Venus, The Moon and Jupiter - triple conjunction time

Although I went for an evening walk about one day late for the actual alignment of the Moon, Venus and Jupiter, it still looked pretty spectacular. I've put together some footage I captured on my walk. You'll see the Sun sets before I turn to the Moon and planets. Venus below and Jupiter above the crescent Moon.



Since this recording the Moon has 'departed' from the scene leaving Venus and Jupiter shine alone. Well, there's alway all the rest of the Universe present of course. :-) If you want to know what else to expect from the skies this month you should check out Our Night Sky by Carolyn Collins Peterson over at Astrocast.TV.


Here you see Venus and Jupiter early evening this week-end. Photo: Bente Lilja Bye


You hear Prokofiev's Violin Sonata No 2 played by my niece the violinist Sarah-Erin Bye with David Meier, Germany on piano. See and hear the entire concerto here.

Norway - LIVE - Hurtigruten

Norway - LIVE!



Now - until 22. June 2011 - watch Norwegian coasts live. Includes midnight sun.

World Championship Oslo 2011

Ski: World Championship 2011 in Oslo



Credit: Renny B Amundsen

We are about to go completely nuts here in the extreme north (well, below the Arctic circle but to most people this is really EXTREMELY FAR NORTH at appx 60 degrees). The craziness will take place at Holmenkollen which is one of the most famous world sports stadiums. The true soul and spirit of Norwegians will be revealed. We go bananas when it comes to skiing. That is just the way it is - it is genetic!

Here is how Google sees it:



And then one more from Renny, Both of his pictures are being used on commercial goods by the way - Congratulations, Renny. Way cool! :-)



Credit: Renny B Amundsen

Norway And Russia Is True

Norway+Russia=True



Finally after several decades of dispute over national borders (maritime borders), Norway and Russia have agreed how to divide their marine territories. All set for business now!

A lot of hard science went into that process, let me tell you...

Norwegian Satellite Sees Ship From Space

Your Norwegian Big Brother Sees You At Sea - From Space



Up, up in the air - and we now follow your every movement in Norwegian waters - and beyond. No fishing of our fish, thank you very much. hahaha

Plankton reaching Norway

Plankton 'attack' on Norway



Credit: ESA

It could also look like some accessory to Norway - like a necklace...:-)

Sweet.

Norwegian National Day 17th May 2010

Hurra For 17. Mai!



In Norway we celebrate our national day a little different than others (with military parades and the likes). We have all our children dress up, form a parade with children's band, sing songs and scream Hurray!

This is to all my friends with Norwegian roots, in particular Xineann.

Holmenkollen Ski Jump

Holmenkollen Ski Jump



Holmenkollen by RennyBA's Terella


If you would be so lucky as to visit Oslo on Holmenkollen Sunday (as we call this HUGE sports and outdoors event) you MUST GO THERE. Even the royal family attend this incarnation of 'Norwegians born with ski' happening. More than 6000 people slept over in tents in the forest surrounding the ski jump this week-end. A long standing tradition. And this year we had perfect meteorological conditions (=sunshine, not too windy).

Winter Love

Norwegians: Pure Love of Winter



Credit: RennyBA. Click on image to find bigger versions and see the seriousness of our playing the snow. This is why we do so well in the Winter Olympics...:-))

I do not know anyone who love winter more than Norwegian (except perhaps my Chinese friends from the northern part of the Middle Kindom). RennyBA was out and about in our surburbian Oslo, the capital of Norway. As you can see we use any opportunity to play in the snow - and we start early.

This winter is a fairy tale winter - exactly how it should be with lots of snow and temperatures way below 0 Celsius (we don't like the snow to be too wet :-)).

Cruising Oslo

Oslo by boat



Credit: Renny BA

Oslo can be a sight even in October. And plenty of what Oslo offers can be seen by boat. I need to do this myself one of these days...:-)

I've chosen to show a picture of our characteristic town hall.

Bloom!

Phytoplankton in Norwegian Fjords



Credit: NASA

Spectacular Algae Bloom.

Environmental Clash

Environmental Clash



A sewerage system situated practically ON the lake? Perhaps it looks clean, but it SMELLS and God knows how much of it leaks out in the lake it is supposed to clean.


Gro Harlem Brundtland uttered the famous environmental words: Think global, act local.

Indeed, it is important to have the locals on board and as allies when implementing environmental projects. That is why it is paramount that the projects actually give the promised results - or at least some improvements. :-)

The environmental movement in China is very much aware of the need of individual engagement. One of the green organization uses the train as means of reaching the people in remote corners of China.

The same requirement of being practical and useful applies both in Norway and China and everywhere else.


This is a post in the Earth Day series.

Earthquakes in Norway

Small Country, Small Earthquakes



Stourragurra fault in Finnmark, Northern Norway


I know what I'm made of; organic material or biomass if you like. As such I cannot distinguish myself from the other biomass composing the biosphere of the Earth and therefore not the Earth itself. However, for the sake of my point I will talk about the Earth as opposed to humans and human activity and of how we can protect both Earth itself and what we as humans construct out of and on the Earth.

There is nothing we can do about earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis and other natural hazards on Earth. What we can do is to understand and try to predict this violent behavior of the planet, and by that protect both ourself and the planet from the consequences.

I am particularly thinking of how we can avoid building nuclear plants and the likes on top of a volcano or in a earthquake prone area. We can also calculate the expected shaking and construct our houses so that they can at least last smaller quakes.

Norway is prone with earthquakes. It is not only the fact that the country is small and remotely situation up north that might make you feel ignorant not knowing the first thing about Norway (perhaps :-)), it could also be the fact that the earthquakes are relatively small and therefore less talked about.

However small Norway is population wise with its less than 5 million people, it is a big oil, shipping and fishing nation. Norway has therefore obtained substantial information about its earthquakes. Imagine what could happen with oil and gas pipelines etc if the Earth shook them hard enough?

Understanding earthquakes and other natural hazards is therefore of out most importance also in an environmental perspective.



Earthquakes in and around Norway. Read more about them by clicking on the map. (NORSAR)

This is a post in the Earth Day series.

Landslides: Storegga

Storegga sub marine land slide





Caused a major tsunami along the Norwegian coast a few years back - 6100 BC (in an astronomical perspective this is ONLY A FEW YEARS BACK, I insist!)

The International Centre for Geohazards (ICG) carries out research on the assessment, prevention and mitigation of geohazards, including risk of landslide in soil and rock due to rainfall, flooding, earthquakes and human intervention, and the geological risks in deep waters, especially underwater slides. The Centre also contributes to the education of researchers and specialists in these fields.

The ICG network knows a whole lot about Storegga!

Earthquakes in Norway

Recent Earthquakes Northern Europe




This week the UK experienced a significant earthquake. So did Norway up at Svalbard, in fact the strongest in history...

Details from Svalbard, Norway




Summary

Earthquake measuring 6,2 in Storfjorden, Svalbard, Norway
Data

Time.: 2008/02/21 03:46:17
Place: Ca. 159 km East - souteast of Longyearbyen (76,95°N 18,76°E)
Strength: 6,2
Depth: 25 km

This Earthquake is the biggest on Norwegian territory in history. Many after quakes have been registered and they will continue.

The last earthquake in the same area took place 18. January 1976 with a measuring 5.5 on Richters.