Travel

I had the opportunity to travel to California with no parents or my brother for five days. Five days that I got to see so many new places. I always to try to go to new places and my goal is that in the future I study abroad and travel as much as I can. When I arrived everything seemed okay but as soon as my dog saw me he jumped in circles and raced towards me I was also glad to see him. On my trip I saw many universities and I was even able to see the sunset on a beach. The sun seemed to be so close that I felt as if I could go into the ocean and swim up to it, probably even fly up to it as well, like Icarus. It truly was an amazing experience and it's experiences like this that make me want to pack up a bag and walk across the continents.

Taken by: Abigail Navarro

 

My parents were not the only ones dreading to let me travel by myself and my plans leaked out to half of my family in a small amount of time (I had a small part in this, I was excited to visit new places). I would spend more than half an hour on the phone every day listening to my aunts and uncles explaining to me how dangerous it would be for me to travel with no one they knew. I have an amazing family and one of my cousins talked to my mom for more than an hour he convinced her to let me go for a short time. This was almost a year ago and in this month after talking to my family on the phone trying to convince them again, I was able to convince both my mom and dad this time on my own. It took more than a month to convince them but my nagging had finally paid off and at six a.m. I was in front of my school with a suitcase.

 



Taken by: Abigail Navarro 1/9/14


I'm not sure if it was the fact that I had a time off of my daily routine or that pressure was taken off my back and neck for a couple of days but my attention was mostly taken away by the scenery surrounding me. Sometimes I turn my head directly upwards and I can see how the sky slightly curves and I feel like I'm in a snow globe or marble, as if I too was in a scene and part of that snow globe that occasionally is shaken to knock me down and create a small riot on both ends of the globe.

 

I have no idea what career to pursue in a small amount of years to come, but one thing I do know is that I want to travel. I wish to not fall when the globe is shaken but to take off like a bird and fly to another area and check if the objects there are knocked down, then I will pick them up and fly again. My nest is where my family is and yes it is my home, but whenever I travel, even if it's somewhere close I feel as if I know the world I live in a bit more and I feel a bit more connected and free.

 

I know that it's hard to let one go, but I also know that if it is that hard to let one go then it must mean that they are very important to you and I wouldn't want to keep them locked up in a perfect little cage knowing that they also wish to fly, I wouldn't want them to be knocked down and stay in the same place they were. I would want them to pack up a bag and walk across the continent, or fly to the other end of the globe and help others do the same.

 

 

Different Stars at Different Times and Places?

I was able to go out on a Saturday and as I came out if a casino, Grand Sierra Resort, I noticed that I could not see any stars I was only able to see the moon, I left about nine o'clock and headed over to a friends house. As I was leaving the casino I was able to see a bit more stars but not as much. I left their house around one in the morning and as I was getting into my dad's car I saw so  many stars, which got me thinking of what I learned about light pollution. At what time are stars more visible and around what time do they disappear from our sight? Do stars appear different like the moon does in the southern hemisphere or do we see different stars than different parts of the world because of our locations and time?

According to Clara Moskowitz, "The opportunity to see certain constellations I'd never before seen, some of which are visible only from below the equator, was one of the experiences I was most looking forward to on the trip."  Different constellations are visible at different locations and I realized that I was able to see more stars at later times that I haven't noticed before. I thought it was interesting how some nights I would see certain stars that I could identify but I also would see different stars that I have not paid much attention towards and some of the stars that I noticed seemed to only come out later at night, perhaps because they were easily hidden from sight due to the light pollution.

Winter is about to begin and I have the opportunity to travel this year south where I will be able to observe the sky and notice the differences between the stars at night compared to my observations because of the time difference. I understand that our sky looks different from different places in the world but it's exciting realizing that I have the opportunity to see a different side of the sky and hopefully I have the opportunity to see the sky without any light pollution masking the sky.

 Works Cited:

Moskowitz, Clara. "Reporter's Journal: A New Yorker's View of the Southern Sky." Space.com. N.p., 8 Apr. 2013. Web. 01 Nov. 2014.

