Weather on Mars

A clear November day in  Gale Crater Mars

In the UK we have been experiencing heavy rain and flooding but on Mars it is very very dry. The Mars exploration vehicle Curiosity took the above composite photograph in October and November of this year when the air was clear and free from dust. The day time temperatures on Mars have been unusually warm and large dust storms are caused by temperature differentials, therefore I wonder if Curiosity might soon be in for a dust bath!   In September 2001 there was a global dust storm which obscured geological features that are normally visible from Earth and space. The images below, taken in June and September 2001 by the Hubble Space Telescope clearly show the affects of atmospheric dust.

Hubble Space Telescope images from 2001

Wind blown sand in Gale Crater
images taken by Curiosity's Mast Camera

Credits for images Curiosity and the HST NASA

Sleeping Beauty

Last night we went to see Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty at the Theatre Royal Norwich.

It was a wonderful experience, beautiful music, excellent dancing and brilliant set design.

If you can still get tickets, Toot and I would recommend catching a performance of Sleeping Beauty at Sadler's Wells in December.

To quote our eight years old grandson, Felix, " Too good for words"!

Recommendations don't come better than that!

Orion the Hunter

Orion photographed from our backyard

It has come around to that time of year when the constellation Orion at midnight peeps over our backyard fence to say hello.

Toot and I are very fond of Orion and for astronomers it contains a number of real treasures. Of course it is the other way up for my readers in the southern hemisphere!

Orion is host to a vast molecular cloud, parts of which, are visible to the naked eye and look spectacular through binoculars or a small telescope.

Parts of the molecular cloud shine because molecules of hydrogen gas are being ionised by infrared and ultraviolet radiation from new born stars.

An easily observable example in Orion is the so called Trapezium in M42 found in Orion's Sword which sits below the belt stars; Alnitak, Alnilam and|Mintaka.  The new born Trapezium Stars, recently created in the last million or so years by the gravitational collapse of cold hydrogen gas molecules, are radiating in the ultra-violet spectrum, ionizing the gas cloud and causing it to shine through the emission of photons.

(Above)The Trapezium photographed
from my backyard through my 5 inch refractor.
(Right) M41 data from ESO, photo put
together using Iris by me.

 

The constellation Orion contains a number of famous astronomical wonders including;

• The red super-giant and semi regular variable star Betelgeuse, which is entering the final phase of its life on the main sequence and will in the next  million years, go super-nova to finally end its days as a planetary nebula.  Betelgeuse has run out of hydrogen fuel and is now fusing helium to create carbon. It will work its way up the Periodic table fusing one element after another until it gets to the element iron and at this point it will explode in a cataclysmic type II super-nova.  Earth will be quite safe as Betelgeuse is estimated to be some 1300 light years distant. 
• The bright star Alnitak, the easternmost star in the Belt of Orion, shines ultraviolet light into the Flame Nebula and this knocks electrons away from the great clouds of hydrogen gas that reside there. Primarily,the glow results when the electrons and ionized hydrogen recombine. Additional dark gas and dust lies in front of the bright part of the nebula and this is what causes the dark network that appears in the center of the glowing gas. 
• The Horsehead Nebula  is a dark cloud of dust and gas and is a region in the Orion Nebula where star formation is taking place right now.  The area of the Orion Nebula containing the Horsehead is a stellar nursery. The darkness of the massive nebula is not explained by this dust and gas, but by the complex blocking of the light from stars behind it.  The Horsehead is only observable through large amateur telescopes and from dark sites.

Thanks to the European Southern Obsrvatory (ESO), Wikipedia and Sky and Telescope

Echoes from Kitty Hawk

Wilbur, Orville and Buzz; Pioneers of Flight

Buzz Aldrin made a rare live appearance upon BBC Radio 4.  It wasn't a high -brow programme, more a  light comedic thirty minute interlude between the six o' clock news and a long running radio soap.  It filled a half hour of our time whilst Toot and I were driving to Norwich.  Mr Aldrin took an active part in the banter and with good grace completed his appearance alongside a random collection of minor celebrities from the British Entertainment Industry.  As long as I can remember, I have been risk averse and so courageous pioneers such as astronauts have always scored high in my pantheon of the great and good.

My grandfather once took me to see the former great world champion boxer, Primo Carnera who towards the end of his life and in financial difficulty had resorted to taking part in professional wrestling matches.  Even as a small boy, the sight of this huge man, once a world champion, being manhandled by a youth, half his size and age, in a make shift ring at  Maidstone Corn Exchange, was a very sad spectacle indeed.

Mr Aldrin thankfully, although out of place on this programme and in such lightweight company, retained his humour and dignity and I for one was thrilled to hear him speak. Its not everyday you can hear words 'real time' from the once and second 'man on the moon'.  It never much interested me as to which one descended the ladder first, I just thought the whole Apollo Programme was brilliant and probably one of mankind's finest achievements.  I'm not impressed by the purveyors of  'We never went to the Moon bullshit conspiracies'.  I have a memory that I read somewhere that Mr Aldrin once punched someone for promoting such a theory in his presence. I hope this is true and if it was 'Good on you Buzz'!

