The Earth Story

Timing a sunset

This post may entirely be an excuse to post a Monet painting on this page. This is a photo of the painting “Étretat: Sunset” produced by Claude Monet during a 3 week visit to Normandy in 1883.

Texas State University astrophysicist Donald Olson and his research team visited this location on the coast of France and took a series of measurements of the path of the sun relative to other observable points. By projecting the sun’s path back in time, they estimated that Monet painted this work between Feb. 3 and Feb. 7, 1883. Then, by adding tidal chart data, they estimated that the time reflected in this painting is Feb. 5, 1883 at 4:53 p.m. local time, to within one minute.

Of course, that estimate assumes that a human painter is perfectly accurate in where he placed the sun and the tides to within a high precision. Whether or not that is the case, I personally find a story like this extracted from a work of art to be quite masterful as well.

-JBB

Image credit: wikipaintings (public domain) http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/claude-monet/the-manneport-cliff-at-etretat-sunset#close

Original paper http://www.skyandtelescope.com/skytel/beyondthepage/Dating-Impressionists-Art-236035341.html

The cliffs of Étretat

The white cliffs of Dover are mirrored by these similar looking cliffs in upper Normandy, France. Along this 130 kilometer stretch of the so called Alabaster coast lies the small town of Étretat. Claude Monet and other Impressionists of the nineteenth century were attracted by the picturesque setting of the small village and famously painted the spectacular coastline.

Étretat is known for its three natural arches and white cliffs that tower high over the Atlantic Ocean. The Alabaster coast is actually made out of chalk and flint and not alabaster. It received its deceiving name due to the beautiful white color of the cliffs.

The Alabaster coast and the Cliffs of Dover have a similar geological history. The sedimentary remains of various marine microorganisms became accumulated over time and created these spectacular coastlines. In between the chalk are bands of flint which were derived from siliceous organisms.

The soft chalk is highly sensitive to erosion and under the effect of swell, frost, water seepage, wind and waves the cliffs are eroded about twenty centimeters a year. The chalk is rapidly dissolved in the sea whereas the flint forms the pebbles along the shore. The pebbles act as a natural barrier protecting the bottom of the cliffs against the waves. Furthermore, they are a valuable industrial resource which can be used in many ways.

Xandi

Image Credits: http://bit.ly/1MGSllu http://bit.ly/236hwCc Sources: http://bit.ly/1X2SccB http://bit.ly/1RC3eSL http://www.estrancitedelamer.fr/anglais/AFALAISE.htm

Timing a sunset This post may entirely be an excuse to post a Monet painting on this page. This is a photo of the painting “Étretat: Sunset” produced by Claude Monet during a 3 week visit to Normandy in 1883. Texas State University astrophysicist Donald Olson and his research team visited this location on the coast of France and took a series of measurements of the path of the sun relative to other observable points. By projecting the sun’s path back in time, they estimated that Monet painted this work between Feb. 3 and Feb. 7, 1883. Then, by adding tidal chart data, they estimated that the time reflected in this painting is Feb. 5, 1883 at 4:53 p.m. local time, to within one minute. Of course, that estimate assumes that a human painter is perfectly accurate in where he placed the sun and the tides to within a high precision. Whether or not that is the case, I personally find a story like this extracted from a work of art to be quite masterful as well. -JBB Image credit: wikipaintings (public domain) http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/claude-monet/the-manneport-cliff-at-etretat-sunset#close Original paper http://www.skyandtelescope.com/skytel/beyondthepage/Dating-Impressionists-Art-236035341.html