coriolis photos on Flickr

Morning. It was a four and a half hour flight from Brisbane on Virgin 737-800, but only three and a half hours back on the same aircraft. I'm guessing it was the Coriolis Effect.

the wheel hub in view by Harald Biecker

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the eye, London

In a stir by Pat Charles

55 7

This was taken early morning at Canberra Airport. I'm not sure how long these glass fixtures have been there but I think they're pretty cool.

Coriolis (effect). by David Smith

43 2

Ulster Heights Lake, NY.

Coriolis Effect by Digit_AL

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"The Coriolis Effect is an apparent deflection of moving objects when they are viewed from a rotating frame of reference."

Named after French scientist Gaspard-Gustave Coriolis who first described it in 1835, this concept of motion (more like psuedo motion/force) indicates that the motion of any mass or object on a rotating plane is relative to the center of that plane.

The Current by Peter Doering

321 29

Ocean water is on the move, affecting our climate, your local ecosystem, and the seafood that we eat. Ocean currents, abiotic features of the environment, are continuous and directed movements of ocean water. These currents are on the ocean’s surface and in its depths, flowing both locally and globally. Winds, water density, and tides all drive ocean currents. Coastal and sea floor features influence their location, direction, and speed. Earth’s rotation results in the Coriolis effect which also influences ocean currents. This phenomenon causes ocean currents in the Northern Hemisphere to veer to the right and in the Southern Hemisphere to the left.

Museo Solar Inti Ñan, (latitude 0º0'3''), Middle of the World City at 2,470 meters (8,103 ft) above sea level, Ecuador. by Elias Rovielo

116 34

Mysteries from Middle Earth:

The idea of standing with one foot in each hemisphere is an intriguing one, and the closer you get to the equator, the more you hear about the equator’s mysterious energy. But what is fact and what is fiction?

There’s no point in starting softly, so let’s debunk the biggest myth first: La Mitad del Mundo is not on the equator – but it’s close. Global Positioning System (GPS) devices show that it’s only about 240m off the mark. And no one who sees the photos of you straddling the equator has to know this, right?

Another tough one to swallow is the myth of the flushing toilet. One of the highlights of the Museo Solar Inti Ñan is the demonstration of water draining counterclockwise north of the equator and clockwise 3m away, south of the equator. Researchers claim it’s a crock. The Coriolis Force – which causes weather systems to veer right in the northern hemisphere and left in the southern hemisphere – has no effect on small bodies of water like those in a sink or a toilet. Draining water spins the way it does due to plumbing, eddies in the water, the shape of the basin and other factors.

How about some truth: you do weigh less on the equator. This is due to greater centrifugal force on the equator than at the poles. But the difference between here and at the poles is only about 0.3%, not the 1.5% to 2% the scales at the monument imply.

It is true that the spring and autumn equinoxes are the only days when the sun shines directly overhead at the equator. In fact, that’s what defines an equinox. But that doesn’t mean the days and nights are equal in length, as many would have you believe – this happens just before the spring equinox and just after the autumn equinox, and the day depends on where you are on the planet.

More fascinating than any of the myths perpetuated by Inti Ñan and the Mitad del Mundo, however, is the fact that the true equator (0º0'0'' degrees, according to GPS readings) resides on a sacred indigenous site constructed more than 1,000 years ago. The name of the site is Catequilla, and it sits on a hilltop on the opposite side of the highway from the Mitad del Mundo.

***

200 m northeast of the Ethnographic Museum Monument is a local private attraction, known as the Intiñan Solar Museum, reportedly built to mark the Equator, although modern measurements suggest that it no longer does.

Except for the exhibitions of Ecuadoran culture, the museum is an amusement for credulous tourists. Tour guides and visitors demonstrate tricks which are supposedly possible only on the Equator, such as water flowing both counter-clockwise and clockwise down a drain due to Coriolis effect, balancing eggs on end, or weakening of muscles due to latitude.

