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[...] we’ve talked about the virtues of careful planning during any impeding trek in the past, and how it can make or break a trip. What we want to address [...]
The Sky is Waiting.
[...] we’ve talked about the virtues of careful planning during any impeding trek in the past, and how it can make or break a trip. What we want to address [...]
The Current Number of Exoplanets Discovered is: 3989
Pictured is a Delta IV rocket launch from Cape Canaveral on November 21st, 2010. The image is a 20 second exposure taken at dusk, shot from about 100 miles west of the launch site. The launch placed a classified payload in orbit for the United States Air Force.
Difficult but not impossible to catch against the dawn or dusk sky, spotting an extreme crescent moon can be a challenge. The slender crescent pictured was shot 30 minutes before sunrise when the Moon was less than 20 hours away from New. A true feat of visual athletics to catch, a good pair of binoculars or a well aimed wide field telescopic view can help with the hunt.
The Sun is our nearest star, and goes through an 11-year cycle of activity. This image was taken via a properly filtered telescope, and shows the Sun as it appeared during its last maximum peak in 2003. This was during solar cycle #23, a period during which the Sun hurled several large flares Earthward. The next solar cycle is due to peak around 2013-14.
Located in the belt of the constellation Orion, Messier 42, also known as the Orion Nebula is one of the finest deep sky objects in the northern hemisphere sky. Just visible as a faint smudge to the naked eye on a clear dark night, the Orion Nebula is a sure star party favorite, as it shows tendrils of gas contrasted with bright stars. M42 is a large stellar nursery, a star forming region about 1,000 light years distant.
Orbiting the planet in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) every 90 minutes, many people fail to realize that you can see the International Space Station (ISS) from most of the planet on a near-weekly basis. In fact, the ISS has been known to make up to four visible passes over the same location in one night. The image pictured is from the Fourth of July, 2011 and is a 20 second exposure of a bright ISS pass.
Next to the Sun, the two brightest objects in the sky are the Moon and the planet Venus. In fact, when Venus is favorably placed next to the Moon, it might just be possible to spot the two in the daytime. Another intriguing effect known as earthshine or ashen light is also seen in the image on the night side of the Moon; this is caused by sunlight reflected back off of the Earth towards our only satellite.
A mosaic of three images taken during the total lunar eclipse of December 21st, 2010. The eclipse occurred the same day as the winter solstice. The curve and size of the Earth’s shadow is apparent in the image.
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Travel Old and New
A confirmed vertical sundial sighting in Seville, Spain…
(photo by the author)
The more things change, the more they stay the same… or do they?
This past week saw us change basecamp from Cadiz, Spain to Seville. No huge move, just a few train rides and a short hike with the luggage. We always love it when a moving day is shorter than six hours duration from door to door.
And besides, there’s always the added challenge of figuring out the essentials of a new basecamp locale. Everything, from where the garbage goes, to the closest food/ATM/laundry has to be discerned, often at the end of a very long day of problem-solving to begin with.
We’ve been problem-solving the vagaries of independent backpack traveling for going on three full decades now. As we near applying for our fourth U.S. passport next summer, we’ve reflected on just how much travel has changed and continues to do so.
Most of this, of course, has been for the better. I remember our first trip to Thailand, taking a month’s worth of travelers checks tucked in our waist pack, and then having to carefully budget out our trip day by day. Though we still carry a small supply of emergency cash, we now almost exclusively rely on ATMs day to day.
And paper maps? We now find Google Maps on our smartphone almost scary useful. No more guide books (we download those, too) and now, we look just like another guy on the street corner staring at our smartphone, rather than a tourist with a map.
And the prevalence of technology and its accompanying miniaturization means that as WiFi becomes more ubiquitous, even internet cafes are becoming a thing of the past.
Overall, I think all of these changes are for the good. Anything that frees me up to do more traveling is a good thing… surely, no one misses the daily hunt to queue up for cashing a travelers check, often for a rate approaching highway robbery at 20%?
And when is the last time you set foot in a travel agency? And isn’t it weird to think that we’ve been turning to Expedia and Kayak for well over a decade now?
And Air BnB is now our latest addiction. Seriously, why didn’t we think of that? Will traditional hotels even be around in a few years?
And you know what I want next? There’s talk that soon, you’ll be able to insert a device in your ear that will give you a real-time translation of a conversation in another language. Sort of like the Babel Fish from Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. To be sure, this is a long ways off from real fluency, but in theory, two individuals wearing such a device could carry on a real-time conversation…
This would certainly serve to upend the state of travel translation apps that are out there, and I fully expect to see some sort of earbud translator on the market before we apply for US passport number five.
Just think, we could all, at last, understand just what everyone around us is saying… let’s hope that, like in Adams’ book, this doesn’t lead to bigger and bloodier wars than ever before.
Next week: we pick up some wheels and head into the Spanish countryside. We’re thinking its time to talk about driving in foreign lands. Stay tuned!