Earth and Space News

Wednesday, September 12, 2018

2018 Chi Cygnids Mark Third Anniversary of September 2015 Discovery

Summary: The 2018 Chi Cygnids mark the third anniversary of the meteor shower’s September 2015 discovery via NASA-financed CAMS network.

Newly discovered Chi Cygnid meteor shower appears to radiate from Chi Cygni, a variable star lying near the midpoint of Cygnus the Swan’s neck: The SETI Institute @SETIInstitute, via Twitter Sep. 18, 2015

The 2018 Chi Cygnids mark the third anniversary of the meteor shower’s September 2015 discovery via the NASA-financed CAMS (Cameras for Allsky Meteor Surveillance) network.

Peter Jenniskens, senior research scientist at the Seti Institute and at NASA Ames Research Center, both in Mountain View, California, coordinates the global CAMS project. The Dutch and American meteor astronomer announced the meteor shower’s discovery Sept. 17, 2015, via Harvard University’s Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams (CBAT).

Peter Jenniskens and Peter S. Gural established CAMS project, funded by NASA’s Planetary Astronomy program, in July 2008. The CAMS project aims at validation of the IAU (International Astronomical Union) Working List of Meteor Showers.

First deployment occurred Nov. 11, 2010, with CAMS platforms at California’s Fremont Peak Observatory and Lick Observatory. The CAMS-BeNeLux network started in March 2012.

Visual observers Koen Miskotte of the Dutch Meteor Society and Michel Vandeputte of Belgium’s Vereniging Voor Sterrenkunde (Society for Astronomy) are credited with first notice of the Chi Cygnid (χ-Cygnid) meteor shower. During the night of Monday, Sept. 14, to Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2015, Miskotte and Vandeputte detected activity radiating from Cygnus the Swan constellation.

Martin Breukers and Carl Johannink of the Dutch Meteor Society confirmed the activity by way of CAMS-BeNeLux data. Breukers and Johannink operate CAMS-BeNeLux stations near the Dutch-German border in Hengelo, Netherlands, and Gronau, northwestern Germany, respectively. As coordinator and assistant coordinator of CAMS-BeNeLux, respectively, Johannink and Breukers transfer data to Jenniskens as coordinator of the global CAMS project.

Breukers and Johannink alerted Jenniskens to five similar meteor orbits in the CAMS BeNeLux multi-station data. The five orbits appeared in the interval between Monday, Sept. 14, at 19:23 Universal Time (3:23 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time; 12:23 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time) and Tuesday, Sept. 15, at 03:35 UT (11:35 p.m. EDT, 8:35 p.m. PDT, Monday, Sept. 14).

Reference to the CAMS BeNeLux candidates led Jenniskens to four more orbits via CAMS California. Jenniskens’ data occurred in the interval Tuesday, Sept. 15, between 03:10 and 12:45 UT (11:10 p.m. EDT, 8:10 p.m. PDT Monday, Sept. 14, and 8:45 a.m. EDT, 5:45 a.m. PDT, Tuesday, Sept. 15).

On Oct. 9, 2016, Johannink reported insubstantial activity in the Chi Cygnid stream for September 2016. Data revealed 36 radiant positions in a broad region around the Chi Cygnid meteor shower’s theoretical radiant in southern Cygnus.

Chi Cygnid meteor showers appear to radiate from a point near Chi Cygni (χ Cygni; Chi Cyg, χ Cyg). The variable star appears near the mid-point in Cygnus the Swan’s long neck.

Robert Lunsford, The American Meteor Society’s Meteor Activity Outlook weekly columnist, gave activity dates of Friday, Sept. 8, to Sunday, Sept. 17, in his coverage of the 2017 Chi Cygnids. He identified peak, or maximum, as occurring Wednesday night, Sept. 13, to pre-dawn Thursday, Sept. 14.

Observable rates are low. Lunsford notes that viewers should expect a usual rate of less than one shower member per hour. He places peak date’s observable rate at one shower member per hour.

The Chi Cygnids feature slow-moving meteors. Lunsford assigns an entry velocity of 15 kilometers per second (about 9 miles per second).

The Chi Cygnid meteor shower’s parent body is presently unknown. Jakub Koukal and Jiří Srba, both with the southeastern Czech Republic’s Valašské Meziříčí Observatory and Society for Interplanetary Matter (SMPH), and Juraj Tóth of Bratislava, southwestern Slovakia’s Comenius University, hypothesize the meteor shower’s cometary origin. The researchers suggest an unknown Jupiter Family Comet (JFC) as the Chi Cygnid parent body in their paper, “Confirmation of the χ Cygnids (CCY, IAU#757), published in the International Meteor Organization’s journal, WGN, in February 2016.

Jupiter Family Comets number among short-period, or periodic, comets. Short-period comets have orbital periods of less than 200 years. Jupiter Family Comets take less than 20 years to complete their orbits. Their name reflects the influence of the planet Jupiter’s gravity upon their orbits.

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has assigned a three-letter code of CCY to the Chi Cygnids. The shower’s IAU number is 00757.

The takeaway for 2018 Chi Cygnids marking the third anniversary of the shower’s September 2015 discovery is that more data is needed to build a profile for the recently identified stream.

