hybrid

The Rarest Eclipse of Them All

esiegel — Wed, 31 Jul 2013 18:58:31 +0000

The Rarest Eclipse of Them All

"You can't exactly bake a man to your specifications... A hybrid of Einstein, Tarzan and Inge Meysel doesn't exist." -Peer Steinbruck

Of course, if you create enough chances, all the things that could eventually happen will come to pass. This is as true for human beings as it is for the physical Universe. And for our planet, our nearest major neighbor in the Universe -- the Moon -- provides us with a huge variety of sights, if only we're willing to wait.

Image credit: Doug Zubenel.

Every 27.3 days, the Moon makes a complete orbit around the Earth, traveling a full 360° through space. As it changes its position relative to the Earth and Sun, different portions of the half of the Moon illuminated at any given time become visible, resulting in the Moon's phases.

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons user Tomruen.

You may have noticed, however, that the Moon's full cycle of phases doesn't take 27.3 days, but slightly longer: 2.2 days longer, to be more precise. This is because, as the Moon orbits the Earth, the entire Earth/Moon system is in orbit around the Sun! Remember, it's the relative position between those three bodies that determines what we see when we view the Moon from Earth, and it's the fact that Earth travels some 8% of the way around the Sun during a lunar month that requires the Moon to move those extra 2.2 days to complete the cycle of its phases.

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons user Orion 8.

At the same time, there are a few more interesting things going on with the Moon. One is that its path around the Earth, although approximately circular, is in fact actually an ellipse. At its farthest point in its orbit, the Moon is more than 406,000 km away from Earth, while at closest approach, it's some 50,000 km closer.

Image credit: John Walker of http://www.fourmilab.ch/.

The variation you see in a typical lunar month means that the Moon appears about 12-13% bigger at perigee (its closest point to Earth) than at apogee (its farthest). As the Moon orbits our planet according to Kepler's laws of motion, this also means that it moves a little faster when its closest to us than when it's farther away. As a result of this, we don't always see exactly the same half of the Moon, even though it's tidally locked to us; there's a little bit of apparent "rocking," which is known as lunar libration.

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons user Tomruen.

The Earth orbits the Sun and the Moon orbits the Earth, and so you might think that every month, when the Moon is new, it would pass between the Earth and Sun, and when the Moon is full, the Earth passes between the Sun and Moon. A naïve picture of the Moon's phases would seem to indicate exactly this.

Image credit: Dr. Guy Worthey of Washington State University, via http://astro.wsu.edu/.

But you've got to remember that the Earth orbits the Sun in one plane, and the Moon orbits the Earth in a slightly different plane! These two planes are at a slight angle to one another -- just a hair over 5° -- but since the Moon and Sun each only take up around 0.5° on the sky, that means that during the vast majority of the time the Moon, Earth and Sun can not form a straight line in the sky.

Image credit: V. Charkarn / PTT Group.

It's only when -- during a new or full Moon -- these three bodies do happen to line up, that we get one of the most spectacular celestial phenomena as seen from Earth: eclipses. There are typically two opportunities for this per year: once when each of the Moon's nodes, or the places where it crosses the Earth's orbital plane around the Sun, line up during a new or full Moon.

Image credit: James Schombert / University of Oregon.

During a full Moon, the Earth's shadow blocks the Moon from the Sun, which creates a lunar eclipse, as seen by us. There are typically two of these per year (as you can see), although occasionally you'll have back-to-back months where the Moon just barely clips the Earth's shadow, once from above and once from below, as was the case in April and May of this year.

Image credit: Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., via their list of 21st Century eclipses.

You can have a total lunar eclipse, when the entire Moon plunges into Earth's shadow, a partial lunar eclipse, where a fraction of the Moon enters Earth's shadow, or a penumbral lunar eclipse, where the entire Moon still receives sunlight, but an observer on part of the Moon would see a fraction of the Sun blocked out by the Earth.

