Earth and Space News

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

After May 9, 2016, Next Mercury Solar Transit Happens November 2019

Summary: After Monday, May 9, 2016, the next Mercury solar transit happens November 2019.

Monday, May 9, 2016, Mercury solar transit, 11:35:47 Coordinated Universal Time (7:35 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time); NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory image taken in wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light: Courtesy of NASA/SDO and the AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams, Not copyrighted, via NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s Solar Dynamics Observatory

After Mercury’s Monday, May 9, 2016, orbital passage across the sun’s face, the next Mercury solar transit happens November 2019, on the U.S. official public holiday of Veterans Day.

The Monday, May 9, 2016, Mercury solar transit, taking place from 11:12 to 18:42 Coordinated Universal Time (7:12 a.m. to 2:42 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time), ranks as the third Mercury solar transit in the 21st century. The present century, spanning Jan. 1, 2001, to Dec. 31, 2100, experiences 14 Mercury solar transits.

After the May 2016 event, the next Mercury solar transit takes place Monday, Nov. 11. The November 2019 transit begins at 12:35 UTC and lasts for 5 hours 29 minutes.

Times of five critical instants register Mercury’s progress relative to the sun, as observed from Earth. Two pairs of contact parameters frame a central point, known as the greatest transit.

Contact I signals the beginning of the transit as Mercury’s black disk appears adjacent to the solar disk. The November 2019 Mercury solar transit starts at 12:35 UTC (7:35 a.m. EST), with Mercury in external tangency with the sun. The planetary disk's leading edge touches the sun's outer limb, or edge.

Contact II marks the planetary disk’s placement in internal tangency with the solar limb. Contact II occurs at 12:37 UTC (7:37 a.m. EST). Having crossed the sun’s outside edge, the planetary disk displays snug placement of its trailing edge against the sun’s inner limb, against the full backdrop of the solar disk.

Greatest transit indicates the event’s midpoint, occurring at Mercury’s closest reach of the sun’s center as seen from Earth’s center. Greatest transit in November 2019 takes place at 15:20 UTC (10:20 a.m. EST).

Contact III register’s Mercury’s arrival at the sun’s opposite limb. The planetary disk’s leading edge is internally tangent to the sun’s inner limb. Contact III happens at 18:02 UTC (1:02 p.m. EST).

Contact IV marks the instant of Mercury’s external tangency with the sun. The planetary disk’s trailing edge is adjacent to the solar disk’s outer limb. Contact IV occurs at 18:04 UTC (1:02 p.m. EST).

Mercury’s November 2019 solar transit is 2 hours 1 minute shorter than the planet’s May 2016 transit duration of seven and one-half hours. May transits are longer than November transits because Mercury’s placement is about a month after orbital aphelion, or farthest center-to-center distance from the sun. Planetary velocity decreases around aphelion. Mercury has an aphelic orbital velocity of 38.9 kilometers per second.

November transits are faster than May transits because Mercury is a few days away from orbital perihelion, or closest center-to-center distance to the sun. Planetary velocity increases around perihelion. Mercury has a perihelic orbital velocity of 59.0 kilometers per second.

In addition to their shorter duration, November transits are also more common than May transits. In his catalog of Mercury transits from 1601 to 2300 CE (Common Era) on NASA’s Eclipse Web Site, NASA astrophysicist Fred Espenak explains that November claims 63 of the seven centuries’ total of 94 Mercury solar transits. Only 31, representing one-third of the total, fall in May.

Of the 14 Mercury solar transits occurring in the 21st century, nine fall in November. May claims the century’s first Mercury solar transit, taking place Wednesday, May 7, 2003, from 05:13 UTC (1:13 a.m. EDT) to 10:32 UTC (6:32 a.m. EDT). November claims the century’s last Mercury solar transit, happening Nov. 10, 2098, from 04:35 UTC (11:35 p.m. EST) to 09:57 UTC (4:57 a.m. EST).

The takeaway for the next Mercury solar transit’s November 2019 occurrence is that Mercury’s solar transits happen in one of two months, with November transits taking place more often and faster than May transits.

