NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, August 6, 2021 (Friday)
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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)
** Mac Wilmot’s grandson, Andy Stultz
who is working from the ice breaker Louis Saint Laurent in Nunavut sends a
photo of the plant RIVER BEAUTY that is a significant resource to the
Nunavut people. Gart Bishop researched
the photo to give an interesting commentary that follows, and I will quote
Gart’s comments.
“I think it found a correct match -- Dwarf Fireweed (Chamaenerion
latifolium), in the same family as our common Fireweed (Chamerion
angustifolium). Wikipedia tells me it is a species that has a circumboreal
distribution in subarctic and arctic area such as snowmelt-flooded gravel bars
and talus in a wide range of elevations. It is a perennial herb growing in a
clump of leaves. The following might be of interest to your readers: “This arctic plant
provides valuable nutrition for the Inuit, who eat the leaves raw, boiled with fat, or steeped in
water for tea, the flowers and fruits raw, and as a salad with meals of seal and walrus blubber. The leaves and shoots are
edible, tasting much like spinach, and is also known in the Canadian
tundra as River Beauty.”
** Gart also came across another
similar scenario to the CRANE FLY observation made on yesterday’s
edition. It was BLACK FLY larvae,
and a video link is attached which surely does look similar.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/s6a8rh9vsmbo1cy/Black%20Fly%20Larvae%20..mp4?dl=0
So this leaves two options to decide upon. Scroll back to yesterday’s edition for the
photos and check out what Gart came across at the video link above.
** It’s Friday and time to review what
next week’s Sky-at-a-Glace has in store for observers, courtesy of sky-guru
Curt Nason.
This
Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2021 August 7 – 14
With the Perseid meteor shower peaking this week, let us visit its namesake
constellation. Perseus the Hero stands on the northeastern horizon by midnight,
just below the W shape of his mother-in-law, Cassiopeia. He is a hero because,
among other deeds, he prevented his future wife Andromeda from becoming a tasty
lunch for a ferocious sea monster.
The brightest star in Perseus, Mirfak, is part and namesake of the Alpha Persei
Cluster. This is one of my favourite binocular targets because it resembles a
miniature version of the constellation Draco. Another popular binocular target
is a close pair of star clusters - NGC 869 and NGC 884 - located halfway
between Perseus and Cassiopeia, which astronomers have cleverly called the
Double Cluster. The Perseid meteors appear to originate from a point near the
Double Cluster.
The constellation’s second brightest star is Algol the Demon, representing the
eye of the Gorgon Medusa. Perseus beheaded the Medusa in a plan to avenge an
embarrassing moment by using her head to turn his hecklers into stone. The sea
monster was his first victim of this weapon. Algol is famous for dimming by a
factor of three every 69 hours. It is a very close pair of stars orbiting each
other in our line of sight, and their combined brightness drops when the dimmer
star passes in front of the brighter one. Look for the star cluster M34 about a
binocular width above Algol.
This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 6:09 am and sunset will occur at 8:40 pm,
giving 14 hours, 31 minutes of daylight (6:16 am and 8:43 pm in Saint
John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 6:17 am and set at 8:29 pm,
giving 14 hours, 12 minutes of daylight (6:24 am and 8:32 pm in Saint John).
The Moon is new this Sunday and it passes to the right of Venus on Tuesday.
Mercury has entered the evening sky, setting 30 minutes after sunset midweek
followed by dimmer Mars 15 minutes later. By the time Venus sets at 10 pm all
eyes will be on Saturn and Jupiter in the southeast. Telescope users can catch
Jupiter’s Red Spot around 9:40 pm Thursday. Wednesday evening to Friday morning
is prime time for the Perseid meteor shower, which could be the best shower of
the year because the waxing crescent Moon sets before 11 pm. Meteor rates of a
third to half that of the peak times could occur on Tuesday and Friday nights,
still better than many other showers.
Questions? Contact Curt Nason at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.
Nelson Poirier,
Nature Moncton
