하지와 슈퍼문: The Solstice and the Supermoon

The Solstice and the Supermoon

This was a weekend of the Sun and Moon -- a coincidence of the summer solstice and the "Supermoon". Friday was the summer solstice (in the northern hemisphere), welcomed by humans for thousands of years as the longest day of the year. In ancient times, people celebrated this day as the center point of summer. Some still observe the solstice with ceremonies and prayers, gathering on mountaintops or at spiritual landmarks. Over the weekend, skywatchers around the world were also treated to views of the so-called Supermoon, the largest full moon of the year. On Sunday, the moon approached within 357,000 km (222,000 mi) of Earth, in what is called a perigee-syzygy of the Earth-Moon-Sun system (perigee: closest point of an elliptical orbit; syzygy: straight line made of three bodies in a gravitational system). Photographers across the globe set out to capture both events, and collected here are 24 images of our two most-visible celestial neighbors. 

The largest full moon of 2013, a "supermoon" scientifically known as a "perigee moon", rises over the Tien Shan mountains and the monument to 18th century military commander Nauryzbai Batyr near the town of Kaskelen, some 23 km (14 mi) west of Almaty, Kazakhstan, on June 23, 2013.(Reuters/Shamil Zhumatov) 

Revelers celebrate the pagan festival of "Summer Solstice" at Stonehenge in Wiltshire in southern England, on June 21, 2013. The festival, which dates back thousands of years, celebrates the longest day of the year when the sun is at its maximum elevation. Modern druids and people gather at the landmark Stonehenge every year to see the sun rise on the first morning of summer.(Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images) 

People look at the horizon soon after sunrise on June 21, 2013 from the rocky crest filled with astronomical markers at the megalithic observatory of Kokino during the summer solstice. The ancient astronomic observatory, located about 100 km northeast of Skopje, Republic of Macedonia, dates back to more than 4,000 years ago. (Robert Atanasovski/AFP/Getty Images) 

Andean religious leaders performs a traditional new years' ritual at the ruins of the ancient civilization of Tiwanaku located in the highlands in Tiwanaku, Bolivia, at sunrise on June 21, 2013. Bolivia's Aymara Indians are celebrating the year 5,521 as well as the southern hemisphere's winter solstice, which marks the start of a new agricultural cycle. (AP Photo/Juan Karita) 

Young women dressed as summer fairies attend an event inspired by pre-Christian traditions in Bucharest, Romania, on June 23, 2013. According to tradition, fairies, called in Romanian "Sanziene", come to earth around the summer solstice bringing fertility for the coming summer. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda) 

A member of the Mayan Priest Council conducts a ceremony to celebrate the Summer Solstice in the San Andres Archeological Park, in San Juan Opico, 32 km west of San Salvador, El Salvador, on June 22, 2013. (Jose Cabezas/AFP/Getty Images) 

A view from Pajchiri mountain, where the Aymara people go to receive the first sunbeam during their new year celebrations, 90 km (56 mi) north of La Paz, Bolivia, on June 21, 2013. (Reuters/David Mercado) 

People raise their hands during a ritual at sunrise to celebrate the Aymara New Year on June 21, 2013 at the Uyuni salt flat in Bolivia. A crowd gathered to receive the first rays of Tata Inti (god Sun) during the celebration of the winter solstice that marks the beginning of the 5,521st year in the Aymara calendar. (Aizar Raldes/AFP/Getty Images) 

People hold their hands up to feel the first rays of sun during a traditional Andean new years' ritual at the ruins from the ancient civilization of Tiwanaku, Bolivia, on June 21, 2013. Bolivia's Aymara Indians celebrate the year 5,521 as well as the southern hemisphere's winter solstice, marking the start of a new agricultural cycle. (AP Photo/Juan Karita) 

Revelers kiss as they celebrate during the summer solstice at the ancient Stonehenge monument on Salisbury Plain in southern England, on June 21, 2013. (Reuters/Dylan Martinez) 