UK Meteor Network's Wilcot E camera catches Chi Cygnid meteor shower on discovery date, Monday, Sept. 14, 2015, at 20:22 Universal Time: UK Meteor Network @UKMeteorNetwork, via Twitter Sep. 20, 2015

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

UK Meteor Network's Wilcot E camera catches Chi Cygnid meteor shower on discovery date, Monday, Sep. 14, 2015, at 20:22 Universal Time: UK Meteor Network @UKMeteorNetwork, via Twitter Sept. 20, 2015, @ https://twitter.com/UKMeteorNetwork/status/645528646816428032

For further information:

“00757 CCY Chi Cygnids.” IAU (International Astronomical Union) Meteor Data Center > List of All Meteor Showers.
Available @ https://www.ta3.sk/IAUC22DB/MDC2007/Roje/pojedynczy_obiekt.php?kodstrumienia=00757&colecimy=0&kodmin=00001&kodmax=01032&sortowanie=0

Bettonvil, Felix; Carl Johannink; and Martin Brekuers. “CAMS BeNeLux.” In: Jean-Louis Rault and Paul Roggemans, eds., Proceedings of the International Meteor Conference, 18-21 September, 2014, Giron, France: 1-4. Hove, Belgium: The International Meteor Organization, 2014.

“Chi Cygnids CBET 4144.” NASA/SETI CAMS > Scientific Results. Sept. 15, 2015.
Available @ http://cams.seti.org/science.html

Con Stoitsis ‏ @vivstoitsis. “Chi Cygni has brightened to naked eye visibility from a dark sky. Map below.” Twitter. Aug. 1, 2015.
Available @ https://twitter.com/vivstoitsis/status/627698729940680704

Curtis, Chris. "Chi Cygnids." UK Meteor Network (UKMON). Sept. 20, 2015.
Available @ https://ukmeteornetwork.co.uk/news/chi-cygnids/

Espenak, Fred. “Phases of the Moon: 2001 to 2100.” Astro Pixels > Ephemeris > Moon.
Available @ http://astropixels.com/ephemeris/phasescat/phases2001.html

Heywood, Tracie, ed. “Meteor Activity 2018 February to 2019 January.” The Astronomer Magazine. Feb. 1, 2018.
Available @ http://www.theastronomer.org/post/MeteorDiary/

Jenniskens, P. “New Chi Cygnids Meteor Shower.” CBET (Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams), no. 4144. Sept. 17, 2015. Edited by Daniel W.E. Green.
Available via Harvard University’s Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams @ http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/cbet/CBET004100to004200.html

Jenniskens, Peter. Meteor Showers and Their Parent Comets. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2006.

Johannink, Carl. “CAMS BeNeLux September Results.” MeteorNews. Oct. 9, 2016.
Available @ https://www.meteornews.net/2016/10/09/cams-benelux-september-results/

Koukal, Jakub; Jiří Srba; and Juraj Tóth. “Confirmation of the χ Cygnids (CCY, IAU#757).” WGN, vol. 44, no. 1 (February 2016): 5-9. Hove, Belgium: International Meteor Organization.
Available @ https://www.imo.net/publications/wgn/

Landau, Elizabeth. “Large, Distant Comets More Common Than Previously Thought.” NASA > Feature > Jet Propulsion Laboratory > WISE (Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer). July 25, 2017. Last updated Aug. 6, 2017.
Available @ https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/large-distant-comets-more-common-than-previously-thought

Lunsford, Robert. “Meteor Activity Outlook for September 9-15, 2017.” American Meteor Society. Sept. 8, 2017.
Available @ https://www.amsmeteors.org/2017/09/meteor-activity-outlook-for-september-9-15-2017/

Lunsford, Robert. “Meteor Activity Outlook for September 16-22, 2017.” American Meteor Society. Sept. 15, 2017.
Available @ https://www.amsmeteors.org/2017/09/meteor-activity-outlook-for-september-16-22-2017/

Lunsford, Robert. Meteors and How to Observe Them. Astronomers’ Observing Guides. New York NY: Springer Science+Business Media, 2009.

Marriner, Derdriu. “Globe at Night 2018 Cygnus and Second Scorpius Campaigns Begin Aug. 2.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/08/globe-at-night-2018-cygnus-and-second.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Globe at Night 2018 Sagittarius and Second Cygnus Campaigns Begin Sept. 1.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/08/globe-at-night-2018-sagittarius-and.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Summer Triangle of Altair With Deneb and Vega Dramatizes Summer Nights.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/08/summer-triangle-of-altair-with-deneb.html

“Moon Phases September 2018.” Calendar-12.com > Moon Calendar > 2018.
Available @ https://www.calendar-12.com/moon_calendar/2018/september

Roggemans, Adriana; and Paul Roggemans, eds. Proceedings of the International Meteor Conference, Egmond, the Netherlands, 2-5 June, 2016. Hove, Belgium: International Meteor Organization, 2016.
Available via IMO (International Meteor Organization @ https://www.imo.net/files/imc2016/imc2016-proceedings.pdf
Available via Netherlands Research School for Astronomy @ http://nova-astronomy.nl/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/International-Meteor-Conference-2016.pdf

Roggemans, Paul; Carl Johannink; and Martin Breukers. “Status of the CAMS-BeNeLux Network.” In: Adriana Roggemans and Paul Roggemans, eds., Proceedings of the International Meteor Conference, Egmond, the Netherlands, 2-5 June, 2016: 254-260. Hove, Belgium: International Meteor Organization, 2016.
Available via IMO (International Meteor Organization @ https://www.imo.net/files/imc2016/imc2016-proceedings.pdf
Available via Netherlands Research School for Astronomy @ http://nova-astronomy.nl/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/International-Meteor-Conference-2016.pdf

