Big Red & Lunar Earthshine

Evening Lunar Earthshine by Kevin

Our friends at EarthSky explain that lunar earthshine happens:

When you look at a crescent moon shortly after sunset or before sunrise, you can sometimes see not only the bright crescent of the moon, but also the rest of the moon as a dark disk. That pale glow on the unlit part of a crescent moon is light reflected from Earth. It’s called earthshine.

To understand earthshine, remember that the moon is globe, just as Earth is, and that the globe of the moon is always half-illuminated by sunlight. When we see a crescent moon in the west after sunset, or in the east before dawn, we’re seeing just a sliver of the moon’s lighted half.

Now think about seeing a full moon from Earth’s surface. Bright moonlight can illuminate an earthly landscape on nights when the moon is full.

Likewise, whenever we see a crescent moon, a nearly full Earth appears in the moon’s night sky. The full Earth illuminates the lunar landscape. And that is earthshine. It’s light from the nearly full Earth shining on the moon.

Read more at EarthSky.

Kevin captured the crescent moon hanging in the western sky over the “Big Red” Lighthouse at Holland State Park. See more in his gallery The Moon on Flickr.

More of and about the moon on Michigan in Pictures!

Goodbye Summer

Goodbye Summer 2016 by Scott Glenn

The Old Farmer’s Almanac says that the autumnal equinox arrives tomorrow, Tuesday, September 22 at 9:31 AM:

The word “equinox” comes from Latin aequus, meaning “equal,” and nox, “night.” On the equinox, day and night are roughly equal in length. (See more about this below.)

During the equinox, the Sun crosses what we call the “celestial equator”—an imaginary extension of Earth’s equator line into space. The equinox occurs precisely when the Sun’s center passes through this line. When the Sun crosses the equator from north to south, this marks the autumnal equinox; when it crosses from south to north, this marks the vernal equinox.

Scott took this photo on the final day of the summer of 2016 at the St. Joseph Lighthouse. See more in his massive Lighthouses gallery on Flickr.

Find a calm lake

Find a Calm Lake by Fire Fighter’s Wife

“Find a calm lake and wait for the twilight in silence! There, existence will visit you with all its magnificence! The existence of the Existence can best be felt in the presence of dimness and in the absence of crowds and noises!”
– Mehmet Murat ildan

I simply love Beth’s artfully edited photos paired with great thoughts. See more in her Waterscapes album & I hope you find a calm lake or place!

Michigan’s 2020 Firework Shows Take a Step Back

Bay City’s ‘Big Show’ – focus pulling by Tom Clark

Few things in our normal lives have been untouched by the coronavirus pandemic, and public fireworks displays are no exception. Instead of the normal pages & pages of options, MichiganFireworks.com lists just a couple dozen 2020 shows still happening.

Tom took this photo at the Bay City Fireworks Festival back in 2018. He writes that “Focus Pulling is a technique of adjusting focus from out of focus to tack sharp during a firework explosion over 1 to 3 seconds. similar physical operation as zooming during exposure only you use the manual focus ring instead of the zoom ring.”

Pretty sweet effect! See more at www.tom-clark.net/fireworks!

Making Changes…

“When things change inside you, things change around you”
~Unknown

Don’t know what I can say about this lovely photo & sentiment by Fire Fighter’s Wife except “Too true!” See more in her Waterscapes album on Flickr.

Chasing the Sunset

Untitled by Etzel Noble

Here’s a stunning sunset shot from Saturday. See more in Etzel’s Chasing SunRise/Set gallery on Flickr & have a wonderful week!

Summer Solstice Saturday in 2020

Buttercups and Barn by Jamie MacDonald

Space.com reminds us that summer will officially arrive today (Saturday, June 20) with the summer solstice at 5:43:32 PM:

At the moment of the solstice, the sun will appear to be shining directly overhead for a point on the Tropic of Cancer (latitude 23.5 degrees north) in the central Pacific Ocean, 817 miles (1,314 kilometers) east-northeast from Honolulu. With the prime exception of Hawaii, we can never see the sun directly overhead from the other 49 U.S. states, but on Saturday, at around 1 p.m. local daylight time, the sun will attain its highest point in the sky for this entire year.

Since the sun will appear to describe such a high arc across the sky, the duration of daylight in the Northern Hemisphere is now at its most extreme, in most cases lasting over 15 hours. However, contrary to popular belief, the earliest sunrise and latest sunset do not coincide with the summer solstice. The earliest sunrise actually occurred back on June 14, while the latest sunset is not due until June 27. Dawn breaks early; dusk lingers late.

More from Space.com!

Jamie took this near Eaton Rapids three years ago on the summer solstice. See more shots of this great old barn in his The Barn album on Flickr.

Sunset in South Haven

Dyckman Beach, Lake Michigan by Gary Syrba

Gary took this beautiful sunset shot a couple weeks ago at South Haven’s Dyckman Beach. Visit him on Flickr for more!

More great Michigan beaches on Michigan in Pictures!

Sunset at Round Island

Lighthouse by Windy

The Round Island Lighthouse Preservation Society tells us:

Round Island Lighthouse was constructed in 1895 at a cost of $15,000 by Frank Rounds, a carpenter from Detroit. Rounds had previously worked on Mackinac Island’s Grand Hotel, which was completed in 1887. The lighthouse was first lit on May 15th, 1896. It was commissioned under the U.S. Lighthouse Board, which became the United States Lighthouse Service in 1910. When it was first completed, the lighthouse was brick red. This would remain so until it was painted red and white in 1924. The fog signal at the lighthouse was installed in the fall of 1896. William Marshall was the first keeper of the lighthouse and served until 1906.

The beacon was automated in 1924 and became the responsibility of the United States Coast Guard in 1939, when the Coast Guard took over all of the nation’s lighthouses. To support World War II efforts, most of the original machinery on the first floor was removed for scrap. The structure was whitewashed in 1939.

When an automated light was constructed off the shore of Mackinac Island in 1947, the Coast Guard abandoned and decommissioned Round Island Lighthouse. A few years later, becoming tired of maintenance on the unused structure, the Coast Guard recommended that the lighthouse be demolished. Luckily the lighthouse was transferred to Hiawatha National Forest in 1958 and saved from its fate of destruction. For more information on the Hiawatha National Forest, visit the United States Forest Service website.

Since the lighthouse was abandoned, the lighthouse was a target for vandals. Also, without upkeep, the outside was feeling the effects of the Great Lakes and was starting to deteriorate away. On October 20th, 1972, a fierce storm knocked down part of the southwestern corner of the lighthouse. If it wasn’t for local preservationists, the lighthouse would have met its end.

You can read more of the history and preservation efforts right here.

Windy took this back in 2015. See more in her Other gallery on Flickr.

Morning sunrise, fog and a bit of wind

Morning sunrise, fog and a bit of wind by Jeff Caverly

Since we have a lot of time to think, how about thinking about wind energy? Our average wind speed of 17.23 mph is 23rd in the nation, but the US Energy Information Administration says Michigan ranks in the bottom third of wind energy production – 36th to be precise. The Wind Energy Technologies Office reports Michigan’s installed capacity as 2,190 MW with 215 MW under construction.

Jeff took this back in 2013. Follow Jeff Caverly Photography on Facebook & also check out his past Michigan in Pictures photos.