Magazine Posts

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

On November 8 the Full Moon turned blood red as it slid through Earth's shadow in a beautiful total lunar eclipse. During totality it also passed in front of, or occulted, outer planet Uranus for eclipse viewers located in parts of northern America and Asia. For a close-up and wider view these two images were taken just before the occultation began, captured with different telescopes and cameras from the same roof top in Shanghai, China. Normally very faint compared to a Full Moon, the tiny, pale, greenish disk of the distant ice giant is just to the left of the Moon's edge and about to disappear behind the darkened, red lunar limb. Though only visible from certain locations across planet Earth, lunar occultations of planets are fairly common. But for this rare "lunar eclipse occultation" to take place, at the time of the total eclipse the outer planet had to be both at opposition and very near the ecliptic plane to fall in line with Sun, Earth, and Moon. Lunar Eclipse of November 2022: Notable Submissions to APOD Love Eclipses? (US): Apply to become a NASA Partner Eclipse Ambassador

Photo by Ryan Han

Oh, what a drag,
to be where you are.
No driver's license,
and without a car.
Yet you want to drive,
recalling the time
you drove everywhere
and the trips were sublime.

Drain your daily sorrow.
Do it every day.
There will be a better morrow,
and we can be on our way.

Of all the objects,
I would like to be,
is the strength and toughness
of the giant Oak tree.
Using the broad limbs,
to provide shade and shelter,
for those, in this World,
who require much love
from the cold, snowy Winter,
attacking from above.

What has happened,
to our place in life?
You are my companion,
and my lovely wife.
The joy I saw,
was it yesterday?
is no longer there
and has gone away.
Your words are incoherent,
even to me,
as you try to relate,
our Life's story,
our family history.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

The beginning, middle, and end of a journey through planet Earth's colorful umbral shadow is captured in this timelapse composite image of a total lunar eclipse. Taken on November 8 from Kitt Peak National Observatory this eclipse's 1 hour and 25 minute long total phase starts on the right and finishes on the left. Reddened sunlight, scattered into the central shadow by Earth's dusty atmosphere produces the dramatic dark red hues reflected by the lunar disk. For this eclipse, additional reddening is likely due to scattering from ash lingering in the atmosphere after a large volcanic eruption in the southern Pacific earlier this year. Seen at the right and left, the Earth's shadow is still lighter along its edge though. That faint bluish fringe along the lunar limb is colored by sunlight filtered through Earth's stratospheric ozone layer.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Why does the nebula around the star WR-18 shine brighter on one side? Also known as NGC 3199, this active star and its surrounding nebula lie about 12,000 light-years away toward the nautical southern constellation of Carina. The featured deep image has been highly processed to bring out filamentary details of the glowing gas in the bubble-shaped nebula. The nebula is about 75 light-years across. Near the nebula's center is a Wolf-Rayet star, WR-18, which is a massive, hot, short-lived star that generates an intense and complex stellar wind. In fact, Wolf-Rayet stars are known to create nebulas with interesting shapes as their powerful winds sweep up surrounding interstellar material. In this case, the bright right edge was initially thought to indicate that a bow shock was being produced as the star plowed through a uniform medium, like a boat through water. Recent measurements and analyses, however, have shown the star is not moving quickly toward the bright edge. A more likely explanation has emerged that the material surrounding the star is not uniform, but clumped and denser near the bright edge.

Photo by Alex Woronow

Why can't I stay here,
stay here with thee?
I don't understand,
why it must be me.

Spread the light, brightly,
bringing it out today.
Lighten your world
with friendship
every wakening day.
Be the light of goodness,
you are entitled and may
do what's best for others
just don't get in the way.

I hear the wind, in the trees,
as rain falls, in spiral sheets,
pattering against the windowpane.
It is a strange sound
a different noise,
like the ratatat tat,
the sound of toys.
The wind driven rain,
attacks the side of the house.
I pull up the blanket
to cover my ears,
as the warmth of my wife,
lying next to me, eases my fears.
The noise doesn't wake her
so, I think to myself
I'm lucky to be here
and not alone.
I wrote this over a year
ago, not realizing I will
soon have to let go
and sleep alone.

I'm in the U.S. Navy.
A Petty Officer, 3.
I am the Postal Clerk,
on board our ship.
I sell money orders,
on our payday.
I also, go on daily
runs, when we are
in port, not at sea.
Guard mail runs,
with our Ensign,
require me to be
several paces behind
him. I am armed
with a .45 caliber,
Colt Automatic,
which is holstered,
on my right hip.
I am 20 years old.
It is very cool,
to go on a trip
to the Fleet Post Office
or FPO, to pick up
US Mail for my shipmates,
while the Ensign receives
Guard Mail, which instructs
our Captain on our Ships
next journey.

Come for a visit.
Bring your great smile,
the sound of your voice,
I haven't heard for awhile.