Earth's orientation during Mercury's solar transit November 2019: Tomruen, CC BY SA 4.0 International, 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's orientation during Mercury's solar transit November 2019: Tomruen, CC BY SA 4.0 International, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Transit_of_Mercury_November_11_2019_Orientation_of_Earth.png

For further information:

Byrd, Deborah. “See It! Monday's Transit of Mercury.” EarthSky > Today's Image. May 9, 2016.
Available @ http://earthsky.org/todays-image/see-it-mondays-transit-of-mercury

Espenak, Fred. “2016 Transit of Mercury.” Eclipse Wise > Observer's Handbook.
Available @ http://eclipsewise.com/oh/tm2016.html

Espenak, Fred. “Seven Century Catalog of Mercury Transits: 1601 CE to 2300 CE.” NASA Eclipse Web Site > Planetary Transits Across the Sun.
Available @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/transit/catalog/MercuryCatalog.html

Espenak, Patricia Totten. “Get Ready for May 9th's Transit of Mercury.” Sky & Telescope > Astronomy News > Observing News. April 14, 2014.
Available @ http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/observing-news/get-ready-for-may-9th-transit-of-mercury-041320162/

King, Bob. "How to Safely Watch Mercury Transit the Sun on May 9." Universe Today. April 27, 2016.
Available @ http://www.universetoday.com/128321/guide-upcoming-transit-mercury/#

MacRobert, Alan. “Mercury Transit: Everything You Need to Know.” Sky & Telescope > Astronomy News > Observing News. May 6, 2016.
Available @ http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/observing-news/may-9th-transit-of-mercury-everything-you-need-to-know/

MacRobert, Alan. “This Week's Sky at a Glance, May 6-14.” Sky & Telescope > Observing > Sky at a Glance. May 6, 2016.
Available @ http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/sky-at-a-glance/this-weeks-sky-at-a-glance-may-6-14/

Marriner, Derdriu. "May 9, 2016, Mercury Solar Transit Takes Seven and One-Half Hours." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, May 4, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/05/may-9-2016-mercury-solar-transit-takes.html

“May 9 / May 10, 2016 -- Mercury Transit.” Time And Date > Sun & Moon > Eclipses.
Available @ http://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/transit/2016-may-9

McClure, Bruce. “Transit of Mercury on May 9, 2016.” EarthSky > Tonight. May 7, 2016.
Available @ http://earthsky.org/tonight/mercury-transit-may-9-2016-how-to-watch

“Mercury Transit Across the Sun.” Goddard Space Flight Center SDO (Solar Dynamics Observatory) > Gallery > Pick of the Week (POTW).
Available @ http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/potw/item/713

NASA Goddard. “NASA’s SDO Captures Mercury Transit Time-Lapse.” May 9, 2016.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhWMOkrzKzs

NASA.gov Video. “2016 Mercury Transit Path.” YouTube. May 3, 2016.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEkkCaBTgZ8

NASA SunEarth (@NASASunEarth). “On Monday, May 9, several NASA satellites will see Mercury enter the spotlight.” Twitter. May 3, 2016.
Available @ https://twitter.com/NASASunEarth/status/727547440560279553

“November 11 / November 12, 2019 -- Mercury Transit.” Time And Date > Sun & Moon > Eclipses.
Available @ http://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/transit/2019-november-11

Schlieder, Sarah. “Satellites to See Mercury Enter Spotlight on May 9.” NASA > Features > Eclipses and Transits. May 3, 2016.
Available @ http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/satellites-to-see-mercury-enter-spotlight-on-may-9

Walker, John. “Quarter Million Year Canon of Solar System Transits.” Fourmilab Switzerland > Canon Transits. Nov. 27, 2004.
Available @ http://fourmilab.ch/documents/canon_transits/

Webb, Brian. “Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)." Space Archive. March 27, 2016.
Available @ http://www.spacearchive.info/utc.htm

Sunday, May 15, 2016

Firefly Watch: Backyard Fun and Citizen Science With Lightning Bugs

Summary: Firefly Watch, Boston Museum of Science project with Fitchburg State College and Tufts University, lights up backyard fun and makes citizen science matter.

fireflies in the Catskills, Delaware County, southeastern New York; Saturday, June 23, 2012, 22:46:52: s58y, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

Firefly Watch Deals in Flashes, Flickers and Glows

Amber, blue, green or yellow and flash, flicker or glow are the colors and the patterns that tell what types of lightning bugs are lighting up the summer, according to Firefly Watch.

The detection of color and of flicker and glow become the easiest skill sets to acquire since yellow and yellow-green generate the predominant blinking beetle looks. A flicker and a glow can be recognized with little practice since almost everyone has experience observing flickering candles, glow-in-the-dark animals and technology, and twinkling stars.

The observation of a flash sometimes demands a bit more effort since the frequency count may range from one to two, three, four or more flashes. Only five of North America’s 16 firefly genera emit flashes: coastal Florida’s Micronaspis genus, southern Arizona’s Bicellonycha genus, and the wide-ranging Photinus, Photuris and Pyractomena genera.

