Public Posts Seattle, WA Seattle, WA (zoom)

Beautiful way to end the day at Arch Cape
Photos by BC

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

What's the most dangerous star near earth? Many believe it's Eta Carinae, a binary star system about 100 times the mass of the Sun, just 10,000 light years from earth. Eta Carinae is a ticking time bomb, set to explode as a supernova in only a few million years, when it may bathe the earth in dangerous gamma rays. The star suffered a notorious outburst in the 1840s when it became the brightest star in the southern sky, only to fade to obscurity within decades. The star was not destroyed, but lies hidden behind a thick, expanding, double-lobed structure called the Homunculus which now surrounds the binary. Studies of this ejecta provide forensic clues about the explosion. Using observations from NASA satellites we can now visualize the 3D distribution of the shrapnel, all the way from the infrared, through optical and UV, to the outermost shell of million-degree material, visible only in X-rays.

When words lay bare,
the truth today,
while others use words,
eroding facts away.
Stay on the course,
so you may
use all the words,
when you pray.
Finding the path,
helping you stay
and see your dreams,
seize the day.

When I reflect upon my life,
there are no regrets,
except for one.
What can I learn
from my history, past,
of the lost memories,
of my first love?
Life is over,
in one blink of the eye
and all you knew
of loving thoughts made
are gone, now missing
and will not return.

Where has love gone?
It has moved away,
as friends we love,
leave our lives today.
Mourn we must
and when we pray,
it's for the friends
and those who stay.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Which half of this sky is your favorite? On the left, the night sky is lit up by particles expelled from the Sun that later collided with Earth's upper atmosphere — creating bright auroras. On the right, the night glows with ground lights reflected by millions of tiny ice crystals falling from the sky — creating light pillars. And in the center, the astrophotographer presents your choices. The light pillars are vertical columns because the fluttering ice-crystals are mostly flat to the ground, and their colors are those of the ground lights. The auroras cover the sky and ground in the green hue of glowing oxygen, while their transparency is clear because you can see stars right through them. Distant stars dot the background, including bright stars from the iconic constellation of Orion. The featured image was captured in a single exposure two months ago near Kautokeino, Norway. Favorite sky half: Left half (aurora) | Right half (light pillars)

Photo by Alexandre Correia

"Coffee, wine, and wheat varieties are among the foods we could lose forever."... Read more

Words spill from my head,
into a big sieve.
Some hard to understand,
some not to be believed.

Long live the light,
long live the day,
we embark on our journey,
joining in the fray.

Wars are fought
to what avail?
It's still War,
it still fails.
No lives are saved,
freedoms not gained,
no bonds are broken.
We are still in chains.

You may be smart
and think I'm dumb,
but this is real,
I will not succumb,
to the hateful rhetoric,
so much entwined.
Are you so cruel,
with your thoughts aligned?