They even ask tourists for using the SAD69 Datum. This datum was imprecise and should be considered outdated. Some inaccurate GPS readings are due to using civilian GPS instead of military GPS. The truth, which some tour guides will admit, is that latitude has no measurable influence on these tricks; they are unrelated to the proximity of the equator.

***

A few hundred meters north of the entrance to the main Mitad del Mundo complex, this amusing museum has meandering outdoor exhibits of astronomical geography and explanations of the importance of Ecuador’s geographical location. One of the highlights is the ‘solar chronometer,’ a unique instrument made in 1865 that shows precise astronomical and conventional time, as well as the month, day and season – all by using the rays of the sun.

The real reason to come, of course, is for the water and energy demonstrations, but you’ll have to decide for yourself if it’s just a smoke-and-mirrors funhouse. It is supposedly (but not actually) the site of the true equator.

Finding The Lagrange Points by Chic Bee

23 4

Courtesy NASA:

solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/754/what-is-a-lagrange-point/

The easiest way to understand Lagrange points is to think of them in much the same way that wind speeds can be inferred from a weather map. The forces are strongest when the contours of the effective potential are closest together and weakest when the contours are far apart.

Lagrange Contours

L4 and L5 correspond to hilltops and L1, L2 and L3 correspond to saddles (i.e. points where the potential is curving up in one direction and down in the other). This suggests that satellites placed at the Lagrange points will have a tendency to wander off (try sitting a marble on top of a watermelon or on top of a real saddle and you get the idea). But when a satellite parked at L4 or L5 starts to roll off the hill it picks up speed. At this point the Coriolis force comes into play - the same force that causes hurricanes to spin up on the earth - and sends the satellite into a stable orbit around the Lagrange point.

Wind by Karol

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The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails. William Arthur Ward.

William Arthur Ward (December 17, 1921–March 30, 1994) was an American motivational writer.

Wind is the flow of gases on a large scale. On the surface of the Earth, wind consists of the bulk movement of air. Winds are commonly classified by their spatial scale, their speed, the types of forces that cause them, the regions in which they occur, and their effect. The strongest observed winds on a planet in the Solar System occur on Neptune and Saturn. Winds have various aspects: velocity (wind speed); the density of the gas involved; energy content or wind energy. The wind is also a critical means of transportation for seeds, insects, and birds, which can travel on wind currents for thousands of miles.

In human civilization, the concept of wind has been explored in mythology, influenced the events of history, expanded the range of transport and warfare, and provided a power source for mechanical work, electricity, and recreation. Wind powers the voyages of sailing ships across Earth's oceans. Hot air balloons use the wind to take short trips, and powered flight uses it to increase lift and reduce fuel consumption. Areas of wind shear caused by various weather phenomena can lead to dangerous situations for aircraft. When winds become strong, trees and human-made structures are damaged or destroyed.

Winds can shape landforms, via a variety of aeolian processes such as the formation of fertile soils, such as loess, and by erosion. Dust from large deserts can be moved great distances from its source region by the prevailing winds; winds that are accelerated by rough topography and associated with dust outbreaks have been assigned regional names in various parts of the world because of their significant effects on those regions. Wind also affects the spread of wildfires. Winds can disperse seeds from various plants, enabling the survival and dispersal of those plant species, as well as flying insect populations. When combined with cold temperatures, the wind has a negative impact on livestock. Wind affects animals' food stores, as well as their hunting and defensive strategies.

The wind is caused by differences in atmospheric pressure which is mainly caused by temperature difference. When a difference in atmospheric pressure exists, air moves from the higher to the lower pressure area, resulting in winds of various speeds. On a rotating planet, air will also be deflected by the Coriolis effect, except exactly on the equator. Globally, the two major driving factors of large-scale wind patterns (the atmospheric circulation) are the differential heating between the equator and the poles (difference in absorption of solar energy leading to buoyancy forces) and the rotation of the planet. Outside the tropics and aloft from frictional effects of the surface, the large-scale winds tend to approach geostrophic balance. Near the Earth's surface, friction causes the wind to be slower than it would be otherwise. Surface friction also causes winds to blow more inward into low-pressure areas. Source Wikipedia.

