Magazine Posts

"I went out for a morning walk and stumbled upon this lovely scene in the neighborhood. Issaquah, WA"

Dave Hoefler on Unsplash

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

The upper galaxy might be more photogenic, but the lower galaxy is more unusual. The galaxy up top is NGC 3660, a spiral galaxy similar to our own Milky Way galaxy in that it has several bright blue spiral arms and a central bar of stars, dust, and gas. Captured by chance in the featured deep and colorful image, surprisingly, is SN 2026cff, a supernova found just to the right of the central bar. Farther in the distance is the bottom galaxy, known informally as Burçin’s galaxy, but formally cataloged as LEDA 1000714. The center of this galaxy appears to be an old elliptical galaxy, but it is strangely surrounded by not one but two rings of stars. What created Burçin's galaxy is a mystery and remains a continuing topic of research, but it likely involves the accretion of one or more smaller galaxies.

Photo by Adam Block, El Sauce Obs.

Crepuscular rays over parc de Noisiel (park of Noisiel) at sunrise. Taken from above the gardens of Champs-sur-Marne castle, Seine-et-Marne, France.

Benh LIEU SONG (Flickr), CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. View source.

Balaji Malliswamy on Unsplash

A crocodile hiding silently in the water. Ready to pound on prey. The eye is so sharp. Scary but beautiful at the same time.
Photo taken near Madras Crocodile Bank Trust, Mahabalipuram, India.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

What are these strange space globs? Situated in rich star fields and glowing hydrogen gas, these opaque clouds of interstellar dust and gas are so large they might be able to form stars. Their home is known as IC 2944, a bright stellar nursery located about 7,600 light years away toward the constellation of the Centaur (Centaurus). The largest of these dark globules, first spotted by A. D. Thackeray in 1950 using a telescope in South Africa, is likely two separate but overlapping clouds, each more than one light-year wide. Along with other data, the featured Hubble palette image from the El Sauce Observatory in Chile, indicates that Thackeray's globules are fractured and churning as a result of intense ultraviolet radiation from young, hot stars already energizing and heating the bright emission nebula. These and similar dark globules known to be associated with other star forming regions may ultimately be dissipated by their hostile environment -- like cosmic lumps of butter in a hot frying pan. Interstellar Jigsaw: Astronomy Puzzle of the Day

Photo by John Hayes

Hyacinth macaw couple with a Pink Ipê tree in the background in Mato Grosso, Brazil.

Giles Laurent, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. View source.

    Immortality 

Do not stand
By my grave, and weep.
I am not there,
I do not sleep,
I am the thousand winds that blow
I am the diamond glints in snow
I am the sunlight on ripened grain,
I am the gentle, autumn rain.
As you awake with morning’s hush,
I am the swift, up-flinging rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight,
I am the day transcending night.
Do not stand
By my grave, and cry—
I am not there,
I did not die.

Poem by Clare Harner, (Published in "The Gypsy", December 1934 - page 16). The poem is often attributed to anonymous or incorrect sources. Harner, wrote the verses in late 1934, attempting to cope with her grief, after the unexpected death of her brother.by presenting death, not as an ending but a transformation.

Memorial Day honors all service members who lost their lives while in service to the United States, during peace and war. It is a time to reflect on those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. Memorial Day Historical Timeline

Ivan Jevtic on Unsplash