Magazine Posts

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Under dark and mostly moonless night skies, many denizens of planet Earth were able to watch this year's Perseid meteor shower. Seen from a grassy hillside from Shiraz, Iran these Perseid meteors streak along the northern summer Milky Way before dawn on Sunday, August 13. Frames used to construct the composited image were captured near the active annual meteor shower's peak between 02:00 AM and 04:30 AM local time. Not in this night skyscape, the shower's radiant in the heroic constellation Perseus is far above the camera's field of view. But fans of northern summer nights can still spot a familiar asterism. Formed by bright stars Deneb, Vega, and Altair, the Summer Triangle spans the luminous band of the Milky Way.

Photo by Under dark

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NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

It came from outer space. It -- in this case a sand-sized bit of a comet nucleus -- was likely ejected many years ago from Sun-orbiting Comet Swift-Tuttle, but then continued to orbit the Sun alone. When the Earth crossed through this orbit, the piece of comet debris impacted the atmosphere of our fair planet and was seen as a meteor. This meteor deteriorated, causing gases to be emitted that glowed in colors emitted by its component elements. The featured image was taken last week from Castilla La Mancha, Spain, during the peak night of the Perseids meteor shower. The picturesque meteor streak happened to appear in the only one of 50 frames that also included the Andromeda galaxy. Stars dot the frame, each much further away than the meteor. Compared to the stars, the Andromeda galaxy (M31) is, again, much further away.

Photo by Jose Pedrero

Words continue to tumble
from out of my head.
Me thinks it's now time
to return to my bed.

I hear a noise,
most welcoming to me,
the sounds of seagulls,
and crashing waves from the sea.

I imagine the smell,
of spray from the sea,
to this beautiful site,
on the sand where I'll be.

To walk on wet sand,
barefooted, I suppose,
at a relaxing place,
which everyone knows.

My greatest wish,
a simple desire,
to walk again
and you never tire.

For you are the one
and always will be,
my true love,
for I love thee.

Come dance with me,
like water will flow,
smooth to the ocean,
we couldn't let go.

Stay here forever,
don't go away.
Stay with me now,
here I will stay.

It was a day in Spring,
we hadn't met yet.
So many years,
so much to forget.

Our life's memories
she remembers not,
Only my dreams,
can't be forgot.

A river rose,
a dance began,
this the story
of a lonely man.

Rivers rise
from spring melt,
dances can start,
when heart felt.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

This nebula had never been noted before. Newly discovered nebulas are usually angularly small and found by professionals using large telescopes. In contrast, the Pistachio Nebula was discovered by dedicated amateurs and, although faint, is nearly the size of the full Moon. In modern times, amateurs with even small telescopes can create long exposures over sky areas much larger than most professional telescopes can see. They can therefore discover both previously unknown areas of extended emission around known objects, as well as entirely unknown objects, like nebulas. The pictured Pistachio Nebula is shown in oxygen emission (blue) and hydrogen emission (red). The nature of the hot central star is currently unknown, and the nebula might be labeled a planetary nebula if it turns out to be a white dwarf star. The featured image is a composite of over 70 hours of exposure taken in early June under the dark skies of Namibia.

Photo by Bray Falls & Chester Hall-Fernandez