Friday 12 September 2014

20 Spectacular And Rare Weather Phenomena That You Won't Believe Happen On Our Planet

1. Brinicle

Brinicles are the underwater equivalent of icicles. They form beneath ice when a flow of saline water is introduced to ocean water.

2. Volcanic lightning

Volcanic plumes produce immense amounts of electrical charge and static. In rare cases, this can spark a violent lightning storm.

3. Sprites, Elves and Blue Jets

These colourful shapes are the result of electrical discharges in the atmosphere.

4. Fire Rainbows

Fire Rainbows are formed by light reflecting from ice crystals in high level clouds. The halos are so large, they often appear parallel to the horizon.

5. White rainbows

These rainbows form in fog, rather than rain. The condensation reflects little light, and as a result, the rainbow is made up of very weak colors - like white - rather than the vibrant colors of a traditional rainbow.

6. Fire Whirls

Fire whirls are whirlwinds of flame. They occur when intense heat and turbulent wind conditions combine.

7. Catatumbo Lightning

At the mouth of the Catatumbo River in Venezuela, a very unique mass of storm clouds swirl, creating the rare spectacle known as Catatumbo lightning. The storm occurs up to 160 nights a year, 10 hours per day and 280 times an hour.

8. Moonbow

Moonbows are rainbows produced by light reflected off the surface of the moon, rather than the sun. Due to the small amount of light reflected off the moon, moonbows are quite faint.

9. Glory

A glory is an optical phenomenon, similar to a rainbow, that resembles a halo. It occurs when light tunnels through air inside rain droplets and emit the light backwards. Yes, that's as crazy as it sounds.

10. Waterspouts

Waterspouts are vortexes, which occur over a body of water. No water is sucked in and the sprout is made entirely from water given off by condensation.

11. Morning Glory

Morning Glory clouds are incredibly rare, so much so, that we don't know what causes them. They're most commonly seen at fall in the small town of Burketown in Australia.

12. Lenticular Clouds

Lenticular clouds are lens-shaped clouds that form when moist air flows over a mountain and piles into large and layered clouds. Due to their strange shape, these clouds are often mistaken for UFOs.

13. Penitentes

Penitentes are tall, thin blades of hardened snow and ice that form at high altitudes. At such a height, the sun’s rays are able to turn ice into water vapor without melting it first. Some areas randomly turn into vapor more quickly than others, forming depressions in the smooth surface. Over time, they transform into jagged fields which face the same direction as the sun.

14. Supercells

Supercells are the rarest and most dangerous type of storms. While they are formed just like other storms, the vertical rotation of their updraft means that they can sustain themselves for far longer.

15. Frost Flowers

Frost flowers are formed when sap in the stem of plants freezes and expands, cracking the stem. Water then draws through the cracks and freezes upon contact with the air, eventually forming exquisite patterns.

16. Sun Dogs

Sun dogs are an atmospheric phenomenon that occur when ice crystals cause light to appear brighter when the sun is at a certain angle.

17. Mammatus Clouds

Mammatus clouds are cloud pouches that form and hang underneath the base of a cloud. When air and clouds holding different levels of moisture mix, the heavier one sinks below the lighter.

18. Snow Donuts

Snow donuts are formed when chunks of snow are blown along the ground by wind, picking up material along the way. The inner layers are weak and can easily blow away, leaving a donut.

19. Belt of Venus

The Belt of Venus is a pink glowing arch seen across the sky when the shadow of the Earth’s translucent atmosphere casts a shadow back upon itself.

20. Asperatus Clouds

Asperatus Clouds were only classified in 2009. As a result, we know little about them other than the fact that they look amazing.

Data from

distractify.com

THANK YOU

Nutchanon Plaithoa

Tuesday 26 August 2014

Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal is a white marble mausoleum located in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The Taj Mahal is widely recognized as "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage".
Taj Mahal is regarded by many as the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements fromIslamic, Persian, Ottoman Turkish and Indian architectural styles.
In 1983, the Taj Mahal became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. While the white domed marble mausoleum is the most familiar component of the Taj Mahal, it is actually an integrated complex of structures. The construction began around 1632 and was completed around 1653, employing thousands of artisans and craftsmen.The construction of the Taj Mahal was entrusted to a board of architects under imperial supervision, including Abd ul-Karim Ma'mur Khan, Makramat Khan, and Ustad Ahmad Lahauri.Lahauri is generally considered to be the principal designer.

Taj Mahal site plan

Floor plan of the Taj Mahal.

Pictures of Taj Mahal

Data from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taj_Mahal

THANK YOU

Nutchanon Plaithoa

Monday 25 August 2014

Leaning Tower of Pisa

The Leaning Tower of Pisa or simply the Tower of Pisa is the campanile, or freestanding bell tower, of the cathedral of the Italian city of Pisa, known worldwide for its unintended tilt to one side. It is situated behind the Cathedral and is the third oldest structure in Pisa's Cathedral Square (Piazza del Duomo) after the Cathedral and the Baptistry. The tower's tilt began during construction, caused by an inadequate foundation on ground too soft on one side to properly support the structure's weight. The tilt increased in the decades before the structure was completed, and gradually increased until the structure was stabilized (and the tilt partially corrected) by efforts in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
The height of the tower is 55.86 metres (183.27 feet) from the ground on the low side and 56.67 metres (185.93 feet) on the high side. The width of the walls at the base is 2.44 m (8 ft 0.06 in). Its weight is estimated at 14,500 metric tons(16,000 short tons).The tower has 296 or 294 steps; the seventh floor has two fewer steps on the north-facing staircase. Prior to restoration work performed between 1990 and 2001, the tower leaned at an angle of 5.5 degrees,but the tower now leans at about 3.99 degrees.This means that the top of the tower is displaced horizontally 3.9 metres (12 ft 10 in) from where it would be if the structure were perfectly vertical.