Philae countdown begins

Nov11

The countdown for the release of the Philae probe from the Rosetta spacecraft, and its 7 hour journey down to the surface of comet Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, has begun. This is a historic and quite mind-boggling mission. Rosetta, the European Space Agency’s robotic spacecraft, spent the last 10 years travelling from earth to to rendezvous with the comet. It then spent a few months in orbit around the c. 6 km long comet, mapping its terrain to establish the likely safest landing place for Philae, the probe it is carrying.

But not for much longer! If all goes to plan, at around 8.35 am GMT/UTC tomorrow, Philae will separate from Rosetta and head off down to the surface of the comet. The descent will take some seven hours. Once it makes touchdown, it will secure itself to the icy surface of the comet using harpoons and screws. The signal that the mission has succeeded should be received back on earth at about 4.00 pm GMT/UTC the same day.

The targeted landing place on . Photo by ESA.

The targeted landing place for the Philae probe on Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. Photo by ESA, taken from Rosetta.

The risks are great—Philae may not even touch down on the comet. It may make a bad landing and fall over, and it has no means of righting itself should this happen.

If it does succeed, it will then commence the varied scientific analyses it is equipped for. First and foremost, it will photograph its landing spot. This will be the first ever photograph taken on the surface of a comet. Amazing!

Jagged terrain on the comet. Not the landing spot!

More rough terrain on the comet. Also not the landing spot!

Much smoother terrain on the comet. Not the landing spot, but the sort of place that has been chosen, with fewer obstacles.

Much smoother terrain on the comet. Not the landing spot, but similar to the sort of place that has been chosen, with fewer obstacles.

The BBC has provided a schedule of tomorrow’s activities (all times in GMT/UTC):

Rosetta delivery manoeuvre – shortly after 06:00
Latest Go/No-go decision – before 07:35
Philae separates from Rosetta – 08:35
Confirmation signal at Earth of separation – 09:03
Rosetta’s post-delivery manoeuvre – 09:15
Radio connection established – 10:30
First data from descending Philae after 12:00
Landing of Philae on 67P – after 15:30
Confirmation signal at Earth – around 16:00

There is a much more detailed one at ESA’s website.

I will be watching and waiting with bated breath. The landing is being broadcast live by ESA: it can be viewed here, right now!

Rosetta and the comet

Oct31

From soft warm landing places for a cat to cold, hopefully not-too hard ones for scientific probes: Rosetta sent back this image on 26 October, taken from a distance of about 7.8 km from the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko by NAVCAM, its on-board navigation camera.

The surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, photographed from Rosetta. Photo by ESA, 26 October 2014.

The total area shown in this mosaic photo made up of four separate frames is approximately 1,200 metres x 1,350 metres. It shows part of the larger of the two lobes that make up the comet; the scientific probe Philae will be landing on the other, smaller lobe, but in a similarly ‘featureless’ area, if all goes well.

Philae’s landing is scheduled for Wednesday 12 November 2014. Philae will separate from Rosetta at 09.03 GMT; the descent will take some 7 hours. The signal confirming touchdown is expected to be received on earth at round about 16.00 GMT that day. I’ll be following it with bated breath.

Stourhead’s autumn colours

Oct28

Chap and I headed out to Stourhead this morning to get a fix of autumn colours. The gardens open at 9 and we got there at about 9.30, and there were already plenty of people there. Unsurprisingly most of them seemed to be taking photos.

We did our usual circuit walk around the lake, anticlockwise this time. The colours are pretty good this year but I wonder if the best is still to come.

Stourhead. The Palladian bridge in the foreground and the Pantheon on the other side of the lake.

The Temple of Apollo.

View across the lake to the Temple of Flora.

The Pantheon, newly reopened after restoration works this summer. Look at the red of that acer – it gives that lady’s coat a run for its money!

Beautiful Tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) on the island in the lake.

Beautiful tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) on one of the islands in the lake.

The river god, representing the River Stour, in his grotto.

Looking back at **8 through the grotto. Love the pebble floor!

Looking back at the river god through the grotto. Love the pebble floor! To the right in this view is the sleeping nymph.

The sleeping nymph in the grotto.

The Bristol Cross, the Palladian bridge and over on the other side of the lake, the Pantheon.

On the drive home from Stourhead, just to the south of the estate: fantastic little estate smallholding, with outbuildings for livestock. We could see geese, ducks and guinea fowl!