Firefly Watch Identifies Fireflies by Color, Flight, Pulsation

North America’s five blinking beetle genera flash, flicker or glow blue at wavelengths of 475 nanometers, green at 510, yellow at 570 and red at 650.

The chemical reaction of adenosine triphosphate molecules, luciferase enzyme, luciferin organic substrate, magnesium ions and oxygen generates the light that serves as communication among lightning beetles. Twenty-first century research has a recent spin on color variation as the result of the polarity, not the size, of the lightning bug’s luciferase protein cavity. It indicates that larger cavities losing more energy and smaller cavities losing less do not necessarily emit respectively low-energy red light and high-energy green and yellow.

Different amounts of protein residues join differing numbers of water molecules to polarize luciferin diversely enough to vary the color of the flashing, flickering, glowing light.

Firefly Watch Notes Environmental Impacts upon Firefly Behaviors

Low-energy amber light, also called ember red, keeps the Pyractomena genus observable while respectively high-energy green and high-energy yellow signal the presence of Photuris and Photinus. Firefly Watch, Museum of Science project with Fitchburg State College and Tufts University, lists amber-emitting Pyractomena, green-emitting Photuris and yellow-emitting Photinus as likeliest to be seen.

Gender may be assumed as female for blinking beetles that perch above the ground cover or amid grassy, lower levels of planned and wild layered landscapes. The light-emitting organs on the undersides of lower abdomens need to be examined for an exact determination since males launch their post-sunset patrols from the ground. Light organs occur on the last two abdominal sections for males or, in the case of females, on the second-to-last segment or on the segment sides.

Firefly Watch Shows That Backyard Citizen Science Works

Season, temperature and time put some variability into what ordinarily are flashes that are species-specific in color, duration and number and that have predictable between-flash intervals. Examples with Photinus aquilonius males quantify one flash every five seconds and one every 11 at 70 and 54 degrees Fahrenheit (21.11 and 12.22 degrees Celsius). Flashes require diligence because of environmental factors even though practice differentiates fast flashes under 0.2 seconds, normal flashes 0.2 to 0.3 seconds long and protracted flashes.

Firefly Watch toolkits supply color-, flash- and flight-correlated temperature charts and virtual habitats, discussion boards, habitat assessment and weekly report downloads, range maps and reference library. It takes just 10 minutes a week for citizen scientists to complete three color-, flash- and flight-correlated patterns and to prove thereby that backyard science matters.

The Museum of Science, Boston, has operated an annual Firefly Watch since 2008: Museum of Science, Boston @museumofscience, via Facebook June 26, 2013

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

fireflies in the Catskills, Delaware County, southeastern New York; Saturday, June 23, 2012, 22:46:52: s58y, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/s58y/7552791722/

The Museum of Science, Boston, has operated an annual Firefly Watch since 2008: Museum of Science, Boston @museumofscience, via Facebook June 26, 2013, @ https://www.facebook.com/museumofscience/photos/a.90345407723/10151480920527724/

For further information:

Buschman, Larry. March 2016. “Field Guide to Western North American Fireflies.” Kansas State University > Entomology.
Available @ http://entomology.k-state.edu/doc/WesternFireflies%20March%202016a.pdf

Feldkamp, Lisa. 5 August 2014. "The Wonder of Fireflies." Cool Green Science.
Available @ http://blog.nature.org/science/2014/08/05/citizen-science-nature-fireflies-conservation-survey/#sthash.LLJUlnZq.uxfs

“Firefly Flash Patterns.” National Park Service > Great Smoky Mountains > Learn about the Park > Nature.
Available @ https://www.nps.gov/grsm/learn/nature/firefly-flash-patterns.htm

“Firefly Watch.” Museum of Science, Boston > Legacy.
Available @ https://legacy.mos.org/fireflywatch/

Lall, Abner B. “Colors of the Night: Do Fireflies Detect the Color of Their Bioluminescent Flash?”
Available @ https://conference.ifas.ufl.edu/firefly/Presentations/1%20-%20Tuesday/Session%201/1140%20Lall.pdf<

Marriner, Derdriu. 21 May 2015. “Big Dipper Firefly: Yellow Green Twilight Flashes of Photinus pyralis.” Earth and Space News. Thursday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/05/big-dipper-firefly-yellow-green.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 14 May 2016. "North American Lightning Bug Gardens for North America's Fireflies." Earth and Space News. Thursday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/05/north-american-lightning-bug-gardens.html

Museum of Science, Boston @museumofscience. 26 June 2013. "Did you know that many fireflies have lost the ability to flash? . . . .Learn more about fireflies and report your own firefly findings with our Firefly Watch program!" Facebook.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/museumofscience/photos/a.90345407723/10151480920527724/

