News about Spaceguard

Actually, Spaceguard is an imaginary international organization created by Arthur C. Clarke in the novel Rendesvous with Rama.  It's job was to protect Earth from potential global existence threats posed by hazardous asteroids.

But there is international discussion going on about how to protect the Earth from potential global existence threats posed by hazardous asteroids.


NASA and ESA will team up to deflect Earth-bound asteroids

That's a short blurb at Yahoo.   Here's the longer article at Engadget.


By the way, there is a Spaceguard Centre in the UK.  It could use a bit more funding.  Because the possibility is real, even though the odds against it happening anytime soon are high.

Mount Rainier from directly above

NASA's Earth Observatory had an Image of the Day a couple of days ago, looking directly down at Washington State's famous volcano Mount Rainier from the International Space Station.

Here's a link directly to the full-size image:  Mount Rainier from above

Here's a link to the article:   Mount Rainier

Below is a picture of Gibraltar Rock, which is shown in the labeled photograph in the article.

Lighthouse of the Week, September 1-7, 2019: West Sister Rock, Ontario, Canada

Last week I featured a lighthouse on a little rock in the Gulf of Bothnia, and this week I'm featuring a lighthouse in the North Channel that connects Lake Superior and Lake Huron that's on an even smaller rock.

This week's lighthouse is the West Sister Rock light.  It truly is a lighthouse on a rock.  But in an important place, where there are rocks that could threaten a ship, and ships do use the channel. 

Here's where it is.  You'll have to look close.  If you switch to the satellite view, there's at least one ship wake visible south of the lighthouse.

Lighthouse Friends has a good page on the history of this one, with additional pictures:  West Sister Rock Lighthouse

So, basically, it was built in 1885 (on North Sister Rock - they moved it to West Sister in 1905) and it's 9 meters tall.  And it's hexagonal.

Here are some pictures I found:

From Marinas.com

Either a great idea or a disaster in waiting

The Russians have a floating nuclear reactor.


Russia's 'Chernobyl on ice' floating nuclear reactor begins its 3,000-mile voyage to northern Siberia, despite fears it could become an environmental disaster

TIME magazine had a pretty decent story on this:

After a String of Nuclear Incidents, Russia Just Launched a Floating Nuclear Power Plant. Is It Safe?

Here's what it looks like:

A quote from the article:

"In fact, putting nuclear reactors on ships is not new. Nuclear reactors have been placed on ships, including to provide propulsion, for more than 50 years. A World War II-era cargo ship, the SS Charles H. Cugle, was converted into a nuclear power plant in the 1960s. It was used to provide the U.S. Army with power. The vessel was stationed at the Panama Canal Zone from 1968 to 1976, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers."

If it works, it's brilliant.  If it f*cks up, we could have a problem.

I hope it works.

Peter does take care of the kids

A few posts ago I commented on British soccer player Peter Crouch's retirement, which I felt his dutiful, fertile, and outrageously gorgeous wife Abbey Clancy might appreciate since he could stay home and help take care of the kids he fathered with her.

Well, guess what - it appears that he is indeed helping out with the kidwork.


Abbey Clancy shares sweet snap of husband Peter Crouch cuddling baby son Jack as she jokes 'I've got no idea where he gets those legs from'

Just off Highway 41 - Stones River National Battlefield

So, Highway 41 goes past the Stones River National Battlefield outside Murfreesboro, and that's what we'll see next.  The Battle of Stones River was the largest winter battle of the Civil War, and if I'm wrong about that, I'd be surprised. 

Battlefield Map

A short summary of the battle

Let's look around!

First cannon I could find on the battlefield - guarding a "Do Not Enter" sign.




Lone rifleman in a field - I do not know what this represents. (Pan to the right)




More cannons near the Visitor Center.




Artillery Monument - the white obelisk - this is in a separate section from the largest part of the battlefield park.  Spin around the image to find it.




McFadden's Ford.  Here's what happened there:  "4:45 p.m. Jan. 2, 1863. Mendenhall saves the day. Capt. John Mendenhall of Gen. T.L. Crittenden's division is asked to provide artillery support for Union troops under attack on the riverfront. He responds by quickly massing 58 cannons, which open fire on Breckinridge's Confederates as they crest a hill at McFaddens Ford. More than 1,800 Confederate soldiers are killed or wounded in the conflagration."




Bridge over the West Fork of the Stones River.




General Rosecrans Headquarters site - now marked with a pyramid of cannonballs.



On the road again ...

Lighthouse of the Week, August 25-31, 2019: Märket, Finland (and Sweden)

This is one of the more unusual lighthouses of the week I've done. OK, yes, I had a lighthouse with a crab climbing on it, and a lighthouse that looked like a baseball and a bat, and a lighthouse that was distinctly phallic (and I think all of them were in South Korea). But while I've featured lighthouses of unusual design, and many different classic designs, and many in striking, very picturesque settings, I've never featured a particularly ugly lighthouse.

This may be the first one.

This is also an unusual lighthouse for a different reason.  It's on an island shared by two different countries -- Finland and Sweden.  And it was built by Russia.

Here's more about the island.  The unusual border of Märket Island

The summary is that the Russians built the lighthouse (in 1885) on the Swedish side of the island by accident (but in their defense, it was on the highest point on the little rock). So the border on the island is drawn now such that the lighthouse is on the Finnish side.

If you want to read more about all that, I recommend the Lighthouse Directory's summary, which is on this page:  Lighthouses of the Åland Islands  (scroll down)

Here are some extracted specs:

"Active; focal plane 17 m (56 ft); white flash every 5 s. 14 m (46 ft) octagonal cylindrical stone tower with lantern and gallery, rising from a 2-story stone keeper's house. Entire structure painted with red and white horizontal bands."

Oh, where is it?  Here - but you'll have to zoom in further to actually see it.

Now, as for how it looks.  Like I said, it doesn't look that great, partly because the site is cluttered with other buildings.  The island itself is pretty wild and rocky and isolated.

So ... judge for yourself.  The pictures:

So -- agreed?  An ugly lighthouse?  But still, the location is impressive (and it's a long way from anywhere).