Photo taken June 22, 2017 by Martin Marthadinata.
Northerners’ guide to the Southern Cross
Photo taken June 22, 2017 by Martin Marthadinata.
Northerners’ guide to the Southern Cross
Photo via Shutterstock.
The ruby, birthstone for July, is among the most highly prized of gemstones. Large rubies are harder to find than large diamonds, emeralds and sapphires. As a result, rubies’ value increases with size more than any other gemstone.
Along with its close relative, the sapphire, the ruby is a form of the mineral corundum, which is normally drab and grey in color. Red gemstone corundum is called ruby. All other gemstone corundum colors – orange, yellow, brown, green, blue, purple, violet, black, and colorless – are called sapphires.
The Mogok valley of Upper Burma is famous as the source for the finest and rarest rubies of all, know as “pigeon’s blood” for the stones’ intense red color. Another major source of rubies is Thailand, well-known for dark, brownish-red rubies. Both Thailand and Burma regard the ruby as their national stone.
In the Orient, rubies were once believed to contain the spark of life – “a deep drop of the heart’s blood of Mother Earth,” according to ancient Eastern legends. Ancient Asian stories tell that the ruby was self-luminous. They called it “glowing stone” or “lamp stone.” It’s said that an Emperor of China once used a large ruby to light his chamber, where it glowed as bright as day. Brahmins – Hindu priests of the highest caste – believed that the homes of the gods were lit by enormous emeralds and rubies. Later, Greek legends told the story of a female stork, who repaid the kindness of Heraclea by bringing her a brilliant ruby – a ruby so bright that it illuminated Heraclea’s room at night.
Image via Jarno.
Ancient Hindus, Burmese, and Ceylonese regarded sapphires as unripe rubies, believing that if they buried the sapphire in the ground, it would mature to a rich red ruby.
In the Middle Ages, rubies were thought to bring good health, as well as guard against wicked thoughts, amorous desires, and disputes. Rubies, along with other types of red stones, were said to cure bleeding. And it was believed that the ruby held the power to warn its owner of coming misfortunes, illness, or death, by turning darker in color. It is said that Catherine of Aragon, first wife of King Henry VIII, predicted her downfall in seeing the darkening of her ruby.
Because of their rarity, there are very few famous large rubies. In his 13th-century books of his travels, Marco Polo relates the tale of a magnificent gemstone – believed to be a ruby nine inches long and as thick as a man’s arm – belonging to the King of Ceylon. Kublai Khan, the Emperor of China, offered an entire city in exchange for the enormous stone, to which the King of Ceylon replied that he would never part with his prize for all the treasures of the world.
The word ruby is derived from the Latin “ruber,” meaning red. This name was once used to describe all red stones, including red spinel, red tourmaline, and red garnet. Many famous rubies in history turned out not to be rubies after all. For example, the famed Timur ruby – given to Queen Victoria in 1851 – was later found to be ruby spinel.
Find out about the birthstones for the other months of the year.
January birthstone
February birthstone
March birthstone
April birthstone
May birthstone
July birthstone
August birthstone
September birthstone
October birthstone
November birthstone
December birthstone
Bottom line: The birthstone for July is the ruby.
Enjoying EarthSky so far? Sign up for our free daily newsletter today!
Photo via Shutterstock.
The ruby, birthstone for July, is among the most highly prized of gemstones. Large rubies are harder to find than large diamonds, emeralds and sapphires. As a result, rubies’ value increases with size more than any other gemstone.
Along with its close relative, the sapphire, the ruby is a form of the mineral corundum, which is normally drab and grey in color. Red gemstone corundum is called ruby. All other gemstone corundum colors – orange, yellow, brown, green, blue, purple, violet, black, and colorless – are called sapphires.
The Mogok valley of Upper Burma is famous as the source for the finest and rarest rubies of all, know as “pigeon’s blood” for the stones’ intense red color. Another major source of rubies is Thailand, well-known for dark, brownish-red rubies. Both Thailand and Burma regard the ruby as their national stone.
