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Once more, from the past

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Near the center of this sharp cosmic portrait, at the heart of the Orion Nebula, are four hot, massive stars known as the Trapezium. Gathered within a region about 1.5 light-years in radius, they dominate the core of the dense Orion Nebula Star Cluster. Ultraviolet ionizing radiation from the Trapezium stars, mostly from the brightest star Theta-1 Orionis C powers the complex star forming region's entire visible glow. About three million years old, the Orion Nebula Cluster was even more compact in its younger years and a dynamical study indicates that runaway stellar collisions at an earlier age may have formed a black hole with more than 100 times the mass of the Sun. The presence of a black hole within the cluster could explain the observed high velocities of the Trapezium stars. The Orion Nebula's distance of some 1,500 light-years would make it one of the closest known black holes to planet Earth.

Photo by Fred Zimmer

Here you go, Connie. You asked.
Here it is. Enjoy

Rainy days,
clothes a soak.
Is this Natures
own small joke?

It's not funny,
when you're soaking wet,
with the wind blowing,
an event you won't forget.

Next time out,
I'll cast a hex,
but to be sure I'll
buy some Gore-Tex.

I am uncertain why,
I chose to run that night,
but there I was,
on a sidewalk with little light.

Running along, at a
measurable clip,
when I hit an obstacle,
which caused me to trip.

Tuck and Roll,
when you fall
to avoid hitting your head,
and that's not all.

Now I was,
down on the ground.
I stood up,
looking around

to see, if anyone,
had seen me fall.
I was all right, but
my Pride hurt; I recall.

Two years ago,
you entered this place,
to help your mind,
with love and grace.

Now, you are gone,
away from here.
No more past,
no more fear.

If good was bad.
If bad was good,
would you be OK,
if misunderstood?

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Like a ship plowing through cosmic seas, runaway star Zeta Ophiuchi produces the arcing interstellar bow wave or bow shock seen in this stunning infrared portrait. In the false-color view, bluish Zeta Oph, a star about 20 times more massive than the Sun, lies near the center of the frame, moving toward the left at 24 kilometers per second. Its strong stellar wind precedes it, compressing and heating the dusty interstellar material and shaping the curved shock front. What set this star in motion? Zeta Oph was likely once a member of a binary star system, its companion star was more massive and hence shorter lived. When the companion exploded as a supernova catastrophically losing mass, Zeta Oph was flung out of the system. About 460 light-years away, Zeta Oph is 65,000 times more luminous than the Sun and would be one of the brighter stars in the sky if it weren't surrounded by obscuring dust. The image spans about 1.5 degrees or 12 light-years at the estimated distance of Zeta Ophiuchi. In January 2020, NASA placed the Spitzer Space Telescope in safe mode, ending its 16 successful years of exploring the cosmos.

A repost from January 1, 2018.
I hope you will enjoy this.

When I wake,
from this dream I'm in
I hope I will,
see you again.

I am afraid,
this is life true
and I'll never,
again, see you.

It's all about
smoke and mirrors,
of gathering hope,
and stoking fears.

Look into the eyes,
you will see,
all the hope,
meant to be.

Go, ye now,
of faithless means,
find yourself,
within your dreams.