Magazine Posts

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

The Horsehead Nebula is one of the most famous nebulae on the sky. It is visible as the dark indentation to the red emission nebula in the center of the above photograph. The horse-head feature is dark because it is really an opaque dust cloud that lies in front of the bright red emission nebula. Like clouds in Earth's atmosphere, this cosmic cloud has assumed a recognizable shape by chance. After many thousands of years, the internal motions of the cloud will surely alter its appearance. The emission nebula's red color is caused by electrons recombining with protons to form hydrogen atoms. On the image left is the Flame Nebula, an orange-tinged nebula that also contains filaments of dark dust. Just to the lower left of the Horsehead nebula featured picture is a blueish reflection nebulae that preferentially reflects the blue light from nearby stars.

Photo by José Jiménez Priego

If Batman had a grandma....

Camano Island, WA

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

After sunset on October 3, some of the Solar System's largest moons stood low along the western horizon with the largest planet. Just after nightfall, a pairing of the Moon approaching first quarter phase and Jupiter was captured in this telephoto field of view. A blend of short and long exposures, it reveals the familiar face of our fair planet's own large natural satellite in stark sunlight and faint earthshine. At lower right are the ruling gas giant and its four Galilean moons. Left to right, the tiny pinpricks of light are Ganymede, [Jupiter], Io, Europa, and Callisto. Our own natural satellite appears to loom large because it's close, but Ganymede, Io, and Callisto are actually larger than Earth's Moon. Water world Europa is only slightly smaller. Of the Solar System's six largest planetary satellites, only Saturn's moon Titan, is missing from this scene. But be sure to check for large moons in your sky tonight. Submitted to APOD: The Moon and Jupiter with its Satellites

Photo by Derek Demeter

I'm a lonely flower
Grew by myself.
No leaves to support me

Why this feeling? A sense of dread.
I'm still alive. I'm not dead.
Perhaps it's because I cannot see,
What lies ahead in this Worlds uncertainty.

the Maple leaf's fall
fluttering to the wet ground
nature's fall blanket

A sunny day; it is not warm,
Perhaps it's the lull before the storm.
The Sun now hides, behind the cloud
And covers the daylight with a shroud.
Darkness creeps in, not soft but hard,
Covering plants and flowers in the yard.
There is no Moon, nor flickering Star,
For blackness now covers who you are.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Clouds drift through the sky as the light fades near sunset in this three frame animated gif. The scene was captured on sol 145 beginning around 6:30pm local time by a camera on the Mars InSight lander. Of course, InSight's martian day, sol 145, corresponds to Earth calendar date April 25, 2019. Under the 69 centimeter (2.3 foot) diameter dome in the foreground is the lander's sensitive seismometer SEIS designed to detect marsquakes. Earthquakes reveal internal structures on planet Earth, and so tremors detected by SEIS can explore beneath the martian surface. In particular, two typical marsquakes were recorded by SEIS on May 22 (sol 173) and July 25 (sol 235). The subtle tremors from the Red Planet are at very low frequencies though, and for listening have to be processed into the audio frequency range. In the sped up recordings external noises more prevalent on cool martian evenings and likely caused by mechanical shifts and contractions have been technically dubbed dinks and donks.

For all the words in my head,
While I lay dozing in my bed.
I feared they would just go away.
They did not, for here they'll stay,
Down on paper with scratching pen,
While awaiting more words
To write again.

This Southern potato salad is an easy side dish that's always a huge hit!

Prep Time 25 minutes - Cook Time 10 minutes - Total Time 35 minutes

INGREDIENTS

5 lbs russet potatoes
1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
3 tablespoons mustard
3 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
1 teaspoon paprika, plus more to sprinkle on top
2 tablespoons dill weed chopped
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
4-5 hard boiled eggs sliced
1 cup black olives sliced
3 celery stalks diced
1/2 cup red onion finely diced

INSTRUCTIONS

Peel and dice up the potatoes and place them in a pot of cold water. Bring to a boil and add salt, cook just until fork tender, about 7- 8 minutes.
Drain potatoes and allow to cool slightly. Gently chop or mash into small chunks.
Add in mayonnaise, mustard, paprika, onions, olives, celery, pickle relish, chopped dill, salt, pepper and mix until combined.
Chop hard boiled eggs and fold into the salad.

Sprinkle with more paprika and fresh chopped dill if desired.
Cover and chill until ready to serve.

NOTES - You can substitute dill pickle relish if you don't like the sweetness.

https://butteryourbiscuit.com/southern-potato-salad/

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Gorgeous spiral galaxy M33 seems to have more than its fair share of glowing hydrogen gas. A prominent member of the local group of galaxies, M33 is also known as the Triangulum Galaxy and lies a mere 3 million light-years away. The galaxy's inner 30,000 light-years or so are shown in this magnificent 25 panel telescopic mosaic. Based on image data from space and ground-based telescopes, the portrait of M33 shows off the galaxy's reddish ionized hydrogen clouds or HII regions. Sprawling along loose spiral arms that wind toward the core, M33's giant HII regions are some of the largest known stellar nurseries, sites of the formation of short-lived but very massive stars. Intense ultraviolet radiation from the luminous, massive stars ionizes the surrounding hydrogen gas and ultimately produces the characteristic red glow. To enhance this image, broadband data was used to produce a color view of the galaxy and combined with narrowband data recorded through a hydrogen-alpha filter. That filter transmits the light of the strongest visible hydrogen emission line.