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.