the three Cook-associated escarpments by thrust faults that traced a "rough arc" over 1,000 kilometers. According to a digital elevation model derived from NASA's Mariner 10 images, the three landforms experienced vertical uplift on the same side; this new topography suggests a dip to the arc's concave side by the fault-planes. The scientists suggested that the formation of Adventure and Resolution Rupes by a "single thrust fault" accords with this data-supported topographical continuity of the two escarpments. As such, the Adventure-Resolution Rupes thrust fault and the Discovery Rupes thrust fault would have exhibited scale comparability.
Rupes-rich Discovery Quadrangle shares border with five neighbors. Kuiper (H-6) and Beethoven (H-7) quadrangles occur as Discovery Quadrangle's northern neighbors. Debussy Quadrangle (H-14) neighbors along Discovery Quadrangle's eastern border. The southern hemisphere's polar quadrangle, Bach, is contiguous with Discovery Quadrangle's southern border. Michelangelo Quadrangle (H-12) shares Discovery Quadrangle's western border.
The takeaways for Discovery Quadrangle as the 11th of 15 quadrangles of the Mercurian surface are that the middle-latitude quadrangle's namesake is Discovery Rupes, which honors the HMS Discovery, the consort ship of HMS Resolution on British explorer Captain James Cook's third and last Pacific Ocean expedition; that the rupes-rich quadrangle honors Captain Cook with two additional rupes; and that Discovery Quadrangle counts five neighbors, with Kuiper and Beethoven quadrangles to the north, Debussy Quadrangle to the east, Bach Quadrangle to the south and Michelangelo Quadrangle to the west.

Detail of Map of the H-11 (Discovery) Quadrangle of Mercury shows the quadrangle's namesake, Discovery Rupes (upper center) in its northwest-southeast trending cut across Rameau Crater and associated Captain James Cook-honoring escarpments, Resolution Rupes and Adventure Rupes (lower left); credit NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington/USGS: courtesy IAU/USGS Astrogeology Science Center's 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:
Map of Discovery Quadrangle shows area of southern midlatitude illuminated during the Mariner 10 robotic space probe's three Mercury flybys (March 29, 1974; Sept. 21, 1974; march 16, 1975), with notation of "area of darkness" for easternmost 15 degrees; Geologic Map of the Discovery Quadrangle of Mercury by (1984) by Newell J. Trask and Daniel Dzurisin, prepared on behalf of the Planetary Geology Program, Planetary Division, Office of Space Science, National Aeronautics and Space Administration: via USGS Publications Warehouse @ https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/i1658; courtesy of U.S. Geological Services, via USGS Astrogeology Science Center's data portal, Astropedia, @ https://astrogeology.usgs.gov/search/map/Mercury/Geology/Mercury-Geologic-Map-of-the-Discovery-Quadrangle
Detail of Map of the H-11 (Discovery) Quadrangle of Mercury shows the quadrangle's namesake, Discovery Rupes (upper center) in its northwest-southeast trending cut across Rameau Crater and associated Captain James Cook-honoring escarpments, Resolution Rupes and Adventure Rupes (lower left); credit NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington/USGS: courtesy IAU/USGS Astrogeology Science Center's Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/images/H-11.pdf

