Nature Moncton Nature News: Oct 28 2022

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

Oct 28, 2022

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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

**A photo is attached of the Petitcodiac River Monster as a mural on the back of a building where many of us will be standing on Saturday, November 5 watching the RCMP Pipe and Drum Band greet the arrival of the Tidal Bore on Petitcodiac River Appreciation Day. The River Monster is a phenomenon many may not be aware of. When Fred Richards and Nelson Poirier were watching the Tidal Bore arriving on Tuesday morning, they noted some spots of commotion in the water behind the bore and wondered about the possibility of a seal.

When Georges Brun arrived and the water disturbance was mentioned, he explained that this happens very frequently behind the head of the bore and myth has it that it is created by the River Monster! It is actually a phenomenon of the rushing water creating these up dwellings of turbulent water that vary in size from small to surprisingly large.

So now we know!!

Another real-life phenomenon is Georges Brun himself. George visits the river at some site almost every day and has an incredible amount of recorded information on the activities of the river. A group has erected a plaque on the riverbank beside Château Moncton to recognize Georges efforts and a photo is attached today.

** On Wednesday Brian Stone walked some of the trails through Centennial Park in Moncton and sends some of the scarce photographic fare that he produced. Of course, Canada Geese were present along with a troupe of Mallard Ducks and a lone Double-crested Cormorant. He also sends a selection of mushroom photos to include the unmistakable Shaggy Mane Mushroom and Oyster Mushroom both of which which many folks use as an edible. Brian also got a photo of the uncommon Split Gill Mushroom (Shizophyllum commune (Editor’s note: I have never encountered this mushroom, but the guides illustrate it well. Apparently, the gills split as the mushroom matures to give it the name. An interesting point to watch for).

**A mushroom which all should be familiar with is the Smooth Lepoita (Lepiotita naucina). This mushroom is starting to pop up on lawns and rich manicured grass areas. It tends to grow in groups but not attached clumps. It is a completely white, gilled mushroom of medium size, not large. It has a very prominent partial veil (arrowed) with a bulbous base to the stalk. It yields a white spore print. It is not a toxic mushroom but is not suggested as an edible due to its similarity to the Destroying Angel which happens to be our most toxic mushroom. It is readily distinguishable with a trained eye. The Destroying Angel tends to appear in wooded areas, not open grass areas, but this cannot be relied upon as identification.

Nelson Poirier has been frustrated at not finding any of his favoured edible, the Horse Mushroom (Agaricus arvensis) this season, having to dodge traffic watching for it in fields and grassy areas to no avail until Thursday when a dinner-plate sized specimen appeared out of nowhere on a city lawn to make up for not finding several smaller ones. The Horse Mushroom (photo included) can indeed grow up to dinner plate size overnight and usually appears in groups instead of singly.

When fresh, it has prominent pink gills with white cap and stalk and there is often a small blush of yellow in the middle of the cap (arrowed). The spore print is very dark brown to black, and the gills turn dark as it matures (but still edible if not insect infested). It is a choice edible and hopefully the ongoing warm weather will produce a flush of this mushroom.

**It’s Friday and time to muse upon what next week’s night sky has in store for us courtesy of sky guru Curt Nason:

This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2022 October 29 – November 5
Deep sky objects (DSOs), composed of star clusters and nebulae, are often called faint fuzzies by amateur astronomers but many are bright enough to be seen with binoculars in a dark sky. Let us start by using the Square of Pegasus as a guidepost. The southwest corner of the square is the base of the winged horse’s neck and moving away from the square by a few stars takes us to the horse’s eye. Extending that line by half its distance is where you will find a small blurry patch called M2, a globular cluster that is the second entry in the Messier list of DSOs. Angling to the left at the eye we come to a star at the horse’s snout and extending by nearly half that distance is a larger globular cluster, M15.

The star at the northeast corner of the square is Alpheratz, the brightest star of Andromeda, from which spread two lines of stars. The second star from Alpheratz along the brighter string is orange Mirach, and moving up two stars across the dimmer string we encounter the large Andromeda Galaxy, M31. In the opposite direction from Mirach, and at about the same distance as M31, is fainter M33, the third largest galaxy in our Local Group behind Andromeda and the Milky Way. We see M33 face on, which makes it appear dimmer.

The third brightest star of Andromeda is Almach, situated at the end of the string from Mirach. Look to the left of the line over halfway between Almach and Algol, the second brightest star in Perseus, for the open cluster of stars called M34. Next, look above Andromeda for the familiar W-shape of Cassiopeia. A line from the bottom right star of the W to the top right and extended the same distance brings us to open cluster M52.

This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 7:55 am and sunset will occur at 6:09 pm, giving 10 hours, 14 minutes of daylight (7:59 am and 6:16 pm in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 8:05 am and set at 5:59 pm, giving 9 hours, 54 minutes of daylight (8:08 am and 6:06 pm in Saint John).

The Moon is at first quarter and near Saturn on Tuesday, and on Friday it slides below Jupiter. Saturn is at its highest and best for observing at 8 pm, followed by Jupiter at 10:30. On Wednesday evening telescope users might see the shadows of two moons on Jupiter’s clouds; with the shadow of Ganymede entering at 9:22 and that of Europa exiting at 10:00. Mars is stationary on Sunday, beginning its westward retrograde motion relative to the stars. Mercury and Venus are too close to the Sun for observing. For most of the week the zodiacal light might be visible in the east from rural areas.

On Sunday evening at 8 pm, tune in to the Sunday Night Astronomy Show via the Facebook page or YouTube channel of Astronomy by the Bay.

Questions? Contact Curt Nason at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.