I then got thinking about his place in history and time and realized that my childhood was more or less the same temporal distance from Wilbur and Orville Wright as my grandchildren are from Buzz Aldrin's journey to the Moon.  Am I that old or does time and technology just come and go too quickly?

Credits for images: NASA and Wikipedia.

Brancaster Mussels

In East Anglia, the mussel season is in full swing and last night I made Toot and I a bowl of Moules Mariniere. The best mussels of course are caught at Brancaster Staithe in Norfolk.  My Granny always said "Only eat mussels when there's an 'R' in the month".  Having eaten mussels in Spain and in August and having survived to tell the tale, I believe this advice to be a bit suspect.

In September each year, the new season Brancaster Mussels appear on our fishmonger's slab and they are quite delicious when cooked in wine.

Recipe for Moules Mariniere  

For a main meal for two people you will need about 1.5 kg or 3 lbs of live mussels in their shells, two shallots or one small white onion, 5 sprigs of traditional parsley (not flat leaf), 4 tablespoons of double cream, 1 ounce or 25 grams of butter, half a bottle -35 centilitres - of white wine (German Hock works well) and black pepper to taste.  You can add a little fresh celery or garlic but Toot and I prefer it without.  You can substitute good quality cider for the wine if you so prefer.

Clean all the mud and remove attached weed from the mussels. This is best accomplished under running water with the mussels in a sieve.   Discard any mussels that have broken shells or are open.  In this way you will avoid any potential for food poisoning.

Slice white onions or shallots very finely on a board.
Chop fresh parsley finely on the same board and add to the sliced onions

Place the mussels in a pan, add the onion, parsley and black pepper. If adding garlic or celery it should be done at this stage.

Add the wine to the pan, the wine does not have to cover the mussels as they will cook in the steam.  For this to work,the pan does need a lid and this should be kept on throughout the cooking process.

Place the pan on the hob and cook over a high heat.  Shake the pan from time to time to ensure they all cook through evenly. They are cooked when all the shells are open.  Do not over cook as this will cause the mussel flesh to shrink and become tough.  Sometimes the odd mussel refuses to open during cooking, do not overcook the rest awaiting the odd one or two to open. Not opening does not mean there is anything wrong with it.  Just lift it out with the rest and it might open anyway.

When cooked lift the mussels out of the wine and place them in two bowls.  Put the bowls in the oven on a low heat to keep warm.

To make the sauce; discard  half the cooking liquor (or better still save for use as a stock - makes a good base for a fishy spaghetti), return the remainder to a simmering boil and add the butter stirring vigorously.  When the butter has melted into the wine add the cream slowly whilst stirring taking care not to separate the sauce.  Pour the cooked sauce, onions and parsley  all over the mussels and serve straight away with crusty French bread batons.  You can drink the remaining half bottle of hock with the Moules but I prefer a drier French or Kiwi white.

Why not give Moules Mariniere a try and give your taste-buds and autumnal treat!

Jupiter and Moon Conjunction

Photograph taken from our garden last night
 using Toot's  hand-held Sony Compact Camera

You might have noticed that the Moon had a bright companion last night.  The planet Jupiter appeared to be sitting alongside the waning gibbous Moon.  It was however, a line of sight illusion as Jupiter varies  between 629 and 928 million  km in distance from Earth and the Moon only varies between 363 and 407 thousand  km.  Jupiter is also much much larger than the Moon, it's diameter being approximately 45 times bigger.  Jupiter only  appears as a star-like point of light because it is so far away, viewed under 25x or more magnification in a small telescope it presents clearly as a disc.  


Jupiter is a gas giant, 90% hydrogen and  9% helium.  It has the fastest rate of spin of all the planets and completes a full rotation every 9.9 hours.  The resulting centrifugal force (or lack of centripetal acceleration) causes the shape of Jupiter to deform from the pure sphere dictated by gravity.  Jupiter's diameter measured around its equator is therefore significantly greater than when measured over its poles. Jupiter's shape is described as oblate.  In a small telescope this deformation is quite obvious to even an untrained eye.
Jupiter has its own retinue of  some 63 moons, four of which. the Galilean Moons, can be seen through 10x50 mm binoculars. The number of these larger moons visible and their positions vary according to their position in orbit around Jupiter and whether they are or not in eclipse.

The Incredible Shrinking Old Man

Architectural Minimalism

Yesterday I had my annual check up at our Doctor's Surgery.  Help I've shrunk!

 I'm not sure whether it was the recent spinal surgery, just getting older or both but, which ever way you look at me, I'm not as tall as I was.

I used to be a 5 feet ten inches tall practicing architect and now retired, I'm only 5 feet eight and one quarter.  For those more decimal in their outlook, that is a whopping  reduction of some 44 millimetres.  Where did they go and where will this all end?  I don't want to become a 'knee high to a grasshopper octogenarian'!  You shouldn't look down on the elderly its 'ageist'.