TD : 1/20 f/8 ISO 100 @28 mm

by Chrissie white

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Coriolis dance company

by Chrissie white

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Shoot with Coriolis Dance Collective

Costumes were made by Janelle Abbott at Parsons

Portal to another dimension - Stargate by Joel Pond

17 17

Water rhythmically dripping from a stalactite creates a series of ripples through the still water in a cavern in the Cave of the Mounds, Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin. Global warming is even affecting the coriolis effect.

Coriolis by Chrissie white

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I did a shoot with Coriolis Dance Collective yesterday, (I took ballet lessons for 13 years, and my former dance teacher formed the group) it was a blast!

Dancers always make the best models.

Costumes were made by Janelle Abbott at Parsons

by Chrissie white

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Shoot with Coriolis Dance Collective

Costumes were made by Janelle Abbott at Parsons

clockwise by Tim Walters

16

Clockwise

The Coriolis Effect by Kenny Maths

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A view of the magnificent Cecil Brewer spiral staircase located in Heal's department store on Tottenham Court Road in London.

221 Paris - Mars 2022 - rue Coriolis by Pascal POGGI

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by Chrissie white

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Shoot with Coriolis Dance Collective

Costumes were made by Janelle Abbott at Parsons

6 degrees South of the equator by Lawrence Makaseff

3 7

Coriolis effect

Crossing The Equator by Peter Whitfield

28 21

Mangled marbles.

Next time you’re flying across the equator make sure you are standing by a draining sink. You should see the direction of rotation of the swirling water plummeting down the plughole reverse as you go over the equator… in theory :)

Depending on which hemisphere you are in the water swirls clockwise (Northern) or anticlockwise (Southern). This is due to the Coriolis effect which arises from an interaction between gravity and the spinning spheroid on which we sit… or fly. The same effect also causes weather effects like anticyclones being high pressure areas in one hemisphere and low pressure in the other, and vice versa for cyclones.

This image is the result of merry mangling for Sliders Sunday. It reminded me a bit of water going down a plughole in two directions at once, hence the title.

The basic approach was to start with a brightly coloured image (I’ll link it as I normally do in the first comment), radially blur it and then copy the resulting layer. Use the same twirl distortion in different directions on the two copies and then blend them using blend ranges. You can find instructions for this sort of effect using Google, but this is the first time I have tried it. I can’t help but think the next attempt will be better! Fun was had which is the main thing...

Thank you for taking time to look. I hope you enjoy the image! Happy Sliders Sunday :)

[1. Chose bright starting image (would have been better with more variation).

2. Radial Blurred

3. Copied layer.

4. Twirled layers in different directions.

5. Copied top layer and moved it down to layer 3.

6. For each layer added HSL adjustment and played with them.

7. For top two layers blended them with Blend Ranges, lowered opacity and Blend types to taste (!)

8. Moved the layers about with Move tool.

9. Cropped; added dark vignette and depth of field blur to blur outer edges.

10. Added frame.

I started out in Photoshop, but moved it to Affinity Photo which allowed much more subtle adjustments to blend ranges and previewed blend types.]

by Chrissie white

201 37

Shoot with Coriolis Dance Collective

Costumes were made by Janelle Abbott at Parsons

Lake Ellesmere Aurora and Milky Way by James Gibson

74 7

It's taken me a while to get round to processing this as Photoshop has been having a bit of a spaz (technical term) trying to stitch three fairly simple images together in a straight line... Happy to report that PTGui didn't struggle too much at all.

Went out on a bit of a whim and managed to miss most of the colour sprinting up to the top of this rise. I'm pretty happy with how this has turned out, and a nice, low Milky Way to boot!

Tucson's Summer Monsoon Moon Post Processed Version 4 by Chic Bee

29 10

Moon last night in wispy monsoon clouds.

I named my photo Tucson's Summer Monsoon Moon because Tucson's summer monsoon for 2019 has started. The name is not for anywhere else except tropical regions on earth that also have similar monsoons.

