2011 Perseid Meteor Shower

Aug 13 2010 Perseid Meteor ( 02:12 AM), photo by mizzachita.

There was so much interest in last weekend’s Northern Lights post that I figured I should probably feature August’s by astronomical event, the Perseid Meteor Shower. Unfortunately, this big moon thing has decided to get full at the wrong time. EarthSky gives some recommendations form making the best of a bad situation in their 2011 meteor shower guide:

We are getting very near the peak of August’s famous Perseid meteor shower. Meanwhile, the moon is waxing quite large and bright in the sky. In 2011, full moon will come on August 13, a peak morning for the Perseids. …EarthSky recommends watching before dawn until the morning of August 10 to have moonless skies. Before dawn is the best time of night for watching meteors, anyway, since that is when the radiant point for the Perseids is highest in the sky.

For much more information about the Perseids, be sure to check out Star Trails, the Perseid Meteor Shower and the Tears of St. Lawrence from Michigan in Pictures.

mizzachita took this photo last year during the Perseids. Check it out on black and in her night sky slideshow.

August Nights

August Nights, photo by False Verdict Photo.

Quincy, Michigan in Branch County. Such a classic Michigan scene. Here’s hoping the August evenings are treating you well.

Check this out background big and in Lauren’s Michigan slideshow.

More Michigan barns on Michigan in Pictures.

Make it a Michigan brew for International Beer Day!

Oberon, photo by RLHyde.

The good folks at Drink Michigan alerted me that today is International Beer Day.

mLive notes that Michigan has over 80 craft breweries, ranking 5th in the US. Of these, the oldest and largest is Bell’s Brewery of Kalamazoo, who opened in 1985, is also the oldest craft-brewer east of Boulder! They are also one of the biggest, weighing in at #8 on the Brewers Association list of the Top 50 US Breweries. Oberon (their most most popular beer) comes out at the beginning of summer every year and is a wheat ale fermented with Bell’s house ale yeast, mixing a spicy hop character with mildly fruity aromas.

Also check out Absolute Michigan’s Michigan beer listings for articles and tons of beer-related links including some of our favorites like the Michigan Brewer’s Guild and Rex Halfpenny’s Michigan Beer Guide!

See this photo bigger than a beer and in Ryan’s Alcohol slideshow.

It ain’t easy being a frog…

It ain’t easy…, photo by stevedontsurf.

Steven writes that: Actually, on this day, it seemed pretty easy being green. This guy was eating fly after fly as I snapped away. Must’ve had 5-6 flies in about as many minutes. He looked like lack of food was not an issue. Check it out background big and in his slideshow.

Coincidentally, I came across an article this morning about a nasty fungus called chytrid that has been the culprit of 94 out of 122 frog extinctions since 1980 and that can also affect some toads and salamanders. Brian Gratwicke of the Smithsonian’s National Zoo says:

“There’s frogs all around the world being affected. There’s amphibians that have gone extinct in Australia, in the Caribbean, in North America, in South America, in Central America.”

…There is also a real cost to humans from the frog extinctions. Frogs’ skins are anti-microbial factories. They’ve produced compounds that kill superbugs in hospitals.

“There’s a species of frog in Australia that produces a chemical called caerin, which blocks HIV transmission to T-cells,” Gratwicke says. “The untapped resources of our amphibian biodiversity are virtually unknown.”

Click through to read much more and also check out the Gray Tree Frog (Hyla versicolor) on Michigan in Pictures.

G1, X Flare … could it be an Aurora Borealis Bingo?

Northern Lights at Little Presque Isle, photo by Lake Superior Photo

This is a little technical, but you can boil it down to say “We might well see some northern lights in the next few days!”

Space Weather says that a category G1 (Minor) geomagnetic storm is expected on August 5th due to the effects of a CME (Coronal Mass Ejection) observed early on 02 August 2nd. In plain English, that means we might see the Northern Lights on the 5th! Don’t get too terribly excited though – according to NOAA Space Weather who puts out the email alerts that I subscribe to, G1 is the lowest level of a scale that goes up to 5. Don’t get depressed either though, as they say that during G1 activity, the Aurora Borealis is commonly visible at high latitudes (northern Michigan and Maine)!

I posted the above on Facebook, and my friend Shawn Malone (who took the photo above) told me that it is also possible for an x flare this week producing an EARTHWARD directed flare that would hit earth probably some time next week which would produce a northern lights display to remember! There was a brief x flare on July 29 – read about it here and see a video from NASA here. The displays in February 2011 were produced by a powerful x flare…

You can see & purchase lots more of Shawn’s photos of northern lights through LakeSuperiorPhoto.com and also check out her cool Northern Lights – square format album!

Michigan in Pictures has LOTS more pictures and information about the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights).

Don’t lose your bowl at O Kun de Kun Falls!

O Kun de Kun Falls, photo by Splash of Sunset Photography

Go Waterfalling says that O Kun de Kun Falls 

O Kun de Kun Falls is one of the largest of the waterfalls in Ontanagon county. It is not as large as Bond Falls or Agate Falls, but it is just as scenic and far wilder. It is a mile plus hike to O Kun de Kun Falls and there are no fences or signs. The waterfall is also unusual in that it is an actual plunge falls. Only a handful of the many waterfalls around Lake Superior are plunge falls. You can go behind the falls if you want, but you need to be careful and sure footed.

The trail head to the falls is located on the east side of US 45 about 8 miles north of Bruce Crossing. There are signs for the parking area. The trail to the falls is part of the North Country Trail. It is a 1.3 mile fairly level hike to the falls. Before you reach the main falls you will reach a smaller 10′ plunge upstream. Keep going! The first time I tried to visit O Kun de Kun I stopped at the upper falls, thinking I had reached my destination. The real falls is just a short distance downstream. The trail crosses a suspension bridge below the falls. If you have not gone far enough to see the bridge, keep going.

If you’re wondering about the name of the falls, it was after a famous chief. If you’re wondering about the title of this post, Pasty.com explains:

The name “Ontonagon” is derived from the Ojibway word “nontounagon,” which means “I lost my bowl.” Local legend surrounding the name stems from the story that a member of Chief O-Kun-De-Kun’s band was washing bowls near the mouth of the river when she was startled by an unkempt stranger in a canoe. The woman inadvertently dropped one of the bowls into the river and exclaimed “nontounagon”. The white man took her declaration to be a reply to his question about the name of the area.

Check this out bigger and in Matthew’s great Waterfalls of the Western UP album.

Learn about Bond Falls, Agate Falls abd more Michigan Waterfalls on Michigan in Pictures!

hay bale on a misty August morning

hay bale on a misty August morning, photo by tbug2.

Sorry folks, slept in today after a great but exhausting Traverse City Film Festival.

Check this out bigger and in Tenille’s Landscapes slideshow.