Starship Asterisk*

Arthur Sullivan in the song - The Lost Chord - says it all "It may be that Death's bright Angel, Will speak in that chord again; It may be that only in Heav'n, I shall hear that grand AMEN"

In Thule Greenland where I worked for a year the summer solstice full moom remains about 14.5 degrees below the horizon.

O roar a roar for Nora
Nora Alice in the night
For she has seen Aurora Borealis burning bright
A furor for our Nora
And applaud Aurora seen!
Where throughout the summer has our Borealis been?
- Walt Kelly, from Pogo

If it were illuminated from below, we would see the contrail in front of the cloud deck. We don't.

Walt Kelley wrote:
Oh, roar a roar for Nora, Nora Alice in the night, For she has seen Aurora Borealis burning bright. A furore for our Nora! And applaud Aurora seen! Where, throughout the Summer, has Our Borealis been?

During my one year at Thule Greenland, 77 degrees north, during the first sunsets after summer the sun grazed the horizon horizontally before rising again. I could control the degree of sunset by walking up and down a north facing hillside, seeing all the stages pictured here, including violet! Than...

A true waterspout is the analogue of a dust devil, but over warm water rather than land. These were often seen over Lake Erie in late summer during clear days. Pictured here is a tornado over water.

During my year in Thule, Greenland, only 10 degrees from the North Pole, at the end of the 24 hour sunlight season the setting sun would graze the horizon before rising again. I could change the sun's apparent altitude by walking up and down a north-facing hill. The polar air was very clear, so I co...

And what is that fainter rainbow just inside the main one, most visible near the horizon?

When I was working in Greenland 13 degrees north of the Arctic Circle, one noon in midwinter with an overcast sky a pure red glow lit up the landscape. It lasted about 15 minutes and vanished quickly. I assume the sunlight was trapped between the snowy earth and the cloud layer and travelled over 13...