Thursday, October 30, 2014

Blow me Away in the Wind...

Wind



Days are shorter;
nights are longer,
Few stars here and there...
Branches breaking off, flying around looking, like wizard's broom; with their leaf buddies.
What are you doing wind?
As the wind touches me, the goose bumps pops out to protect me; but it fails. My hair flying away in the wind. It felt like the lonely wind was going to disappear me with it, just like how it disappeared the moon.
The moon was missing!
It almost felt like a tornado. But it wasn't as bad.
It was crazy outside. I didn't stay out there for much. That Wind's noise scared me. It almost sound like the wind was communicating. But does it?
I mean what is wind?
What causes wind?
-Field Notes


Wind
http://www.weatherwizkids.com/weather-wind.htm


 
Wind is air in motion. It is produced by the uneven heating of the earth's surface by the sun. Since the earth's surface is made of various land and water formations, it absorbs the sun's radiation unevenly. Two factors are necessary to specify wind:
speed and,
direction.

What really causes the wind to blow is, when the sun warms the earth's surface, the atmosphere warms too. So, some parts of the earth receives direct rays from the sun all year and are always warm.
Warm air, which weighs less than cold air, rises. So, then the cool air moves in and replaces the rising warm air. And this movement of air is what makes the wind to blow.

Wind Vane
http://www.weatherwizkids.com/weather-wind.htm









In the article How Stuff Works?  It said that "In mountainous areas, winds tend to blow uphill during the day because the mountainside is heated more than the valley below it. At night, when the mountainside cools, the wind blows downhill. In summer, breezes tend to blow from oceans or large lakes to the warmer land during the day. They blow from the land at night, when the land cools." (http://science.howstuffworks.com/dictionary/meteorological-terms/wind-info3.htm)

So I found this two different breeze. The two different cycle of wind/breeze:
Sea Breeze
sea breeze
http://www.weatherwizkids.com/weather-wind.htm
Land Breeze
land breeze


Windmill
Windmill
http://www.weatherwizkids.com/weather-wind.htm



We might hate wind and think it's useless and all. But in reality it is really useful. Wind is the fastest growing source of electricity in the world. It's often one of the least expensive forms of renewable power available. Some experts say it can sometimes be the cheapest form of any kind of power.

I never knew this but, wind has many different names.
On the Weather Wiz Kids website it gave me a list of the names:
"Chinook-(westerly wind off the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains)
Santa Ana-(easterly towards Southern California )
Scirocco
-(southerly from North Africa to southern Europe)

Mistral-(northwesterly from central France to Mediterranean)
Marin-(southeasterly from Mediterranean to France)
Bora-(northeasterly from eastern Europe to Italy)    
Gregale-(northeasterly from Greece)
Etesian-(northwesterly from Greece)
Libeccio-(southwesterly towards Italy)"
{http://www.weatherwizkids.com/weather-wind.htm}

WindvaneThe Wind ChartWindvane
This is a chart called "Beaufort Scale" it is where the empirical measure for the wind power is provided. This gives all the information about wind's speed, it's description, and it's conditions as well. This scale was created by a British naval commander "Sir Francis Beaufort" in 1806.
        
Beaufort numberWind speed
MPH
Wind Speed
Knots
Description Sea conditionsLand conditions 
0<1<1 Calm Flat Calm
11-31-3 Light air Ripples without crests Wind motion visible in smoke
24-74-6 Light breeze Small wavelets Leaves rustle
38-127-10 Gentle breeze Large wavelets Smaller twigs in constant motion
413-1811-16 Moderate breeze Small waves Small branches begin to move
519-2417-21 Fresh breezeModerate longer waves  Smaller trees sway
625-3122-27 Strong breeze Large waves with foam crests  Large branches in motion
732-3828-33 Near gale Sea heaps up and foam begins to streak Whole trees in motion
839-4634-40 GaleModerately high waves with breaking crests  Twigs broken from trees
947-5441-47 Severe gale High waves with dense foam Light structure damage
1055-6348-55 Storm Very high waves.
The sea surface is white
 Trees uprooted. Considerable structural damage
1164-7256-63 Violent storm Exceptionally high waves Widespread structural damage
1273-8264-71 Hurricane Sea completely white with driving spray.  Massive and widespread damage to structure
 
 
Work Cited
 
"The Wind." How Stuff Works?N.p.n.d.Web.30 Oct.2014.
 
"Wind." Weather Wiz Kids.N.p.n.d.Web.30 Oct.2014
 
 

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Darkness

October 21, 2014

The Darkness


As I was observing the sky around 7:30ish, all I see was a dark, plain, black sky. There was no moon, no stars, I didn't even see any planes fly by, which was shocking because I usually see at least 2 to 3 planes. It was quite. I heard few birds chapping, it sounded like a crow though. It had this thin, squeaky voice.Beside those crows I didn't hear anything.