For further information:
Antoniadi, E.M. (Eugène Michel). La Planète Mercure et la Rotation des Satellites. Paris, France: Gauthier-Villars, 1934.
Davies, Merton E.; Stephen E. Dwornik; Donald E. Gault; and Robert G. Strom. Atlas of Mercury. Special Publication SP-423. Prepared for the Office of Space Sciences. Washington DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Scientific and Technical Information Office, 1978.
Available @ https://history.nasa.gov/SP-423/
Davies, Merton E.; Stephen E. Dwornik; Donald E. Gault; and Robert G. Strom. "H-11 Discovery Quadrangle." Atlas of Mercury: 94-107. Special Publication SP-423. Prepared for the Office of Space Sciences. Washington DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Scientific and Technical Information Office, 1978.
Available @ https://history.nasa.gov/SP-423/h11.htm
International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Adventure Rupes.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mercury. Last updated Oct. 7, 2016.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/60
International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Categories (Themes) for Naming Features on Planets and Satellites.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Documentation > Surface Feature Categories.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Page/Categories
International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Coordinate Systems for Planets and Satellites.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Documentation > Target Coordinate Systems.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/TargetCoordinates
International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Descriptor Terms (Feature Types).” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Documentation > Descriptor Terms.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/DescriptorTerms
International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Discovery Rupes.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mercury. Last updated Oct. 11, 2016.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/1548
International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Rameau.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mercury. Last updated Oct. 12, 2016.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/4936
International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Resolution Rupes.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mercury. Last updated Oct. 13, 2016.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/5003
International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Target: Mercury.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mercury.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Page/MERCURY/target
Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "PIA10384: Mercury's Violent History." NASA JPL Photojournal. Image addition date 2008-01-30.
Available @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA10384
Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "PIA10610: Now Introducing: Eminescu." NASA JPL Photojournal. Image addition date 2008-04-17.
Available @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA10610
Lunar and Planetary Institute. "Mercury Map Catalog." Lunar and Planetary Institute > Resources.
Available @ https://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/mercury_maps/
Marriner, Derdriu. "Beethoven Quadrangle Is Seventh of 15 Quadrangles of Mercurian Surface." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, March 5, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/03/beethoven-quadrangle-is-seventh-of-15.html
Marriner, Derdriu. "Borealis Quadrangle Is First of 15 Quadrangles of Mercurian Surface." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/01/borealis-quadrangle-is-first-of-15.html
Marriner, Derdriu. "Derain Quadrangle Is Tenth of 15 Quadrangles of Mercurian Surface." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, March 26, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/03/derain-quadrangle-is-tenth-of-15.html
Marriner, Derdriu. "Eminescu Quadrangle Is Ninth of 15 Quadrangles of Mercurian Surface." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, March 19, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/03/eminescu-quadrangle-is-ninth-of-15.html
Marriner, Derdriu. "Hokusai Quadrangle Is Fifth of 15 Quadrangles of Mercurian Surface." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/02/hokusai-quadrangle-is-fifth-of-15.html
Marriner, Derdriu. "Kuiper Quadrangle Is Sixth of 15 Quadrangles of the Mercurian Surface." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/02/kuiper-quadrangle-is-sixth-of-15.html
Marriner, Derdriu. "Raditladi Quadrangle Is Fourth of 15 Quadrangles of Mercurian Surface." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/01/raditladi-quadrangle-is-fourth-of-15.html
Marriner, Derdriu. "Shakespeare Quadrangle Is Third of 15 Quadrangles of Mercurian Surface." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/01/shakespeare-quadrangle-is-third-of-15.html
Marriner, Derdriu. "Tolstoj Quadrangle Is Eighth of 15 Quadrangles of Mercurian Surface." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, March 12, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/03/tolstoj-quadrangle-is-eighth-of-15.html
Marriner, Derdriu. "Victoria Quadrangle is Second of 15 Quadrangles of Mercurian Surface." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/01/victoria-quadrangle-is-second-of-15.html
Trask, Newell J.; and Daniel Dzurisin. Geologic Map of the Discovery Quadrangle of Mercury. IMAP 1658 H-11. Atlas of Mercury 1:5,000,000 Geologic Series. Prepared for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Reston VA: U.S. Geological Survey, Nov. 23, 1984.
Available via USGS Astrogeology Science Center's Astropedia Web Portal @ https://astrogeology.usgs.gov/search/map/Mercury/Geology/Mercury-Geologic-Map-of-the-Discovery-Quadrangle
Available via USGS Publications Warehouse @ https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/i1658
U.S. Geological Survey. Shaded Relief Map of the Discovery Quadrangle of Mercury (Solitudo Hermae Trismegisti Albedo Province). IMAP 1030 H-11. Atlas of Mercury 1:5,000,000 Topographic Series. Prepared on behalf of the Planetology Programs Office, National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Reston VA: U.S. Geological Survey, 1977.
Available via USGS Astrogeology Science Center's Astropedia Web Portal @ https://astrogeology.usgs.gov/search/map/Mercury/Topography/Mercury-Shaded-Relief-Map-of-the-Discovery-Quadrangle
Watters, T.R. (Thomas Robert); A.C. Cook; M.S. (Mark S.) Robinson, M.S. (2001). "Large-Scale Lobate Scarps in the Southern Hemisphere of Mercury." Planetary and Space Science, vol. 49, issues 14–15 (December 2001): 1523-1530. DOI:10.1016/S0032-0633(01)00090-3.
Available via ScienceDirect @ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0032063301000903?via%3Dihub
Available via Smithsonian Research Online's DSpace Repository @ https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/3294/200118.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y


