APOD: The Milky Way over the Seven Strong... (2015 Jan 26)

[APOD Robot]

The Milky Way over the Seven Strong Men Rock Formations

Explanation: You may have heard of the Seven Sisters in the sky, but have you heard about the Seven Strong Men on the ground? Located just west of the Ural Mountains, the unusual Manpupuner rock formations are one of the Seven Wonders of Russia. How these ancient 40-meter high pillars formed is yet unknown. The persistent photographer of this featured image battled rough terrain and uncooperative weather to capture these rugged stone towers in winter at night, being finally successful in February of last year. Utilizing the camera's time delay feature, the photographer holds a flashlight in the foreground near one of the snow-covered pillars. High above, millions of stars shine down, while the band of our Milky Way Galaxy crosses diagonally down from the upper left.

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[John Severinghaus]

Today's APOD about tall stone columns called Sever Strong Men.. suggests the tufa columns in Mono Lake California, formed under water when a spring of limestone loaded water comes from the ground into a very alkaline lake.
Was this area ever under an alkaline lake like the tufa?

jwseps@comcast.net

[Markus Schwarz]

This APOD looks like a scene right out of a science fiction movie. Great image!

[David J Wilson]

High above, millions of stars shine down ....

I don't think so.

[Ann]

High above, millions of stars shine down ....

I don't think so.

Oh sure. You just can't see millions of them with your naked eye.

Ann

[Boomer12k]

Fascinating...and kudos to the intrepid photographer...

:---[===] *

[Boomer12k]

Today's APOD about tall stone columns called Sever Strong Men.. suggests the tufa columns in Mono Lake California, formed under water when a spring of limestone loaded water comes from the ground into a very alkaline lake.
Was this area ever under an alkaline lake like the tufa?

jwseps@comcast.net

Wikipedia says they were formed by weathering conditions...ice and wind...

After watching the video under "Rough Terrain" in the description....it was not in or near a lake...

:---[===] *

[geckzilla]

High above, millions of stars shine down ....

I don't think so.

Oh sure. You just can't see millions of them with your naked eye.

Ann

See them, yes. Distinguish each individual? No. Photons from each star must be arriving at one's retina in order to see the Milky Way. Same with Andromeda. I suppose we can see billions of stars in the same way we can see trillions of atoms in the objects around us. Can I see any atoms? Hmm.

[nigel]

Today's APOD about tall stone columns called Sever Strong Men.. suggests the tufa columns in Mono Lake California, formed under water when a spring of limestone loaded water comes from the ground into a very alkaline lake.
Was this area ever under an alkaline lake like the tufa?

jwseps@comcast.net

No, apparently these are the product of differential erosion of schist (a metamorphic rock).

http://www.rgo.ru/en/photo/manpupuner-rock-formations

[hoohaw]

Oh, heck, I WILL complain, that big thing, whatever it is, is blocking my view of Cygnus!

[Ron-Astro Pharmacist]

Today's APOD about tall stone columns called Sever Strong Men.. suggests the tufa columns in Mono Lake California, formed under water when a spring of limestone loaded water comes from the ground into a very alkaline lake.
Was this area ever under an alkaline lake like the tufa?

jwseps@comcast.net

No, apparently these are the product of differential erosion of schist (a metamorphic rock).

http://www.rgo.ru/en/photo/manpupuner-rock-formations

Then these may be AKA : The Seven Schisters

[Ann]

Ron-Astro Pharmacist wrote:
Then these may be AKA : The Seven Schisters

Ann

[Fred the Cat]

The journey to Manpupuner was fraught with difficulty. Being there had previously proven perilous and sparked mysteries yet unraveled. As with many APOD's - you have to admire the difficulties encountered to capture an image!

[neufer]

Today's APOD about tall stone columns called Sever Strong Men.. suggests the tufa columns in Mono Lake California, formed under water when a spring of limestone loaded water comes from the ground into a very alkaline lake.

Was this area ever under an alkaline lake like the tufa?

No, apparently these are the product of differential erosion of schist (a metamorphic rock).
http://www.rgo.ru/en/photo/manpupuner-rock-formations

Then these may be AKA : The Seven Schisters

• That was not gneiss http://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php? ... 10#p281210

Schist showing "scaly" schistose texture, caused by platy micas

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<<During metamorphism, rocks which were originally sedimentary, igneous or metamorphic are converted into schists and gneisses. If the composition of the rocks was originally similar, they may be very difficult to distinguish from one another if the metamorphism has been great. A quartz-porphyry, for example, and a fine grained feldspathic sandstone, may both be converted into a grey or pink mica-schist. Usually, however, it is possible to distinguish between sedimentary and igneous schists and gneisses. If, for example, the whole district occupied by these rocks has traces of bedding, clastic structure, or unconformability, then it may be a sign that the original rock was sedimentary. In other cases intrusive junctions, chilled edges, contact alteration or porphyritic structure may prove that in its original condition a metamorphic gneiss was an igneous rock. The last appeal is often to the chemistry, for there are certain rock types which occur only as sediments, while others are found only among igneous masses, and however advanced the metamorphism may be, it rarely modifies the chemical composition of the mass very greatly. Such rocks as limestones, dolomites, quartzites, and aluminous shales have very definite chemical characteristics that distinguish them even when completely recrystallized.>>

And schisters are not gneiss.