On the drive home from Stourhead, just to the south of the gardens en route to the wonderfully named village of Gasper: a fantastic little estate smallholding, with outbuildings for livestock. We could see geese, ducks and guinea fowl!

The autumn colours are still developing. Alan Power, the Head Gardener at Stourhead, gives updates on his Twitter feed, as well as tweeting some amazing photos (he’s definitely got a better camera and waaaaaay more skill than me!).

On it I found out that in August this year the gardens at Stourhead were Google mapped: soon you’ll be able to take a virtual walk around the estate, courtesy of Google and this young man!

And I have to include this photo that I found on Alan’s twitter feed: it’s the most stunning view of Stourhead, taken by James Aldred in May this year from one of the taller trees on the estate:

Stourhead. Stunning photo by James Aldred in May 2014, showing the Temple of Apollo on its heights, and the Palladian bridge in the foreground.

Update on Friday 31 October: I have just heard Alan Power on BBC Radio 4’s PM programme, doing his annual description of the gardens, interviewed by the wonderful Eddie Mair. Alan has such a poetic way of describing the gardens, and his horticultural contributions are rightly a favourite part of PM’s annual cycle. He was recorded this afternoon, chatting for about 8 minutes on the programme, with the full 11½ minute interview available here. It’s well worth a listen: he clearly adores his job, the gardens, the plants and the people who visit, gaining pleasure from their pleasure, and he has a great eye for detail and a passion to share his delight in these fabulous gardens. A few lyrical snippets:

‘Trees in full autumnal song’

‘Early last week we had some wind come through the country … and on its way it undressed some of the trees’

‘On the island there’s a tulip tree that’s been rattled by the wind a little bit and its internal branches have no leaves left and it’s just haloed with a golden yellow’

‘And there’s architecture in the plants as well … looking across to the trees in the distance and there are some poplar trees and some birch trees by the grotto at Stourhead and they’re, they’re bolt upright you could describe them as, so their stems are really striking from a distance, really grey stems and they’re almost the same colour as the columns on top of the Pantheon, so you’ve got architecture within the soft planting and you’ve got the harder architecture of the eighteenth-century temples.’

‘The leaves have been falling gently and they haven’t been frightened by the frosts.’

Alan has been talking to PM about the autumn colours at Stourhead for six years now, and it’s just a delight.

Butterfly enamel jewellery: fluttery butterfly loveliness

Oct21

I am still in my insect jewellery phase, and one of the types of which I have a few in my Etsy shop is enamel butterfly jewellery.

Art Deco enamel and silver butterfly ring. For sale in my Etsy shop (click photo for details).

Art Deco enamel and sterling silver butterfly ring. 1930s, British. For sale in my Etsy shop (click photo for details). (NOW SOLD).

Art Deco enamel and sterling silver butterfly bar brooch. 1930s, British. For sale in my Etsy shop (click photo for details).

Art Deco enamel and brass butterfly brooch. 1930s, British. For sale in my Etsy shop (click photo for details). (NOW SOLD).

Hroar Prydz enamel and sterling silver, 1950s, Norway.

Hroar Prydz enamel, sterling silver and vermeil brooch. 1950s, Norway. For sale in my Etsy shop (click photo for details). (NOW SOLD).

In addition I have had two pairs of butterfly earrings in my shop, both of which have sold:

Hroar Prydz enamel and silver with vermeil butterfly earrings. (NOW SOLD).

Hroar Prydz enamel, sterling silver with vermeil butterfly earrings. 1950s, Norway. (NOW SOLD).

Volme Bahner enamel and silver butterfly earrings, Denmark. (NOW SOLD).

Volmer Bahner enamel and sterling silver butterfly earrings. 1960s, Denmark. (NOW SOLD).

Volmer Bahner enamel clip on earrings. Click on photo for details.

Volmer Bahner enamel and sterling silver butterfly clip on earrings. 1960s, Denmark. (NOW SOLD).