Clouds in the Sky

I am able to see clouds more often now in the sky during the day and as the sun sets now than I was before. Clouds also have a circle of life that in the end like many other animals around us, no matter their size helps our ecosystem. The water raises  into the air and its vapor forms a cloud, then the cloud rains and snows that drops back down to the ground. Much of the water serves as a source of energy for plants and animals. I was able to find "Life of a Cloud", a poem by Mark R. Slaughter that led me to believe that clouds also have a life cycle just like trees and animals, including us are made up of cells they are composed of H2O.

Warming thermals whisper as they rise,
To tell us they are soon to bring to view
In cooler air aloft before your eyes:
A gentle wisp to counterpoint the blue.

Powder puffs emerge to grant her grace
That further bloom as would for stately tree, and
Yield a sight that calls for our embrace:
Another cloud anew above the lea.

Cruising forth, she yearns for ageless life.
O how her hopes will soon be dashed in vain,
For up there in the cold she courts her strife,
To fade away as drops of closing rain.

Scant and lacy speak her living span,
And fair among us could be brought to mourn,
But she was there to populate her clan:
From fallen tears, new daughters will be born.

The poem describes their life and how it calls for attention I agreed with how the clouds make the sky a bit more interesting by contrasting its colors even though they are not vibrant colors, it adds that missing piece to the puzzle. "For up there in the cold she courts her strife, to fade away as drops of closing rain." This line in the poem caught my attention and added to the connection of how clouds too are alive, she, the cloud, disappears as rain drops from the sky. "From fallen tears, new daughters will be born." The last line of the poem made me think of reincarnation and how everything on earth serves a purpose to help other life on the earth. I wasn't sure why the poet saw clouds in a feminine way, it might be the way they seem delicate and beautiful in the sky that if he made them masculine it could of made the clouds in his poem seem less graceful.

One insect that came to my mind after I read the poem was the butterfly. Like the cloud it start its life with out much to show until it reaches the sky. The monarch butterfly for example migrates for miles lay eggs then it dies a new cycle of life begins. I saw an educational video about the monarch butterfly migration but I was not able to find it so I found this website that shows amazing photographs of their migration and hibernation. http://www.monarchbutterflyfund.org/node/148

Works Cited:
 

"The Monarch Butterfly's Annual Cycle." Monarch Butterfly Fund Conserving the Migration. N.p.,   n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2014.

Slaughter, Mark R. "Life of a Cloud." PoemHunters.com. N.p., 22 Jan. 2010. Web. 26 Oct. 2014.

 

Figures

Earth isn't the only planet in the solar system, there are seven other planets, that also have moons. Mars has two moons, Jupiter has sixty-three, Saturn sixty-two, Uranus has twenty-seven and Neptune has thirteen. If you would like to see more information about the moons and planets you can visit this website: http://www.windows2universe.org/our_solar_system/moons_table.html

In my observations I have noticed that the moon has different patterns on  it and remembered that people have said that there is a face on the moon, my  parents have told me about a rabbit on the moon but I have never been able to make out these images when I used to look at the moon. So when I was younger I would use my imagination to picture a rabbit in a shape of a fetus. I choose to pay more attention to the rabbit than the man because I love animals and I thought it was more interesting to see a rabbit than a human (since I would see people everyday what was the point of picturing one on the moon at night?). To me the rabbit was cradled up and sleeping.
This website shows the different figures that people see on different parts of the hemispheres

The different figures seen by different people made me think why do they all see different things on the same object? Pareidolia-- "the phenomenon of seeing faces where there are non is a form of information-filling. It's something all humans do." After reading this page I came up with my own assumption, when we were younger we had a more detailed paredolia and more imagination including with what we saw because we lacked the knowledge of why things were the way they were. Also that we now could see things shaped as something else because it might have something to do with the way animals can camouflage and how their outline is a bit more visible it could have been a skill we got after needing it for fishing or hunting? After learning all this and creating assumptions I wonder what kind of image can be seen on the different planets and their moons.

