Moonbow over Aberporth.

Moonbow Haiku

I've only ever seen a Moonbow once, it was an unforgettable sight. I was walking down to the beach in Aberporth, the year was 1988, I forget the month. 

The village was quiet, no one else around, which probably means it was outside of the holiday season, and still fairly warm, I guess around the end of September. 

The Moon had not long risen and the darkened sky had just a few scattered clouds. 

And there it was, a magnificent arc of light spanning the village, a rainbow, or more precisely a Moonbow. 

It had none of the colours we normally see, only a white glow with hints of darker/lighter graduation in place of the individual rainbow colours. 

It was fascinating, I realised it was a rare event, so I simply stood in the middle of the road and observed for as long as possible. 

Sadly it was all over in what felt like a minute or so. 

Wow.. that was nearly 34 years ago! .. I wonder if I'll ever see the like again?

Aberporth Church ~ Jupiter in attendance

Today's Sol prominence image.

Lots of solar activity today.

Unfortunately also lots of slow moving Sun blocking clouds also.

It's a good job that the solar telescope is lightweight and easy to set up. 

I had just enough time earlier  this morning to capture a few images. 

At the moment as I write, the hazy sky is loitering and hiding the Sun's face.

SFI: 150 - SN: 126 - K-Index: 1

Head in the clouds.

Today, whilst looking through some old phone pictures, I found these cloud captures from back last October.

I remember that day being a typical Pembrokeshire day i.e rain, sleet, sunshine and wind. 

Four seasons rolled into one! 

"Head in the clouds" was an accusation often thrown at me as a kid. 

Yes I freely admit to being a total "head in the clouds" sort of person, both then and now.  

To ponder the Universe with cloud company has to be in the top ten of things to do.

Here's great book to familiarise yourself with all things clouds:

The Cloud Appreciation Society web site is well worth a look.
https://cloudappreciationsociety.org/

The silent tick of the cycling solar clock.

Aren't sundials amazingly elegant and simple in their design. 

They hold a consistent simplicity that echoes the clockwork of the stars and planets that reside above. 

We humans love our patterns and cycles, the cyclical ebb and flow of the seas, the cycles of lunar phases, the changing of the seasons, the change of night to day and back again. 

What could better display our ancestors fascination with cycles, than that of the humble sundial.

Apparently the earliest known sundials date back to at least 1500 BC !  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sundial

Fascinating to think that humans were busy figuring ways to connect to the cycles of the Cosmos from at least 3500 years ago, and probably way before that.

The above sundial was spotted today at a nearby church, I wonder how many other churches have sundials hidden away in their grounds?   

I will have to make a trip soon to a church I know in our local town, which has a sundial fixed vertically to the church wall. 

I will endeavour to take a picture and put up a blog post about it.

The above picture shows that the time was 1.30pm GMT, not bad considering my phone's timekeeper was at 2.47pm BST. 

It seems this sundial was 17 minutes slow... 

Considering the sundial is circa 1500BC technology, I think I can live with the 17 minute variance!