The SETI Institute @SETIInstitute. “CAMS: New Chi Cygnids Meteor Shower - Cameras in the Netherlands pick up new shower Sept 14/15.” Twitter. Sept. 18, 2015.
Available @ https://twitter.com/SETIInstitute/status/644877832078950400

Shiba, Yasuo. “χ Cygnids Observation in Japan.” WGN, vol. 43, no. 6 (December 2015): 179-180.
Available @ https://www.imo.net/publications/wgn/

UK Meteor Network @UKMeteorNetwork. “Chi Cygnids.” Twitter. Sept. 20, 2015.
Available @ https://twitter.com/UKMeteorNetwork/status/645528646816428032

The WGN Editorial Team. “Erratum: χ Cygnids Observation in Japan.” WGN, vol. 44, no. 1 (February 2016).
Available @ https://www.imo.net/publications/wgn/

Monday, September 10, 2018

Attilio Comelli Designed Costumes for Met Opera and U.S. Premieres

Summary: Attilio Comelli designed costumes for Met Opera and U.S. premieres of Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann and Borodin’s Prince Igor, respectively.

undated glass negative portrait of New Zealand-born, Australian-raised operatic soprano Frances Alda (May 31, 1879-Sept. 18, 1952), in the lead role of Yaroslavna, with headdress designed by Attilio Comelli for the Met Opera 1915-1916 season's U.S. premiere of Borodin's Prince Igor; George Grantham Bain Collection, Library of Congress, Washington DC: No known restrictions on publication, via Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalogue (PPOC) Photo, Print, Drawing

Attilio Comelli designed costumes for Met Opera and U.S. premieres of Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann and Borodin’s Prince Igor in 1913 and 1915, respectively.

Comelli made his Metropolitan Opera debut Jan. 11, 1913, as costume designer in the Metropolitan Opera’s premiere of Les Contes d’Hoffmann by German-born French composer Jacques Offenbach (June 20, 1819-Oct. 5, 1880). The production’s director was Jules Speck, who served as the Metropolitan Opera’s stage manager for French and Italian operas from 1908 to 1917. The set was designed by Burghart & Company.

Including the premiere, Les Contes d’Hoffmann received nine performances during the opera’s Metropolitan Opera premiere season. The 1913-1914 season’s last performance of Les Contes d’Hoffmann took place April 25, 1913.

The Metropolitan Opera’s first revival of Speck’s production occurred during the 1913-1914 season. Les Contes d’Hoffmann received three performances during the revival. Winter performances were offered Dec. 6 and Dec. 13, 1913. The season’s closing performance of Speck’s production took place March 12, 1914.

The second revival of Speck’s production took place during the 1914-1915 season. Les Contes d’Hoffmann received only one performance during the second revival. The April 27, 1915, performance marked the last performance of Speck’s production.

Les Contes d’Hoffmann languished in the opera house’s inactive repertoire for nine years. A new production debuted Nov. 13, 1924. Viennese stage director Wilhelm von Wymetal’s (1862-Nov. 11, 1937) production team comprised the father-daughter team of Joseph Urban (May 26, 1872-July 10, 1933) as set designer and Gretel Urban (Jan. 7, 1898-Dec. 6, 1997) as costume designer.

Nine months after the 13th and final appearance of Comelli’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann costumes, the Metropolitan Opera hosted the United States premiere of Prince Igor by Georgian-Russian Romantic composer Alexander Borodin (Nov. 12, 1833-Feb. 27, 1887). Prince Igor opened Dec. 30, 1915, with costumes designed by Attilio Comelli. Jules Speck was the production’s director.

Including the premiere, Prince Igor received five performances during the 1915-1916 Met Opera season. The season’s last performance took place March 1, 1916.

The Metropolitan Opera revived Speck’s production in the next season. Prince Igor received three performances in the 1916-1917 season. The season’s last performance occurred Dec. 6, 1916.

A second revival in the 1917-1918 offered two performances. The season’s closing performance of Prince Igor took place Dec. 15, 1917.

The December 1917 performance marked the Metropolitan Opera’s last staging of Prince Igor with Comelli’s costumes. After a total of 10 performances over three seasons, Speck’s production retired to the Metropolitan Opera’s inactive repertoire.

Prince Igor remained absent for the opera house’s active repertoire for 96 years. A new production debuted Feb. 6, 2014, under the directorship of Russian theatre director Dmitri Tcherniakov and with costumes designed by Russian costume designer Elena Zaitseva. Prince Igor received nine performances during the 2013-2014 Met Opera season. The season’s closing performance took place March 8, 2014.

The Metropolitan Opera has not staged Prince Igor since the 2013-2014 season.

The United Kingdom’s Royal Opera House (ROH) in central London’s Covent Garden holds a collection of approximately 1,500 costume and accessory designs dating from 1898 to 1925. The Royal Opera House’s Collections Online website credits Attilio Comelli with “the majority of these designs.” The ROH Collections Online website tallies Comelli’s artwork at 1,408 designs, mostly watercolor on board, for 78 ballet and opera productions. Comelli’s designs stem from his appointment in the 1890s as house designer to the Royal Opera House

Attilio Giuseppe de Comelli von Stuckenfeld (1858-Sept. 8, 1925) was known professionally as Attilio Comelli. He was born in Gradisca d’Isonzo, a northeastern Italian town then claimed by Austria’s House of Habsburg. Comelli’s father, Federico de Comelli von Stuckenfeld (March 17, 1826-Aug. 10, 1892), was an engineer and cave explorer.