In the Orient, rubies were once believed to contain the spark of life – “a deep drop of the heart’s blood of Mother Earth,” according to ancient Eastern legends. Ancient Asian stories tell that the ruby was self-luminous. They called it “glowing stone” or “lamp stone.” It’s said that an Emperor of China once used a large ruby to light his chamber, where it glowed as bright as day. Brahmins – Hindu priests of the highest caste – believed that the homes of the gods were lit by enormous emeralds and rubies. Later, Greek legends told the story of a female stork, who repaid the kindness of Heraclea by bringing her a brilliant ruby – a ruby so bright that it illuminated Heraclea’s room at night.
Image via Jarno.
Ancient Hindus, Burmese, and Ceylonese regarded sapphires as unripe rubies, believing that if they buried the sapphire in the ground, it would mature to a rich red ruby.
In the Middle Ages, rubies were thought to bring good health, as well as guard against wicked thoughts, amorous desires, and disputes. Rubies, along with other types of red stones, were said to cure bleeding. And it was believed that the ruby held the power to warn its owner of coming misfortunes, illness, or death, by turning darker in color. It is said that Catherine of Aragon, first wife of King Henry VIII, predicted her downfall in seeing the darkening of her ruby.
Because of their rarity, there are very few famous large rubies. In his 13th-century books of his travels, Marco Polo relates the tale of a magnificent gemstone – believed to be a ruby nine inches long and as thick as a man’s arm – belonging to the King of Ceylon. Kublai Khan, the Emperor of China, offered an entire city in exchange for the enormous stone, to which the King of Ceylon replied that he would never part with his prize for all the treasures of the world.
The word ruby is derived from the Latin “ruber,” meaning red. This name was once used to describe all red stones, including red spinel, red tourmaline, and red garnet. Many famous rubies in history turned out not to be rubies after all. For example, the famed Timur ruby – given to Queen Victoria in 1851 – was later found to be ruby spinel.
Find out about the birthstones for the other months of the year.
January birthstone
February birthstone
March birthstone
April birthstone
May birthstone
July birthstone
August birthstone
September birthstone
October birthstone
November birthstone
December birthstone
Bottom line: The birthstone for July is the ruby.
Enjoying EarthSky so far? Sign up for our free daily newsletter today!
Planet Earth reaches a milestone today, its aphelion, or most distant point from the sun. We reach this point on July 3, 2017 at 20:11 UTC. That’s 15:11 (3:11 p.m.) Central Daylight Time in the U.S. Translate to your time zone.
Is it hot outside for you on your part of Earth right now? Or cold out? Earth’s aphelion comes in the midst of Northern Hemisphere summer and Southern Hemisphere winter. That should tell you that our distance from the sun doesn’t cause the seasons. More about that below.
Image top of post by Sara Zimmerman at Unearthed Comics. Thanks, Sara!
This illustration greatly exaggerates the eccentricity – or oblongness – of Earth’s orbit, but you get the idea.
The fact is that Earth’s orbit is almost, but not quite, circular. So our distance from the sun doesn’t change much. Today, we’re about 3 million miles (5 million km) farther from the sun than we will be six months from now. That’s in contrast to our average distance from the sun of about 93 million miles (150 million km).
The word aphelion, by the way, comes from the Greek words apo meaning away, off, apart and helios, for the Greek god of the sun. Apart from the sun. That’s us, today.
Looking for Earth’s exact distance from the sun at aphelion? It’s 94,505,901 miles (152,092,505 km). Last year, on July 4, 2016, the Earth at aphelion was a tiny bit farther, at 94,512,904 miles (152,103,775 km).
Image via earthtimes.com
Here’s what does cause the seasons. It’s not a distance thing. We’re always farthest from the sun in early July during northern summer and closest in January during northern winter.
It’s a tilt thing. Right now, it’s summer in the Northern Hemisphere because the northern part of Earth is tilted most toward the sun.
Meanwhile, it’s winter in the Southern Hemisphere because the southern part of Earth is tilted most away from the sun.
Earth’s varying distance from the sun does affect the length of the seasons. That’s because, at our farthest from the sun, like now, Earth is traveling most slowly in its orbit. That makes summer the longest season in the Northern Hemisphere and winter the longest season on the southern half of the globe.
