Magazine Posts

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Watch this video. In only a minute or so you can explore the night skies around planet Earth through a compilation of stunning timelapse sequences. The presentation will take you to sites in the United States, Germany, Russia, Iran, Nepal, Thailand, Laos and China. You might even catch the view from a small island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean. But remember that while you're home tonight, the night sky will come to you. Look up and celebrate the night during this International Dark Sky Week.

Video by Jeff Dai

"It came to me in a dream"
he said.
I thought it was sleep clouding
my head,
But it wasn't, as my heart filled
with dread,
at that moment in time, I thought I
was dead.
Awakening now for water, I went back
to bed.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

rth's annual Lyrid Meteor Shower peaked before dawn yesterday, as our fair planet plowed through debris from the tail of long-period comet Thatcher. In crisp, clear and moonless predawn skies over Brown County, Indiana this streak of vaporizing comet dust briefly shared a telephoto field of view with stars and nebulae along the Milky Way. Alpha star of the constellation Cygnus, Deneb lies near the bright meteor's path along with the region's dark interstellar clouds of dust and the recognizable glow of the North America nebula (NGC 7000). The meteor's streak points back to the shower's radiant, its apparent point of origin on the sky. That would be in the constellation Lyra, near bright star Vega and off the top edge of the frame. Celebrate the Night: International Dark Sky Week

Photo by Zolt Levay

Plants are sated
with rain downpour
thirst no more.

Sadness, seeps from your eyes,
Trickling down cheeks, red
From Springs, harsh winds.
Cry the tears of sadness,
As emotions, scratch and dry,
To the surface of your being.
Lonely, are those who wander
Down this path of life,
Never stopping, never touching.
Standing there, alone.

The problem with running and going far;
you have to return where you left your car.
An old friend and I would run out to
Bothell from Redmond, on the Sammamish Trail,
when training for the Seattle Marathon.
It was our long run for the week.
I don't remember the length but estimate
it was about 14 miles, out and back.
After we returned, we would put on
our Sweats, pants and jacket and go
to Blazes Broiler for a Sunday breakfast.
Bacon or ham and eggs with hash browns,
toast and a few Bloody Mary's.
Our kind of training back in those days.
Some schedule I would say.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

No sudden, sharp boundary marks the passage of day into night in this gorgeous view of ocean and clouds over our fair planet Earth. Instead, the shadow line or terminator is diffuse and shows the gradual transition to darkness we experience as twilight. With the Sun illuminating the scene from the right, the cloud tops reflect gently reddened sunlight filtered through the dusty troposphere, the lowest layer of the planet's nurturing atmosphere. A clear high altitude layer, visible along the dayside's upper edge, scatters blue sunlight and fades into the blackness of space. This picture was taken in June of 2001 from the International Space Station orbiting at an altitude of 211 nautical miles. Of course from home, you can check out the Earth Now. Celebrate: Today is Earth Day

Light of day
Brings forth the noise
of surrounding sound

Don't leave me now
for I have found
our mortal life
is more profound.
Social contact is indeed
a relationship I need.
To talk to others
through rhyme or verse,
can bring forth discussions
of thoughts, unrehearsed.
Please stay close; don't leave
for if you do, I will bereave.

Were we once together,
Many years ago?
Were you my Juliet,
Was I your Romeo?
I feel I've known you forever,
Long before this life began.
Do you remember meeting,
In some secluded Glen?
Where ferns and soft
Grasses grow,
And rays of light, invade,
To push away the
Chill of night
And watch when
Love was made.

Beneath our Rhodie
is where it grows,
the wonderful flower,
a beautiful Primrose.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Have you ever had stars in your eyes? It appears that the eye on the left does, and moreover it appears to be gazing at even more stars. The featured 27-frame mosaic was taken last July from Ojas de Salar in the Atacama Desert of Chile. The eye is actually a small lagoon captured reflecting the dark night sky as the Milky Way Galaxy arched overhead. The seemingly smooth band of the Milky Way is really composed of billions of stars, but decorated with filaments of light-absorbing dust and red-glowing nebulas. Additionally, both Jupiter (slightly left the galactic arch) and Saturn (slightly to the right) are visible. The lights of small towns dot the unusual vertical horizon. The rocky terrain around the lagoon appears to some more like the surface of Mars than our Earth.

Photo by Miguel Claro