The takeaway for Attilio Comelli costume designs for Met Opera and U.S. premieres is that the Italian designer’s costumes for Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann and Borodin’s Prince Igor represent a small, precious portion of Comelli’s designing output as he primarily designed for Covent Garden’s Royal Opera House.

Italian ballet dancer, choreographer and teacher Rosina Galli (1892-April 30, 1940) and her Met Opera partner, Genoa, Italy-born Ballet Master and Premier Dancer Giuseppe Bonfiglio (March 17, 1883-June 1, 1947) in costumes designed by Attilio Comelli for the Polovtsian Dances in the Met Opera 1915-1916 season's U.S. premiere of Borodin's Prince Igor; 1915 image by Manhattan-based Russian-American photographer Herman Mishkin (March 1870-Feb. 6, 1948): Metropolitan Opera Archives (MetOpera Archives) Database: 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:

“Debut: Attilio Comelli.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 54574 Metropolitan Opera Premiere Les Contes d’Hoffmann {1} Matinee ed. Metropolitan Opera House: 01/11/1913.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=54574

Marriner, Derdriu. “Gretel Urban Designed Costumes for Newly Staged Les Contes d’Hoffmann.” Earth and Space News. Monday, Aug. 27, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/08/gretel-urban-designed-costumes-for.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Joseph Urban Designed Sets for 29 New Productions at Met Opera.” Earth and Space News. Monday, Aug. 20, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/08/joseph-urban-designed-sets-for-29-new.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Metropolitan Opera’s Gallery Met Short for The Tales of Hoffmann.” Earth and Space News. Monday, Sept. 11, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/09/metropolitan-operas-gallery-met-short.html

“Metropolitan Opera Premiere: Les Contes d’Hoffmann.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 54574 Metropolitan Opera Premiere Les Contes d’Hoffmann {1} Matinee ed. Metropolitan Opera House: 01/11/1913.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=54574

Royal Opera House. “Attilio Comelli Design Collection.” Royal Opera House Collections Online.
Available @ http://www.rohcollections.org.uk/CollectionComelli.aspx

“United States Premiere: Prince Igor.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 61530 United States Premiere Prince Igor {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 12/30/1915.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=61530

Sunday, September 9, 2018

American Southern Sprite Damselfly Habitats: Dark-Capped Blue Eyes

Summary: North American southern sprite damselfly habitats from Rhode Island to Florida inland to the Great Plains shelter dark-capped blue-eyed females and males.

southern sprite damselfly (Nehalennia integricollis) in Caroline County, central Eastern Shore, Maryland; Saturday, June 18, 2011, 15:50:53: Mike Ostrowski (BCNH09), CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

North American southern sprite damselfly habitats ambush arborists, master gardeners, master naturalists and tree stewards in distribution ranges coastally from Rhode Island through Florida inland into Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.

Southern sprites bear their common name for distribution ranges and tiny sizes and the scientific name Nehalennia integricollis (Celtic or Germanic river goddess [with] whole-necked [prothorax]). Common names consult the consensus of scientific committees convened by the Dragonfly Society of the Americas, whose Executive Council sometimes confers gratis memberships outside North America. Scientific designations develop descriptions in 1913 by Philip Powell Calvert (Jan. 29, 1871-Aug. 23, 1961), biology Ph.D.-holder from the University of Pennsylvania and entomologist from Philadelphia.

Southern sprite damselfly lifespans expect bogs, lakes, marshes, ponds, slow stream reaches and swamps with dense in-water and waterside grasses, sedges and weeds and waterlogged soils.

March through September function as maximum, most southerly flight seasons even though June through August furnish wildlife mapping opportunities throughout all sprite coastal and inland niches.

Adult southern sprite damselflies go for near-ground-level perches and roosts in thick beds of bog, lake, marsh, pond, stream or swamp grasses, herbs, sedges and weeds. They hold onto their perches and roosts horizontally over and parallel to stalks and stems until harried by predators or hastening after ground-level invertebrate opportunistic prey. They imitate North America's everglades, sedge, sphagnum and tropical sprites in imprisoning prey as gleaning perchers that find food by flying for, flushing or following passers-by.

Ants, assassin flies, biting midges, ducks, falcons, fish, flycatchers, frogs, grebes, lizards, spiders, turtles and water beetles and mites jeopardize North American southern sprite damselfly habitats.

Immature females and males keep dull, faded, light, pale colors and small sizes even as they know un-adult-like, fine-line-joined postocular spots and fine pale-striped thoracic fronts.

Incomplete metamorphosis leads southern sprite damselflies through life cycle stages as eggs; egg-hatched, molting, non-flying larvae, naiads or nymphs; shiny-winged, soft-bodied, weak-flying, white tenerals; and adults. Immature and mature stages may forage in adjoining uplands even though adults mate and tandem oviposit (lay eggs) in floating, water-level grass, herbaceous or sedge stems. Sprite members of the Coenagrionidae pond damsel family need aphids, beetles, borers, caddisflies, copepods, crane flies, dobsonflies, gnats, leafhoppers, mosquitoes, rotifers, scuds, water fleas and worms.

North American southern sprite damselfly habitats offer season-coldest temperatures, northward to southward, from minus 45 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 42.77 to minus 6.66 degrees Celsius).

Beech, bellflower, birch, bladderwort, cattail, daisy, grass, greenbrier, heath, laurel, madder, maple, nettle, olive, pepperbush, pine, pondweed, rush, sedge, water-lily and willow families promote southern sprites.