Conversely, winter is the shortest season in the Northern Hemisphere, and summer is the shortest in the S. Hemisphere, in each instance by nearly 5 days.
Image via Flickr user Juan Ramon Rodriguez Sosa.
Earth at perihelion and aphelion 2001 to 2100
Bottom line: Planet Earth reaches its most distant point from the sun for 2017 on July 3. Astronomers call this yearly point in Earth’s orbit our aphelion.
EarthSky astronomy kits are perfect for beginners. Order yours today.
Why isn’t the hottest weather on the year’s longest day?
Planet Earth reaches a milestone today, its aphelion, or most distant point from the sun. We reach this point on July 3, 2017 at 20:11 UTC. That’s 15:11 (3:11 p.m.) Central Daylight Time in the U.S. Translate to your time zone.
Is it hot outside for you on your part of Earth right now? Or cold out? Earth’s aphelion comes in the midst of Northern Hemisphere summer and Southern Hemisphere winter. That should tell you that our distance from the sun doesn’t cause the seasons. More about that below.
Image top of post by Sara Zimmerman at Unearthed Comics. Thanks, Sara!
This illustration greatly exaggerates the eccentricity – or oblongness – of Earth’s orbit, but you get the idea.
The fact is that Earth’s orbit is almost, but not quite, circular. So our distance from the sun doesn’t change much. Today, we’re about 3 million miles (5 million km) farther from the sun than we will be six months from now. That’s in contrast to our average distance from the sun of about 93 million miles (150 million km).
The word aphelion, by the way, comes from the Greek words apo meaning away, off, apart and helios, for the Greek god of the sun. Apart from the sun. That’s us, today.
Looking for Earth’s exact distance from the sun at aphelion? It’s 94,505,901 miles (152,092,505 km). Last year, on July 4, 2016, the Earth at aphelion was a tiny bit farther, at 94,512,904 miles (152,103,775 km).
Image via earthtimes.com
Here’s what does cause the seasons. It’s not a distance thing. We’re always farthest from the sun in early July during northern summer and closest in January during northern winter.
It’s a tilt thing. Right now, it’s summer in the Northern Hemisphere because the northern part of Earth is tilted most toward the sun.
Meanwhile, it’s winter in the Southern Hemisphere because the southern part of Earth is tilted most away from the sun.
Earth’s varying distance from the sun does affect the length of the seasons. That’s because, at our farthest from the sun, like now, Earth is traveling most slowly in its orbit. That makes summer the longest season in the Northern Hemisphere and winter the longest season on the southern half of the globe.
Conversely, winter is the shortest season in the Northern Hemisphere, and summer is the shortest in the S. Hemisphere, in each instance by nearly 5 days.
Image via Flickr user Juan Ramon Rodriguez Sosa.
Earth at perihelion and aphelion 2001 to 2100
Bottom line: Planet Earth reaches its most distant point from the sun for 2017 on July 3. Astronomers call this yearly point in Earth’s orbit our aphelion.
EarthSky astronomy kits are perfect for beginners. Order yours today.
Why isn’t the hottest weather on the year’s longest day?
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Quote of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week... Climate Feedback Reviews... SkS Week in Review... 97 Hours of Consensus...
Carbon in Atmosphere Is Rising, Even as Emissions Stabilize
The Cape Grim Baseline Air Pollution Station in Tasmania. Credit: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO)
CAPE GRIM, Tasmania — On the best days, the wind howling across this rugged promontory has not touched land for thousands of miles, and the arriving air seems as if it should be the cleanest in the world.
But on a cliff above the sea, inside a low-slung government building, a bank of sophisticated machines sniffs that air day and night, revealing telltale indicators of the way human activity is altering the planet on a major scale.
For more than two years, the monitoring station here, along with its counterparts across the world, has been flashing a warning: The excess carbon dioxide scorching the planet rose at the highest rate on record in 2015 and 2016. A slightly slower but still unusual rate of increase has continued into 2017.
Scientists are concerned about the cause of the rapid rises because, in one of the most hopeful signs since the global climate crisis became widely understood in the 1980s, the amount of carbon dioxide that people are pumping into the air seems to have stabilized in recent years, at least judging from the data that countries compile on their own emissions.