Museum of Science, Boston @museumofscience. 21 June 2013. "Happy Friday, fans! With today being the first day of summer, what better way to celebrate than by talking about fireflies? Did you know that we have a Firefly Watch program? We've teamed up with Tufts University and Fitchburg State College to track these amazing insects, but also need your help tracking them. . . ." Facebook.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/museumofscience/photos/a.90345407723/10151472285097724/

Navizet, Isabelle; Liu, Ya-Jun; Ferré, Nicolas; Xiao, Hong-Yan; Fang, Wei-Hai; and Lindh, Roland. 16 December 2009. “Color-Tuning Mechanism of Firefly Investigated by Multi-Configurational Perturbation Method,” Journal of the American Chemical Society 2010, 132 (2), pp 706-712. DOI: 10.1021/ja908051h
Available @ http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ja908051h

Saudade70‏ @saudade70. 3 September 2014. "More Citizen Science Tuesday: Firefly Watch http://shar.es/114oXF via @sharethis." Twitter.
Available @ https://twitter.com/saudade70/status/507164749818101761

SciFri. 3 July 2014. "In a Flash: Firefly Communication." YouTube.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpywSqvXDqc

Trimmer, Barry; Zayas, Ricardo; and Qazi, Sanjive. 28 June 2001. “Nitric Oxide and Firefly Flashing.” Tufts University > Biology.
Available @ http://ase.tufts.edu/biology/Firefly/

Zyga, Lisa. 7 January 2010. “Scientists Investigate How Fireflies Emit Different Colors of Light.” Phys.Org > Chemistry > Materials Science > January 7, 2010.
Available @ http://phys.org/news/2010-01-scientists-fireflies-emit.html

Saturday, May 14, 2016

North American Lightning Bug Gardens for North America's Fireflies

Summary: North America's 16 firefly genera know what they need to survive and leave when planned and wild North American lightning bug gardens vanish or worsen.

fireflies and lupine flowers in Milo, Piscataquis County, central Maine; Tuesday, June 24, 2014, 23:27:55: Mike Lewinski (ikewinski), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

Lightning Bug Gardens Attract Canadian, Mexican, U.S. Fireflies

North America’s fireflies appear in planned and wild North American lightning bug gardens in Canada, Mexico and the United States sometime between February and November, according to Firefly Watch recordkeeping since 2008.

Blinking beetles begin yearly life cycles earlier and end natural histories later in more southerly niches and emerge later and retire earlier in more northerly habitats. Glow beetles can be observed between February and November in parts of the United States, during June in Mexico and throughout the summer in southern Canada.

The Firefly Watch citizen science project website through the Museum of Science in Boston, Massachusetts, describes 16 firefly genera whose distribution ranges overlap with North Americans. North America’s fireflies expect similar animals and plants for survival even though behavior divides glow bugs of Canada, Mexico and the United States into three groups.

Lightning Bug Gardens Flash, Glow or Have Pheromones

Blinking beetles such as those in the Bicellonycha, Micronaspis, Photinus, Photuris and Pyractomena genera flash one, two, three, four or many more times to attract mates. Both genders of fireflies in the Microphotus, Pleotodes and Pleotomus genera glow during mating season while only females glow in perches down under Phausis genus males. Pheromones, chemical releases in planned and wild North American lightning bug gardens, have mate-attracting roles in the Brachylampis, Ellychnia, Lucidota, Paraphausis, Pollaclassis, Pterotus and Pyropyga genera.

The combination of adenosine triphosphate, luciferin, magnesium and oxygen in the presence of the enzyme luciferase is the chemical reaction that lights up North America’s fireflies.

Flashers join glowers east of the Rockies and the Mountains’ imaginary extension into northern Mexico and into southern Canada while non-flashers join non-glowers to the west.

Lightning Bug Gardens Keep Fireflies Fed, Hydrated, Shaded

Atmospheric humidity, filtered shade, invertebrate prey, layered vegetation, soil moisture and standing water keep North America’s fireflies in planned and wild North American lightning bug gardens. The littlest cloudburst, the slightest shade, the smallest puddle and the sparsest tidbit let fireflies survive dry, sunbaked aridity in Mexico and in the United States. All 16 genera move away when construction, pavement and pollution disrupt established and recent habitats even though blinking beetle-friendly niches may be in the immediate area.

Not one firefly genus needs to fear predatory threats from natural enemies other than from some human advocates and practitioners of glow beetle-unfriendly land use patterns. Predation-minded amphibians, arthropods, birds, mammals and reptiles observe the aposematic bioluminescence and cautionary green, red and yellow colors and shun distasteful, unpalatable flashers, glowers and stinkers.

