Hey, a new post!

I've really fallen out of the habit of posting on the blog lately.  It's been almost a month since my last post.  My personal and professional life have just been too busy to have the free time necessary to do this.  But, I'll still persist and try to at least get a couple of posts a week in if I can.  I'm working on a geologic post for tomorrow but today I'll just jot down a few random observations...

Happy pi day (pi = 3.14... and today is 3/14 - get it?).  I think I'll celebrate by buying and eating some pie later!

Spring is coming!  I find this time of year maddening since it looks nice out but there's still an icy cold wind at times at the threat of snow still looms (some of the largest Northeastern blizzards have occurred in March).  I've seen some crocuses popping up and flocks of red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) have been moving though my area this week.  The other day, the trees outside my house were loaded with them trilling their distinctive call.

 

Haven't heard the spring peepers yet but I have heard a couple of frogs waking up in the wetlands behind my house.  They will be calling soon - the true sign that spring is here.  I can't wait for that first 65 F day when I can go and find a flat rock in a quiet place and lay out absorbing the warm sun.

Still looking for comet C2011/L4 Panstarrs in the western sky just after sunset.  Here in the Mid-Hudson Valley it was cloudy last Tuesday when this picture was taken from elsewhere (from Bad Astronomy).  Can't believe that every night this week in my area has seen clouds in the western sky at sunset - it's very frustrating!

Leaving for a Northeastern Geological Society of America conference this weekend. It's at the beautiful-looking Mount Washington Hotel at Bretton Woods (at the base of, obviously, Mount Washington in New Hampshire).

I'm hoping to get in a little relaxation too since I'll be free of the home-life pressures and teaching duties for a few days.  I'll let you all know if I learn anything interesting (if anyone reading this will be there, send me an email, we'll grab a beer and talk geology).

Stone heads on the Hudson

Quite a while ago, I saw something, somewhere about a fellow named Theodore Ludwiczak who lived in Haverstraw, NY along the Hudson River.  Ludwiczak had an unusual hobby - he found stones along the river, would carry them up to his house, and carve faces in them.  It became a bit of an obsession with him and he stacked them around his house.  Here's an article about him.

I always had it in the back of my mind to stop sometime and see this and finally had the opportunity today.  While driving along Route 9W in Haverstraw, on a whim, we drove down Riverside Avenue to Mr. Ludwiczak's house.  Here are a couple of pictures...

 

 

We didn't do anything other than stop on the road for a couple of pictures and briefly admire his creations.  I'm trying to talk my wife (an artist) to try her hand at it (Ludwiczak starting carving using just a mallet and an old lawnmower blade - I've got one of those my shed!) but she just acted as if I was crazy.

 

If you're ever in the area, it's worth a short detour (Google maps location).

Cardinals in winter

Busy again but here's a picture of a male and female northern cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) out in the snow out my back door.

Want to hear their song?  Here's a nice resource on YouTube.

Observing Mercury

It's a snowy afternoon here in the Hudson Valley as a massive nor'easter pounds the entire Northeast.  I haven't posted for a bit since work has been incredibly busy but today's a good day to catch up on stuff as I sit next to a warm fire, a fresh pot of coffee brewing, and the electricity and internet still working!

One of the classes I'm teaching this semester is solar system astronomy.  Because of this, I've been keeping my eye on astronomical events a bit more than usual, especially those related to our celestial neighborhood.

Mercury is one of the classical naked eye planets.  These are the planets known to all ancient cultures that observed the night sky and saw that five "stars" in the sky behaved completely differently from all the others and changed their positions from night to night (or week to week, depending).  As a matter of fact, the word planet comes from the Greek planētēs (πλανήτης) or "wanderer."  Today we know those five "stars" as Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.

Mercury is the most difficult of the five to observe.  This is because it's the planet closest to the Sun so it can only be seen just after sunset (as it's setting in the west in the twighlit sky) or early in the morning rising just before the Sun and soon washing out in the dawn.  While difficult to observe, it's certainly not impossible, and this month presents a opportunity.  And, as an added bonus, it will be in conjunction with the planet Mars.

The 11th or 12th, Monday or Tuesday night, might be the best to try (assuming it's clear) since you just may be able to make out the very, very thin sliver of the waning crescent Moon.  Here's the view from my house at 6:00 pm EST looking west on the 11th.

You obviously need a clear view of the western horizon.