But I knew this day was coming...
Indians (Hindus) we, celebrate our new year this week (Diwali) It's one of the biggest festival in India. And we have different rituals for each days. It started from the 19th October- 25 October. It's one of those exciting days of the week. We celebrate it with lot of  fun, colors, food, decorations, dances, and prayers. I did this art with color sand. It's just one part of our new year.
My Art (Rangloli)
Girls: Me (Hetva), Shagun (my best friend), Krupa, Ankita, Manali, Mansi
Boys: Yash, Nirmit
New Year Night
(Diwali)


Diwali Performance 1

Diwali Performance 2 Part 1

Diwali Performance 2 Part 2 
My Diwali Dance Performance 
you guys Don't have to watch it all, it long. But it's just a small scenario of what is it like (Diwali).  

This is the list of ach days ritual and things we do:
20 Monday Dhan Teras 
21 Tuesday Kali Chaudas
22 Wednesday Narak Chaturdashi , Diwali , Lakshmi Puja
23 Thursday Surya Grahan
24 Friday Gowardhan Puja 
25 Saturday Bhaiya Dooj



21, Tuesday- Kali Chaudas

This is the day were we, Indians believe that the sky is dark There is no light at all. This is one of the days for the New Year (Diwali). 
Kali means dark, and Kali is also one of our goddess. She, was the destroyer for the evils. She does look scary, but that we pray saying to protect us for the evils and devils.


Kali Chaudas
Kali Ma

I was researching some more information about Kali Chaudas and this is what I found:

Kali Chaudas is  known as Bhut Chaturdashi. Kali Chaudas is mainly observed in Western states especially in Gujarat.

Kali Chaudas is observed during Chaturdashi Tithi during Diwali festivity. However Kali Chaudas day should not be mixed with Roop Chaudas and Narak Chaturdashi as it might fall one day before of Narak Chaturdashi. The day of Kali Chaudas is decided when Chaturdashi prevails during midnight which as per Panchang is known as Maha Nishita time.

As rituals of Kali Chaudas involve visiting crematorium during midnight for offering Puja to the Goddess of darkness and to Veer Vetal, the day of Kali Chaudas is decided when Chaturdashi prevails during midnight.

It seems that most Panchang don't make such distinction and list Kali Chaudas with Roop Chaudas and Narak Chaturdashi. Hence one has to be cautious while looking for Kali Chaudas date.

Further Kali Chaudas should not be confused with Bengal Kali Puja which is observed one day after Kali Chaudas when Amavasya Tithi prevails during midnig 2014 Kali Chaudas Puja. 


So the dark sky, no light wasn't there for no reason. It was there because the religious beliefs.


Work Cited


Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Full Moon/Blood Moon/Lunar Eclipse


October 8, 2014
Full Moon/Blood Moon/Lunar Eclipse


I was so excited today, because it was Full Moon/Lunar Eclipse tonight. But unfortunatly I couldn't stay awake watch the Lunar Eclips. But I have seen other Lunar Eclipse and they are just so intresting. Like it's just mind blowing how nature works. But this time since I couldn't get up to see it I went on youtube to find videos of it, because I like to see them. I have the video Linked above.  I thought this was really cool, and the cool things i found out about the Lunar Eclipse is that, lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes directly behind the Earth into its umbra (shadow). This can occur only when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are aligned (in "syzygy") exactly, or very closely so, with the Earth in the middle. Here is a picture of how it works.



From my Field Notes:
Today I was sitting out side in my back yard, wearing a big coat and with my fluffy purple blanket because it was super cold. But anyways, I was just sitting out there just observing the full moon. I didn't see any stars. I mean I usally see atleast one star if not couple, but I didn't see any stars tonight and I wondered why? So, I was thinking about it and I thought that maybe the brightness of the moon caused it to hide in the sky? Like is it because the the moon is so bright that, it has so much brightness which affects the stars around it not be able to seen because the brightness from the moon covers it. But, It still looked beautiful outside. It was only the big orange moon and the black sky. I saw flew group of birds fly by and disappeared into this big tree. It was so peaceful outside.

 A full moon is basically the lunar phase that occurs when the moon is completely illuminated as seen from the earth. This occurs when the moon is in opposition with the sun (when it is on the opposite side of the Earth from the Sun; more precisely, when the ecliptic longitudes of the Sun and Moon differ by 180 degrees).

By: http://earthsky.org/moon-phases/full-moon


I wonder, what causes the full moon? Do they appear every month? If yes, then why?
So well, I was doing a little research on full moon and I found some interesting about this topic.
and I found this very cool moon chart which took my confusing away about why moon shapes changes everyday and why do we have full moon.
 