Works Cited:
 

Drake, Nadia. "Why Do People See Faces in the Moon?" National Geographic. National Geographic  Society, 12 Apr. 2014. Web.

Russell, Randy M. "Moons in Our Solar System." Windows to the Universe. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2014.

 



Eclipse

I have been observing the moon, and noticed that it changes its phase fast at first the moon was a half moon showing its right face, then it became a full moon and now it seems to go back to a half moon only now the left side will be showing. October 8, there was an eclipse that covered the moon turning it red starting around like at one and two in the morning.
"By 1 am the moon was still full and bright but it does seem like an eclipse is going to happen still the sky seems to be a bit brighter than earlier though. By 2 am I could see part of the left side of the moon starting to become dark. By 2:25 am... the eclipse is a bit more visible ... as the moon turn darker it seems to start to become a crescent shape. 3:11 the moon is on the right side of my house now" Field notes 11/8/14.


These pictures were one of the closest I have found to what I saw during the eclipse.

When the eclipse started, the moon began to turn a dark grey and then as became clearer the moon began turning red. During the few days that the full moon was visible it reminded me of many superstitions and myths of the full moon and blood moon. A thing that I have heard a lot about is how an eclipse may harm a developing baby while the mother is still pregnant. I have heard that during the pregnancy the eclipse can make the newborn come out with defects, not only with humans but this can also happen to animals. Some say that the eclipse can change the temperature or radiation and hurt the pregnancy like it could hurt your eyes even without knowing. Whether or not this is true I believe that the superstitions began after myths as a way  of trying to help one's luck.

Work Cited

 

Nguyen, Nicole. "Catch the Shortest Lunar Eclipse in the Sky or on the Web Today." POPSUGAR. N.p., 25 Apr. 2013. Web. 12 Oct. 2014.

Light Pollution

I have been able to see the moon a lot more clearly these past days. The half moon is very bright, on many occasions it has appeared during the day. It is possible to see the moon during the day because of its reflection of the sun's light and during this cycle it is closer to the sun. Seeing the moon as bright as it was and the thousands of lights downtown made me wonder how the sky would look like without any light pollution.



San Francisco, California sky without light pollution.

Our galaxy got its name because long ago the Romans named it "via lactea" ("road of milk") because of the line that has a milky color. I wish to be able to see the sight, it's a bit pitiful knowing that many  people will never be able to see the reason why our galaxy got its name.



San Francisco, California sky at night with light pollution.

Throughout the years the use of energy and the light pollution has grown, even though it has helped many of us complete tasks with ease it seems to be overused. Many places though are trying to change this by saving energy and using other resources. Great Basin National Park is among the darkest skies in the U.S. 

The Clear Sky

September fifteen I began to document my observations of the sky. That day it was independence day for Mexico, I was hoping on seeing stars or at least the moon but the sky seemed to be dull the first two minutes I sat outside on a sidewalk. I began on painting a rough sketch of what I had seen and wasn't impressed by how badly it looked (when I try to paint something I see it never seems to work out) so I ripped out the paper from my sketch book and tried again. I was about to head back inside my house but as I was about to stand I saw a spider with half of its body on dirt and the rest on concrete, almost as if it was heading back to where it lived, I lost sight of it and began to look upwards again. (How do spiders remember where they live if the world compared to them is enormous, they might see their world smaller. It could become in their nature and instinct to know where to go, how far to travel and when to return like it is to trap and eat. But why would a spider leave its web if that is where their food is?) Anyways the sky was different shades of blue as I slowly move my head so I can see straight ahead, the changes of the shade of blue in the sky seem to slowly turn lighter until there are trees and houses blocking my view.


I found this picture that reminded my of that night. Of course it isn't the same but to me it looks familiar.

I began to think if years ago on this very same night if it was also calm, but how could it be? Not every night can be the same as another, then again who knows? I wondered if maybe that night someone felt a little sense of rebellion and triumph the way I did but obviously the revolutionists compared to me would have felt it on a much larger scale -- but I did feel some kind of connection and excitement because well if you think about it much of the universe is unknown and maybe there's another person like me that is doing the same thing or did years ago.