New calendar page

[mattlistener]

You know, I'm really enjoying the images in my "Don't Mess With Mother Nature" calendar, but boy does the text get things wrong. This month (coincidentally): "Aurora Borealis".

Aurora borealis or the Northern Lights is a phenomenal natural light show which occurs when particles from the sun are blown against the earth by the solar wind. The particles turn into light when they hit the earth's atmosphere. Aurora borealis is only visible in the polar regions because the magnetic field lines which allow the solar wind particles to hit the earth's atmosphere are only open at the poles. The magnetic field is locked at lower latitudes.

Ok:

-It's strange to say particles from the sun are blown against the earth by the solar wind. Particles from the sun *are* the solar wind.

-The particles don't turn into light, they have collisions that emit light.

-Open vs locked sugegsts that solar wind hitting the poles gets in whereas solar wind hitting at lower latitudes doesn't. In actuality particles coming in at too low latitudes get redirected along (smoothly varying) field lines to the poles.

************

A life-pattern for me: when I have something meaty I'm planning to write, I tend to put off other writing. This is not good -- I'd rather give myself the freedom to write at whatever level of meatiness is available to me at the time. Hence, a lighter post here while my further writings about Twilight Covening are still pending.

Comments

[docorion.livejournal.com]

Argh! It's that kind of stuff that would probably keep me away from that calendar. I'm all for Mother Nature, but get the facts right! I hate having to mentally clean up the text like that. And it's not as if the correct explanation takes that many more words, or is any harder to understand.

[mattlistener.livejournal.com]

The images do rock, it must be said.

You may have missed my post from March, regarding "The volcano was once thought to be the chimney of the forge of Vulcan, the Roman blacksmith to the gods. We now know that a volcano is actually a cone-shaped mountain or hill with a central vent that expels molten rock from below the surface of the earth."

[docorion.livejournal.com]

I like the Vulcan explanation better...

*smooch*

[mud-puppy.livejournal.com]

You're so cute! I just had to say it.

As for the silly calendar. I don't understand how they could print something so wrong when they have access to Google! What's wrong with these people :)

*smooch*

[bethr.livejournal.com]

Maybe you should find some entity to pay you to write meaningful things. It seems to work wonders for you...

[Oh no, did I just say that? (slaps hand away from keyboard.) Bad girl!]

[mattlistener.livejournal.com]

Seems to work wonders for you too! :-P
(book)

[bethr.livejournal.com]

I'm on spec. [So are my friends Krishna and Radha (left), who may never be let into the world in their millenial incarnations if I don't stop fooling around here and work.]

Fiction, unless you're Scott Turow or somebody, is always on spec.