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Looking through these three windows on history reminds us that while the tools of civilization evolve, the human story continues to be driven by many of the same hopes, challenges, and ambitions that have shaped every generation. Continue reading

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

In this recent HiRISE view from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the little green dot indicated on the surface of the big Red Planet is the Perseverance Mars rover. Recorded on June 13, the car-sized, six-wheeled robot was imaged a day before completing a Martian marathon, traveling a total distance of 26.218 miles (42.195 kilometers) since it began exploring the surface of Mars. That equivalent marathon distance was achieved by Perseverance on its mission sol (Martian day) 1,890, after about 5 Earth years and 4 Earth months of driving. Perseverance is continuing to hunt for biosignatures. In the HiRISE image, the Mars rover's tracks can be seen leading to its location in an area west of its landing site in Jezero crater near an ancient river delta.

The Dzhuguturlyuchat massif with mountain peaks and glaciers. Dombay, Caucasus Mountains, Karachay-Cherkessia.

Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. View source.

By Willian Justen de Vasconcellos on Unsplash

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

In a cosmic vista you can never see, the Milky Way arcs through the night above Seoul, South Korea. Remarkably, this urban night skyscape reveals our galaxy's faintly luminous central region and dark obscuring dust clouds in spite of the brilliant city lights. To overcome the extreme light pollution of the metropolitan area and record faint cosmic details, an infrared filter was used to capture the night scene in a single exposure. While the filter transmits predominately infrared light, it still passes some visible light to give the scene a natural appearance. The view is from Seoul's Ttukseom Hangang Park, with the Han River and a well lit railway bridge across the foreground. The 123 story Lotte World Tower looms in the distance, the tallest building in South Korea.

Photo by Shingoo Lee

Giant otter eating a fish caught from the river, Mato Grosso, Brazil.

Giles Laurent, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. View source.

By Aniket Deole on Unsplash

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

The Sun has just set... in the opposite side of the sky. Pictured here are anticrepuscular rays apparently converging in the east in this image of the limestone plateau in the heart of the Hyblaean Mountains of southeastern Sicily, in Italy. How were these anticrepuscular rays formed, if the Sun wasn't there? After the Sun set (in the west, as usual) its light still illuminated a cloud higher up in the sky. Partially blocked by the cloud, the sunlight produced patterns of light and shadow, crossing the sky in parallel lines. Perspective makes it look like they converge in the east, in the same way that train tracks appear to meet in the distance. This effect can also happen at sunrise, only the directions are exchanged. In rare cases, both crepuscular and anticrepuscular rays can be seen at the same time.

Photo by Marcella Giulia Pace Text: Cecilia Chirenti (NASA GSFC, UMCP, CRESST II)

Genex Tower in Belgrade, Serbia, an iconic example of Yugoslav brutalism, framed with abandoned car park. Today is 35 years since both Slovenia and Croatia declared their independence from Yugoslavia, and started the breakup of Yugoslavia.

kallerna, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. View source.