Brown-capped blue eyes; somewhat dulled metallic-green thoracic fronts; blue or yellow thoracic undersides; clear wings; and blue-tipped, somewhat dulled metallic-green abdomens qualify as adult female identifications. Adult males reveal brown-black-capped blue eyes; blue-lined occipital bars; blue-segmented, metallic-green abdomens and upper thoraxes; pale blue abdominal and thoracic sides; and black-paired upper abdominal streaks. Adults show off 0.79- to 0.98-inch (20- to 25-millimeter) head-body lengths, 0.63- to 0.79-inch (16- to 20-millimeter) abdomens and 0.43- to 0.55-inch (11- to 14-millimeter) hindwings.

Absence of brown-black-capped blue eyes in males and of brown-capped blue eyes in females tells on other sprites in overlapping North American southern sprite damselfly habitats.

photo by Loret T. Setters: Florida Native Plant @PineLilyFNPS, via Twitter July 30, 2016

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

southern sprite damselfly (Nehalennia integricollis) in Caroline County, central Eastern Shore, Maryland; Saturday, June 18, 2011, 15:50:53: Mike Ostrowski (BCNH09), CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/38976602@N05/6055059892/

photo by Loret T. Setters: Florida Native Plant @PineLilyFNPS, via Twitter July 30, 2016, @ https://twitter.com/PineLilyFNPS/status/759364989496926208

For further information:

Abbott, John C. Dragonflies and Damselflies of Texas and the South-Central United States: Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma and New Mexico. Princeton NJ; Oxford UK: Princeton University Press, 2005.

Beaton, Giff. Dragonflies & Damselflies of Georgia and the Southeast. Athens GA; London UK: University of Georgia Press, 2007.

Berger, Cynthia. Dragonflies. Mechanicsburg PA: Stackpole Books: Wild Guide, 2004.

Bright, Ethan. "Nehalennia Selys, 1850 (Sprites)." Aquatic Insects of Michigan > Odonata (Dragon- and Damselflies) of Michigan > Zygoptera Selys, 1854 > Coenagrionidae, Kirby, 1890 (Pond Damselflies).
Available @ http://www.aquaticinsects.org/sp/Odonata/sp_oom.html

Calvert, Philip P. "The Species of Nehalennia (Odonata), Including One From the Eastern United States Hitherto Undescribed." Entomological News and Proceedings of the Entomological Section of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, vol. XXIV, no. 7 (July 1913): 311-316. Philadelphia PA: The Academy of Natural Sciences, 1913.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/26396425
Available via HathiTrust @ https://hdl.handle.net/2027/hvd.32044106256464?urlappend=%3Bseq=373

Florida Native Plant @PineLilyFNPS. "Central Florida Critter of the Day: Southern Sprite Damselfly (Nehalennia integriccolis)." Twitter. July 30, 2016.
Available via Twitter @ https://twitter.com/PineLilyFNPS/status/759364989496926208

"Nehalennia integricollis." James Cook University-Medusa: The Odonata - Dragonflies and Damselflies > Zygoptera > Coenagrionidae > Nehalennia.
Available via James Cook University-Medusa @ https://medusa.jcu.edu.au/Dragonflies/openset/displaySpecies.php?spid=3877

Paulson, Dennis. Dragonflies and Damselflies of the East. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, Princeton Field Guides, 2011.

"The 2012 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map." The National Gardening Association > Gardening Tools > Learning Library USDA Hardiness Zone > USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map.
Available @ https://garden.org/nga/zipzone/2012/

Saturday, September 8, 2018

Lion's Mane Jellyfishes and Elementary's The Geek Interpreter

Summary: Lion's mane jellyfishes become self-defensive means, motives, opportunities and perpetrators in Elementary's The Geek Interpreter Sept. 3, 2018.

lion's mane jellyfish (Cyanea capillata); Thursday, Dec. 4, 2008: Derek Keats from Johannesburg, South Africa, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons

Lion's mane jellyfishes act as premeditated or reactive manslaughterers or murderers with instinctive or intentional offensive or self-defensive weapons in the Elementary procedural drama series episode The Geek Interpreter Sept. 3, 2018.

Director Christine Moore and writers Robert Doherty, Tamara Jaron and Kelly Wheeler begin the sixth season's 19th televised episode with two cases from the book series. The 139th episode overall culls The Adventure of the Lion's Mane and The Greek Interpreter by Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (May 22, 1859-July 7, 1930). Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) dates the 1926 case of Fitzroy McPherson, not to the first story's beach, but to a Brooklyn-transposed apartment in Sheepshead Bay.

Sherlock explains the first and second Brooklyn-rebooted cases through respective evidence in a welt-marked back and in spilled kiwi-flavored energy drinks and a Red Hook property.

Sherlock familiarizes Joan Watson (Lucy Liu) with the facts that "the police thought he'd been beaten to death because of the welts on his [McPherson's] back."

Going over police photos and Sheepshead Bay beach contexts with Athena (Alia Attalah) guides Sherlock to welt-generating "marks of a lion's mane jellyfish," not beating deaths. Lion's mane jellyfishes have nematocysts (from the Greek νῆμα, nēma, "thread," and κύστις, kústis, "anatomical sac"), whose neurotoxin-filled stings herald blisters, cramps and, rarely, allergic shock. Sherlock indicates to Joan that "lion's mane stings aren't typically fatal" since stinging is defensive against intruders and predators, protective of symbionts and stunning for prey.