Well so, full moon basically occurs because by the angle changing of the earth, the moon and the sun, as the moon orbits the earths.

At a full moon, the earth, moon, and sun are in approximate alignment, just as the new moon, but the moon is on the opposite side of the earth, so the entire sunlit part of the moon is facing us. The shadowed portion is entirely hidden from view.
After few research I found out that full moon occurs every 29.5 days. And 12 times a year.


So I was doing my AP English homework and I found this beautiful poem that relates to my blog and I wanted to share this poem with you guys.

Full Moon Singing in an Empty Sky

Folds of cloud ripple from full moon
oranges and purples light up the sky
white and black appear as moon cries.
Lost, found, love escapes again
passion quashed. Darkness. Pain.

Light peeps through tear in sky
then disappears behind a lie.
Belief that love can shine twice
maybe from a different moon
singing a different tune.

Full moon singing in an empty sky
causing rippling clouds to cry.

Sue Harris

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Rain

September 28, 2014

Why is Nevada so bipolar?
I mean it was hot couple hours ago, it was sunny yesterday. And now all of the sudden its raining?
Thats too wired.
 But it looked beautiful outside.  I love rain it's like my favorite thing. The smell, Birds chapping, the pink clouds. Oh my god it was just gorgeous. The moon and stars were hidden. It was so quite outside except few cars passed by and the birds, but that all went along with the rain and made the rain complete.
http://forum.mflenses.com/viewtopic.php?t=48721
Rainy Street


But see, I wonder why does the clouds turn pink whenever it rains?
Is there a chemical reaction or is it just something else?
Well, when I was younger my grandma use to tell me that the sky change the color when its raining is because of the water cycle, my grandma says that the clouds collects the water steam, and then when the clouds are filled 100% with water the color changes, and it starts raining. And then the same thing happens all over again.
But then I was researching if what my grandma said was true or not.
So, on this website:
 http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/High_School_Earth_Science/Climate_and_Its_Causes
I was reading about the climate and the causes of it, and it said
 "The term climate also refers to Earth's entire climate system. The climate system is influenced by the movement of heat around the globe. Heat is carried by currents within the atmosphere and oceans. The type and amount of vegetation also affects climate. Plants absorb heat and retain water, which may increase or decrease rainfall. The composition of the atmosphere also controls climate. If the concentration of greenhouse gases increase or decrease, the heat-trapping abilities of the atmosphere rise or fall."

And by this information I think what causes Nevada to be a bipolar state is that we live in a desert, where the temperature is very high and its windy which causes the atmosphere to change.

This website has so much information on this topic if anyone wants to know more in depth about this topic.   http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/High_School_Earth_Science/Climate_and_Its_Causes

Green Sky

Saturday, September 27, 2014

As I was at my Indian Party (Navarati), my friends a I was so hungry after all that dancing. So we went outside to my dads car, because he had Godfathers pizza in his car. Oh my god! The pizza was so good, I mean everything taste good on a empty stomach. So we were sitting outside on the trunk, while eating the pizza I was just staring at the sky, it was 10:30ish I believe. And it was just kind of wired how I took a sticky note and a pen out of my dads front seat and started down writing the most beautiful thing I saw. A green big spot in the sky. It was marvelous. I didn't really knew at that point what caused it, but it was gorgeous how there was a green spot in the sky and the rest covered with pink clouds. I wish I can go back to that day and take picture with that scenario. It looked like Antarctica. It was just drop dead gorgeous, how there was no stars no moon nothing, but the green spot surrounded with pink clouds. But I wonder what causes this clouds to change colors.

Green Spot Surrounded with Pink Clouds
http://www.pixelache.ac/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/IVRY_MG_0446_w.jpg
Edited by: Hetva Patel
 I got this picture off of Google. But it didn't quit looked like what I saw so, I edited the picture to make it look like what I saw.

So then later on the week, I was researching what causes the clouds to change color on couple of this websites:
http://optics.kulgun.net/Cloud-Colour/
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/jetstream/clouds/color.htm
and I was quit impressed on what I found out on what causes the clouds to change colors. While I was reading the cause of the change colors it said that,  "Probably the most unusual color for a cloud is green. This is thought to be due to a cloud containing a large amount of water being back lit by reddish light, such as at sunset. Water is naturally blue because it absorbs red. The light falling on the cloud appears red because the blue component has been scattered, and then the red component is absorbed by the water in the cloud, leaving green."

After that I was looking at this other website and I found this chart of the colors and the cause.



Colors Of Clouds
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/jetstream/clouds/color.htm
 
After all this research the most funniest thing I found out Is there is no pink color clouds. Its red.