Friday, March 16, 2007

toasty columns and frozen seas

i can almost guarantee that I didn't ask for air in the nitrate
column last night, but i got it anyway, and toasted another column.
i guess i haven't mastered the lachat yet. there are innumerable
ways to let your guard down with that machine.

if i'd asked for cold, though, i would have been 3 for 3 in the ask
and you shall receive department. winds changed around to the south
and left brilliant blue skies and 20-30 knot winds all day. when
paired with temperatures of about -20C (-5 F), it makes for a cold
day, say -50 wind chills. I'm still left-over cold from some time
spent on the bow this afternoon.

the weather report is only so interesting for you i'm sure, but it is
related to (and responsible for) a few of the unique vistas outside
today -- sundogs and diamond dust. the sundog is a rainbow halo
around the sun...i saw two distinct rings around the sun which went
almost all the way around the sun until they intersected the sea
ice. the diamond dust is tiny pieces of ice that shimmer and sparkle
in the air under clear skies. it's almost like blown snow, but it's
sparkly and just seems to hover. i'm not real sure of the physics/
optics behind these, but my guess is that at cold temperatures,
moisture in the atmosphere condenses into really small pieces of ice
which don't form clouds (with big ice crystals and or water). my
second guess is that it's these crystals which are causing the sundog
(and weird light -- really bright up close, but misty farther away).
i'm really not sure of this though, and i haven't done any research
and/or asking around the ship, so correct me if i'm wrong.

(photo courtesy bettina sohst)

anyway these things made venturing outside well worth the trip (and
it was yet another opportunity to try out some of the ECW I received
about a month ago but haven't gotten to wear yet). Brice put on his
furback gauntlet mittens, which were a huge hit when we'd tried them
on but that I have since mostly forgotten about. These are the
mittens you'd want to use if you were wrestling a polar bear (NOT
that you'd be wrestling a polar bear in Antarctica, right?). They
have elbow length green canvas type lace up arms, heavy duty yellow
leather palms, and some kind of rugged fur cover over the hand. They
are very cool but probably impractical around campus. I'll have to
find some excuse in the next few days to try them out...

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