NATURE
MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, June 7, 2019 (Friday)
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photo labeling.
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For more information on Nature Moncton, check into the website at www.naturemoncton.com
Transcript by: Louise Nichols nicholsl@eastlink.ca
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** Many New Brunswick naturalists will be off to
the Festival of Nature in Saint Andrews this weekend, and what a great weather
weekend is forecast along with a record number of participants.
** Jane LeBlanc got a photo of an AMERICAN PAINTED
LADY [Belle dame] butterfly in her St. Martin’s yard on Thursday. This butterfly migrates in from the south as
do many others. Jane also got a photo of
a male COMMON YELLOWTHROAT [Paruline masquée]. Unfortunately, a NORTHERN PARULA [Paruline
à collier] was a fatal window strike which will be saved for
the New Brunswick Museum.
** Jean Renton comments that she thought Mapleton
Park had arrived in their Stilesville feeder yard on Thursday morning when a
large flock of MALLARDS [Canard colvert] arrived for
breakfast. They have a blooming lilac
tree in their yard now, and Thursday morning, two TENNESSEE WARBLERS
[Paruline obscure] arrived, presumably a pair.
** A few more plant photos from Louise Nichols that
I consulted Jim Goltz about. A lot of
green shoots appearing in a bog area are suspected to be THREE-LEAVED SOLOMON’S
SEAL which likes boggy areas, keeping their ‘feet wet’. Another photo shows a PINK LADY’S SLIPPER
about to open. We asked Jim about the
dark colour of the leaves of the PAINTED TRILLIUM Louise photographed. Jim commented, “to [his] eye, this trillium
has two tones of green, an olive green and a dark green. The distinctive colour helps one recognize
the plant when it emerges from bloom.”
Aldo Dorio got two nice photographs of a
cooperative WILSON’S WARBLER on Friday morning at Hay Island. They rarely stay
still that long!
** This week’s Sky-at-a-Glance is included in this
edition, courtesy of sky guru Curt Nason.
This
Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2019 June 8 – June 15
With turkey vultures becoming more prominent in the province, you might be interested in knowing a vulture once flew with the swan and the eagle in the sky. The bright star Vega can be seen high in the east in the late evening. Vega’s constellation is Lyra the Lyre or Harp, with the main part of the instrument being formed by a parallelogram of stars. If you point a telescope between the two brighter stars of the parallelogram, opposite Vega, you might notice a fat, blurry star. A moderate-sized telescope will show it as a smoke ring or doughnut. This is the Ring Nebula or M57, the remnants of a Sun-sized star that puffed off its layers of gas when it ran out of nuclear fuel. Near Vega is the star Epsilon Lyrae, a dimmer but naked-eye star that binoculars will show as two stars.
In mythology, the lyre was made from a tortoise shell by the Roman god Mercury, who gave it to Apollo. It was mastered by Apollo’s son Orpheus, who soothed all around him when he played. After his bride was killed tragically on their wedding night, he spurned the advances of the many young ladies vying for his attention. They schemed revenge, screaming loudly so as not to be affected by his music, and then beat him to death and tossed the lyre into the river. Zeus sent a vulture to retrieve the lyre and had it placed in the sky to commemorate Orpheus and his music. Star maps from a few centuries ago depicted the lyre in the talons of the vulture.
This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 5:28 am and sunset will occur at 9:08 pm, giving 15 hours, 40 minutes of daylight (5:36 am and 9:09 pm in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 5:27 am and set at 9:12 pm, giving 15 hours, 45 minutes of daylight (5:35 am and 9:13 pm in Saint John).
The Moon is at first quarter on Monday, affording spectacular views in a telescope throughout the week. Jupiter reaches opposition on Monday, rising at sunset, and it will reign over the evening sky all summer. On Tuesday evening, about half an hour after midnight, telescope users have the opportunity to see the shadows of Jupiter’s moons Io and Ganymede crossing the planet’s clouds. Mercury and Mars will be within the same twilight binocular view for most of the week, crossing paths on June 18. Saturn rises before 11 pm early in the week and Venus continues to edge sunward in bright morning twilight.
RASC NB members will have telescopes set up for public viewing at the Kouchibouguac Park Spring Starfest on June 7 and 8. The William Brydone Jack Astronomy Club meets in the UNB Fredericton Forestry-Earth Sciences building on Tuesday at 7 pm. All are welcome.
Questions? Contact Curt Nason at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.
With turkey vultures becoming more prominent in the province, you might be interested in knowing a vulture once flew with the swan and the eagle in the sky. The bright star Vega can be seen high in the east in the late evening. Vega’s constellation is Lyra the Lyre or Harp, with the main part of the instrument being formed by a parallelogram of stars. If you point a telescope between the two brighter stars of the parallelogram, opposite Vega, you might notice a fat, blurry star. A moderate-sized telescope will show it as a smoke ring or doughnut. This is the Ring Nebula or M57, the remnants of a Sun-sized star that puffed off its layers of gas when it ran out of nuclear fuel. Near Vega is the star Epsilon Lyrae, a dimmer but naked-eye star that binoculars will show as two stars.
In mythology, the lyre was made from a tortoise shell by the Roman god Mercury, who gave it to Apollo. It was mastered by Apollo’s son Orpheus, who soothed all around him when he played. After his bride was killed tragically on their wedding night, he spurned the advances of the many young ladies vying for his attention. They schemed revenge, screaming loudly so as not to be affected by his music, and then beat him to death and tossed the lyre into the river. Zeus sent a vulture to retrieve the lyre and had it placed in the sky to commemorate Orpheus and his music. Star maps from a few centuries ago depicted the lyre in the talons of the vulture.
This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 5:28 am and sunset will occur at 9:08 pm, giving 15 hours, 40 minutes of daylight (5:36 am and 9:09 pm in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 5:27 am and set at 9:12 pm, giving 15 hours, 45 minutes of daylight (5:35 am and 9:13 pm in Saint John).
The Moon is at first quarter on Monday, affording spectacular views in a telescope throughout the week. Jupiter reaches opposition on Monday, rising at sunset, and it will reign over the evening sky all summer. On Tuesday evening, about half an hour after midnight, telescope users have the opportunity to see the shadows of Jupiter’s moons Io and Ganymede crossing the planet’s clouds. Mercury and Mars will be within the same twilight binocular view for most of the week, crossing paths on June 18. Saturn rises before 11 pm early in the week and Venus continues to edge sunward in bright morning twilight.
RASC NB members will have telescopes set up for public viewing at the Kouchibouguac Park Spring Starfest on June 7 and 8. The William Brydone Jack Astronomy Club meets in the UNB Fredericton Forestry-Earth Sciences building on Tuesday at 7 pm. All are welcome.
Questions? Contact Curt Nason at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.
nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com
Nelson Poirier,
Nature Moncton
AMERICAN PAINTED LADY. JUNE 5, 2019. JANE LEBLANC.
COMMON YELLOWTHROAT (MALE). JUNE 5, 2019. JANE LEBLANC
Lyra Hortons
PINK LADY'S SLIPPER ORCHID (EMERGING). JUNE 3, 2019. LOUISE NICHOLS
THREE-LEAVED SOLOMON'S SEAL EMERGING IN BOG. JUNE 3, 2019. LOUISE NICHOLS
WILSON'S WARBLER. JUNE 7, 2019. ALDO DORIO
WILSON'S WARBLER. JUNE 7, 2019. ALDO DORIO