Lightning Bug Gardens Put Synchronous Possibilities in Backyards

Planned and wild North American lightning bug gardens put scientific advances in the hands of citizen scientists since firefly life cycles and natural histories require research. Slugs, snails and worms qualify as observable prey for larval stages of North America’s fireflies, whose adult foods may be floral nectar, floral pollen or nothing.

Citizen science and leisurely enjoyment of flashes, glows and pheromones require grasses for perching, shrubs and trees for patrolling, soil for burrowing and water for moisturizing. Yards suit glow bugs best when lawns are not buzz-cut, moonlight is not from a full moon and night-time lighting is non-existent outdoors and shaded indoors.

Firefly-friendly gardening turns neighborhoods into venues for synchronized flashes and glows, premier Elkmont viewing area events in North Carolina’s and Tennessee’s Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The eight-day synchronous firefly viewing event in 2016 at Elkmont in Great Smoky Mountains National Park takes place May 31-June 7, with parking passes distributed through a lottery system; Gathering of Souls 2014 photo by Radim Schreiber: Smoky Mountains @AbouttheSmokies, via Twitter April 29, 2016

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

fireflies and lupine flowers in Milo, Piscataquis County, central Maine; Tuesday, June 24, 2014, 23:27:55: Mike Lewinski (ikewinski), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/ikewinski/14505155544

The eight-day synchronous firefly viewing event at Elkmont in Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 2016 takes place May 31-June 7, with parking passes distributed through a lottery system; Gathering of Souls 2014 photo by Radim Schreiber: Smoky Mountains @AbouttheSmokies via Twitter April 29, 2016, @ https://twitter.com/AbouttheSmokies/status/726037366616502272

For further information:

Breyer, Melissa. 25 June 2014. “Fireflies! 12 Things You Didn’t Know about Lightning Bugs.” Mother Nature Network > Earth Matters > Animals.
Available @ http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/stories/fireflies-12-things-you-didnt-know-about-lightning-bugs

Breyer, Melissa. 29 May 2014. “How to Attract Fireflies to Your Backyard.” Mother Nature Network > Organic Farming & Gardening.
Available @ http://www.mnn.com/your-home/organic-farming-gardening/stories/how-to-attract-fireflies-to-your-backyard

Brown, Linda. “Firefly / Lightning Bug.” Texas A&M University > Extension Horticulture > Galveston County Master Gardeners > Beneficials in the Garden and Landscape.
Available @ http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/galveston/beneficials/beneficial-40_lightning_bug.htm

CBS Sunday Morning. "Tennessee fireflies: a summertime light show." YouTube. July 13, 2014.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCWkzQqO7Ro

“Firefly (Lightning Bug): Lampyridae.” National Geographic > Animals > Bugs.
Available @ http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/bugs/firefly/

Firefly Watch. Museum of Science, Boston.
Available @ https://legacy.mos.org/fireflywatch/

Firefly.org.
Available @ http://www.firefly.org/

Hadley, Debbie. 3 May 2016. “10 Fascinating Facts about Fireflies.” About.com > About Education > Insects > Beetles (Order Coleoptera).
Available @ http://insects.about.com/od/beetles/a/10-Cool-Facts-About-Fireflies.htm

Hickman, Matt. 11 February 2011. “7 Unusual Insect Courting Rituals: Fireflies.” Mother Nature Network > Earth Matters > Animals > MNN Galleries.
Available @ http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/photos/7-unusual-insect-courting-rituals/fireflies-flashdance

Kirschner, Chanie. 7 May 2013. “Why Do Fireflies Glow?” Mother Nature Network > Earth Matters > Animals.
Available @ http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/stories/why-do-fireflies-glow

“Lampyridae: Lightning Bug.” Encyclopedia of Life > Overview.
Available @ http://eol.org/pages/7487/overview

“Lightning Bugs (Also Known As Fireflies).” Backyard Nature.
Available @ http://www.backyardnature.net/lightbug.htm

Marriner, Derdriu. 27 March 2015. “Book Review: The Fireflies Book by Brett Ortler.” Wizzley.
Available @ https://wizzley.com/book-review-the-fireflies-book-by-brett-ortler/

McLendon, Russell. 28 March 2014. “Fireflies Turn Dusk to Disco in Dazzling Time-Lapse Video.” Mother Nature Network > Earth Matters > Animals.
Available @ http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/blogs/fireflies-turn-dusk-to-disco-in-dazzling-time-lapse-video

Ortler, Brett. 2014. The Fireflies Book: Fun Facts about the Fireflies You Loved as a Kid. Cambridge, MN: Adventure Publications, Inc.