A girl takes photos of the Kokino megalithic observatory during the summer solstice celebration in Kumanovo June 21, 2013. The 3,800 years old observatory was discovered in 2001 in the north-western town of Kumanovo 70 km (43 miles) north of capital Skopje and is ranked as the fourth oldest observatory in the world after Egypt's Abu Simbel, Britain's Stonehenge and Cambodia's Angkor Wat, according to NASA. (Reuters/Ognen Teofilovski) 

Jessica Matla and Mica Sviddo pose for a photograph as they wait for the arrival of the midsummer dawn at the megalithic monument of Stonehenge, on June 20, 2013 near Amesbury, England. Despite cloudy skies, thousands gathered at the 5,000 year old stone circle in Wiltshire to see the sunrise on the Summer Solstice dawn. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images) 

People take part in a group yoga practice on the morning of the summer solstice in New York's Times Square, on June 21, 2013.(Reuters/Eric Thayer) 

People dance as they take part in the Ivan Kupala festival near the town of Rakov, some 45 km (28 miles) west of Minsk, Belarus, on June 22, 2013. The traditional festival celebrates the summer solstice with overnight festivities such as people singing and dancing around campfires, as they believe it will purge them of their sins and make them healthier. (Reuters/Vasily Fedosenko) 

A full moon also referred to as the "supermoon" rises over the San Juan bonfire on the beach of Playa de Poniente in Gijon, Spain, on June 24, 2013. Fires formed by burning unwanted furniture, old school books, wood and effigies of malignant spirits are seen across Spain as people celebrate the night of San Juan, a purification ceremony coinciding with the summer solstice. (Reuters/Eloy Alonso) 

Tourists look at the rising Supermoon from the elevated skywalk of the Supertrees Grove at the Gardens by the Bay in Singapore, on June 23, 2013. (Reuters/Tim Chong) 

A man takes pictures of the full moon on the Spanish Canary island of Tenerife on June 22, 2013. (Desiree Martin/AFP/Getty Images) 

The Supermoon, behind the Marina district towers in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on June 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili) 

A rising moon, over the city of Rome, on June 23, 2013. (Filippo Monteforte/AFP/Getty Images) 

A cotton candy vendor walks in front of the moon during the Los Angeles Angels' baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, on June 22, 2013, in Anaheim, California, (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) 

The Supermoon rises next to the Chicago Harbor Lighthouse, on June 23, 2013, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Scott Eisen) 

The Supermoon sets behind the Statue of Liberty, Sunday, June 23, 2013, in New York. The larger than normal moon called the "Supermoon" happens only once this year as the moon on its elliptical orbit is at its closest point to earth and is 13.5 percent larger than usual. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) 

People ride the Luna Park Swing Ride as the Supermoon rises on Coney Island, on June 22, 2013. (Reuters/Carlo Allegri) 

People ride illuminated paddle boards in the moonlight as it rises over the Toronto Beaches, on June 23, 2013. (Reuters/Mark Blinch) 

간 큰 사람들: Extreme Challenge

 Things that are absolutely, positively NOT on my bucket list...

 

Cliff camping

Skywalking in the Alps

Portaledge camping at Yosemite 

 

Climbing Redwoods  

 

Sitting on the Trolltunga rock in Norway  

 

Jumping on the Trolltunga rock in Norway  

 

British climber John Roberts in South Africa  

 

Ice climbing a frozen waterfall  

 

Extreme picnicking  

 

Extreme skiing at Grand Targhee, Wyoming  

 

Skywalking on Mount Nimbus in Canada  

 

Tree camping in Germany  

 

Vintage climbing photo taken from Gaston Rébuffat's book  

 

Extreme kayaking at Victoria Falls  

 

Blake Aldridge dives 29 metres from the rock monolith during the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series in Portugal  

 

Climbing Mt. Wellington  

 

On the Edgewalk in Toronto  

 

A death-defying act by Eskil Rønningsbakken in Norway  

 

Alex Honnold at Yosemite  

 

Imagine if you dropped your phone down there.  