Image credit: Addison Wesley.

That same variety -- and same frequency -- occurs for the other possible alignment: where the new Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun.

Image credit: John McFarland, Armagh Observatory, via http://www.arm.ac.uk/.

These are solar eclipses, and we typically think of three varieties for them as well: partial eclipses, where the Moon appears to partially block out the Sun as seen from Earth, and then the other two (much more interesting) types. You see, the Moon and Sun happen to be almost the same angular size as viewed from Earth: about half-a-degree. Depending on where the Sun, Moon and Earth are in their relative orbits, sometimes the Moon appears larger, while at other times the Sun appears larger as viewed from our planet.

Image credit: NASA / Solar Dynamics Observatory.

When the Moon appears larger than the Sun, it can block the Sun's entire disk, casting a shadow on Earth and plunging that shadowy region into temporary darkness. That's what a total solar eclipse is. When the opposite is true -- when the Sun appears larger than the Moon -- you get an annular eclipse, where the Moon passes in front of the Sun but is insufficient to block the entire disk, creating a ring of sunlight, or an annulus, as seen from Earth. (Longtime readers may even remember I went and hunted the one that happened last year!)

Image credit: Me, taken during my 2012 Annular Eclipse expedition!

About a third of all solar eclipses are partial, where no place on Earth will see either a total or annular eclipse, about a third are annular and about another third are total. The Moon, on average, appears larger than the Sun around 50% of the time and smaller the other 50%, which accounts for that distribution. When the Moon appears larger, a shadow is cast on the Earth; a shadow that's been captured from space!

Image credit: Mir 27 Crew; Copyright: CNES, of http://www.cnes.fr/.

But think about this for a second. During a solar eclipse -- either a total or an annular eclipse -- the Moon's path needs to cut across the entire Earth. Even though this is a relatively quick process, lasting around five-to-six hours, it isn't instantaneous. You might wonder whether there's ever a time where an eclipse will start off as an annular eclipse (but just barely), and then during that five-to-six hour timeframe, the Moon moves slightly closer to Earth, just enough that an observer can experience a total eclipse (again, just barely) by the end? Or whether the opposite is true: that an eclipse can start off total and then -- as the Moon moves away from Earth -- transition into annular for an observer on a different part of Earth?

Image credit: Left: Fred Espenak (Mr. Eclipse); Right: Stephan Heinsius.

Yes you can! That's known as a hybrid eclipse, and it turns out to be the rarest of all eclipses, making up just over 2% of all (solar+lunar) eclipses! It turns out that not only the orbits of these three bodies, but also the fact that the Earth is of a finite size (and the Moon's shadow has a little longer to go to reach Earth's edges) helps make this as common as it actually is!

Image credit: Steven Dutch, Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin - Green Bay.

The 21st Century will see only 7 of them, including the one in 2005 (shown above) and -- believe it or not -- the very next one, on November 3rd of this year! A lucky (and very, very dedicated) observer located a few hundred miles off the coast of Liberia could actually watch the transition, experiencing a little of both the total and annular phases in the same eclipse, something that (as far as I know) has never been photographed or video captured!^{[* -- see comment 7 for more detail on this]}

Image credit: Fred Espenak, NASA's GSFC, Official work for NASA.

Although a hybrid eclipse typically occurs, on average, about once per decade, there's actually a huge variety in their frequencies. The 17th Century saw a whopping 24 hybrid eclipses, while the 23rd Century will see a mere three. If you miss the one this year, you'll have to wait until 2023 for your next chance at a hybrid, the rarest of all eclipses, where observers in Indonesia will actually have a chance to experience the shadow and the annulus at the same location!

esiegel Wed, 07/31/2013 - 14:58

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Astronomy

gravity

Solar System

annular

I have read somewhere that the transition into and out of the total eclipse shadow would influence gravimeters somehow, thus shortly vary the earth's gravitational acceleration.

