Earthshine

The moon will be full Thursday, 04/09/09, which means we’ll see it in all its illuminated glory. But when the moon is just a sliver, we sometimes see our own reflection shining back at us from the moon’s shrouded side, in a phenomenon called “earthshine.”

Earthshine was first proposed by Leonardo da Vinci, who suggested that sunlight could bounce off our planet and be reflected back to us by the moon. By studing this phenomenon scientists are able to link the solar cycle to climate change. Click on “Earthshine” to learn more.

Spring and tortoises… When do females lay eggs and where?

In the wild, females usually lay one or more clutches of 1 to 14 eggs between mid-April and the first week of July. The size of the clutch depends on the size of the female, with small females producing smaller clutches than the larger females.

Females dig the nests with the hind legs and drop the eggs into the nest, placing them with the hind legs and covering them carefully. The location of an undisturbed nest cannot be detected by humans.

Nests are most often associated with the female’s burrows. The nest may be in the burrow mound, the mouth of the burrow, or deep inside the tunnel.

         How much time is required for eggs to hatch?

The eggs, which are the shape and size of ping pong balls, may hatch in 70 to 120 days. The timing is dependent on the location of the nest and how much warmth it receives, among other factors. Some clutches may overwinter and hatch in spring.