Smoky Mountains @AbouttheSmokies. 29 April 2016. "Lottery opens at 12:00 noon today for the Synchronous Firefly Show at Elkmont passes." Twitter.
Available @ https://twitter.com/AbouttheSmokies/status/726037366616502272

“Synchronous Fireflies.” National Park Service > Great Smoky Mountains > Learn about the Park > Nature > Animals > Synchronous Fireflies.
Available @ https://www.nps.gov/grsm/learn/nature/fireflies.htm

Zielinski, Sarah. 27 June 2012. “14 Fun Facts about Fireflies.” Smithsonian > Science > Nature.
Available @ http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/14-fun-facts-about-fireflies-142999290/?no-ist

Friday, May 13, 2016

Mopane Worm Natural History Illustrations and Elementary's Invisible Hand

Summary: Mopane worm natural history illustrations and photographs tell how snacks look when alive, not past-due on Elementary's The Invisible Hand May 1, 2016.

(center) mopane moth (Gonimbrasia belina) under synonym Saturnia belina; J.O. Westwood's description, Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London (1849), Plate VIII, figure 2, opposite page 42: Public Domain, via Biodiversity Heritage Library

Mopane worm natural history illustrations and photographs answer questions that arise about high-protein, low-fat snacks that camera angles avoid in the Columbia Broadcasting System's procedural drama series Elementary episode May 1, 2016.

Director Guy Ferland and writers Robert Doherty and Jason Tracey brandish mopane worms as one of Joan Watson's (Lucy Liu) refrigerated snacks in The Invisible Hand. The fourth season's 23rd episode, as the 95th overall, calls for Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) to clean the brownstone refrigerator and clear away all inedibles. Sherlock's dedication to doing some "cleaning up" after himself and her disconcerts Joan, who declares that "At least tell me the mopane warms are still okay."

Mopane worm natural history illustrations and photographs explain the behavioral patterns, distribution ranges, life cycles and physical appearances of the mopane worms that Sherlock enigmatically ejects.

November through December and March through April fit into mopane moth life cycles as breeding, egg-depositing, egg-hatching and maturing months for adults, eggs, larvae and pupae.

The 4.72-inch- (120-millimeter-) long wingspans gradate from brown to green to red, with big, black-and-white-ringed orange eyespots on hind wings and small eyespots on front wings. Mopane moth females with bigger abdomens and thoraxes and males with feathery antennae have no mouthparts during three- to four-day mature stages for breeding and egg-laying. Mopane moths, investigated in 1849 by John Obadiah Westwood (Dec. 22, 1805-Jan. 2, 1893), insert 50 to 200 white eggs onto mopane tree leaves and twigs.

Mopane moth natural history illustrations and photographs juggle four stages of eggs hatching within 10 days, larvae molting four times and pupae metamorphosing within seven months.

Life cycles keep mopane moths, known scientifically as Gonimbrasia belina, in lepidopteran larval stages as first through fourth caterpillar instars molting into second through fifth instars.

Mopane caterpillars, commonly listed as mopane worms, look like black and red short-spiked, black-bodied, fine white-haired, 0.39-inch- (10-millimeter-) thick, 3.94-inch- (10-millimeter-) long, red-banded, white-lined, yellow-striped larvae. Mopane worms munch on Carissa grandiflora, Colophospermum mopane, Diospyros, Ficus, Ozoroa crassinervia, Ozoroa longipes, Rhus lancia, Rhus longifolia, Sclerocarya birrea, Terminalia sericea and Trema bracteolata leaves. Clusterleaf, fig, marula, mopane, Natal plum, oriental trema, persimmon, red beech, resin-tree, round-leaved resin and sumac nourish first- through third-instar groups and fourth- through fifth-instar individuals.

Mopane worm natural history illustrations and photographs observe fifth-instar mopane caterpillars oozing brown liquids from their intestinal tracts onto the ground around hostplants before pupating underground.

Fifth-instar mopane caterpillars either perish from birds, parsites, people or viruses or pupate for six to seven months within dark silk-spun cocoons that they produce underground.

Angola, Botswana, Cameroon, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe qualify as mopane worm homelands. Mopane caterpillars range in bushveld (lowland), grassland and semi-desert habitat niches where their amino acids, fatty acids and minerals recommend them for African and world cuisines. Mopane worm natural history illustrations and photographs show fifth-instar members of the Saturniidae night-active peacock spinner family member as silk-spinners and in side dishes and soups.

Sherlock thinks that temporarily trivializing his time by tossing Joan's mopane worms takes his thoughts about an assassin and a forged Vermeer painting along case-closing tacks.

