It has been a while since I posted anything, so here it goes. The weather here has been just perfect, not too hot, not too cold. Unfortunately, there have been a lot of clouds cutting into my astrophotography. All the rain has started another spring bloom that could rival last years. I have to keep reminding myself that it is only early March, once the weather turns warmer, the herps, plants, insects, birds, mammals will all be more prominent. I am really looking forward to it.
This is an Acuña cactus (Echinomastus erectocentrus acunensis), an endangered cactus that only occurs in five known populations in the United States, according to my book Field Guide to Cacti and other Succulents of Arizona. I recently was shown where one of those populations is, right here in Ajo. Today I checked it out again and found one in flower. There is a dozen or more cactus in this population, though I have not made an exact count. This is Silverpuff, Uropappus lindleyi. There are a lot of these in flower now in localized areas. I liked how this photo turned out. Pelotazo (Abutilon incanum) is flowering too. A true plant of the Sonoran Desert, it requires warm winters and summer rains. It is not found in the Mojave Desert region. A late afternoon scene from last week. I was watching for a rainbow to form after some showers passed by but instead got this. The setting sun lit up the mountain known locally as Noah’s Ark in the Sikort Chuapo Mountains, east of Ajo. I had the C8 out for a few nights and did a test run on M81, Bode’s Galaxy. This came out really nice. Below M81, just above the edge of the frame, is Holmberg IX, a faint dwarf irregular galaxy and a satellite galaxy of M81. A little above on the right side of M81 is a double star that is clearly seen split. It was 100 years ago, in 1924, when Edwin Hubble proved that many of the nebulas seen in space were much further away than previously thought, millions of light years away, and that these were actually other galaxies like our own Milky Way Galaxy. M81, once known as Bode’s Nebula, is one of the billions of galaxies we now know exist.
2 replies on “March Update”
I like the Noah’s Ark picture. There sure are a lot of saguaro there.
Nice to see the flowers blooming. The Acuña cactus is interesting. I suppose people are always trying to collect them.
Nice set. Bode’s galaxy is beautiful. You need check out the Acuna again as more are starting to flower.
2 replies on “March Update”
I like the Noah’s Ark picture. There sure are a lot of saguaro there.
Nice to see the flowers blooming. The Acuña cactus is interesting. I suppose people are always trying to collect them.
Nice set. Bode’s galaxy is beautiful. You need check out the Acuna again as more are starting to flower.