Wednesday, April 23, 2014

First 2014 Solar Eclipse Is Annular Solar Eclipse Tuesday, April 29


Summary: The first 2013 solar eclipse is an annular solar eclipse Tuesday, April 29, that favors the Southern Hemisphere, specifically East Antarctica.


Earth visibility chart and eclipse statistics for annular solar eclipse of April 29, 2014: "Permission is freely granted to reproduce this data when accompanied by an acknowledgment, Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA GSFC Emeritus," via NASA Eclipse Web Site

The first 2014 solar eclipse is an annular solar eclipse Tuesday, April 29, that favors the Southern Hemisphere with a minuscule D-shaped path of annularity exclusively poised over East Antarctica.
The first 2014 solar eclipse experiences annularity with first contact of the northern edge of the moon’s antumbral (Latin: ante, "before" + umbra, "shadow") shadow with Earth’s surface. The annular solar eclipse begins Tuesday, April 29, at 05:57:35.1 Universal Time.
Greatest eclipse takes place only six minutes later, at 06:03:25.0 UT. Greatest eclipse designates the instant of the closest passage of the lunar shadow cone’s axis to Earth’s center.
The greatest eclipse’s geographic coordinates are 70 degrees 38.7 minutes south latitude and 131 degrees 15.6 minutes east longitude. The path width at greatest eclipse is 0.0 kilometers.
On the NASA Eclipse Web Site, retired astrophysicist Fred Espenak, known as “Mr. Eclipse,” notes the geographic coordinates of 131 degrees 15.6 minutes east longitude and 79 degrees 38.7 minutes south latitude as closest to the shadow axis. The sun’s placement at that location would be at the horizon.
Last contact of the moon's antumbral shadow with Earth’s surface signals the end of 2014’s only annular solar eclipse. Annularity ends at 06:09:36 UT.
"Mr. Eclipse" describes 2014's only annular solar eclipse as "rather unusual." While the lunar antumbral shadow's central axis bypasses altogether, the antumbra's northern edge manages a grazing of Earth's surface. April's annular solar eclipse has a rare classification as a non-central annular eclipse. "Mr. Eclipse" finds that only 68, or 1.7 percent, of the 3,956 annular eclipses taking place in a 5,000-year period between 2000 BCE (Before Common, or Current, Era) and 3000 CE (Common, or Current, Era) bear the non-central annular classification.
A partial solar eclipse frames 2014’s only annular solar eclipse. The path of partiality is much wider than that of annularity. The path of partiality originates in the penumbra umbra, the lunar shadow’s outer, lighter flanks. The moon only partly covers the solar disk during a partial solar eclipse.
The path of annularity traces the passage of the moon’s antumbral shadow across Earth’s surface. The antumbra (Latin: ante “before” + umbra “shadow”) is the lighter, outer extension beyond the umbra, the shadow’s darkest, innermost region. In an annular eclipse, the sun’s limbs extend beyond the overlying moon to form an annulus (Latin: “little ring”).
The path of partiality takes in three of the Southern Hemisphere’s four oceans: the Indian, the Southern and the South Pacific oceans. Continentally, mainland Australia and the island state of Tasmania lie within the path of visibility for partiality. Southern Indonesia also has viewing privileges along the path of partiality.
The partial solar eclipse begins Thursday, April 29, at 03:52:38.2 UT. End time for the partial solar eclipse is at 08:14:29.2 UT. Partiality lasts for 4 hours 21 minutes 51 seconds.
April 2014’s solar eclipse takes place one week before May’s monthly apogee, the farthest center-to-center distance between Earth and moon in the lunar orbit. Apogee takes place May 6, at 10:22 UT, at a distance of 404,319 kilometers (251,232.179 miles). May’s apogee ranks as the minimum of 2014’s monthly apogees.
The April 2014 annular solar eclipse belongs to Saros series 148. A Saros cycle groups eclipses into families, known as series. A Saros cycle has an approximate duration of 6,585.3 days (18 years 11 days 8 hours).
Most recently, an annular solar eclipse occurred Friday, May 10, 2013. The next annular solar eclipse after April 29, 2014’s occurrence happens 3 years 4 months later, on Sept. 1, 2016. The September 2016 serves as the first of two consecutive annular solar eclipse. Its successor takes place almost 5.5 months later, on Feb. 26, 2017.
Observers of the annular and partial phases of April 2014’s solar eclipse should avoid looking directly at the sun. Safe viewing of April 2014’s solar eclipse entails use of proper equipment and following of proper techniques.
The takeaway for the first 2014 solar eclipse, which occurs as an annular solar eclipse Tuesday, April 29, is the path of annularity’s minuscule D shape that exclusively favors East Antarctica and also the event's rare status as a non-central annular eclipse.