Joan Watson (Lucy Liu) has concerns about Jamie Moriarty's (Natalie Dormer) possible string-pulling and about her mopane worm snack not surviving Sherlock Holmes' (Jonny Lee Miller) unexpected freshness date cleanup in CBS Elementary tv series' The Invisible Hand (season 4 episode 23): Afinso @_Afinso_, via Twitter May 2, 2016

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

Afinso ‏@_Afinso_ 2 May 2016. "I watched #Elementary S04E23 - The Invisible Hand @Elementary_CBS." Twitter.
Available @ https://twitter.com/_Afinso_/status/727162512161038336

Ditlhogo, M.K. 1996. Information on the Biology and Use of Imbrasia belina, and Other Edible Moth Species. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.
Available @ https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/57a08d5240f0b649740017c2/R7822_-_Q2_-_Synthesis_of_mopane_worm_biology.pdf

Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. London England: George Newnes Ltd., 1892.

"The Invisible Hand." Elementary: The Fourth Season. Los Angeles CA: Paramount Pictures Corporation, May 1, 2016.

Marriner, Derdriu. 6 May 2016. “Johannes Vermeer Painting The Astronomer: Elementary's Invisible Hand.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/05/johannes-vermeer-painting-astronomer.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 4 March 2016. “Shih Tzu Dog Breed and Elementary's Up to Heaven and Down to Hell.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/03/shih-tzu-dog-breed-and-elementarys-up.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 19 February 2016. “Mushroom Botanical Illustrations and Elementary's A Study in Charlotte.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/02/mushroom-botanical-illustrations-and.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 22 November 2015. "Black-Capped Central American Squirrel Monkeys and Elementary Series." Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/11/black-capped-central-american-squirrel.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 15 November 2015. “Tienchi-Flower Tea and Elementary's Evidence of Things Not Seen.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/11/tienchi-flower-tea-and-elementarys.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 17 April 2015. “Pablo Picasso Painting Woman Reading on Elementary's A Stitch in Time.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/03/pablo-picasso-painting-woman-reading-on.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 14 February 2015. “Extinct Quagga Plains Zebra on Elementary's The Female of the Species.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/02/extinct-quagga-plains-zebra-on.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 23 January 2015. “Elementary's Yellow Clivia and Yellow Clivia Botanical Illustrations.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/01/elementarys-yellow-clivia-and-yellow.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 12 December 2014. “Elementary's Nutmeg Concoction and Nutmeg Botanical Illustrations.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/12/elementarys-nutmeg-concoction-and.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 7 November 2014. “Elementary's Bird in Blue-Throated Macaw Natural History Illustrations.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/11/elementarys-bird-in-blue-throated-macaw.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 31 October 2014. “Bearded Dragon Natural History Illustrations: Not Elementary's Nemesis.” Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/10/bearded-dragon-natural-history.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 2 May 2014. “Ficus Benjamina Botanical Illustrations and Elementary's Stunted Tree.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/05/ficus-benjamina-botanical-illustrations.html

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

Troehler, Deb. 2008. Chipo's Gift. Charleston SC: BookSurge Publishing.

Westwood, J.O. (John Obadiah). 1849. "Sp. 4. Saturnia Belina, Westw. (Pl. VIII. fig. 2.)." Pages 41-42. "Monograph of the Large African Species of Nocturnal Lepidoptera Belonging or Allied to the Genus Saturnia." Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, part XVII: 33-61.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/12862091
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/stream/proceedingsofgen48zool#page/41/mode/1up

Thursday, May 12, 2016

May Hosts Friday the 13th in 2016 and Other 21st Century Fun Facts

Summary: The merry month of May hosts Friday the 13th in 2016 as the year's solitary coincidence of the date of 13 with the weekday of Friday.

May is the only month with a Friday the 13th date in 2016: First National Bank @FNBOmaha, via Twitter Nov. 13, 2015

The only instance of Friday the 13th in 2016 occurs in May. Depending upon personal feelings, the coincidence of the fifth weekday with the month's 13th day may brighten, darken or not at all impact the merry month of May.

The minimum number of Friday the 13th occurrences in a year is one. The most recent year with the minimal number of Friday the 13th appearances was June 2014. The next instance of a solitary annual appearance of Friday the 13th takes place in August 2021.

The maximum number of appearances by Friday the 13th is three. The most recent banner year for maximum number of Friday the 13th days occurred in 2015. The next banner year, with three instances of Friday the 13th occurs in 2026. The banner year is sandwiched between two years, 2027 and 2028, that each feature only one occurrence of Friday the 13th.

