Subj : Daily APOD Report To : All From : Ben Ritchey Date : Tue Dec 18 2018 11:57:54 Astronomy Picture of the Day Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! [1] Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2018 December 18 [2] Methane Bubbles Frozen in Lake Baikal Image Credit & Copyright: Kristina Makeeva [3] Explanation: What are these bubbles frozen into Lake Baikal? Methane [4] . Lake Baikal, a UNESCO [5] World Heritage Site [6] in Russia [7] , is the world's largest (by volume), oldest, and deepest lake, containing over 20% of the world's fresh water. The lake is also a vast storehouse of methane, a greenhouse gas [8] that, if released, could potentially increase the amount of infrared light absorbed by Earth's atmosphere [9] , and so increase the average temperature of the entire planet. Fortunately, the amount of methane [10] currently bubbling out [11] is not climatologically important. It is not clear what would happen [12] , though, were temperatures to significantly increase in the region [13] , or if the water level in Lake Baikal [14] were to drop. Pictured [15] , bubbles of rising methane froze [16] during winter into the exceptionally clear ice [17] covering the lake [18] . Tomorrow's picture: sky searchers ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- < [19] | Archive [20] | Submissions [21] | Index [22] | Search [23] | Calendar [24] | RSS [25] | Education [26] | About APOD [27] | Discuss [28] | > [29] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff [30] (MTU [31] ) & Jerry Bonnell [32] (UMCP [33] ) NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply [34] . NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices [35] A service of: ASD [36] at NASA [37] / GSFC [38] & Michigan Tech. U. [39] ---------- Site notes: [1] archivepix.html [2] image/1812/BaikalBubbles_Makeeva_1000.jpg [3] https://www.flickr.com/photos/23502952@N03/ [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methane [5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNESCO [6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Heritage_Site [7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia [8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenhouse_effect [9] https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/atmosphere/en/ [10] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/ 236143909_Sources_and_sinks_of_methane_in_Lake_Baikal_A_synthesis_of_ measurements_and_modeling [11] https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2785/ unexpected-future-boost-of-methane-possible-from-arctic-permafrost/ [12] http://arctic-news.blogspot.com/2016/12/lake-baikal.html [13] https://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/30/ siberian-craters-big-releases-of-methane-could-pose-broad-problems.html [14] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Baikal [15] https://petapixel.com/2017/01/17/ photographing-frozen-baikal-deepest-oldest-lake-earth/ [16] http://www.lakescientist.com/frozen-methane-gas-supports-life-lake-baikal/ [17] https://youtu.be/r_izDyWAid4 [18] http://siberiantimes.com/ecology/casestudy/features/ f0278-gone-endemic-baikal-sponge-has-died-completely-in-several-areas-of-the- vast-lake/ [19] ap181217.html [20] archivepix.html [21] lib/apsubmit2015.html [22] lib/aptree.html [23] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search [24] calendar/allyears.html [25] /apod.rss [26] lib/edlinks.html [27] lib/about_apod.html [28] http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=181218 [29] ap181219.html [30] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html [31] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ [32] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html [33] http://www.astro.umd.edu/ [34] lib/about_apod.html#srapply [35] https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html [36] https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ [37] https://www.nasa.gov/ [38] https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ [39] http://www.mtu.edu/ --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A40 (Windows/32) * Origin: FIDONet - The Positronium Repository (1:393/68) .