I have been trying to find out more of the history of this type of jewellery. From what I can make out, the trend for enamel and silver brooches and pendants of this type started in England in the early part of the 20th century, with jewellers such as Charles Horner, John Atkins and Sons, and EAP & Co making lovely examples in silver and enamel. Charles Horner is well known for his Art Nouveau enamelled pieces, and also his thistle and ribbon silver knotted brooches and hatpins, but he also produced beautiful butterfly brooches:

Charles Horner enamel and sterling silver butterfly brooch, hallmarked Chester, 1918. For sale at Tadema Gallery.

while John Atkins and Sons is perhaps the most famous maker of butterfly jewellery from this date:

John Atkins and Sons enamel and sterling silver butterfly brooch, hallmarked Birmingham 1916. For sale at The Antiques Centre, York.

Other companies continued the trend, through the 1920s and 1930s (when some of the butterflies are placed on distinctively Art Deco three bar mounts).

Art Deco butterfly brooch. For sale on eBay.

Art Deco butterfly brooch. For sale on eBay.

In the 1950s the very talented Scandinavian enamel jewellers picked up on the trend, the Norwegians in particular, and makers such as David-Andersen, Marius Hammer, Kristian M Hestenes, O F Hjortdahl, Aksel Holmsen, Ivar T Holth, Finn Jensen, Bernard Meldahl, Einar Modahl, Hans Myrhe, Arne Nordlie, OPRO, Hroar Prydz, and J Tostrup all produced enamelled butterfly jewellery. I featured some of the David-Andersen butterfly pieces in my earlier blog post on Norwegian enamel jewellery.

These pieces are highly collectable, and understandably so—the beautiful colours and designs, and the skill of the makers make these lovely pieces to own, with their jewel-like bright colours. A sign of how collectable they are is provided by the number of digital collections on Pinterest. Search for ‘John Atkins butterfly’ on Pinterest and you get this fabulous array of jewellery: totally droolworthy and I could lose hours looking at them all.

Favourite websites: OCEARCH.org Global Shark Tracker

Oct20

Ever wondered where great white sharks get to when they’re not peering in at cage divers or dining on hapless seals? Well, the answer is on the OCEARCH website: for several years now, great whites and other apex predator sharks have been tagged and their locations recorded every time they surface and send a ‘ping’ to the satellite tracking system.

Great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias). Photo by Terry Goss.

It’s a fascinating glimpse into the lives of these magnificent creatures: there are tagged populations off the East Coast of the United States, the West Coast of South America, and the South African coast. The researchers have named all the sharks, and my favourite is Lydia, a great white shark.

Lydian being tagged on 2 March 2013, off the coast at Jacksonville, Florida, United States.

Lydia being tagged on 2 March 2013, off the coast at Jacksonville, Florida, United States. At the time of tagging she was 4.40 m (14 ft 6 in) long and weighed approximately 900 kg (approx. 2,000 lbs).

Lydia is a very well-travelled shark: earlier this year she headed east from the eastern seaboard of the US to the middle of the Atlantic. To the very middle, in fact: for several weeks in March and April she swam down the line of the Mid Atlantic Ridge.

Lydia’s track on OCEARCH.org.

It’s fascinating to see where the sharks go, and how far and how quickly they travel.

OCEARCH is a wonderful organisation, undertaking research vital for the conservation of these beautiful creatures. Here’s a little about them, from their website:

‘OCEARCH enables the brightest scientists in the world by giving them approximately 15 minutes of access to live, mature great white sharks (and other species) to conduct up to 12 studies including tagging and sampling. OCEARCH captures mature sharks that can range between 2,000 and 5,000 pounds on average, maneuvers them onto a 75,000 lb. custom lift, then releases the shark after researchers have completed their 15 minutes of work. The shark is guided by hand in the water on and off the lift. OCEARCH is a leader in collaborative open source research, sharing scientific data and dynamic education content in near-real time for free to the public through the Global Shark Tracker, enabling students and the public to learn alongside PhDs.’

Hurrah for OCEARCH, and hurrah for open source research: it’s not just the scientists who benefit.

Sunday stroll: Cherhill

Sep29

Yesterday Chap and I headed north—most unusual for us (our hearts are in the south and west, and best of all the south-west). We visited the beautiful town of Malmesbury with its glorious abbey, founded in 675 AD, and then went on to Cherhill, a chalk downland hill near Calne. You can’t miss Cherhill: atop it sits the Lansdowne Monument, a 38 m (125 feet) high obelisk, and carved into the side of the hill is the famous Cherhill White Horse, one of several in the region. Cherhill is in the ownership of the National Trust, and is managed as part of the Avebury Estate.