That raises a conundrum: If the amount of the gas that people are putting out has stopped rising, how can the amount that stays in the air be going up faster than ever? Does it mean the natural sponges that have been absorbing carbon dioxide are now changing?
Carbon in Atmosphere Is Rising, Even as Emissions Stabilize by Justin Gillis, New York Times, June 26, 2017
The basics of scientists’ understanding of climate change can be communicated in five key points: It’s real, it’s caused by humans, it’s bad, the experts agree, and there’s still hope for fixing it, according to John Cook, a research assistant professor at George Mason University’s Center for Climate Change Communication.
“When you look at all the climate denial arguments, they’re basically the flip of all that: It’s not real, it’s not us, it’s not bad, the experts disagree or the experts are unreliable, and there’s no hope, we can’t fix it,” Cook told HuffPost. “You expect them to be moving along that spectrum.”
Don’t Be Fooled By The Gentler Tone Of Charles Koch’s Climate-Change Denial by Alexander C Kaufman, HuffPost, June 26, 2017
Nature World News offers fascinating and comprehensive news about the scientific world. Whether it's about animals, health, space, or archaeological finds, the website brings out the science geek in every reader, fostering an improved appreciation of our environment.
Our writers and editors are dedicated to dissect and interpret complex information from the latest scientific studies to deliver articles that are easily digestible. We get our information from authoritative sources, world’s leading scientists, experts and researchers, encompassing a variety of topics — animals, biology, environment, health and medicine, technology, travel, and space.
We live in a world where we depend on science and technology for our everyday life; yet, almost no one understands it. At Nature World News, by using accessible journalism, we hope to make complicated science easier to understand.
Climate Feedback asked its network of scientists to review 95-Degree Days: How Extreme Heat Could Spread Across the World by Brad Pulmer & Nadja Popovich, New York Times, June 22, 2017
Four scientists analyzed the article and estimated its overall scientific credibility to be ‘high’.
A majority of reviewers tagged the article as: Accurate.
Click here to acess the entire review.
Quote derived with author's permission from:
"We have known since the 1800s that carbon dioxide traps heat in the atmosphere. The right amount keeps the climate conducive to human life. But add too much, as we are doing now, and temperatures will inevitably rise too high. This is not the result of natural variability, as some argue. The earth is currently in the part of its long-term orbit cycle where temperatures would normally be cooling. But they are rising — and it’s because we are forcing them higher with fossil fuel emissions."
High resolution JPEG (1024 pixels wide)
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Quote of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week... Climate Feedback Reviews... SkS Week in Review... 97 Hours of Consensus...
Carbon in Atmosphere Is Rising, Even as Emissions Stabilize
The Cape Grim Baseline Air Pollution Station in Tasmania. Credit: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO)
CAPE GRIM, Tasmania — On the best days, the wind howling across this rugged promontory has not touched land for thousands of miles, and the arriving air seems as if it should be the cleanest in the world.
But on a cliff above the sea, inside a low-slung government building, a bank of sophisticated machines sniffs that air day and night, revealing telltale indicators of the way human activity is altering the planet on a major scale.
For more than two years, the monitoring station here, along with its counterparts across the world, has been flashing a warning: The excess carbon dioxide scorching the planet rose at the highest rate on record in 2015 and 2016. A slightly slower but still unusual rate of increase has continued into 2017.
Scientists are concerned about the cause of the rapid rises because, in one of the most hopeful signs since the global climate crisis became widely understood in the 1980s, the amount of carbon dioxide that people are pumping into the air seems to have stabilized in recent years, at least judging from the data that countries compile on their own emissions.
That raises a conundrum: If the amount of the gas that people are putting out has stopped rising, how can the amount that stays in the air be going up faster than ever? Does it mean the natural sponges that have been absorbing carbon dioxide are now changing?
Carbon in Atmosphere Is Rising, Even as Emissions Stabilize by Justin Gillis, New York Times, June 26, 2017
The basics of scientists’ understanding of climate change can be communicated in five key points: It’s real, it’s caused by humans, it’s bad, the experts agree, and there’s still hope for fixing it, according to John Cook, a research assistant professor at George Mason University’s Center for Climate Change Communication.
