Colors in the dark from a burial ground

The view from the ground, the small things. Standing at a historical site, old burial ground from the Iron Age. The stoned ones moved by the people creating the burial ground. At the stones moss and lichens grow, some very colorful in UV light. 

What are lichens?

Lichens are miniature ecosystems made of fungus and an algae and/or cyanobacteria. These different life forms work so closely together that the algae or cyanobacteria actually sits inside the fungus. The algae or cyanobacteria provide the fungus with sugars made from sunlight, and the fungus provides the home. Lichens look like spots or clumps of colour, like someone has splashed paint onto a branch of a tree. Their colours range from green to brown to white to russet red. Even in these colours, lichens can be understated additions to tree trunks and rocks, and you might miss them at first glance. There are many types of lichen but they only grow in three ways. They can be branched like tiny shrubs, they can have crinkly little leaves or they can grow like a crust on a surface.

Mosses are small, non-vascular, flowerless plants that form dense green clumps or mats, usually in damp places, lacking true roots, stems, and leaves but having root-like rhizoids and simple leaf-like structures. They absorb water and nutrients directly through their surfaces, reproduce via spores, and are vital for soil stabilization, water retention, and creating microhabitats, acting as an important link in ecosystems.

In the sky a faint green light visible below the Big Dipper. According to Spaceweather.com it is SOLSTICE STORM IN PROGRESS: A minor G1-class geomagnetic storm is in progress on Dec. 21st. Why? Earth's magnetic field is connecting to the sun's (SWx jargon: "BsubZ is pointing south"), giving the solar wind an unimpeded path into our magnetosphere. Arctic sky watchers should be alert for auroras.

A vikings story

A UV light photo af a runic stone, so much lichens at the stone so during UV the texture totaly dissapear.

The stone, which is made of red granite, is 275 cm high, 100 cm wide and 40 cm thick and has a rune height of eight centimeters. The runestone stands in open pasture land near the Risbyle croft and between its partner stone U 161 and the road. Both Risbyle stones are dedicated to the great farmer Ulv in Skålhamra, a farm that in the Viking Age was located just southeast of Risbyle.The stone's ornamentation consists of two winding rune snakes, which in the upper part of the motif are locked with an Irish leash and crowned with a large, Christian cross. The carving is extremely carefully carved and well preserved, the carving says:

 

ulfkitil · uk · kui uk + uni + þiR × litu · rhisa × stin þina · iftiR · ulf · faþur · sin · kuþan on · buki · i skul(o)bri · kuþ · ilbi · ons · at · uk · salu · uk · kusþ muþiR · li anum lus · uk baratis

”Ulvkettil and Gye and Une they had this stone erected after Ulv, their good father. He lived in Skålhamra. God and the Mother of God help his spirit and soul, grant him light and paradise.”

 

Sweden has around 2,500 preserved runestones, mainly from the Viking Age, as memorials to deceased relatives, often after journeys to distant lands such as England, or to honour bridge builders. Most are found in Uppland (around 1,300), but they are scattered throughout the country, from Skåne to Frösöstenen in the north. The stones are important historical documents that tell the story of the Vikings' lives, travels and religion, and the best-known examples include the Rökstenen, the Gripsholmsstenen, and the Sparlösastenen.

Common themes and types

Memorials: Most runestones were erected to honour a deceased person, often a relative who died abroad.

Roads and bridges: Some stones mark the construction of a bridge or road.

Personal information: The texts provide insight into the Vikings' worldview, family ties, and sometimes even their own adventures.

Style variations: The stones vary in appearance; those in Mälardalen are often more lavish, while stones in Småland can be more austere but with exciting stories.

 In the night sky you see the open cluster Plejades M45 in Taurus.

 

 

Late Iron Age - Malmby Grave field

The burial ground also has a so-called ship-set, which are stones placed in the shape of a ship. There are also some mounds, types of graves that were common during the Late Iron Age (550 AD – 1050 AD). At that time, the tradition of village burial grounds also ended and instead people from the same farm were buried in their own graves. Around Malmby there are also several such small farm or village burial grounds.

 

Gudhem Abbey

Gudhem Abbey, Swedish Gudhem Kloster, in operation from 1152 to 1529, was a nunnery in Sweden, it was located outside Falköping in Sweden.

Aurora friday

Very nice Aurora Borealis display in Uppsala Sweden last friday. Two CME hit the atmosphere and created some nice Northern lights as far south as Uppsala.
We were standing on Kings Hills from the time of the vikings.