In the 21st century, which runs from Jan. 1, 2001, to Dec. 31, 2100, Friday falls on the 13th day of the month 172 times. Friday the 13th makes a one-time appearance in 43 years of the 21st century. Friday the 13th makes double appearances in 42 years of the 21st century. Friday falling on the month's 13th day makes triple appearances in 15 years of the 21st century.

In the 43 years with a solitary appearance by Friday the 13th, winter is the only season in which Friday the 13th is a no-show. The seasonal monopoly of Friday the 13th is restricted to the late spring month of May, the summer months of June and August, and the mid-autumn month of October.

June is the most popular month for solitary annual appearances. Friday the 13th solos in June for 15 years: 2003, 2008, 2014, 2025, 2031, 2036, 2042, 2053, 2059, 2064, 2070, 2081, 2087, 2092, 2098.

Friday the 13th claims May for 14 of the 43 years of solitary appearances: 2005, 2011, 2016, 2022, 2033, 2039, 2044, 2050, 2061, 2067, 2072, 2078, 2089, 2095.

Friday the 13th occurs in August in 11 of the 43 years: 2010, 2021, 2027, 2038, 2049, 2055, 2066, 2077, 2083, 2094, 2100.

Friday the 13th happens in October in only three of the 43 years: 2028, 2056, 2084.

Five pairings of 10 months characterize the 42 years that exhibit two appearances of Friday the 13th. Only May and June are not represented in the lineup.

The pairing of September with December claims the most annual appearances. Friday the 13th falls in September and December in 14 of the 42 years: 2002, 2013, 2019, 2024, 2030, 2041, 2047, 2052, 2058, 2069, 2075, 2080, 2086, 2097.

The pairing of April with July occurs in 11 years: 2001, 2007, 2018, 2029, 2035, 2046, 2057, 2063, 2074, 2085, 2091.

Ten years feature the pairing of January with October as host months for Friday the 13th: 2006, 2017, 2023, 2034, 2045, 2051, 2062, 2073, 2079, 2090.

Friday the 13th appears in the pairing of February with August in four years: 2004, 2032, 2060, 2088.

The pairing of March with November trails in last place. The pairing occurs in only three years: 2020, 2048, 2076.

Of the 15 years featuring three Friday the 13ths, four are leap years with New Year's Day falling on Sunday. For those years, Friday the 13th makes predictable appearances in the months of January, April and July. As non-leap years, the other 11 years open the year on Thursday. Their Friday the 13ths predictably occur in the months of February, March and November.

Throughout the 21st century, the five months most often entertaining Friday the 13th are February, April, June, July and August. Each of the five claims 15 years as host month for Friday the 13th.

The 21st century bestows 14 annual appearances apiece on six months: January, March, May, September, November, December.

Although last in the tally of appearances by Friday the 13th, October consolidates the day's lucky, neutral or unlucky status by way of 13 years as host month in the 21st century.

The bottom line is that there is only one chance to love, hate or be indifferent to Friday the 13th in 2016. That day, whether it is lucky, unlucky or just another day, claims the merry month of May in 2016.

"Friday the 13th" by American graphic artist Rea Irvin (Aug. 26, 1881-May 28, 1972) for Life Magazine's Hoodoo Number, June 12, 1913: farmersmarkets @farmersmarkets, via Twitter May 9, 2016

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

May is the only month with a Friday the 13th date in 2016: First National Bank @FNBOmaha, via Twitter Nov. 13, 2015, @ https://twitter.com/FNBOmaha/status/665181998420377602

"Friday the 13th" by American graphic artist Rea Irvin (Aug. 26, 1881-May 28, 1972) for Life Magazine's Hoodoo Number, June 12, 1913: farmersmarkets @farmersmarkets, via Twitter May 9, 2016, @ https://twitter.com/farmersmarkets/status/729838133777326080

For further information:

farmersmarkets‏ @farmersmarkets. "Notable Events: Friday the 13th. There is but one Friday the 13th in 2016. It occurs in May." Twitter. May 9, 2016.
Available @ https://twitter.com/farmersmarkets/status/729838133777326080

First National Bank @FNBOmaha. "Happy Friday the 13th! We'll have to wait until May 13, 2016 for the next "unlucky" date." Twitter. Nov. 13, 2015.
Available @ https://twitter.com/FNBOmaha/status/665181998420377602

Marriner, Derdriu. "Friday the 13th: Paraskevidekatriaphobics or Friggatriskaidekaphobics." Earth and Space News. Thursday, Feb. 12, 2015.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/02/friday-13th-bad-for-paraskevidekatriaph.html