“When you look at all the climate denial arguments, they’re basically the flip of all that: It’s not real, it’s not us, it’s not bad, the experts disagree or the experts are unreliable, and there’s no hope, we can’t fix it,” Cook told HuffPost. “You expect them to be moving along that spectrum.”
Don’t Be Fooled By The Gentler Tone Of Charles Koch’s Climate-Change Denial by Alexander C Kaufman, HuffPost, June 26, 2017
Nature World News offers fascinating and comprehensive news about the scientific world. Whether it's about animals, health, space, or archaeological finds, the website brings out the science geek in every reader, fostering an improved appreciation of our environment.
Our writers and editors are dedicated to dissect and interpret complex information from the latest scientific studies to deliver articles that are easily digestible. We get our information from authoritative sources, world’s leading scientists, experts and researchers, encompassing a variety of topics — animals, biology, environment, health and medicine, technology, travel, and space.
We live in a world where we depend on science and technology for our everyday life; yet, almost no one understands it. At Nature World News, by using accessible journalism, we hope to make complicated science easier to understand.
Climate Feedback asked its network of scientists to review 95-Degree Days: How Extreme Heat Could Spread Across the World by Brad Pulmer & Nadja Popovich, New York Times, June 22, 2017
Four scientists analyzed the article and estimated its overall scientific credibility to be ‘high’.
A majority of reviewers tagged the article as: Accurate.
Click here to acess the entire review.
Quote derived with author's permission from:
"We have known since the 1800s that carbon dioxide traps heat in the atmosphere. The right amount keeps the climate conducive to human life. But add too much, as we are doing now, and temperatures will inevitably rise too high. This is not the result of natural variability, as some argue. The earth is currently in the part of its long-term orbit cycle where temperatures would normally be cooling. But they are rising — and it’s because we are forcing them higher with fossil fuel emissions."
High resolution JPEG (1024 pixels wide)
Artificial clouds generated by rocket fired from Wallops Island, VA on June 29, 2017. Photo via Robert Williams. Read more.
Last Thursday morning, June 29, 2017, NASA launched a sounding rocket that created colorful clouds in space, visible to observers from New York to North Carolina. Robert Williams in Hanover, Pennsylvania caught this image of the artificial clouds. Robert told EarthSky:
The clouds were quite noticeable to the unaided eye once they began appearing. They started out as orbs and then morphed into clouds.
8 sec., 14mm, 800iso, f/2.8
I cropped and modified the brightness a bit, but not the color.
Read more about the NASA sounding rocket that created these clouds
Artificial clouds generated by rocket fired from Wallops Island, VA on June 29, 2017. Photo via Robert Williams. Read more.
Last Thursday morning, June 29, 2017, NASA launched a sounding rocket that created colorful clouds in space, visible to observers from New York to North Carolina. Robert Williams in Hanover, Pennsylvania caught this image of the artificial clouds. Robert told EarthSky:
The clouds were quite noticeable to the unaided eye once they began appearing. They started out as orbs and then morphed into clouds.
8 sec., 14mm, 800iso, f/2.8
I cropped and modified the brightness a bit, but not the color.
Read more about the NASA sounding rocket that created these clouds
Photo via Mimi Ditchie.
Mimi Ditchie captured this image on June 22, 2017. She wrote:
My friends and I hiked in the dark of the night with flashlights to find the Mobius Arch in the Alabama Hills of the Eastern Sierra. After getting lost for about 45 minutes, we eventually found our way back to the parking lot. We then found the correct trail and reached the arch within 10 minutes. We got below the arch and took quite a few photos, using a flashlight turned backwards to carefully light paint it.
Thanks for sharing it with us Mimi!
Photo via Mimi Ditchie.
Mimi Ditchie captured this image on June 22, 2017. She wrote:
My friends and I hiked in the dark of the night with flashlights to find the Mobius Arch in the Alabama Hills of the Eastern Sierra. After getting lost for about 45 minutes, we eventually found our way back to the parking lot. We then found the correct trail and reached the arch within 10 minutes. We got below the arch and took quite a few photos, using a flashlight turned backwards to carefully light paint it.