Tucson has two monsoons each year just as does India. Both places lie between two oceans or seas and are in the trade winds latitudes. The trade winds reverse direction each year so winds that brought in moisture from the first ocean or sea, upon reversal, bring in moisture from the second ocean or sea.

The reason the trade winds reverse direction is because the earth's spin axis is at an angle with respect to the orbital plane of revolution of the earth about the sun. This is a subtle effect of the laws of motion known as the Coriolis force.

Dust Devil in Monument Valley by Mark Betts

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I posted another photograph of this dust devil as it appeared to be traveling up a road in Monument Valley but I found this photograph of it that I had taken a little later and that I was able to process better to show the structure of the dust devil.

This dust devil formed as the sun heated the desert floor and it began to rise. A cooler layer on top of the warm air kept the entire column from rising until the buoyancy of the warm air broke through a warmer weak layer in the capping cold air. When this happened the warm air began to rush toward where the breakthrough occurred and the surface roughness and Coriolis effect began to force the inward rushing air to spin. Soon, the flow of air inward was strong enough to pick up the fine dust on the desert floor and a dust devil formed.

It looks like it was following the road but it actually was crossing over the road. The dust on the road, however, was picked up by the rotation and made the funnel more visible and distinct for a moment.

The capping layer was approximately as high as the buttes and you can see the funnel start to disperse in the more steady breeze above the buttes.

I noticed that two people at the bottom right of the photograph were standing, watching this dust devil cross the road.

MG_1384

P.S.

I am always amazed how different things look depending on the background. Look at the dust devil against the sky: it looks very red while the same dust devil looks almost white against the red sandstone.

Coriolis moment by Harald Biecker

10 5

London Eye, London, UK

The Ascent of Man? by Kenny Maths

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Another view of the magnificent Cecil Brewer spiral staircase located in Heal's department store on Tottenham Court Road in London.

You can see other shots of this staircase at these links:

#9 Dream

The Only Way is Up!

The Coriolis Effect

You can see more of my pics of London in (funnily enough!) my London set.

Coriolis by Gerard Hermand

66 3

2020 - Regent Cruise - Costa Maya, Mexico - 17 by Ted McGrath

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The Celebrity Edge with its 3,373 passengers has left the dock at Costa Maya.

Of the ship's features, her most notable is an orange protruding platform, called the "Magic Carpet," suspended along the starboard side of the ship.

The “Magic Carpet” is designed to facilitate safer and more accessible tender process and to host dining and lounge space while the ship is at sea - oh yeh, extra cost, right.

From the look of the ugly smoke from its stacks I wonder if the Edge was juiced up with the new regulation bunker fuel required as of 01 January 2020?

Whatever, I am going to leave the Regent Seven Seas Explorer docked in Costa Maya until mid April - we leave Friday 28 February for South America - going to check if water in the sink drain rotates in the correct direction (Coriolis effect).

See you all in April.

WIP Fremen Bush Ornithopter - DUNE by Perisole (Enzo Laurent)

42 4

Working on Proportions now

After seeing Dune Part 1 again in IMAX and seeing Dune Part 2 the next day, i got really inspired to start work on my favourite craft from both movies (closely followed by the semi-dirigible sardaukar dropships).

I have to decide if i want to integrate a wing-folding fuction, like on the LEGO set of the Atreides orni, or if i just go with simpler ball or technic joints, like here. I eventually intend to use the new Blades from the LEGO ornithopter, these are stand-ins for now.

Cockpit fits 2, and i should have space behind the seats for storage like in the movie.

I originally used Galactic Plastic's genius ( www.flickr.com/photos/tardisblue/52939473817/in/dateposted/ ) technique for joining the 2 windshield pieces at the front, but that makes for a too pointy cvanopy, so i've changed to using flatter canopy pieces for the nose. They don't exist in trans-yellow so i'll have to dye them from Trans clear to yellow.

This is the ornithopter used by Fremen on arrakis for mainly non-combat uses. Paul and Jessica notably use one to escape the Harkonnens, when at the ecological testing station, eventually destroying it by flying through a coriolis storm.