Cherhill. Photo by MacFodder.

Cherhill packs in an awful lot of history into its not-so-great size. On top of the hill sits the two thousand year old plus Iron Age hillfort of Oldbury. The massive earthworks enclose an area of 10.1 hectares (25 acres). The northern part of the fort has no bank and ditch as the steep slope of the side of the downland provides natural defence.

Aerial photo of Oldbury. The Lansdowne Monumnet is visible within the north-western part of the Iron Age hillfort. Photo by Google.

Aerial photo of Oldbury. The Lansdowne Monument is visible within the north-western part of the Iron Age hillfort. The White Horse is just out of shot at the top of the image area. Photo by Google.

The earthworks of the Iron Age hillfort.

The entrance to the interior of the hillfort through the earthworks, in the south-east part of the hillfort.

The entrance to the interior of the hillfort through the earthworks, in the east part of the hillfort.

On the north-facing slopes of the downland, and clearly visible from the A4, an old coaching road, is the Cherhill White Horse. This was constructed in 1780, the brainchild of Dr Christopher Alsop of Calne. Alsop was known as ‘The Mad Doctor’, and is reputed to have instructed the workers by shouting through a megaphone from the wonderfully-named Labour-in-Vain Hill. The horse was originally 50 m by 67 m (165 feet by 220 feet).

The construction method for a white horse is very simple—the thin turf and soil is removed from the underlying chalk bedrock. When first exposed, the chalk is a brilliant white, and so contrasts well with the surrounding turf. However, the chalk soon weathers, turning a greyish colour, sometimes a greeny-grey if algae grows on it, and weeds take hold. For this reason, hill-cut chalk figures (of which there are a good number in southern England) have to be regularly re-scoured or re-dressed with fresh chalk. As far as I can make out, it was last re-dressed in 2002.

View of a rather grubby looking Cherhill White Horse from just below the Lansdowne Monument.

Close to, it is so large that you can barely make it out as a horse. Needs a good clean!

Close to, it is so large and becomes so abstract that you can barely make it out as a horse. Needs a good clean!

Here it is in brighter days. Photo by Dan Gabor.

The Lansdowne Monument was designed by Sir Charles Barry (he of the Houses of Parliament), and built in 1845 by Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, the 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne in memory of his ancestor Sir William Petty (1623-1687). Sir William was an economist, scientist and philosopher, and held the position of Surveyor General of Ireland in the 1660s. The Monument is 38 metres (125 feet) high, and is a Grade II* listed building.

The Lansdowne Monument. Photo by Lisa Hillier in 2002.

The Monument is currently boarded up at its base for public safety: the Bath Stone quoins have been eroding away in the bad winter weather and large fragments of rock have dropped from it.

Slightly skewiff photo, but it shows the boarding at the base well.

Close to the Lansdowne Monument.

A sad sign of the times: on the boarding was a notice by the National Trust saying it is not known when funding will be available to repair the Monument.

Even though it was an overcast day, the views from the hill to the north are wonderful.

Comet probe landing date set

Sep26

Clear your calendars! The date has been set—the NASA Philae landing probe from the European Space Agency Rosetta space satellite will attempt to land on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on Wednesday 12 November. With any luck the lander will successfully touch down at around 15:35 GMT, with confirmation due to arrive some time after 16.00 GMT.

Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Photo by Rosetta / ESA.

The landing site, known as ‘J’, has been carefully selected out of a shortlist of five potential sites. It is on the smaller of the comet’s two lobes (the head of the rubber duck).

Landing site J. Photo by Rosetta / ESA.

There is a high risk involved in such a tricky procedure. If successful, the lander will screw itself into position and then undertake some scientific analyses of the surface chemistry, drilling for samples and analysing them in an onboard laboratory. The scientists do not expect Philae to last much beyond next March as it will fail at some point due to overheating. Rosettta will stay in orbit for a year, sending back information as the comet moves in its elliptical orbit around the sun. Exciting (and nailbiting) times ahead. THE BBC article carries this caveat: The timings mentioned on this page carry some uncertainty and would change if subsequent mapping shows the J site to have a major problem, with Esa forced to shift its attention to the back-up destination, C.

The hitchhiker

Sep22

This little news report struck me the other day. A Cape genet (Genetta tigrina), a kind of small carnivorous mammal related to civets and mongooses, has been recorded in the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park in South Africa hitching rides at night on the backs of buffalo and rhinoceroses. The photographs, taken by camera-traps, showed that on one night he hitched a ride on two separate buffalo and on a rhino!

