Nature Moncton Nature News: July 7 2023

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

July 7, 2023

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Edited by Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Proofreading courtesy of Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca

** The butterflies are no doubt soaking up the sudden arrival of the strong Sun.

Shannon Inman got nice photos of the upright hind wing of a Northern Pearly Eye Butterfly and a White Admiral Butterfly.

A close-up photo of the Blue Flag Iris shows how intricate this iris really is. Shannon also photographed Garden Loosestrife in full bloom.

She noted numerous young swallows sitting on the road by the Harvey Dam, which took flight when she slowed for a photo op.

One of John Inman's pal raccoons, Moe, was waiting on the railing until John turned around and noticed. She shows up at 5 or 6 a.m. to let them know the feeder is empty. Moe’s baby and Moe’s mother will be waiting by the feeder. They think Moe’s mother is the three-legged racoon Stumpy doing babysitting duties.

**Georges Brun noted a Spotted Sandpiper was at the mouth of Halls Creek on Thursday evening.

Also, approximately 30 Common Eider first flew over the mouth of Halls Creek, then returned to land in the water of the Petitcodiac River and eventually floated downriver.

A few kayakers paddled upriver to the western side of the new bridge over the Peditcodiac River.

(Editor’s note: take note David and Anita Cannon!)

The onset of high temperatures means that still water ponds are filling with blue-green algae.

**The huge Fishflies are now on their mating missions. They tend to be attracted to lights, have 4 very large, heavily veined wings, and are not problematic to humans. The egg-laying mission will produce underwater larvae.

The Yellow-necked Caterpillar moth is a common moth included today that has a tendency to curl up when day perched. Its striking colour makes it noticeable.

**Friday has arrived with Curt Nason’s weekly summary of what next week’s night sky may have in store for us, with Mother Nature’s forecast showing some clear nights for good viewing.

This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2023 July 8 – July 15
The dome of the night sky appears to be two-dimensional, which led the ancients to propose that the stars were embedded on a crystal sphere beyond the wanderers of the Sun, Moon, and five planets. We now know that the stars are much farther than the planets, but how much farther? Neptune is the most distant planet from the Sun, about three times farther than Saturn and 30 times farther than Earth. Sunlight takes 4.2 hours to reach Neptune but 4.2 years to reach the closest star, Proxima Centauri. The nearest star we can see easily from New Brunswick is Sirius at 8.6 light years.

Although the constellations appear to be distinct figures of related stars, often those stars are at vastly different distances. Rasalhague, the brightest star of Ophiuchus and which marks his head, is 49 light years away, while the one at his waist is about ten times farther. Rasalhague is closer to us than it is to some of the other stars that form the constellation. The constellation shapes are a matter of perspective, but they will look the same from Neptune as they do from Earth.

Near Antares in Scorpius is the globular cluster M4, one of the nearest such clusters at 7000 light years. M13 in Hercules is more than three times distant, and M31, the Andromeda Galaxy, is about one hundred times farther than M13. The most distant object accessible by a medium-size backyard telescope is the quasar (an extremely luminous active galaxy) 3C 273 in Virgo, which is a thousand times farther than M31. And sometimes in Saint John I can barely see across the street.

This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 5:36 am and sunset will occur at 9:11 pm, giving 15 hours, 35 minutes of daylight (5:44 am and 9:13 pm in Saint John). Next Saturday, the Sun will rise at 5:42 am and set at 9:07 pm, giving 15 hours, 25 minutes of daylight (5:50 am and 9:09 pm in Saint John).

The Moon is at third quarter on Sunday, and it pays Jupiter a visit on Tuesday morning. Mars slides above and beyond the slightly brighter star Regulus in evening twilight over the week, with much brighter Venus to their lower right. Mercury has moved into the evening sky, setting 40 minutes after sunset this weekend and stretching that to an hour next weekend as it nears the altitude of Venus. By midweek Saturn will rise around 11:15 pm, followed by Jupiter two and a half hours later.

The Saint John Astronomy Club meets this Saturday at 7 pm in the Rockwood Park Interpretation Centre. All are welcome.

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