One-year lion's mane jellyfish life cycles juggle fertilized eggs; pelagic (free-swimming) larvae; benthic (sea-bottom) polyps asexually producing free-swimming ephyrae; and free-swimming medusas sexually producing subsequent generations.

Lion's mane jellyfishes, known commonly as giant jellyfishes and hair jellies and scientifically as Cyanea capillata ("blue [and] hairy"), keep high-profile presences from April through September.

Lion's mane jellyfishes line one balance organ between, and 70 to 150 hair-like, hollow, thin tentacles beneath, each of eight lobes along swimming bell (body) edges. The central mouth on the 19.69- to 78-74-plus-inch (50- to 200-plus-centimeter) diameter bell maintains four broad, folded, frilled, nematocyst-studded, red or red-brown, short tentacle-like oral arms. Lion's mane jellyfishes, noted scientifically in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus (May 23, 1707-Jan. 10, 1778), need up through 98.42- to 121.39-foot- (30- to 37-meter-) long tentacles.

Lighter orange or tan colors, shorter tentacles and smaller bell sizes occur on lion's mane jellyfishes farther south than on their crimson to purple northern counterparts.

Protection-seeking butterfish, harvestfish, medusafish, prowfish and shrimp and prey-seeking ocean sunfish, sea turtles and seabirds respectively pursue lion's mane jellyfishes as same-destination symbionts and for predation.

Lion's mane jellyfishes queue up, through 65.62-foot (2-meter) depths, like nets over such prey as comb jellies, crustaceans, moon jellies, smaller fishes and jellyfishes and zooplankton. The Cyaneidae (from the Greek κυάνεος, kuáneos, "blue-colored") true jellyfish family members range through Arctic, Atlantic and Pacific Ocean and Baltic, Irish and North Sea waters. They sustain distribution ranges between latitudes 70 and 42 degrees North, in water temperatures between 30.49 and 74.84 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 0.841 and 23.8 degrees Celsius).

Death by not so toxic-tentacled lion's mane jellyfishes tends to be improbable and unlikely, except for weak-hearted people like Fitzroy McPherson, Sherlock's cold case from 1926.

Math graduate student Lily Zavala (Isabel Arraiza) details her kidnapping to Joan Watson (Lucy Liu), Captain Gregson (Aidan Quinn) and Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) in Elementary tv series' The Geek Interpreter (season 6 episode 19): CBS Elementary promotional photo, via Spoiler TV Sept. 2, 2018

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

lion's mane jellyfish (Cyanea capillata); Thursday, Dec. 4, 2008: Derek Keats from Johannesburg, South Africa, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lion's_mane_jellyfish,_or_hair_jelly,_Cyanea_capillata,_the_largest_know_jellyfish_in_Newfoundland,_Canada._(21390221575).jpg;
Derek Keats (Derek Keats), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/dkeats/21390221575/

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

"The Geek Interpreter." Elementary: The Sixth Season. Los Angeles CA: Paramount Pictures Corporation, Sept. 3, 2018.

Linnæi, Caroli. 1758. "5. Medusa capillata." Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, Secundum Classes, Ordines, Genera, Species, cum Characteribus, Differentiis, Synonymis, Locis, Tomus I, Editio Decima, Reformata: 660. Holmiae [Stockholm, Sweden]: Laurentii Salvii [Laurentius Salvius].
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/727573

Marriner, Derdriu. 2 September 2018. “Borrachero Trees in Elementary's The Visions of Norman P. Horowitz.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/09/borrachero-trees-in-elementarys-visions.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 25 August 2018. “Silk From Darwin's Bark Spiders on Elementary's The Worms Crawl In.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/08/silk-from-darwins-bark-spiders-on.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 19 August 2018. “Chocolate from Cacao Trees on Elementary's Uncanny Valley of the Dolls.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/08/chocolate-from-cacao-trees-on.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 18 August 2018. “Guatemalan Sugarcane, Guatemalan Rum on Elementary's How to Get a Head.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/08/guatemalan-sugarcane-guatemalan-rum-on.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 11 August 2018. “Kukicha Tea from Japan and Elementary Season Six's Through the Fog.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/08/kukicha-tea-from-japan-and-elementary.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 4 August 2018. “Northwest Italian Sweet White Wine Sciacchetrà on Elementary's Breathe.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/08/northwest-italian-sweet-white-wine.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 28 July 2018. “American Chestnut Trees for Elementary Season Six's Meet Your Maker.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/07/american-chestnut-trees-for-elementary.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 22 July 2018. “Bird's-Eye Pipe Tobacco and Trichinopoly Cigars: Elementary's Long Way.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/07/birds-eye-pipe-tobacco-and-trichinopoly.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 7 July 2018. “Elementary's Adventure of Ersatz Sobekneferu: West African Crocodiles.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/07/elementarys-adventure-of-ersatz.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 1 July 2018. “Blue Wildebeests and Tarragon Tea on Elementary's Nobody Lives Forever.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/07/blue-wildebeests-and-tarragon-tea-on.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 23 June 2018. “Vermont Black Bears and Elementary's Sand Trap Episode June 18, 2018.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/06/vermont-black-bears-and-elementarys.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 16 June 2018. “Elementary Sober Companions, Amethysts and Agiorgitiko Red Wine Grapes.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/06/elementary-sober-companions-amethysts.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 10 June 2018. “Elementary's Give Me the Finger: Not the Southeast Asian Fruit Durian.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/06/elementarys-give-me-finger-not.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 9 June 2018. “Elementary's Give Me the Finger: Floppy Disks Dinosaurs Like Grallator.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/06/elementarys-give-me-finger-floppy-disks.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 2 June 2018. “Bird Flu on Elementary's Bits and Pieces and Wild Red Junglefowl.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/06/bird-flu-on-elementarys-bits-and-pieces.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 26 May 2018. “Boxing Kangaroos and Elementary Season 6 Episode 4 Our Time Is Up.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/05/boxing-kangaroos-and-elementary-season.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 20 May 2018. “American Staffordshire Terrier and Elementary's Pushing Buttons.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/05/american-staffordshire-terrier-and.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 19 May 2018. “Cassowaries and Elementary's Pushing Buttons Episode May 14, 2018.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/05/cassowaries-and-elementarys-pushing.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 12 May 2018. “Monoceros Unicorns: Puzzles Once You've Ruled Out God on Elementary.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/05/monoceros-unicorns-puzzles-once-youve.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 5 May 2018. “Sumatran Tigers and Elementary's An Infinite Capacity for Taking Pains.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/05/sumatran-tigers-and-elementarys.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 18 November 2016. “Green Tree Python Natural History Illustrations and Elementary.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/11/green-tree-python-natural-history.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 11 November 2016. “Eastern Poison Ivy Botanical Illustrations and Elementary's Henny Penny.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/11/eastern-poison-ivy-botanical.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 4 November 2016. “Galápagos Marine Iguana Natural History Illustrations and Elementary.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/11/galapagos-marine-iguana-natural-history.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 21 October 2016. "China's Imperial Jade Heirloom Seal Worth Several Cities on Elementary." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/10/chinas-imperial-jade-heirloom-seal.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 May 2016. “Mopane Worm Natural History Illustrations and Elementary's Invisible Hand.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/05/mopane-worm-natural-history.html

