Blog Dog Dan: DEAR TABBY

DEAR TABBY: I’m just sitting here on a cloudy day and wondering what you would say is the coolest thing about clouds. Also, do you have any cool “cloud pictures” you could show us today? RAY, ST. CLOUD, MINNESOTA

DEAR RAY: I think crepuscular rays are a very cool aspect of clouds. They are commonly seen during crepuscular hours (sunrise and sunset), when the contrasts between light and dark are the most obvious. They are beams of light that seem to shine down from the sky and are formed when sunlight is scattered by particles in the air so that we see the “rays” of the sun. Crepuscular rays are usually red or yellow in appearance because the path through the atmosphere at sunrise and sunset pass through up to 40 times as much air as rays from a high midday sun.

The rays that form when the sun is high in sky often looks like they are pointing downward, especially when they break through a hole in the cloud layer. They're also called “Jacob’s Ladder, “Gateways to Heaven,” or "Stairways to Heaven.”

When the sun is low on the horizon, the rays look like they are pointing upwards. These are also called anti-crepuscular rays or anti-solar rays.

This is a little "above" Tabby's level, but I also think the hypothesized Oort cloud is pretty amazing, too. Although no confirmed direct observations of the Oort cloud have been made, astronomers believe that it is the source of comets entering the inner solar system. It is literally thought to be a “cloud of comets” that is a light-year from the sun! This places the cloud at nearly a quarter of the distance to Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to the sun. Astronomers believe that the matter composing the Oort cloud formed closer to the sun and was scattered far out into space by the gravitational effects of the giant planets early in the solar system’s evolution.

This is even more "above" Tabby's level, but very fascinating!

1943: Astronomer Kenneth Edgeworth suggests that a reservoir of comets and larger bodies resides beyond the planets.
1950: Astronomer Jan Oort theorizes that a vast population of comets may exist in a huge cloud on the distant edges of our solar system.
1951: Astronomer Gerard Kuiper predicts the existence of a belt of icy objects just beyond the orbit of Neptune.
1992: After five years of searching, astronomers David Jewitt and Jane Luu discover the first KBO, 1992QB1.
2002: Scientists using the 48-inch Oschin telescope at Palomar Observatory find Quaoar, the first large KBO hundreds of kilometers in diameter. This object was photographed in 1980, but was not noticed in those images.
2004: Astronomers using the 48-inch Oschin telescope announce the discovery of Sedna (2003VB12).
2005: Astronomers announce the discovery of 2003UB313. This object, later named Eris, is slightly larger than Pluto.
2008: The Kuiper Belt object provisionally known as 2005FY9 ("Easterbunny") is recognized in July as a dwarf planet and named Makemake (pronounced MAHkeh-MAHkeh) after the Polynesian (Rapa Nui) creation god. In September, 2003EL61 ("Santa") was designated a dwarf planet and given the name Haumea after the Hawaiian goddess of fertility and childbirth.

“Whether” you agree with me or “weather” you don’t, I love seeing crepuscular rays – I think I like even saying the name!

Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin (written by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant) is often rated as one of the greatest rock songs of all time. Dolly Parton did an acoustic version of the song in 2002; Tabby is a big fan of the three P's: Page, Plant, and Parton!

Stairway to Heaven (originally released as A Matter of Life and Death) was a movie released in 1946 about a World War II pilot who is forced to bail out of his plane without a parachute. He wakes up to find he has landed on Earth utterly unharmed, which wasn't supposed to happen, according to the rules of Heaven. A celestial court argues over whether or not to claim Carter's life or to let him survive.

No dark cloudy days here. Check out these fluffy cloud pictures:

Bunny cloud

Car cloud

Face in the clouds

Horse cloud

I'm puffed up and ready to listen to The Rainbow Connection by Kermit the Frog. It was written in 1979 for The Muppet Movie. The song's name has been used by a number of charitable organizations. It was sung by Debbie Harry of the group Blondie's in a duet with Kermit on The Muppet Show in 1981.

Weezer is currently recording the song for their tribute album to the music of the Muppets titled “The Muppets: The Green Album,” to be released August 23. In 2002, the Muppets teamed up with Weezer in their Keep Fishin' music video.