He even has his own twitter account: the wonderfully groan-worthy GenetJackson.

Hluhluwe-Buffalo-and-Genet-1_edited_watermark-1024x733

Genet atop a buffalo …

… and a rhino

Experts at the park have established that it is the same genet in all the images. The Director of the Park, Dr Simon Morgan, has offered an explanation for the behaviour:

“We are not sure what is happening here. Looking at the photos you can see that in some the genet is literally going along for a ride, while in a few others the genet is near the head and could be picking ticks of the animals’ ears perhaps? It could be similar behaviour to cattle egrets which go for a ride and wait for the large animal to flush insects, so in this case the genet could be using this vantage point to spot small prey items being flushed by the buffalo or the rhino.”

Cape genet (Genetta tigrina). Photo by Jana.

Norwegian enamel jewellery

Sep16

I have favourite types of jewellery in my Etsy shop, and they come and go in phases. At the moment, I’m in a Norwegian enamel phase. There’s something about the crispness and craftsmanship in these pretty enamelled brooches. Plus, an extra bonus for me is that they are often based on designs from nature. They all date from the 1950s:

Aksel Holmsen enamel and silver with vermeil brooch, often called the 'lily of the valley' design. For sale at my Etsy shop.

Aksel Holmsen enamel and silver with vermeil brooch, often called the ‘lily of the valley’ design. For sale in my Etsy shop. (NOW SOLD).

Hroar Prydz enamel and silver with vermeil butterfly brooch. For sale in my Esty shop.

Hroar Prydz enamel and silver with vermeil butterfly brooch. For sale in my Etsy shop. (NOW SOLD).

David-Andersen enamel and silver with vermeil leaf brooch. For sale in my Etsy shop. (NOW SOLD).

David Andersen teal enamel and sterling silver ring, for sale in my Etsy shop. Click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).

Hroar Prydz enamel and silver with vermeil butterfly earrings. (NOW SOLD).

UPDATE: For an up-to-date list of the Norwegian enamel for sale in my Etsy shop, including an enamelled sølje brooch, see here.

Norwegian jewellers have been producing enamelled pieces since the early 20th century. Probably the most famous jeweller is the firm of David-Andersen, with other notable jewellers who worked with enamel including (in alphabetical order) Marius Hammer, Kristian M Hestenes, O F Hjortdahl, Aksel Holmsen, Ivar T Holth, Finn Jensen, Bernard Meldahl, Einar Modahl, Hans Myrhe, Arne Nordlie, OPRO, Hroar Prydz, and J Tostrup.

Of all the designs, I like the butterfly brooches the most, and of those, the David-Andersen ones are stunning. I hope one day to catch one of those little beauties for my shop: until then I will have to suffice with drooling over those belonging to others:

David-Andersen neamel and silver with vermeil butterfly brooch, c. 1950. Sold at Tadema Gallery.

David-Andersen enamel and silver with vermeil butterfly brooch, c. 1950. Sold at Tadema Gallery. I WANT THIS!

David-Andersen enamel and silver with vermeil butterfly brooch, c. 1950. For sale at Ruby Lane.

Yet more David-Andersen loveliness.

And yet more …

Poplar hawk moth

Sep15

Chap found this little fellow yesterday on the ground underneath a neighbour’s aspen tree. Isn’t he stunning? Such gorgeous colours.

It’s the caterpillar of a poplar hawk moth (Laothoe populi), and I gather they feed on aspen, poplar and willow leaves. The aspen leaves are starting to fall so he might have been on one when it tumbled off the tree.

Poplar hawk moth caterpillar, 14 September 2014. Photo by Inglenookery.

I hope he wasn’t hurt—we aren’t sure what the clear liquid is, but hope it might be some sort of defence mechanism rather than indicating he is injured.

We aren’t sure what the clear liquid is, but hope that the little fellow wasn’t hurt. Photo by Inglenookery.

He’s such a gorgeous lime green colour with four rows of maroon spots, and matching bootees! Chap put him back under the tree: he’ll dig a hole and pupate there, and hatch out next year as a beautiful moth.

Poplar hawk moth. Photo by Hamon jean-pierre.

Inglenookery

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