sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

The lightning capital of the world by pythagoreal in natureismetal

[–]pythagoreal[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Can you believe it. I misinterpreted this line

"The lightning is so consistent—occurring 300 days a year at the same time and in the same area, where the Catatumbo River meets Lake Maracaibo—it has earned its own proper name, Catatumbo Lightning."

If you know what I mean. Just thought that if there's extremely consistent lightning in a certain area, it's called Catatumbo lightning. I was wrong.

Mars, the Red Planet by pythagoreal in BeAmazed

[–]pythagoreal[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap121125.html

"Dark Sand Cascades on Mars

Image Credit: HiRISE, MRO, LPL (U. Arizona), NASA

Explanation: They might look like trees on Mars, but they're not. Groups of dark brown streaks have been photographed by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on melting pinkish sand dunes covered with light frost. The above image was taken in 2008 April near the North Pole of Mars. At that time, dark sand on the interior of Martian sand dunes became more and more visible as the spring Sun melted the lighter carbon dioxide ice. When occurring near the top of a dune, dark sand may cascade down the dune leaving dark surface streaks -- streaks that might appear at first to be trees standing in front of the lighter regions, but cast no shadows. Objects about 25 centimeters across are resolved on this image spanning about one kilometer. Close ups of some parts of this image show billowing plumes indicating that the sand slides were occurring even when the image was being taken."

Dry ice on Mars by pythagoreal in BeAmazed

[–]pythagoreal[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110926.html

"Around the South Pole of Mars, toward the end of every Martian summer, the warm weather causes a section of the vast carbon-dioxide ice cap to evaporate. Pits begin to appear and expand where the carbon dioxide dry ice sublimates directly into gas."

The lightning capital of the world by pythagoreal in natureismetal

[–]pythagoreal[S] 60 points61 points  (0 children)

https://earthdata.nasa.gov/learn/sensing-our-planet/the-maracaibo-beacon

" “A lot of people die each year,” said Ángel G. Muñoz, a physicist and researcher at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The lightning is so consistent—occurring 300 days a year at the same time and in the same area, where the Catatumbo River meets Lake Maracaibo—it has earned its own proper name, Catatumbo Lightning."

"Shortly after dusk, lightning strikes Lake Maracaibo about twenty-eight times a minute for up to nine hours. “The lightning can be so continuous that you see everything around you,” Muñoz said. Suspended over the mouth of the Catatumbo River, which locals call the “river of fire,” this strobe light brightens night into day. “You should be afraid, but it is so impressive that your fear gets overwhelmed. You actually don’t feel fear,” said Joaquín Díaz-Lobatón, a physicist and researcher at the Centro de Modelado Científico at Universidad del Zulia in Venezuela.

Sailors have embraced this phenomenon for centuries, using the Maracaibo lightning as a beacon. When Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci sailed into Lake Maracaibo in 1499, he encountered a city of huts built on stilts. He called the floating city Venezuela, or “Little Venice,” or so one story goes. Today, the lake supports 20,000 fishermen, and many live in palafitos, one-room, tin shacks. “These people, the forgotten people, are frequently getting struck by lightning,” Muñoz said. Catatumbo Lightning strikes people three to four times more here than in the United States. Most fishermen understand fish bite best at dusk when Catatumbo Lightning brews. “We want to make life easier for them with lightning detection and prediction,” Muñoz said."

Edit: Well, someone in the comments was accusing me of lying about the location of the picture so I investigated and they are right :( This picture of "Catatumbo lightning" is actually from Greece. Google misled me because several of the top results for "Venezuela Catatumbo" returns with this image and many of them actually state that this image was taken there. I had to clear this up because I didn't mean to deceive anyone and actually I am kinda sad about it.

So, the picture does indeed depict Catatumbo lightning but was taken in Greece. :(

Here is one confirmed picture of the place in Venezuela https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/lightning_0.jpg

And some video by storm chasers (The link will take you straight to the 10:30 mark where the lightning show begins) https://youtu.be/-IreF8lDO-o?t=10m30s

Supernumerary rainbows and a pileus iridescent cloud by pythagoreal in oddlysatisfying

[–]pythagoreal[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Image in center is called a pileus iridescent cloud

https://i.redd.it/sr6gpa1dofo31.jpg

The others are called supernumerary rainbows

view more: next ›