Does anyone know more about such effects?

There'd be nothing special about the gravity there.

There may be an issue with, for example, the "thermal shock" of coming out of eclipse, possibly. Gravimeters nowadays can tell when a truck is passing half a mile away.

But there's so little to go on with your query, that any answer other than "You've been given a load of BS there" is unsupportable.

The Allais effect.

All we need is "A lucky (and very, very dedicated) observer located a few hundred miles off the coast of Liberia.. (to photograph and capture on video).. the transition.. (from) the total and annular phases in the same eclipse.. (and it)... has never been photographed or video captured (before)!!!!"

Well come on Ethan. Your blog is being hosted on the National Geographic website. Send them an email; get refer them to your link. Offer to even tag along as the consultant on the expediion.

No this is your gig, they are your consultant team. Put together your proposal put it on Kickstarter if National Geographic won't fund it and go! I mean for $10,000 to $50,000 you've got to be able to get it done. Chop, chop no time to waste. We are your base to fund this science, National Geographic can chip in too. $100 x 100 people = $10,000; yes I can multiply.

We want to see that video. So if no project is underway, kickstart on.

I mean we are talking science, nature, beautiy; history in the making.

For the first time in the history of the universe; on planet Earth Ethan Siegel and a team of photographers have captured the transition.. (from) the total and annular phases in the same eclipse in photograph or video.

Make it so.

@Dave (#3):
Thanks. That helps a bit - and also generates more questions:

How can a short slight increase or decrease of gravitation change the plane of the pendulum?
And how by that extent?
Would a gyro also change its plane?
Aren't the forces to change the plane rather large?

I always enjoy reading your posts, especially the ones related to the moon. I learned a lot, thank you.

OKThen,

Unfortunately, the point of hybridization (a term I just made up) is actually, legitimately only a point. Annular eclipses can last up to 11+ minutes, as a much smaller apparent Moon transits across the face of the Sun. Similarly, Total eclipses can last for more than six minutes, as the largest Moon can block the smaller Sun for some time.

But where you get that location of annular-to-total transition (or vice versa), the Moon and Sun are exactly the same size, momentarily. In other words, the Moon's shadow striking the Earth is narrowed down to exactly a point where that happens. It wouldn't be nearly as spectacular as you hoped.

For this eclipse, there are two points where you get that perfect "hybrid" moment: one about 50-100 miles southwest of Bermuda, and one a short drive away from Galkayo, Somalia. You can check the interactive map here: http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEgoogle/SEgoogle2001/SE2013Nov03Hgoogle.h…

Unfortunately, if you want to see that transition -- from annulus to total shadow and, conceivably, back again -- you'd need to find a way to stay in the path of the Moon's shadow, which technologically can only be accomplished via very rapid air travel. (Not rocket-level travel, but supersonic flight for certain.)

Still, I'd love to go on -- or even help plan -- that expedition!

@Ethan:
related to my comment #5:
The questions are actually serious.
I would like to learn how to calculate plane-turning by varying gravity - could you help me, please?

Thanks a lot in advance.

Man-Bear-Pig News

kthompson — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 12:21:22 +0000

Man-Bear-Pig News

We here at Zooillogix have been sitting on this story for a while. We were afraid of just how much public outrage it could generate. But since we are morally obligated to bringing our readers the most up-to-date zooillogical news, often regardless of scientific proof, we've decided to go ahead with it.

Here it is: The following picture is NOT actually a photo of a golden retriever-human hybrid.

That's right. It's a cruel hoax. I know, I know... I was entirely convinced, too. Unfortunately, it's just a part of zartist Patricia Piccinini's exhibition, "We Are Family."

Our research team also found out that if the above actually did exist, and happened to have been created in Louisiana, the mad scientists behind it could have received up to 10 years hard labor. This is in accordance with the bill signed by Louisiana gov'na, Bobby Jindal, this past July. It's the first to officially ban human-animal hybrids. I'm sure this is one of the top most concerns for Louisiana residents.

