Sketching the Pandemic Year 2020 week 29

Sketching the Pandemic Year 2020 Week 29 :July 12-18 

The egg and Moon on this page have more in common than meets the eye ! I read in NASA website that even though from our planet’s vantage point the Moon appears perfectly round, it is actually egg shaped ! According to the study, “ The lopsided shape of the Moon is one result of its gravitational tug-of-war with Earth. The mutual pulling of the two bodies is powerful enough to stretch them both, so they wind up shaped a little like two eggs with their ends pointing toward one another. On Earth, the tension has an especially strong effect on the oceans, because water moves so freely, and is the driving force behind the tides. Earth’s distorting effect on the moon, called the lunar body tide, is more difficult to detect, because the Moon is solid except for its small core. Even so, there is enough force to raise a bulge about 20 inches (51 centimeters) high on the near side of the Moon and similar one on the far side. The position of the bulge actually shifts a few inches over time. Although the same side of the moon constantly faces Earth, because of the tilt and shape of the moon’s orbit, the side facing Earth appears to wobble. From the moon’s viewpoint, Earth doesn’t sit motionless but moves around within a small patch of sky. The bulge responds to Earth’s movements like a dance partner, following wherever the lead goes.” 

And once again my pairing for this page has connections I could not have imagined when I selected the nest and egg to sketch for the week. I had been wandering in our garden and came across a few eggs broken and scattered by our shed. Upon investigation I found a damaged nest hidden in barrel of leftover mulch.  It still had one intact speckled egg which I identified as belonging to Carolina wrens.  I never figured out who raided the nest. After checking it for a few days, it was clear the birds had abandoned the nest. I  made sure the birds were not coming back before bringing the egg indoors to add to my basket of curiosities to show my grandkids. (The egg is still intact a year later ! ) I am pleased how the watercolor with pen & ink sketch of the nest with egg turned out. 

A little more about the ‘High Noon On the Moon’ Wide angle camera mosaic by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter in the Smithsonian Engagement 2020 : “The sunlight on the Moon at noon, minimizes shadows but enhances subtle differences in surface brightness. The dark material is volcanic rock that formed when lava erupted and flooded large impact basins early in the Moon’s history. The brightest features here are evidence of relatively recent impact craters.”

Carolina wren nest with one egg watercolor, pen&ink by Meera Rao.