The Long and Winding Road by Kenny Maths

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Another view of the magnificent Cecil Brewer spiral staircase located in Heal's department store on Tottenham Court Road in London.

You can see other shots of this staircase at these links:

You can see more of my pics of London in (funnily enough!) my London set.

Cosmic Dancer by Chrissie white

209 2

Shot for Rookie Magazine

Set Design and Photography by Chrissie White and Clara Pathe

Stylist: Elvia Carreon

Makeup: Lenaig Delisle

Models: Natasha, Marissa, Andrea, Christin of Coriolis Dance Collective, Hy Khong, and Aaron Gordon

Assistants: Hy Khong, Madison Pathe, Molly Donohue, Fred White

Monsoon Moon Post Processed Version 2 by Chic Bee

15

Moon last night in wispy monsoon clouds.

BW20229075150 by FunnyFence

15 2

Coriolis force whirlpools water down a drain.

Monte Catequilla, Agave Museum at 2,460 meters (8,070 ft) above sea level, Mitad del Mundo, Ecuador. by Elias Rovielo

55 19

Monte Catequilla (also Kati-Killa) is an archaeological site in the Pomasqui Valley of Ecuador. Located in the Parish of San Antonio of Quito Canton in Pichincha Province, it has an elevation of 2,638 metres (8,655 ft) and is located on a mountaintop about 300 metres (980 ft) above valleys on either side. Attributed to the Pre-Columbian era Quitu-Cara culture, it was presumably used as an astronomical observatory even before the arrival of the Incas, and is the only prehispanic site in the Americas that is located precisely at the Earth's Equator.

***

Mysteries from Middle Earth:

The idea of standing with one foot in each hemisphere is an intriguing one, and the closer you get to the equator, the more you hear about the equator’s mysterious energy. But what is fact and what is fiction?

There’s no point in starting softly, so let’s debunk the biggest myth first: La Mitad del Mundo is not on the equator – but it’s close. Global Positioning System (GPS) devices show that it’s only about 240m off the mark. And no one who sees the photos of you straddling the equator has to know this, right?

Another tough one to swallow is the myth of the flushing toilet. One of the highlights of the Museo Solar Inti Ñan is the demonstration of water draining counterclockwise north of the equator and clockwise 3m away, south of the equator. Researchers claim it’s a crock. The Coriolis Force – which causes weather systems to veer right in the northern hemisphere and left in the southern hemisphere – has no effect on small bodies of water like those in a sink or a toilet. Draining water spins the way it does due to plumbing, eddies in the water, the shape of the basin and other factors.

How about some truth: you do weigh less on the equator. This is due to greater centrifugal force on the equator than at the poles. But the difference between here and at the poles is only about 0.3%, not the 1.5% to 2% the scales at the monument imply.

It is true that the spring and autumn equinoxes are the only days when the sun shines directly overhead at the equator. In fact, that’s what defines an equinox. But that doesn’t mean the days and nights are equal in length, as many would have you believe – this happens just before the spring equinox and just after the autumn equinox, and the day depends on where you are on the planet.

More fascinating than any of the myths perpetuated by Inti Ñan and the Mitad del Mundo, however, is the fact that the true equator (0º0'0'' degrees, according to GPS readings) resides on a sacred indigenous site constructed more than 1,000 years ago. The name of the site is Catequilla, and it sits on a hilltop on the opposite side of the highway from the Mitad del Mundo.

Wet Wind Waves by Peter Whitfield

50 42

It’s really not a good idea to go on a November holiday in Pembrokeshire, certainly if you want to get out on the beach in your bikini. The county sits in the South Western tip of Wales having a jolly good attempt at forming a land bridge to Ireland.

Blame Chemistry. Pembrokeshire wouldn’t have this problem if hydrogen wasn’t a lot lighter than nitrogen. It sounds a little strange but because water molecules (H2O) are lighter than both Nitrogen and Oxygen molecules, damp air rises. As it rises the pressure drops and the air cools, water condenses, we get clouds (pretty!), and rain (not pretty - we’re in our bikinis remember!).

