Pic(k) of the Week: Blood Moon

Fire up a colortini, sit back, relax, and watch the pictures,
now, as they fly through the air. ^*

It was a combination of full 'Flower' Moon, supermoon, 'Blood' Moon, and total lunar eclipse, all wrapped into one astronomical wow, as seen over Decatur, Georgia, USA, on 16 May 2022, at 12:43 am EDT.

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Blood Moon (aka total lunar eclipse)

A total lunar eclipse happens when the Moon travels through the Earth's umbra and blocks all direct sunlight from illuminating the Moon's surface. However, some sunlight still reaches the lunar surface indirectly, via the Earth's atmosphere, bathing the Moon in a reddish, yellow, or orange glow [thus colloquially called a 'Blood Moon'].

As the Sun's rays pass through the atmosphere, some colors in the light spectrum—those towards the violet spectrum—are filtered out by a phenomenon called Rayleigh scattering. This is the same mechanism that causes colorful sunrises and sunsets. Red wavelengths are least affected by this effect, so the light reaching the Moon's surface has a reddish hue, causing the fully eclipsed Moon to take on a red color.

— Time and Date.

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Full Flower (Super) Moon

"May’s full Flower Moon name should be no surprise; flowers spring forth across North America in abundance this month. The full Moon names used by The Old Farmer’s Almanac come from a number of places, including Native American, Colonial American, and European sources. 'Flower Moon' has been attributed to Algonquin peoples.

May’s full Moon is the first supermoon of the year. A supermoon is most commonly defined as any full Moon that occurs when the Moon is at at least 90% of perigee (the point in the Moon’s orbit where it is closest to Earth). In 2022, there will be four supermoons.

— Old Farmer's Almanac.

Here was the moon, two hours earlier (at 10:32 pm EDT, on 15 May), only partially eclipsed and yet un-'bloodied.'

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Pic(k) of the Week: Sidebenchers

Juxtaposition. Side-benchers — sculpted and human.

DeKalb History Center: Decatur, Georgia, USA. 07 May 2022.

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Pic(k) of the Week: Morning moon (and avian astronaut)

Look up!

A waning gibbous moon (and an avian astronaut), at morning, over Decatur, Georgia, USA.

22 April 2022.

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Pic(k) of the Week: Happy International Jazz Day!

Happy International Jazz Day!

Here: Keeping clave time with Orquesta MaCuba, at the Inman Park Festival in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

I shot this image on 23 April 2022...but International Jazz Day is celebrated today and, in fact, every year on the 30th of April. Jazz lives!

International Jazz Day is an International Day declared by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in 2011 "to highlight jazz and its diplomatic role of uniting people in all corners of the globe." It is celebrated annually on April 30. The idea came from jazz pianist and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Herbie Hancock. Jazz Day is chaired by Hancock and the UNESCO Director-General [Audrey Azoulay]. The celebration is recognized on the calendars of both UNESCO and the United Nations.

— Wikipedia

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Pic(k) of the Week: Rare Sarracenia oreophila, blooming

The yellow blossom of an endangered, carnivous(!) green pitcher plant, growing in the wild, on the bank of a pond, in Legacy Park of the city of Decatur, Georgia, USA. 16 April 2022.

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The more you know...

Sarracenia oreophila, also known as the green pitcher plant, is a carnivorous plant in the genus Sarracenia [growing in wetland environments].

In early spring, the plant produces large, yellow flowers with 5-fold symmetry. The yellow petals are long and strap-like, and dangle over the umbrella-like style of the flower, which is held upside down at the end of a 20-inch long (50 cm) scape. The stigma of the flower are found at the tips of the 'spokes' of this umbrella.

In late spring, the plant devlops highly modified leaves in the form of pitchers that act as pitfall traps for prey, such as small insects. The narrow pitcher leaves are tapered tubes that rise up to 30 inches (75 cm) from the ground, with a mouth 2 to 4 inches (6-10 cm) in circumference.

— Wikipedia.

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Now, the bad news

Native to the southeast U.S., the green pitcher plant is an extremely endangered species [due to human development and forest succession] and now only can be found in a handful of counties in northeast Georgia [including Decatur], southwest North Carolina, and northeast Alabama.

— U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

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