Take a look at these real hybrid animals. We'd like to know if any of our knowledable readers know more about hybrid species. Someone tell us what exactly defines a hybrid animal, so we don't have to look it up ourselves.

A geep.

A cama.

A zorse.

A zonky.

The cutest, and potentially most profitable the smaller we can engineer it: A zoney!

The third Bleiman Brother.

kthompson Fri, 08/21/2009 - 08:21

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Thanks for creeping me out for the rest of the day.

what - no 4-meter-long ligers?

Hybrid is widely used; hybrid corn for crosses between different strains, for example. However, I have used it only to refer to the crossing of recognized species. I have referred to heterolocality vs homolocality crosses, for example, among populations of the same species.

Among fish, one finds that successful interspecific hybrids exhibit some of the following characteristics:
(1) same as both parents, (2) same as one parent, (3) intermediate between the two parents, (4) unique and different from both parents. Hybrids may have low survival, skewed sex ratio, infertility, complete fertility with themselves and both parent species, hybrid vigor or lack of fitness. etc. etc.

The public option will require women to serve as surrogates and carry hybrid babies to term.

A geep is actually a chimera and not a hybrid. To produce a hybrid, parents of two different species mate and create an offspring. Every cell of a hybrid's body contains DNA from both its parents and hence both species. However, geeps are made by combining the embryos of a sheep and a goat. A geep is a mosaic of sheep- and goat- derived cells. There have been genuine sheep-goat hybrids, but they are very, very rare.

Even though the Louisiana bill says that it bans human-animal hybrids, the language of the Louisiana bill would also apply to human-animal chimeras, since it forbids mixing human embryos with animal cells or "cell components" and vice versa. I think the legislators were actually primarily concerned about chimeras, because these are the same people who believe in the sanctity of human embryos. Creating human-animal hybrids would have to involve bestiality, which is already a crime in Louisiana.

Thanks for creeping me out for the rest of the day.

this monstrosity is a ploy to drive us to ZooBorns, to compensate for the trauma

What do you do once the illegal human-animal hybrid is created? Doesn't killing it mean killing something that is partly a human embryo, and therefore at least partly "sanctified", according to the Louisiana legislators.

human-animal hybrids do not work. Soviet Union in late 20s and early 30s had a secret eugenic program, trying to breed a super-soldier by crossing humans with gorillas and chimps. They had no luck with this lunacy, and they were obviously not too eager to publish their findings.

The photo is very unsettling - I am sure that was the artist's intention. I found it repugnant.
Thank you for exposing this hoax before other's saw it believed.

Although all the animals shown were produced in captivity, animals do also hybridize in the wild. White tailed and Mule deer regularly hybridize where their ranges overlap, and it appears that the European Bison may originate from an ancient hybridization event between Steppe Bison (ancestors of American Bison) and Aurochs (ancestors of domestic cattle.

Aren't mules hybrids?

I don't know anything about the mentioned Russian hybrid program in the '20's and '30's, but I'm sure milkshake realizes that there are lots of things we know how to do today which we did not know how to do in the '20's and '30's.

You may have seen the story, on the internet, said to be related by a paleontologist who was there, of a drunken decision to impreganate a female chimp with human sperm. Said chimp appeared to become pregnant. In the sober light of day, the perpetrators decided to dose her with hormones to stop the preganancy, if any.

The paleontologist, whose name I do not recall, told the story to a friend of mine, who told it to me. I have no reason to disbelieve it.

Where I live, Gambel's and scaled quail ranges overlap. They sometimes interbreed and produce hybrids. I don't know if the offspring can reproduce but hybridization seems not all that uncommon in nature.

I always wondered what Andrew and Benny's brother looked like.

I think a "zonky" is actually what we here in the UK call a zeedonk... what's the correct technical term?

