Mountain Views News          Saturday, January 2, 2016

14

THE WORLD AROUND US

Mountain Views-News Saturday, January 2, 2016 


CASSINI CLOSES IN ON ENCELADUS, ONE LAST TIME

A thrilling chapter in the exploration of the solar 
system will soon conclude, as NASA’s Saturn-
orbiting Cassini spacecraft makes its final close 
flyby of the ocean-bearing moon Enceladus. 
Cassini is scheduled to fly past Enceladus at a 
distance of 3,106 miles on Saturday, Dec. 19, at 
9:49 a.m. PST.

 Although the spacecraft will continue to 
observe Enceladus during the remainder of its 
mission (through September 2017), it will be 
from much greater distances -- at closest, more 
than four times farther away than the Dec. 19 
encounter.

 The upcoming flyby will focus on measuring 
how much heat is coming through the ice from 
the moon’s interior -- an important consideration 
for understanding what is driving the plume of 
gas and icy particles that sprays continuously 
from an ocean below the surface.

 “Understanding how much warmth 
Enceladus has in its heart provides insight 
into its remarkable geologic activity, and that 
makes this last close flyby a fantastic scientific 
opportunity,” said Linda Spilker, Cassini project 
scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 
Pasadena, California.

 By design, the encounter will not be Cassini’s 
closest. The flyby was designed to allow Cassini’s 
Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) 
instrument to observe heat flow across Enceladus’ 
south polar terrain.

 “The distance of this flyby is in the sweet 
spot for us to map the heat coming from within 
Enceladus -- not too close, and not too far away. It 
allows us to map a good portion of the intriguing 
south polar region at good resolution,” said Mike 
Flasar, CIRS team lead at NASA’s Goddard Space 
Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland.

 The south polar region of Enceladus, while 
well lit for observing observations by Cassini’s 
visible light cameras when the spacecraft 
arrived at Saturn in mid-2004, is presently in the 
darkness of the years-long Saturnian winter. The 
absence of heat from the Sun makes it easier for 
Cassini to observe the warmth from Enceladus 
itself. By the time the mission concludes, 
Cassini will have obtained observations over six 
years of winter darkness in the moon’s southern 
hemisphere.

 Cassini completed a daring dive through the 
moon’s erupting plume on Oct. 28, passing just 30 
miles (49 kilometers) above the surface. Scientists 
are still analyzing data collected during that 
encounter to better understand the nature of the 
plume, its particles and whether hydrogen gas is 
present -- the latter would be an independent line 
of evidence for active hydrothermal systems in 
the seafloor.

 This moderately close flyby will be the 22nd of 
Cassini’s long mission. The spacecraft’s surprising 
discovery of geologic activity on Enceladus, not 
long after arriving at Saturn, prompted changes 
to the mission’s flight plan in order to maximize 
the number and quality of encounters with the icy 
moon. Cassini made its closest Enceladus flyby on 
Oct. 9, 2008, at an altitude of 16 miles.

 The unfolding story of Enceladus has been 
one of the great triumphs of Cassini’s historic 
mission at Saturn. Scientists first detected signs 
of the moon’s icy plume in early 2005, followed 
by a series of discoveries about the material 
gushing from warm fractures near its south 
pole. They announced strong evidence for a 
regional subsurface sea in 2014, revising their 
understanding in 2015 to confirm that the moon 
hosts a global ocean beneath its icy crust.

 You can contact Bob Eklund at: 

b.eklund@MtnViewsNews.com.


OUT TO PASTOR 

A Weekly Religion Column by Rev. James Snyder


CHRISTOPHER Nyerges

 [Nyerges has been 
teaching outdoor skills since 1974. He is the author of many books, including 
“Testing Your Outdoor Survival Skills,” “How to Survive Anywhere,” “Enter the 
Forest,” and others. Information about his books and classes can be seen at www.
SchoolofSelf-Reliance.com.]

Aside from consulting with newspapers, the weather service, and such online 
services as Weather Underground, you should learn to make your own weather observations, and learn 
to interpret what you see. If nothing else, this helps to increase your awareness of the environment and 
keeps you alert. 

 Birds perch more and fly lower before a storm because the low-pressure air makes it harder to fly. 

A barometer – either store-bought or home-made – is a good tool for determining if there will be clear 
days or rain ahead. A rising barometer indicates decreasing air pressure and clear weather, while a 
rapidly falling barometer sometimes forecasts rain, snow, or other stormy weather. 

 Though you might have a barometer on your wall at home, most people do not carry a barometer 
with them into the wilderness areas. However, many people do carry altimeters (sometimes built into 
their wrist watches), and these are essentially barometers. First, you need to know where you are on 
your map, and your altimeter needs to be accurate. Then, over the course of a day or so, if our altimeter 
shows a higher elevation than is accurate, it means the pressure is falling and this could indicate that 
a storm is coming. If the altimeter shows a lower elevation than what the map indicates, then the 
pressure is rising and you have a general indication of clear or clearing weather. 

 The key here is an accurate altimeter, and your observation of a change in the altimeter while you 
were at the same location. 

 Dew on the grass at night or early morning can be a sign of fair weather, and dry morning grass can 
foretell rain or an overcast day. However, in some areas where it is very dry, you may not get morning 
dew even though the day will be clear. 

 The presence of a red sunrise or sunset is also a good general indicator of the weather to follow. A red 
sunset generally indicates fair weather, and a red sunrise may foretell rain within 48 hours. A simple 
rhyme makes it easy to remember: “Red sky at night, sailors delight; red sky in morning, sailors take 
warning.” 