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

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

Purcell, Jennifer E. "Lion's Mane Jellyfish." In: Michael Hutchins, Dennis A. Thoney and Neil Schlager, eds. Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. Second Edition. Volume 1, Lower Metazoans and Lesser Deuterostomes: 164. Farmington Hills MI: Gale Group, 2003.

Riley, Dick; and Pam McAllister. 1999. The Bedside, Bathtub & Armchair Companion to Sherlock Holmes. New York NY: Continuum Publishing Company.

Friday, September 7, 2018

Tucker's Cross Unsolved Mystery: San Pedro Shipwrecked in 1594

Summary: The Tucker's Cross unsolved mystery Sept. 7, 1955, of a reef-, storm-, wave-subdued shipwreck settles around one of three San Pedro ships in 1594.

map of Bermuda shipwrecks compiled and painted by marine explorer Teddy Tucker: Magpie @jillianhalfp, via Twitter March 17, 2015

The Tucker's Cross unsolved mystery arises from a religious icon abstracted by its namesake Sept. 7, 1955, from a 16th-century shipwreck in Bermuda's sometimes angry waters, "bad weather and eerie night sounds."

Edward Bolton Tucker (May 8, 1925-June 9, 2014) brought the unusual cross of precious metal and stones from the coral reefs called the Isles of Devils. Mendel Lazear Peterson (March 8, 1918-July 30, 2003), Tucker's colleague in marine archaeology and exploration from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., calculated the cross's value. He determined the emerald and gold cross's value at its discovery date as $250,000 (£90,183.16) even as marine historians deduced its likeliest disappearance date as 1594.

One Tucker's Cross unsolved mystery ensues from existing evidence 10 miles (8.69 nautical miles) off Hamilton's harbor not elucidating the exact galleon that exiled the cross.

Tucker found the shipwreck site five years before he fetched his namesake Tucker's Cross because he figured out that sunken cannons fit into coral reef floors.

Tucker got the dark, heavy cannons up from the coral reefs that gashed and grounded their 16th-century galleon for the highest bidder, the Government of Bermuda. Five summers later, Tucker headed back to the shipwreck site, whose sandy hiding places held 200 coins, from 1592 backward, from France and the Iberian Peninsula. A five-sided gold piece nine times smaller than another, royal tax stamp-incised ingot; three more gold ingots; and four pearl-studded gold buttons implied institutionalized trading itineraries.

Three ships with the name San Pedro ("Saint Peter") journeyed along the four trading routes between the Caribbean and the Mediterranean sides of the Atlantic Ocean.

Cartographers, historians, marine archaeologists and oceanographers know of trading routes from and to Cartagena, Havana, Portobelo and Veracruz from such archived documents as logs and maps.

Archived records in the Americas and the Iberian Peninsula list loads from and to Caribbean coastal Colombia and Mexico, Cuba and the Azores, Lisbon and Seville. Arthur Kingtide mentions as one of the two unlikelier of the three San Pedro monickers Captain Sebastian Rodríguez Cermeño's (March 27, 1560-April 1, 1602?) Saint Peter. Rodríguez-Cermeño navigated his San Pedro from Acapulco in conquered western coastal Mexico across the Pacific Ocean to Manila in the conquered western coastal Philippines in 1594. The other unlikely San Pedro obfuscates the Tucker's Cross unsolved mystery because the Saint Peter Captain, Hierónimo de Porras, observed routes along Bermuda only after 1594.

Kingtide presents as the probable San Pedro in the Tucker's Cross unsolved mystery the Saint Peter under Captain Pedro Núñez de Bohórquez of Antioquia, northwestern Colombia.