It gets worse of course. Thanks to our friends in Florida (who have no real idea what cool is :) ) we bask in the Gulf Stream drift ocean current which warms our near-arctic latitudes.

This body of warm water dampens the air, which in turn rises. Because of the Coriolis force caused by the spinning Earth, it the rising wet air starts spinning clockwise in a mini-cyclone which sucks more cold dry air down from the arctic which just happens to be ripe for more dampening and rising, creating a self-perpetuating wind engine.

In turn (excuse the accidental pun :) ) this leads to spinning cyclonic formations of warm and cold weather fronts which… you guessed it… cause even more rain on poor little Pembrokeshire…

The answer, of course, is not to change the atomic weight of hydrogen (perhaps tomorrow for that) but to abandon the bikini and take some books and the odd bottle of wine. Which is what we did.

Pembrokeshire out of season is empty and remarkably beautiful. A good place to think alone...and stare at the sea... and wonder if…

And it’s also good for ICM (camera movement) shots :)

Thank you very much for taking time to look. I hope you enjoy the image :)

[Processed entirely in Lightroom. Changed the colour from mud brown :) Zapped the sharpening to get the interesting texture in the surf. Dark vignette to complete the trick.]

Ranwick by giveawayboy

90 12

original painting by: Bill Rogers

inspired by Archipelago by R.A. Lafferty

The Only Way is Up! by Kenny Maths

21 76

A bottom-up view of the magnificent Cecil Brewer spiral staircase located in Heal's department store on Tottenham Court Road in London.

My recently posted shot of the top-down view of this staircase has proved to be very popular.

The Coriolis Effect

You can see more of my pics of London in (funnily enough!) my London set.

Chacana & Equatorial Monument (latitude 0º0'8''), Middle of the World City at 2,483 meters (8,146 ft) above sea level, Ecuador. by Elias Rovielo

76 21

The name is derived from medieval Latin word aequator, in the phrase circulus aequator diei et noctis, meaning ‘circle equalizing day and night’, from the Latin word aequare meaning ‘make equal’.

***

Mysteries from Middle Earth:

The idea of standing with one foot in each hemisphere is an intriguing one, and the closer you get to the equator, the more you hear about the equator’s mysterious energy. But what is fact and what is fiction?

There’s no point in starting softly, so let’s debunk the biggest myth first: La Mitad del Mundo is not on the equator – but it’s close. Global Positioning System (GPS) devices show that it’s only about 240m off the mark. And no one who sees the photos of you straddling the equator has to know this, right?

Another tough one to swallow is the myth of the flushing toilet. One of the highlights of the Museo Solar Inti Ñan is the demonstration of water draining counterclockwise north of the equator and clockwise 3m away, south of the equator. Researchers claim it’s a crock. The Coriolis Force – which causes weather systems to veer right in the northern hemisphere and left in the southern hemisphere – has no effect on small bodies of water like those in a sink or a toilet. Draining water spins the way it does due to plumbing, eddies in the water, the shape of the basin and other factors.

How about some truth: you do weigh less on the equator. This is due to greater centrifugal force on the equator than at the poles. But the difference between here and at the poles is only about 0.3%, not the 1.5% to 2% the scales at the monument imply.

It is true that the spring and autumn equinoxes are the only days when the sun shines directly overhead at the equator. In fact, that’s what defines an equinox. But that doesn’t mean the days and nights are equal in length, as many would have you believe – this happens just before the spring equinox and just after the autumn equinox, and the day depends on where you are on the planet.

More fascinating than any of the myths perpetuated by Inti Ñan and the Mitad del Mundo, however, is the fact that the true equator (0º0'0'' degrees, according to GPS readings) resides on a sacred indigenous site constructed more than 1,000 years ago. The name of the site is Catequilla, and it sits on a hilltop on the opposite side of the highway from the Mitad del Mundo.

