@wandeljw,
V.O.C.A.L
Special Agent Wandel returned from his TD54 mission outside of earth to report that:
on Titan, Saturn's largest moon, infrequent methane rain is thought to carve the moon's numerous surface channels. On Venus, sulfuric acid virga evaporates 25 kilometres (16 mi) from the surface. There is likely to be rain of various compositions in the upper atmospheres of the gas giants, as well as precipitation of liquid neon in the deep atmospheres. Extrasolar planet OGLE-TR-56b in the constellation Sagittarius is reported to have iron rain.
Special Agent Wandel also suggested that rainbows might exist on Saturn's moon Titan, as it has a wet surface and humid clouds. The radius of a Titan rainbow would be about 49° instead of 42°, because the fluid in that cold environment is methane instead of water. A visitor might need infrared goggles to see the rainbow, as Titan's atmosphere is more transparent for those wavelengths.
Meanwhile back on earth, British Correspondent (and fellow Aussie Correspondent, Margo) who both have first hand experience in the “Drizzle” phenomenon and had life and times aboard the Irish Tall Ship (sadly resting in the Bay of Biscay
) report:
Drizzle is a light rain precipitation consisting of liquid water drops smaller than those of rain, and generally smaller than 0.5 mm (0.02 in.) in diameter. Drizzle is normally produced by low stratiform clouds and stratocumulus clouds. Precipitation rates due to drizzle are on the order of a millimetre per day or less at the ground. Owing to the small size of drizzle drops, under many circumstances drizzle largely evaporates before reaching the surface, and so may be undetected by observers on the ground. The METAR code for drizzle is DZ.
<’cept when Margo visits – then it’s torrential rain>
The forthcoming VAMOS Ocean-Cloud-Atmosphere-Land Study (V.O.C.A.L.S) will focus upon drizzle processes and their impact upon climate.
Interestingly, (yes, yes it
is very interesting)
In Norse Mythology, a rainbow called the Bifröst Bridge connects the realms of Ásgard and Midgard, homes of the gods and humans, respectively. The Irish leprechaun's secret hiding place for his pot of gold is usually said to be at the end of the rainbow. This place is impossible to reach, because the rainbow is an optical effect which depends on the location of the viewer. When walking towards the end of a rainbow, it will appear to "move" further away (two people who simultaneously observe a rainbow at different locations will disagree about where a rainbow is).
As we know, the rainbow is an optical and meteorological phenomenon that causes a spectrum of light to appear in the sky when the Sun shines onto droplets of moisture in the Earth's atmosphere. They take the form of a multicoloured arc, with red on the outer part of the arc and violet on the inner section of the arc.
A rainbow spans a continuous spectrum of colours; the distinct bands are an artifact of human colour vision. The most commonly cited and remembered sequence, in English, is Newton's sevenfold red, orange, yellow, green, BLUE, indigo and violet (popularly memorized by mnemonics like Roy G. Biv). Rainbows can be caused by other forms of water than rain, including mist, spray, and dew.
(Richard Of York Gained Battle In Vain) – Iz mnemenenneenomic!
Editor in Chief sends out transmission to Special Agent Wandel to pick up the infrared goggles at the News Desk and that as it’s time to pay his dues, he is to seek out the Pot of Gold at the end of the Rainbow
and to make sure he takes a brolly!
Special Agent Wandel is leaving the building.
He may be a while
Always wishing to be V.O.C.A.L – D'Izzie sets about baking a Lemon Drizzle Cake for TICO’s birthday! E.Z. P.Z.
T R Yagain is said to be on his Extra Solar Planet (ESP) preparing to OGLE-TRY-66x in the constellation Capricorn.
< It’s gonna rain tomorrow – sucks-lemon face emoticon>