Thanks for sharing it with us Mimi!
Are you a morning person? July 2017 presents a fine time to see the planet Venus beaming in front of the constellation Taurus the Bull. Wake up an hour or two before sunrise and look eastward.
Given clear skies, there’s no way you can miss Venus, the third-brightest celestial object after the sun and moon.
If you’re up while it’s still rather dark, Venus will draw your eye to the Bull’s two most prominent signposts: the bright star Aldebaran and the easy-to-see, dipper-shaped Pleiades star cluster.
Because Venus is a planet and not a star, this world isn’t a permanent resident of Taurus. It’s only a temporary visitor. In fact, the word planet means “wanderer” because the ancients noticed that Venus and all the planets move relative to the fixed backdrop constellations of the zodiac.
You can notice this movement, too. July 2017 is a good time to try.
The ecliptic – the sun’s yearly path through the constellations of the zodiac – passes through the constellation Taurus the Bull, to the north of the star Aldebaran and to the south of the Pleiades stars cluster. The sun shines in front of Taurus from about May 14 to June 21.
If you watch Venus in the morning sky throughout July 2017, this planet’s change of position in front of the constellation Taurus will become obvious. Venus will pair up with Aldebaran by middle July. Then, as August comes along, Venus will depart from the constellation Taurus to enter the constellation Gemini.
In ancient times, astronomers charted the movement of Venus by noting its change of position relative to bright zodiacal stars, such as Aldebaran. Amazingly enough, the ancients found that Venus returns to the same place in front of the background stars in cycles of 8 years. So 8 years from now – in July 2025 – you can watch Venus follow nearly the same path in front of the constellation Taurus the Bull that this blazing planet will take in July 2017.
Venus, via Jamie Wyman on top of Mount Finlayson, Vancouver Island, British Columbia. She wrote: “Can’t wait to bring my telescope up the mountain this summer!”
Bottom line: If you watch Venus throughout July 2017, you’ll easily notice its change of position in front of the constellation Taurus, with its bright star Aldebaran and noticeable Pleiades star cluster.
Visit EarthSky’s guide to the bright planets
Are you a morning person? July 2017 presents a fine time to see the planet Venus beaming in front of the constellation Taurus the Bull. Wake up an hour or two before sunrise and look eastward.
Given clear skies, there’s no way you can miss Venus, the third-brightest celestial object after the sun and moon.
If you’re up while it’s still rather dark, Venus will draw your eye to the Bull’s two most prominent signposts: the bright star Aldebaran and the easy-to-see, dipper-shaped Pleiades star cluster.
Because Venus is a planet and not a star, this world isn’t a permanent resident of Taurus. It’s only a temporary visitor. In fact, the word planet means “wanderer” because the ancients noticed that Venus and all the planets move relative to the fixed backdrop constellations of the zodiac.
You can notice this movement, too. July 2017 is a good time to try.
The ecliptic – the sun’s yearly path through the constellations of the zodiac – passes through the constellation Taurus the Bull, to the north of the star Aldebaran and to the south of the Pleiades stars cluster. The sun shines in front of Taurus from about May 14 to June 21.
If you watch Venus in the morning sky throughout July 2017, this planet’s change of position in front of the constellation Taurus will become obvious. Venus will pair up with Aldebaran by middle July. Then, as August comes along, Venus will depart from the constellation Taurus to enter the constellation Gemini.
In ancient times, astronomers charted the movement of Venus by noting its change of position relative to bright zodiacal stars, such as Aldebaran. Amazingly enough, the ancients found that Venus returns to the same place in front of the background stars in cycles of 8 years. So 8 years from now – in July 2025 – you can watch Venus follow nearly the same path in front of the constellation Taurus the Bull that this blazing planet will take in July 2017.
Venus, via Jamie Wyman on top of Mount Finlayson, Vancouver Island, British Columbia. She wrote: “Can’t wait to bring my telescope up the mountain this summer!”
Bottom line: If you watch Venus throughout July 2017, you’ll easily notice its change of position in front of the constellation Taurus, with its bright star Aldebaran and noticeable Pleiades star cluster.
Visit EarthSky’s guide to the bright planets