***

The latitude of the Earth's equator is, by definition, 0° (zero degrees) of arc. The equator is one of the five notable circles of latitude on Earth; the other four are both polar circles (the Arctic Circle and the Antarctic Circle) and both tropical circles (the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn). The equator is the only line of latitude which is also a great circle—that is, one whose plane passes through the center of the globe. The plane of Earth's equator, when projected outwards to the celestial sphere, defines the celestial equator.

In the cycle of Earth's seasons, the equatorial plane runs through the Sun twice per year: on the equinoxes in March and September. To a person on Earth, the Sun appears to travel above the equator (or along the celestial equator) at these times. Light rays from the Sun's center are perpendicular to Earth's surface at the point of solar noon on the equator.

Locations on the equator experience the shortest sunrises and sunsets because the Sun's daily path is nearly perpendicular to the horizon for most of the year. The length of daylight (sunrise to sunset) is almost constant throughout the year; it is about 14 minutes longer than nighttime due to atmospheric refraction and the fact that sunrise begins (or sunset ends) as the upper limb, not the center, of the Sun's disk contacts the horizon.

Earth bulges slightly at the equator; the "average" diameter of Earth is 12,750 km (7,920 mi), but the diameter at the equator is about 43 km (27 mi) greater than at the poles.

Sites near the equator, such as the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana, are good locations for spaceports as they have a fastest rotational speed of any latitude, 460 m/s. The added velocity reduces the fuel needed to launch spacecraft eastward (in the direction of Earth's rotation) to orbit, while simultaneously avoiding costly maneuvers to flatten inclination during missions such as the Apollo moon landings.

Chacana & Equatorial Monument (latitude 0º0'8''), Middle of the World City at 2,483 meters (8,146 ft) above sea level, Ecuador. by Elias Rovielo

81 21

Mysteries from Middle Earth:

The idea of standing with one foot in each hemisphere is an intriguing one, and the closer you get to the equator, the more you hear about the equator’s mysterious energy. But what is fact and what is fiction?

There’s no point in starting softly, so let’s debunk the biggest myth first: La Mitad del Mundo is not on the equator – but it’s close. Global Positioning System (GPS) devices show that it’s only about 240m off the mark. And no one who sees the photos of you straddling the equator has to know this, right?

Another tough one to swallow is the myth of the flushing toilet. One of the highlights of the Museo Solar Inti Ñan is the demonstration of water draining counterclockwise north of the equator and clockwise 3m away, south of the equator. Researchers claim it’s a crock. The Coriolis Force – which causes weather systems to veer right in the northern hemisphere and left in the southern hemisphere – has no effect on small bodies of water like those in a sink or a toilet. Draining water spins the way it does due to plumbing, eddies in the water, the shape of the basin and other factors.

How about some truth: you do weigh less on the equator. This is due to greater centrifugal force on the equator than at the poles. But the difference between here and at the poles is only about 0.3%, not the 1.5% to 2% the scales at the monument imply.

It is true that the spring and autumn equinoxes are the only days when the sun shines directly overhead at the equator. In fact, that’s what defines an equinox. But that doesn’t mean the days and nights are equal in length, as many would have you believe – this happens just before the spring equinox and just after the autumn equinox, and the day depends on where you are on the planet.

More fascinating than any of the myths perpetuated by Inti Ñan and the Mitad del Mundo, however, is the fact that the true equator (0º0'0'' degrees, according to GPS readings) resides on a sacred indigenous site constructed more than 1,000 years ago. The name of the site is Catequilla, and it sits on a hilltop on the opposite side of the highway from the Mitad del Mundo.

Cosmic Dancer by Chrissie white

95 7

Shot for Rookie Magazine

Set Design and Photography by Chrissie White and Clara Pathe

Stylist: Elvia Carreon

Makeup: Lenaig Delisle

Models: Natasha, Marissa, Andrea, Christin of Coriolis Dance Collective, Hy Khong, and Aaron Gordon

Assistants: Hy Khong, Madison Pathe, Molly Donohue, Fred White

IMG_5045_Coriolis II_2 by David Greening

10 2

A fine afternoon with research vessel "Coriolis II" passing by North Head while departing St. John's harbour.

coriolis effect by Keith Midson