Núñez de Bohórquez queued up stops from the Iberian Peninsula to Caribbean ports at Cartagena, Havana, Portobelo and Rio de la Hacha and back in 1594. He ran his San Pedro westward to Portobelo, southeastward to Cartagena, northward to Havana and southeastward along Bermuda's coastlines toward the Atlantic Ocean and the Azores. Stops southward toward Rio de la Hacha separated his San Pedro from armed escorts (armada) and sent his Saint Peter into Bermuda's sinister Isles of Devils.

The Tucker's Cross unsolved mystery of the ship that tumbled treasures across coral reefs turns out far less truculent than those about hidden compartments and theft.

Teddy Tucker's memorial is sited in Southampton Parish, southwestern Bermuda: The Royal Gazette @theroyalgazette, via Facebook Nov. 18, 2015

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

map of Bermuda shipwrecks compiled and painted by marine explorer Teddy Tucker: Magpie @jillianhalfp, via Twitter March 17, 2015, @ https://twitter.com/jillianhalfp/status/577856538464940032

Teddy Tucker's memorial is sited in Southampton Parish, southwestern Bermuda: The Royal Gazette @theroyalgazette, via Facebook Nov. 18, 2015, @ https://www.facebook.com/theroyalgazette/photos/a.441868117854.220634.249363077854/10153753548822855/

For further information:

Barnes, Bart. 28 August 2003. "Smithsonian's Mendel Peterson Dies." The Washington Post > Archive > Local.
Available @ https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2003/08/28/smithsonians-mendel-peterson-dies/b7f6e024-7e0f-4580-afc4-35a5970cfe05/?utm_term=.a10b0fe73f64

Benchley, Peter. 12 March 1989. "A Diver's Map of Bermuda: Here There Be Treasures." The New York Times Magazine > Archives > 1989.
Available @ https://www.nytimes.com/1989/03/12/magazine/a-diver-s-map-of-bermuda-here-there-be-treasures.html

The Royal Gazette @royalgazette.bm. 10 June 2014. "#Bermuda NEWS Crafted from 24 karat gold and swollen with emeralds, the cross Bermudian diver Teddy Tucker recovered from the wreck of the 16th century Spanish ship San Pedro was valued at $250,000 by the Smithsonian Institution shortly after its discovery in the 1950s." Facebook.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/royalgazette.bm/posts/10152485071432855

Doubilet, David. 17 June 2014. "Remembering Teddy Tucker, the Voice of the Sargasso Sea." National Geographic > Picture Stories.
Available @ https://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/proof/2014/06/17/remembering-teddy-tucker-the-voice-of-the-sargasso-sea/

Hardy, Jessie Moniz. Published Jan 11, 2016 at 8:00 am (Updated Jan 10, 2016 at 10:10 pm). "Unravelling the Mystery of the Tucker Cross." The Royal Gazette.
Available @ http://www.royalgazette.com/article/20160111/island04/160119984&

Kingtide, Arthur. 7 March 2018. "Tucker's Missing Cross." Lost Treasures of the Tropical Variety > Caribbean.
Available @ https://www.tropicalvariety.com/tuckers-cross.html

Lam, Brian. 17 August 2011. "Tucker's Cross: Gold and Swollen with Emeralds, This Was the World's Most Valuable Sunken Treasure." The Scuttlefish.
Available @ http://thescuttlefish.com/2011/08/tuckers-cross-gold-and-swollen-with-emeralds-this-was-the-worlds-most-valuable-sunken-treasure/

Magpie ‏@jillianhalfp. 17 March 2015. "Map by Teddy Tucker showing the wrecks he has explored in the Islands of Bermuda." Twitter.
Available @ https://twitter.com/jillianhalfp/status/577856538464940032

Marriner, Derdriu. 20 July 2018. "Nuestra Señora de Atocha Floundered Sept. 6, 1622, Found July 20, 1985." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/07/nuestra-senora-de-atocha-floundered.html

The Royal Gazette @theroyalgazette. 18 November 2015. "#Bermuda ISLAND A Bermuda Short: An anchor forms part of a memorial for world-renowned shipwreck diver Teddy Tucker, who died last year at the age of 89. The tribute is at the Princess Beach Club at Sinky Bay, Southampton. Tucker found more than 100 shipwrecks around Bermuda, including the San Pedro, which contained the famous gold and emerald 'Tucker Cross'." Facebook.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/theroyalgazette/photos/a.441868117854.220634.249363077854/10153753548822855/

Sánchez Morata, Román. 21 January 2018. "Sebastião Rodrigues Soromenho o Sebastian Rodríguez Cermeño." Navegar Es Preciso > Portada y Índice > Sumario > Sucesos, Barcos y Personajes > 29.
Available @ https://www.navegar-es-preciso.com/news/sebastiao-rodrigues-soromenho-o-sebastian-rodriquez-cermeno/

Stevenson, Cooper; and Strangeways, Sam. 10 June 2014. "Underwater Pioneer Teddy Tucker Dies, Aged 89." The Royal Gazette > Obituaries.
Available @ http://www.royalgazette.com/article/20140610/news/140619968

"Teddy Tucker." BDA Sun > Obituaries > Photo Gallery.
Available @ http://bermudasun.bm/Content/OBITUARIES/Obituaries/Photo-Gallery/Teddy-Tucker/150/917/737

"Teddy Tucker." Bernews > Bermuda Profiles.
Available @ http://bernews.com/bermuda-profiles/teddy-tucker/

"Teddy Tucker: Adventure Is My Life." PBS Home Video.

Tucker, Teddy. "How I Found the Cross." TeddyTucker.com.
Available @ http://www.teddytucker.com/treasure.html