I have the recollection of reading that some 25% of flowering plant species were of hybrid origin. In the old days, I did a lot of work with fish hybridization and was up on the literature. It is my impression that most animal species do not hybridize in nature, but that many do. Hybridization ranging from one known hybrid to long lasting hybrid swarms.

Introgression is the term for one species incorporating genetic material from another. From what I've read, it sounds like mitochondrial DNA introgresses much more readily than nuclear DNA. Hybridization is most likely in disturbed habitats, or when a species expands its range and encounters related species; as a result of human introductions or whatever. Results of hybridization can range from disasterous, for one or both species, to of little consequence to either.

I am a manbearpig and I want to embrace it. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I AM UGLY!!!!!!

I so did not write that.

Even though the Louisiana bill says that it bans human-animal hybrids, the language of the Louisiana bill would also apply to human-animal chimeras, since it forbids mixing human embryos with animal cells or "cell components" and vice versa. Introgression is the term for one species incorporating genetic material from another. From what I've read, it sounds like mitochondrial DNA introgresses much more readily than nuclear DNA. Hybridization is most likely in disturbed habitats, or when a species expands its range and encounters related species; as a result of human introductions or whatever. Results of hybridization can range from disasterous, for one or both species, to of little consequence to either.

I think the legislators were actually primarily concerned about chimeras, because these are the same people who believe in the sanctity of human embryos. Creating human-animal hybrids would have to involve bestiality, which is already a crime in Louisiana.

A hybrid is normally a cross between two different species that are closely related enough to produce offspring. For example, mules are a horse-donkey cross and ligers are a lion-tiger cross.

However these hybrids are usually infertile themselves.

Also, I think the word you're looking for to describe a zebra-donkey cross is a zedonk. I've seen them in zoos, but I don't think it's legal to breed them anymore.

Freaks of Nature

kthompson — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 12:09:50 +0000

Freaks of Nature

The fear mongers over at National Geographic are at it again. They have released what they claim to be actual prehistoric photographs of nightmarish creatures. Just think of your most feared animal and combine it with either a cooking utensil or a wood shop tool. That might give you an idea of how National Geographic came up with these things.

The CraftsMan-Eating Shark, known for its ability to sever the limbs of its victims with a straight or beveled cut.

I smell "evolution" and I don't like it.

I came up with one of my own:

check out the rest here.

kthompson Fri, 07/24/2009 - 08:09

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hybrid

monster

mystery animal

Other, Less Important Blogs

beast hybrids

National Geographic

prehistoric animals

ZOMG I love it.

Judging from the picture, I'd say its natural prey is some form of pizza-shaped fish.

Real or not, you gotta love Helicoprion.

Did you know the holotype specimen of Helicoprion was stolen and ended up on the fossil black market?

I believe that shark was featured in one of the old Showa-era Gamera movies. Remember? Gamera vs. Helicoprion? That buzzsaw actually zooms around, slicing giant turtle limbs to and fro. In one particularly gross scene, Helicoprion was seen slicing up a Gyaos bird, who made pitiful screeching noises as if to say "Not again!*"

*Only Gamera fans will enjoy these jokes.

Your Hybrid can double as an emergency generator

illconsidered — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 08:58:56 +0000

Your Hybrid can double as an emergency generator

So it seems there is another advantage to owning a hybrid! It can double as an emergency generator in case of a blackout:

WHERE WAS YOUR HYBRID WHEN THE LIGHTS WENT OUT?