animation showing annular solar eclipse of April 29, 2014: A.T. Sinclair/NASA Eclipse Web Site, Public Domain, 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:
Earth visibility chart and eclipse statistics for annular solar eclipse of April 29, 2014: "Permission is freely granted to reproduce this data when accompanied by an acknowledgment, Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA GSFC Emeritus," via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OHfigures/OH2014-Fig02.pdf
animation showing annular solar eclipse of April 29, 2014: A.T. Sinclair/NASA Eclipse Web Site, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SolarEclipse2014Apr29A.GIF

For further information:
“April 29, 2014 -- Annular Solar Eclipse.” TimeAndDate > Sun & Moon > Eclipses.
Available via Time And Date @ https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/solar/2014-april-29
Espenak, Fred. "." NASA Eclipse Web Site > Solar Eclipses > Solar Eclipse Page > Solar Eclipses Past and Future: Eclipses During 2014 > Eclipses During 2014: 2014 Apr 29 Annular Solar Eclipse: Annular Solar Eclipse of April 29.
Available via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OHfigures/OH2014-Fig02.pdf
Espenak, Fred. “Eclipses During 2014.” NASA Eclipse Web Site > Observer’s Handbook.
Available via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OH2014.html
Espenak, Fred. “Five Millennium Catalog of Solar Eclipses: 2001 to 2100 (2001 CE to 2100 CE).” NASA Eclipse Web Site > Solar Eclipses.
Available via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEcat5/SE2001-2100.html
Espenak, Fred. “Greatest Eclipse.” NASA Eclipse Web Site > Glossary of Solar Eclipse Terms.
Available via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEhelp/SEglossary.html
Espenak, Fred. “Moon at Perigee and Apogee: 2001 to 2100 Greenwich Mean Time.” AstroPixels > Ephemeris > Moon.
Available via AstroPixels @ http://astropixels.com/ephemeris/moon/moonperap2001.html
Espenak, Fred. “Table 2: Local Circumstances for the Annular Solar Eclipse of 2014 April 29 from Australia.” NASA Eclipse Web Site > Observers Handbook > Observers Handbook Tables > Observers Handbook 2014.
Available via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OHtables/OH2014-Tab02.pdf
Littmann, Mark; Ken Willcox; Fred Espenak. “Observing Solar Eclipses Safely.” MrEclipse > Totality.
Available @ http://www.mreclipse.com/Totality2/TotalityCh11.html
Marriner, Derdriu. "April 29, 2014, Annular Solar Eclipse Belongs to Saros Series 148." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, April 16, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/04/april-29-2014-annular-solar-eclipse.html
Marriner, Derdriu. “First 2012 Solar Eclipse Is Annular Solar Eclipse Sunday, May 20.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, May 16, 2012.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/05/first-2012-solar-eclipse-is-annular.html
Marriner, Derdriu. “First 2013 Solar Eclipse Is Annular Solar Eclipse, Friday, May 10.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, May 8, 2013.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/05/first-2013-solar-eclipse-is-annular.html