Red clover with a aphids on it a clear night

A clear night and I came across this red clover. I illuminated it with UV light and used a macro/wide angle lens to capture the fluorescent colors and the starry sky. Then I noticed the aphids that were hanging out under the flower. Later I took an even closer look at the flower with a more powerful macro lens 2.5x.

Lonely lingonberry leaves

Many nights with clouds and no photography. But tonight the sky was clear and I went out in the moonlit forest and found this lonely lingonberry leaves sticking up above the snow. They can withstand temperatures down to -45 degrees. This night in the moonlight the temperature is -11 degrees. Lingonberry leaves (Vaccinium vitis-idaea) are known to be rich in substances such as arbutin and proanthocyanidins, which makes them traditionally valuable for urinary tract problems. They can be used as a tea or tincture but should be used in moderation and not during pregnancy or breastfeeding.

Health effects: Lingonberry leaves are often used as a natural home remedy for urinary tract infections, like bearberry leaves. They are also considered to have antioxidant properties.

Uses: Dried leaves can be used to make tea, where 1-3 teaspoons of leaves are brewed in 200 ml of boiling water for 10-15 minutes.

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.

Golden lichens and colorful moss in fluorescence, a macro view and in the north Aurora Borealis.

Caloplaca marina, the orange sea lichen, is a crustose, placodioid lichen. It has wide distribution, and can be found near the shore on rocks or walls.

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A view from planet Earth

Small Fungus standing and almost looks like stargazing under the night sky. Fungi break down dead organic matter like cellulose and lignin, returning vital nutrients to the soil. Without them, the world would be buried under organic debris. Fungi are major players in the carbon cycle, storing carbon in the soil and helping to regulate the climate. Some fungi have the ability to digest pollutants, helping to clean up the environment. Beautiful planet!

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Small Fungus and the moon

The beauty of the small things at night.