2012: Pictures from space

From Mars Curiosity’s self portrait to a destructive Saturn cyclone, view of cosmic highlights from November 2012.

Satellites, balloon-borne instruments and ground-based devices make 30 million observations of the atmosphere each day. Yet these measurements still give an incomplete picture of the complex interactions within the membrane surrounding Earth. Enter climate models. NASA models and supercomputing have created a colorful new view of the way aerosols move through the atmosphere.  NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Fellow travelers: Several tiny satellites are photographed by an Expedition 33 crew member on the International Space Station.  NASA

Spectacular jets dance in elliptical galaxy Hercules A, powered by the gravitational energy of a super massive black hole in the galaxy's core.  NASA, ESA, S. Baum and C. O'Dea (RIT), R. Perley and W. Cotton (NRAO/AUI/NSF), and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

The temperature on Saturn's moons Mimas (left) and Tethys (right) is not evenly distributed. Indeed, as thermal images from the Cassini spacecraft show, it actually forms a strangely evocative Pac Man pattern—complete with a crater on Mimas about to get gobbled.  NASA / JPL-Caltech / GSFC / SWRI

How fine and tenuous are Saturn's seemingly massive rings? Consider that the tiny moon Tethys (660 miles, or 1,062 kilometers across), here seen as a dot in the upper left hand corner of the frame, may be many times more massive than the entire ring system combined. That's how fine and tenuous.  NASA / JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

This may look like an Earthly hurricane but it's actually something much, much larger: an enormous cyclone that's swirling above Saturn's north pole, captured in a raw image by NASA's Cassini spacecraft on Nov. 27, 2012.  NASA

China's space program continues to grow. Here, a Long March-3B rocket carrying a satellite heads toward space, after blasting off from the launch pad at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center on Nov. 27, 2012 in Xichang, Sichuan Province of China.  China Foto Press / ZUMA PRESS

A high-resolution self-portrait by Curiosity rover arm camera, taken on Oct. 31, 2012. NASA's Curiosity used the Mars hand lens imager (MAHLI) to capture a set of 55 high-resolution images, which were then stitched together to create this image.  NASA / JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems

The Soyuz TMA-05M spacecraft is seen shortly after it landed in a remote area near the town of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan, on Nov. 19, 2012. Astronauts Sunita Williams, Akihiko Hoshide and Yuri Malenchenko returned from four months onboard the International Space Station.  Bill Ingalls / NASA

# pictures thankfully shared from: science.time.com

2012: The best satellite views of the earth

If you really want to know where you are, you need to pull back—way back. 

Rounded up most amazing satellite images of the Earth created this year, ranging from a glimpse of the desert cauldron of creativity that is Burning Man to a massive copper mine in the South 

American country of Chile. 
These images show the surface of our planet as we’ve shaped it, either through developments like the sprawling Olympic Village in London to the simple fall colors of a second-growth forest in Pennsylvania. 

They serve as a reminder of the wealth we enjoy—see the yachts floating lazily off Monte Carlo—to the destruction we endure in places like Homs, Syria, which shows up wreathed in the tar-black smoke of a pipeline explosion. It’s an amazing world.

Easter mass in Saint Peter's Square, Vatican City, April 8, 2012.

The Olympic Village in London, July 23, 2012.

The Skytree, the tallest self supported building in Asia, located in Tokyo, April 4, 2012.

Mt. Fuji, the highest peak in Japan, Sept. 20, 2012.

The Puntiagudo-Cordón Cenizos volcanic chain in the Andes mountains of Chile, Oct. 14, 2012.

A mine sculpture known as "The Lady of the North" in north England, Sept. 6, 2012.

A pipeline fire that occured in Homs, Syria, Feb. 15, 2012.

Burning Man festival in Nevada, Aug. 28, 2012.

The Chuquicamata copper mine in Chile, Oct. 14, 2012.

The annual yacht show in Monte Carlo, Monaco, Sept. 22, 2012.

Fall colors in Reading, Pa., Oct., 5, 2012.

#picture credit: DigitalGlobe
# pictures thankfully shared from: science.time.com

Night glow from space: India and world

....and God said let there be light !!
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Lights of our nights.... !!

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An invocation to the Light divine:

 

"Lead me from the unreal to the Real.
Lead me from darkness unto Light.
Lead me from death to Immortality."

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It is through 'Divine Light' that a seeker can escape the bondage of mortal life and be reborn in the 'Life Divine'.

