Scribal Terror

Water on the moon?

The London Times reports;

Dreams of establishing a manned Moon base could become reality within two decades after India’s first lunar mission found evidence of large quantities of water on its surface. Data from Chandrayaan-1 also suggests that water is still being formed on the Moon. Scientists said the breakthrough — to be announced by Nasa at a press conference today — would change the face of lunar exploration.

Complete parhelic circle

With sundogs.

Dust devil

A Tornado During Soccer - The most amazing bloopers are here

Siberian tornado

More of a waterspout, isn't it? Via English Russia

Aurora australis

Near the McMurdo Station and Scott Base in Antarctica, from Antzartica.

Mare's tails and mackerel scales

We had beautiful long wispy mare's tails over Central Illinois last night and I didn't have my camera with me, so just imagine Glacierman's stunning photo without the sea or the mountains . . .

Nautical lore tells us:

Mare's tails and mackerel scales
Make tall ships carry small sails

According to About.com:

mare’s tails are wispy cirrus clouds while . . . mackerel scales are small clumpy altocumulus clouds resembling fish scales in the sky. In the days of large sailing ships, this meant a storm would be approaching soon and the sails should be lowered to protect from the accompanying high winds.

We also had some mackerel scales, which looked like the ones in this photo from the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research:

What is it? The surface of the sun

Scribal points to JWebb for identifying this as a "nascent sunspot." It's a small portion of NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day, commentary at the link.

Brocken Spectre

A Brocken spectre is an apparently gigantic shadow cast in fog or mist, often surrounded by an aura. According to Wikipedia:

The "spectre" appears when the sun shines from behind a climber who is looking down from a ridge or peak into mist. The light projects the climber's shadow forward through the mist, often in an odd triangular shape due to perspective. The apparent magnification of size of the shadow is an optical illusion that occurs when the observer judges his shadow on relatively nearby clouds to be at the same distance as faraway land objects seen through gaps in the clouds, or when there are no reference points at all by which to judge its size. The shadow also falls on water droplets of varying distances from the eye, confusing depth perception . The ghost can appear to move (sometimes quite suddenly) because of the movement of the cloud layer.

This one, which has a decidedly Blair-Witch-Project feel, was taken in Japan somewhere in the Tanzawa region. It's from Wikipedia, and the photographer is unidentified. The Nonist has an article on Brocken spectres today, with a good collection of photos.

Round ice

Like lily pads but really, really cold. Via English Russia

More -- and bigger -- midwest earthquakes inevitable

Amr Elnashai, a professor of civil engineering and director of the Mid-America Earthquake Center (MAE), says the recent 5.2 earthquake is neither the last nor the largest the midwest can expect. According to an article in Engineering at Illinois,

In considering future earthquake events, Elnashai noted that there are two seismic mechanisms that affect the Midwest--the Wabash Valley, with a calculated capability of a 7.1 magnitude, which will shake the region about 900 times more violently than the West Salem earthquake in April 2008, and the New Madrid Zone, which is capable of up to magnitude 8, which will shake the region more than 2,700 times more violently.

"Under such earthquakes, the ground in some critical regions will liquefy, as it did in 1811-1812," he added. As with other disaster scenarios, untold indirect consequences also await populations in the region. In winter, power--and heat--will be out for weeks, as well as water and telecommunications. Highways and bridges will be closed along with rail lines and major metropolitan airports in Chicago, St. Louis, and Memphis. High-rise buildings in Chicago will lose windows and other attachments such as TV towers.