Magazine Posts

You sit there,
for a little while,
impressing me,
with your smile.

You captured my heart,
when caring for my wife.
I care about you as
a granddaughter's life.

A Wayward life,
now past due,
for the light you see,
is nothing new.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Mu Cephei is a very large star. An M-class supergiant some 1500 times the size of the Sun, it is one of the largest stars visible to the unaided eye, and even one of the largest in the entire Galaxy. If it replaced the Sun in our fair Solar System, Mu Cephei would easily engulf Mars and Jupiter. Historically known as Herschel's Garnet Star, Mu Cephei is extremely red. Approximately 2800 light-years distant, the supergiant is seen near the edge of reddish emission nebula IC 1396 toward the royal northern constellation Cepheus in this telescopic view. Much cooler and hence redder than the Sun, this supergiant's light is further reddened by absorption and scattering due to intervening dust within the Milky Way. A well-studied variable star understood to be in a late phase of stellar evolution, Mu Cephei is a massive star too, destined to ultimately explode as a core-collapse supernova. APOD editor to speak: in Houghton, Michigan tonight, Thursday, October 12, at 6 pm

Photo by David Cruz

A delicious Spring dinner in under 30 minutes! More at Cooking Mamas ➜

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

What's happening in the lower arm of this spiral galaxy? A supernova. Last month, supernova SN 2023rve was discovered with UAE's Al-Khatim Observatory and later found to be consistent with the death explosion of a massive star, possibly leaving behind a black hole. Spiral galaxy NGC 1097 is a relatively close 45 million light years away and visible with a small telescope toward the southern constellation of the Furnace (Fornax). The galaxy is notable not only for its picturesque spiral arms, but also for faint jets consistent with ancient star streams left over from a galactic collision -- possibly with the small galaxy seen between its arms on the lower left. The featured image highlights the new supernova by blinking between two exposures taken several months apart. Finding supernovas in nearby galaxies can be important in determining the scale and expansion rate of our entire universe -- a topic currently of unexpected tension and much debate. APOD editor to speak: in Houghton, Michigan on Thursday, October 12 at 6 pm

Rustled the wind,
at break of day,
strong are the gusts,
guiding your way.

I love you, Ellie.
I surely do.
I'm unsure about me,
and what I will do.

Random thoughts
of no substance.
Off the wall comments,
luck by chance.

What is said,
matters not to me.
If I have a drink,
then I may see.

I'll go away,
you can sleep,
for my thoughts
are shallow, not deep.

These words,
make sense, not.
All you can see,
is all I've got.

Do I confuse you,
with what I write?
If it is so, you best,
hang on tight.

I'll write about,
things, no longer there,
like skin with no wrinkles,
and no more white hair.

Youth is a fleeting tract,
get back on the bus.
There may not be room
for both of us.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

The Great Nebula in Orion has hidden stars. To the unaided eye in visible light, it appears as a small fuzzy patch in the constellation of Orion. But this image was taken by the Webb Space Telescope in a representative-color composite of red and very near infrared light. It confirms with impressive detail that the Orion Nebula is a busy neighborhood of young stars, hot gas, and dark dust. The rollover image shows the same image in representative colors further into the near infrared. The power behind much of the Orion Nebula (M42) is the Trapezium - a cluster of bright stars near the nebula's center. The diffuse and filamentary glow surrounding the bright stars is mostly heated interstellar dust. Detailed inspection of these images shows an unexpectedly large number of Jupiter-Mass Binary Objects (JuMBOs), pairs of Jupiter-mass objects which might give a clue to how stars are forming. The whole Orion Nebula cloud complex, which includes the Horsehead Nebula, will slowly disperse over the next few million years. APOD editor to speak: in Houghton, Michigan on Thursday, October 12 at 6 pm

Before the time,
you came into view,
there was no one,
I knew exactly like you.

So here we sit at
the end of our life,
you are my love,
my beautiful wife.

Too many memories,
when I reflect.
Why am I still standing,
why am I erect?

I should be,
in a hole in the ground,
or my ashes tossed
in the wind, blown around.