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The image, taken on November 12, 2012 – when the celebrations for the Hindu festival of lights were in full swing – shows Indian towns and cities brightly lit.

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http://throughpicture.blogspot.in/2012/11/light-painting.html

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A view of the Indian subcontinent.
Photo: On November 12, 2012, the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) satellite captured this nighttime view of southern Asia. Suomi NPP is the result of a partnership between NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Department of Defense.
Credit: NASA Earth Observatory image by Jesse Allen and Robert Simmon, using VIIRS day-night band data from the Suomi NPP.

A view of northern and central India.
Photo: On November 12, 2012, the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) satellite captured this nighttime view of southern Asia. Suomi NPP is the result of a partnership between NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Department of Defense.
Credit: NASA Earth Observatory image by Jesse Allen and Robert Simmon, using VIIRS day-night band data from the Suomi NPP.

A view of central and southern India.
Photo: On November 12, 2012, the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) satellite captured this nighttime view of southern Asia. Suomi NPP is the result of a partnership between NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Department of Defense.
Credit: NASA Earth Observatory image by Jesse Allen and Robert Simmon, using VIIRS day-night band data from the Suomi NPP.

Photo: This new image of the Earth at night is a composite assembled from data acquired by the Suomi NPP satellite over nine days in April 2012 and thirteen days in October 2012. It took 312 orbits and 2.5 terabytes of data to get a clear shot of every parcel of Earth’s land surface and islands.
Credit: NASA Earth Observatory image by Robert Simmon, using Suomi NPP VIIRS data provided courtesy of Chris Elvidge (NOAA National Geophysical Data Center).

Photo: This image of Asia and Australia at night is a composite assembled from data acquired by the Suomi NPP satellite in April and October 2012. The new data was mapped over existing Blue Marble imagery of Earth to provide a realistic view of the planet.
Credit: NASA Earth Observatory image by Robert Simmon, using Suomi NPP VIIRS data provided courtesy of Chris Elvidge (NOAA National Geophysical Data Center).

Light pattern showing continued story of human civilization in the region:

Everything Is Illuminated

Image courtesy NASA Earth Observatory/NOAA NGDC

Patterns of population density emerge in this composite image of the United States released by NASA on Wednesday, part of a global composite image captured from spa

ce by a NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellite.

The cloud-free images show the glow of natural and artificial light in what a NASA press release calls the most detailed night images yet.

The images were unveiled during the American Geophysical Union conference in San Francisco.

Published December 5, 2012

Along the Nile

Image courtesy NASA Earth Observatory/NOAA NGDC

A brightly illuminated Nile River Valley tells the continued story of human civilization in the region. The nighttime image was captured by the Suomi NPP satellite's new senso

r, what NASA calls the "day-night band" of the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), which is able to detect light in a range of wavelengths.

According to NASA, the new sensor is sensitive enough to detect "the light from a single ship in the sea."

Published December 5, 2012

#The images thankfully shared from the above mentioned credit sources of the NASA, the U.S. space agency.

# link to to browse NASA’s city lights map of the world.

 http://earthdata.nasa.gov/labs/worldview/?map=-24.484375,14.05078125,50.75,62.14453125&products=baselayers.VIIRS_CityLights_2012~overlays.sedac_bound&switch=geographic

Premier Indian institution: Forest Research Institute

The Forest Research Institute is an institute of the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education and is a premier institution in the field of forestry research in India. It is located at Dehradun in Uttarakhand, and is one of the oldest institutions of its kind. In 1991, it was declared a deemed university by the University Grants Commission.

History: Founded in 1878, as the British Imperial Forest School,^[2] by Dietrich Brandis.

In 1906, reestablished as the 'Imperial Forest Research Institute', under the British Imperial Forestry Service.

The 'Indian Forest College' was established in 1938; officers recruited to the Superior Forest Service by the states and provinces were trained there.