 Learning to read the clouds can be another skill for short-term weather forecasting. 

 For example, cumulus clouds are the puffy, flat-based, cauliflower-like clouds which are constantly 
changing. They mean fair weather followed by clear nights. However, if they begin to stack up into 
cumulonimbus clouds, that means rain or snow is on the way. 

 Cumulonimbus clouds result from strong vertical air currents. These are the most familiar 
thunderheads, with winds often molding the tops into an anvil form. Their based may almost touch 
the ground in the mountains, and violent updrafts can carry the tops to 75,000 feet. In their most 
violent form, they can produce tornadoes. Usually a sign of approaching storms, these cumulonimbus 
clouds will drop rain or snow, and sometimes hail. 

 There are many other natural signs which will tell you about upcoming weather systems. Most of 
these signs are fairly logical once you understand the mechanisms at work. One of the best books on 
this subject is Eric Sloane’s illustrated “Weather Book.” Sloane gives the reader a basic understanding 
of the principles which control weather, and his beautiful drawings make the subject easy to grasp. 

 I have also learned a lot from Ellsworth Jaegar’s “Wildwood Wisdom” and from the weather section 
of most Boy Scout manuals. 

 Observing short-term weather signs is a good way to increase your awareness. When planning your 
trips, take advantage of all the modern resources. 

 Once while discussing weather with meteorologist Dr. George Fischbeck, well-known to Southern 
California TV audiences, he told me that he is very suspect of the long-term weather projections of a 
week to 10 days. “Weather is a very dynamic thing,” he told me. “No one can accurately predict the 
weather beyond more than 48 hours.” 

How to determine weather conditions by observing a rope that was hung from a tree limb: 

If the rope is: The weather condition is:

MOVING Windy

STILL Calm

INVISIBLE Foggy

WET Rainy

DRY Sunny

GONE Hurricane

 AN OLD GEEZER FACES ANOTHER NEW YEAR

1 Jan 2016

Here we go again, tricked into thinking it is a New Year when there is absolutely nothing new 
about it. It is the same ole, same ole, Déjà vu all over again. The person who invented this 
“New Year" ought to be sued for defamation of characterization.

I suppose everybody has their own definition of “new,” but when I think of new I think of something that has not 
been before not the recycling is something old.

I have seen more New Years than I can remember and have concluded that it is a misnomer. The one thing I have 
observed through the years is that every New Year I get older. What is up with that? If I could stop the New Year, 
could I stop getting older? I would like to try at least!

If the New Year was actually new, I would get newer not older. This has brought me to a level of grumpiness that 
I’m not sure I can get over.

I do remember those times when I celebrated the New Year and it was all because I had no idea what was going 
on. Things were not getting new, rather they were getting old. Perhaps the newness of the New Year was just the 
first day of January. I can go along with that.

I have a few suggestions along this line. Instead of calling it the New Year why don’t we call it the old year all over 
again? That would make some sense to me. I do not mind doing things over again, but I do not want to be tricked 
into thinking that I am doing something new.

I have a little difference with the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage along this line.

I know she did not invent New Year’s resolutions, but she is the biggest proponent of this idea. She suggests I come 
up with a list of New Year’s resolutions and is quite insistent about it.

All through the year she will query me, “How are you doing with your New Year’s resolutions?”

“I’m still working on them,” I say to get away from that subject as quickly as possible. I am so grateful that she 
does not ask me which resolution I have completed because I cannot remember any of the New Year’s resolutions 
from the last year.

However, when you come to this aspect of the New Year’s resolution how many of those are actually new? In order 
to make peace with my wife, I always come up with a list of New Year’s resolutions, which if looked into would 
resemble almost identically last year’s New Year’s resolutions. This is where writing things down can be very 
detrimental to a good solid marriage.

I have memorized these New Year’s resolutions, or so I say. Actually, I have more to do with my memory than 
cluttering it up with a bunch of New Year’s resolutions.

Perhaps our politicians should pass some kind of a law saying that you cannot make a New Year’s resolution until 
the Old Year’s resolutions are fully fulfilled. That would make a lot more sense to me.

Another issue I have with this New Year montage has to do with birthdays. During this New Year, I will get one 
year older. I object to that most vigorously. I think that is very presumptuous of this New Year to insist I get older. 
If it were really a New Year it would do something to help me get newer and not older.

Getting older has become very monotonous to me. I know every birthday is new, but what overrides that is I am 
getting older on that birthday. I am very confused about all of this. How can a new birthday make you older? 
Something is wrong here somewhere.

I find myself at that stage in life where I am looking for my second childhood. But the New Year keeps insisting 
I keep getting older. How can I enjoy a second childhood when I have this aspect of getting older? If it is my 
birthday, I should be the one to determine if I am getting older or younger.

I do not want to shock anybody, but everything new is eventually getting old.

This came to me quite disappointingly when I recently put on my favorite necktie for church. My wife said, “Are 
you wearing that tie again? Don’t you think you ought to get a new tie?”

It was my favorite tie and now I am being told it is old and needs replacing. Which brings me to the disturbing 
question; does everything old need to be replaced?

If that is true, I am in serious trouble.

I guess I am at the stage of life where new is not very much of attraction to me. I like the old and I am not ashamed 
of it.

I can appreciate what the prophet Jeremiah said. “Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for 
the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will 
not walk therein” (Jeremiah 6:16).

Just because something is new does not mean it is better and just because something is old does not mean it needs 
to be replaced. In fact, our country needs to get back to those “old paths.

WEATHER LORE

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