Ever been caught with no power in the midst of a winter storm and not have a generator? Well, if you have a hybrid, you may not need one. An enterprising Boston man hooked up his house to his Toyota Prius recently during a three-day-long power outage. The Boston Herald reports: "John Sweeney of Harvard, Mass., has provided a tantalizing glimpse of the future. ... Sweeney, an electrical engineer, told the Boston Business Journal he used an inverter to convert direct current from the car battery to 120-volt alternating current for the refrigerator, freezer, the fan for a wood stove, television and some lights. The car ran for a few minutes every half an hour and 'burned about five gallons of gas' while producing about 17 kilowatt-hours, Sweeney said." Of course, this may be a bit over the heads of those of us who are not Harvard electrical engineers ... Several cities and states around the U.S. have had promising developments on the hybrid and electric car front recently. San Jose debuted its first electric car charging station earlier this week. As of the start of 2009, New Jersey "will now implement the California Low Emission Vehicle program that 'requires that more hybrid cars be sold in New Jersey' and 'also requires automakers to sell zero-emission cars in the state by 2011.'" And New York Governor Paterson announced a new initiative on hybrid car production and research earlier this week. It's great to see so many state and local initiatives leading the way towards decreasing greenhouse gas emissions ... And, via the Washington Times Out of Context, we learn that Toyota is secretly developing car powered by cells on the roof. Initially, the solar cells would just power some of the cars battery and accessories but the automaker hopes the car could eventually be powered completely by energy from the sun ..

(recieved via unsolicited email from Hybrid Owners of America)

illconsidered Fri, 01/09/2009 - 03:58

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mitigation

generator

hybrid

17 kwh. electricity produced, using 5 gallons of gas @ 36.6 kwh per US gallon; or 183 kwh of fuel. 166 kwh lost as heat.

9% efficiency; not so hot even if you throw in inverter losses. And the Prius is pretty darn efficient, for a car. Better than a lot of purpose-built generators, in fact!

@John

Well the Saw from a Swiss Army Knive isn't as efficent as a Lumberjack's, but a bad saw is better than none if you need one.

Same for the Hybrid: when all others are out of power, you aren't. Priceless.

;)

The numbers provided do not allow a good comparison of the efficiency of the Prius for this use. A more appropriate comparison would be kWh/day available 24/7. A typical generator wastes a lot more energy running in standby little or no load 24/7. The critical household appliance load is very variable.

Not only was this guy not out of electricity, but he was using much less gas than his neighbors with standard portable generators. As written about elsewhere on this guy's efforts, there is no reason you can't do this with a normal car either. The coolness here is the hybrid efficiency for electricity generation with variable loads.

Everyone should have an emergency kit prepared in case of a natural disaster.

This is another reason that shows the value of a Hybrid. A Hybrid could come in handy during an emergency.

Re: Electric cars double as home emergency generators...

I was wondering who would finally realize the reality of this concept. Why aren't the car manufacturers discussing this more fully? Very minor enhancements would be all that is necessary in order to produce a very practical emergency generator with a battery run car; which has over 90% of the parts and fuel to accomplish all that is needed. Has anyone ever completed an approx. 10-15 kw emergency generator??? and which of the current battery powered cars is the best one to use (for both purposes)?

Not an bad idea. I was just researching about hybrid cars, when i came across this. Just another advantage of them. I should get one seriously. Thanks for posting.

Pretty Much My Favorite Animal…

zooillogix — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 20:36:00 +0000

Pretty Much My Favorite Animal…

The accidental product of a study abroad program in Italy, Eclyse is a visually fascinating example of mixed genetic material. Eclyse's mother was a zebra living at a German safari park. When she was sent on loan to Italy, she was allowed to roam free in an enclosure with both horses and zebras. Upon her return to the amusingly named Schloss Holte Stukenbrock in Germany, keepers were surprised to find she was pregnant but even more surprised to see the young foal. Called a "zorse" or a "zebroid" (pretty much lose, lose if you ask us), typically the offspring of a zebra and horse have stripes across the entire body. However, the match up is usually the other way around, with a male zebra and a smaller female horse. Researchers suspect that in this case, the horse's charming Italian accent and cheap chianti were too much for the German zebra to resist.

Zorse or comic book villain?

Fascinating video of how British people say the word "zebra"... and Eclyse the zorse.

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zooillogix Wed, 07/04/2007 - 16:36

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