Dehradun railway station building bearing the year 1899

Dehradun railway station still bears structural impacts of British colonial architectural look

Bird's eye view of the FRI campus. Picture thankfully shared

FRI as illuminated in night. Picture thankfully shared

FRI as on Indian postage stamp

Beautiful staff cottages in FRI cmpus

Beautiful flowering trees

The front portion of the main building of FRI

Architecture as if everything measured to it's finest

Plants in courtyard as if in perfect relationship with the architecture

Plants in courtyard as if in perfect relationship with the architecture

Plants in courtyard as if in perfect relationship with the architecture and humans

Plants in courtyard as if in perfect relationship with the architecture

Side view of the main building

Every corner bears beauty

Beautiful cool magnanimous corridors

Beautiful cool magnanimous corridors

Beautiful cool magnanimous corridors

Just above the head, ceiling looks as a perfect design, bearing no impact as such long years have passed

Architecture: Established as Imperial Forest Research Institute in 1906, Forest Research Institute (FRI) Dehradun, is a premier institution under the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE). Styled in Greeko Roman Architecture by C.G. Blomfield, the main building is a National Heritage which was inaugurated in 1929.

FRI Dehradun is one of the oldest institutions of its kind and acclaimed the world over. The Institute’s history is virtually synonymous with the evolution and development of scientific forestry, not only in India, but over the entire sub-continent. Set in a lush green estate spread over 450 hactares, with the outer Himalaya forming its back drop, the institute’s main building is an impressive edifice, marrying Greco-Roman and Colonial styles of architecture, with a plinth area of 2.5 hactares. The Institute has a developed infrastructure of all equipped laboratories, library, herbarium, arboreta, printing press and experimental field areas for conducting forestry research, quite in keeping with the best of its kind anywhere in the world. It is 7 km from Clock Tower, on the Dehradun-Chakrata motorable road and is of the biggest forest based training institute in India. Most of the forest officers are a product of this institute. The F.R.I. with its majestic building also houses a Botanical Museum for the attraction of tourists.

Hill narrative: time traveler Rama and Ramgarh

 

                        (Ramgarh>Surguja>Chhattisgarh>India)
 

History and geography:The presence of various temples stone carvings and archaic remains show the evidence of existence of this region before Christ(B.C.).            

In 4^Th B.C. Before the arrival of maurya dynasty,this region was in the Lord  of Nanda clan. Before 3 B.C. this region was divided into tiny parts and their headman after quarrel among  themselves. Then a Rajputa kings belongs to Rakshal clan in palamu district (Bihar) attacked and taken in his control. In 1820 Amar singh was the Kings of Surguja state who had been crowned as “Maharaja” in 1826. In 1882 Raghunath Sharan Singh Deo had taken his control over Surguja state  who has been conferred as “Maharaja” by Lord Daffariu. After the contemporary victory of India he established Edward Middle School, Post Office ,Telegraph Office ,Medical stores ,jail and courts in Ambikapur capital of Surguja.

Ambikapur is a small town and a place connected with the Indian epics Ramayana and Mahabharata, situated near the Vindhyachal - Baghelkhand Mountain ranges. Ambikapur is in Surguja district in the state of Chhattisgarh.

Surguja is surrounded by various states viz., Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh. Ambikapur is situated at an altitude of 603 meters. Surguja has a spread of over 22,237 sq. km. Most of the terrain of the district is hilly and forested.

A majority of the inhabitants in this place belong to the Pando and Korwa tribes, who regard themselves as descendants of the Pandavas and Kauravas, ( still  living in forest,  the Pando  tribes believes themselves as the member of "Pandav" clan of epic Mahabharat.  Korwa tribes believes to be member of  "Kauravs" of  Mahabharata). Agriculture is the major occupation. Paddy is the main grain grown which contributes to the major part of their income. The natural resources available here include coal and bauxite.
The rivers flowing across Surguja district are Kanhar, Rihand, Moran and Mahan. Temple carvings and archaic ruins date the history of this place to the era before Christ (BC). According to the holy books Lord Rama had visited Surguja during his fourteen years of exile and a number of places here are named after him, his brother Laxman and wife Sita, places like Ramgarh, Sita - Bhengra cave and Laxmangarh. Verses of Poet Kalidas who wrote "Ramayan" are found at the Sita-Bhengra cave.

The great Sanskrit poet, Kalidasa, wrote the epic “Meghdoot”. In this poem, he imagines the passing clouds as his messengers and uses them to convey his love to his wife. In the poem, he explains to the clouds the direction and narrates the beauty of Ramgiri mountain It is clear that he had spent some time in this place. This Ramgiri mountain is one of the exotic locations to be visited near Ambikapur.

Rock art/cave paintings(शैलचित्र) of  Ramgarh:The paintings and inscriptions found in the rocky caves of this hill, surrounded by dense forest is of immense importance as throwing light on the history of the period inhabited, the people and their beliefs, deep down in the history of mankind.