 

Glacierboarding  

 

Bike trail on the Cliffs of Moher  

  

지구의 땅 끝 도로들: The Ends of the Road

The Ends of the Road

Inspired in part by the great geography game GeoGuessr, Alan Taylor spent some time recently in Google Maps, finding the edges of their Street View image coverage. He's always been drawn to the end of the road, to the edges of where one might be allowed to travel, whether blocked by geographic features, international borders, or simply the lack of any further road. Gathered below is a virtual visit to a few of these road ends around the world -- borders, shorelines, dead ends and overlooks from New Zealand to Svalbard, from Alaska to South Africa. 

At the end of the Milford Sound Highway, in Southland, New Zealand, part of Fiordland National Park. See it Mapped. (© Google, Inc.) 

Kaimu-Chain of Craters Road, Hawaii. Past eruptions of the Kilauea volcano have covered the road in several places. Mapped.(© Google, Inc.) 

The Southernmost point buoy in Key West, Florida. Mapped. (© Google, Inc.) 

A village at the end of the road, near Sund, Norway - Mapped. (© Google, Inc.) 

Sha Tau Kok crossing, New Territories, Hong Kong. This crossing marks the entry into the Frontier Closed Area, a tightly controlled buffer zone between Hong Kong and mainland China. Mapped. (© Google, Inc.) 

A weathered jetty on Sand Island, Midway Islands. Mapped. (© Google, Inc.) 

Melago, at the end of a valley road in South Tirol, Italy. Mapped. (© Google, Inc.) 

The southernmost point in Africa, Cape Agulhas, South Africa. Mapped. (© Google, Inc.) 

Massive sculptures of U.S. presidents, in the lot of SculpturWorx, at the end of Summer Street in Houston, Texas. Mapped.(© Google, Inc.) 

The rocks of El Arco de Cabo San Lucas, viewed between buildings in Cabo San Lucas, at the southern tip of Baja California, Mexico.Mapped. (© Google, Inc.) 

Lighthouse Road, Byron Bay, New South Wales, on Australia's easternmost shoreline. Mapped. (© Google, Inc.) 

Ocean Park, in Hong Kong's Southern District. Mapped. (© Google, Inc.) 

As far north as the van was allowed to drive in Alaska. A BP checkpoint, on Spine Road, Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. Construction facilities are visible in the distance at upper right. Mapped. (© Google, Inc.) 

The Buckner Building, a massive WWII-era abandoned structure in the tiny port town of Whittier, Alaska. Mapped. (© Google, Inc.) 

Lagoa Azul, part of a twin-lake complex situated in the crater of a massive volcano on the island of Sao Miguel, Azores. Mapped.(© Google, Inc.) 

Canada to the left, United States to the right, on Henderson Road, British Columbia. The road turns left just ahead, the line cut through the trees at center marks the international border. Mapped. (© Google, Inc.) 

A CBC News camera operator at work on the U.S.-Canada border. Gladwyn Road, in British Columbia, dead-ends at the border, the trees in the background are on U.S. soil. Mapped. (© Google, Inc.) 

Kun Iam Temple, Coloane, on a hilltop in Macau. Mapped. (© Google, Inc.) 

A bust of Vladimir Lenin in Pyramiden, a former Soviet-run coal mining facility, now abandoned in Svalbard. Mapped. (© Google, Inc.) 

One of the easternmost points along Brazil's Atlantic shoreline (at least as far as Google's Street View team have covered), Avenida Beira Mar, in the town of Paulista. Mapped. (© Google, Inc.) 

The northermost point in Thailand, along the Mae Sai River. Burma lies across the river. Mapped. (© Google, Inc.) 

A view of the Chilkat Range, across Lynn Canal from the borough of Juneau, Alaska, about as far north of the city as one can drive. The capital city has a small road system, but is not connected to any outside roads -- the only way in or out is by air or by sea. Mapped.(© Google, Inc.) 

Ubehebe Crater, a volcanic crater in Death Valley National Park, California. Mapped. (© Google, Inc.) 

Southland, New Zealand, about as far south as one can go on South Island. Mapped. (© Google, Inc.) 

Nordkaphallen, a visitor center at the northernmost tip of Europe, in northern Norway. Mapped. (© Google, Inc.) 

A Google Maps Street View car, photographed at the end of Navy Road, north of Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Canada. Mapped.(© Google, Inc.)