Nature Moncton Nature News: July 19 2019

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, July 19, 2019 (Friday)

To view the photos mentioned in this edition go to http://nminfoline.blogspot.ca

Please advise editor at nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com if any errors are noted in wording or photo labeling.

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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Transcript by: Louise Nichols nicholsl@eastlink.ca

Info Line # 506-384-6397 (384-NEWS)

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** Kerry Gaskin got some zoomed-in photos of a VICEROY BUTTERFLY [Vice-roi] nectaring in Dawson settlement recently. A GARTER SNAKE also got zoomed in.

** Krista Doyle had a male YELLOW WARBLER and a COMMON YELLOWTHROAT [Paruline masquée] join her in her Lewis Mountain yard on Thursday. Most of the wood warblers must be near fledging at this point or have fledged.

** Jane Martin has a WHITE-THROATED SPARROW [Bruant à gorge blanche] that is staying near her St. Martins yard she suspects to be a fledgling and got a co-operative photo.

** I dropped by Pam Watters’ SPREADING DOGBANE patch in Miramichi, and as expected, this blooming plant species attracts lots of insect activity. A PECK’S SKIPPER [Hespérie de Peck] co-operated to show its inner wing pattern nicely. Pam has an extensive hedge of Spreading Dogbane in her yard that planted itself by running rhizomes. I cut out sections of earth from a Spreading Dogbane patch and placed them in the ground at our camp that have taken root, blooming, and hopefully, will spread by their rhizomes just as Common Milkweed does.

** A stop at Hay Island on Thursday found the air filled with NELSON'S SPARROWS [Bruant de Nelson] singing, but as normal they were very hard to get a look at them while singing. One gave a brief photo as it hid in the tall grasses, but it was later a big surprise to have one land on the boardwalk briefly to give some quick photo opts. It was not vocalizing on the board walk and I expected it to be a Savannah Sparrow, which is very abundant on Hay Island, until I got the photos on the computer screen. I’m wondering if the boardwalk bird may be a fledgling as the breast/chest seems quite striped.

** It’s Friday and time to feature this week’s Sky-at-a-Glance, courtesy of sky guru Curt Nason.

This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2019 July 20 – July 27

Serpens the Serpent is unique among the 88 constellations in that it is split in two by another constellation, Ophiuchus. As the name suggests, Ophiuchus is the Serpent Bearer, and he is often depicted holding a large snake behind his back. The two constellations are also intertwined in mythology.

Ophiuchus represents Asclepius, a renowned healer who could raise the dead. After killing a snake one day, he watched as another snake placed an herb on its dead companion and revived it. After this, Asclepius learned the healing arts and his success at reviving people drew the ire of Hades, a brother of Zeus and ruler of the Underworld. Receiving a complaint from Hades that he was being robbed of subjects, Zeus killed Asclepius with a thunderbolt.

The part of Serpens west of Ophiuchus is called Serpens Caput (meaning head); to the east is Serpens Cauda (for tail). M16, the Eagle Nebula, is a rather faint nebula with a star cluster in Serpens Cauda. It gained fame as the iconic Pillars of Creation photo from the early years of the Hubble Space Telescope. The delightful globular cluster M5 is found in Serpens Caput, and several other globular clusters reside within the borders of Ophiuchus.

This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 5:47 am and sunset will occur at 9:02 pm, giving 15 hours, 15 minutes of daylight (5:55 am and 9:05 pm in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 5:55 am and set at 8:55 pm, giving 15 hours of daylight (6:02 am and 8:57 pm in Saint John).

The Moon is at third quarter on Wednesday evening, rising soon after midnight for a 13 hour trip across the sky. Jupiter is at its highest and best for observing shortly after 10 pm, and telescope users might see its Red Spot around 11 pm on Tuesday. Saturn trails Jupiter by about two hours in the evening sky. Mercury is at inferior conjunction on Sunday, moving into morning sky visibility in early August. The next time it reaches inferior conjunction will be November 11, when it passes directly between us and the Sun and can be seen through a solar-filtered telescope. Transits of Mercury occur 13 times a century.

Members of RASC NB and the Saint John Astronomy Club will be commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing on July 20 at the Moonlight Bazaar in Uptown Saint John.

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

nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton