Magazine Posts

Today she
told me,
"Somethings wrong."
The first time
she's recognized
the illness.
Not by name,
but because
she couldn't
remember a
visitor from
an hour ago.
No concept
of time,
inaccuracy
of not knowing
who she visited
with, even
our oldest son.
The sadness
I feel and the
sadness I see
is going to be
our future.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Is our Earth warming? Compared to the past 250 million years, the Earth is currently enduring a relative cold spell, possibly about four degrees Celsius below average. Over the past 120 years, though, data indicate that the average global temperature of the Earth has increased by nearly one degree Celsius. The featured visualization video depicts Earth's recent global warming in graphic terms. The depicted temperatures are taken from the Goddard Institute for Space Studies' Surface Temperature Analysis. Already noticeable by many, Earth's recent warming trend is causing sea levels to rise, precipitation patterns to change, and pole ice to melt. Few now disagree that recent global warming is occurring, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has concluded that we humans have created a warming surge that is likely to continue. A continuation could impact many local agricultures and even the global economy. Although there seems to be no simple solutions, geoengineering projects that might help include artificial cloud creation to reduce the amount of sunlight heating the Earth's surface.

Long were the curls,
on the nape
of the neck.
Brown, the color
with golden fleck.
Wind swept back,
as she ran by.
It was then
I caught her eye.
Where goes thou,
oh, beautiful one?
May I tag along,
as our day is done?
"Leave me alone,
old man, please
let me be."
'I'll do what I can,
it won't be with thee."

A blink of an eye
is all it took,
to ruin your day.
Inattention smothers
any relationship.
Life moves on,
as change, covers one
with confusion
and disappointment.
Creatures of habit
we are,
creatures of habit
we remain.

It was a nice surprise this weekend to be able to see the strange formation of these Starlink Satellites over Island County. Apparently it was the new Starlink (4-27) which launched 53 new satellites for the Starlink network on August 19, 2022

Photo taken from Camano Island.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

At the core of the Crab Nebula lies a city-sized, magnetized neutron star spinning 30 times a second. Known as the Crab Pulsar, it is the bright spot in the center of the gaseous swirl at the nebula's core. About twelve light-years across, the spectacular picture frames the glowing gas, cavities and swirling filaments near the Crab Nebula's center. The featured picture combines visible light from the Hubble Space Telescope in purple, X-ray light from the Chandra X-ray Observatory in blue, and infrared light from the Spitzer Space Telescope in red. Like a cosmic dynamo the Crab pulsar powers the emission from the nebula, driving a shock wave through surrounding material and accelerating the spiraling electrons. With more mass than the Sun and the density of an atomic nucleus,the spinning pulsar is the collapsed core of a massive star that exploded. The outer parts of the Crab Nebula are the expanding remnants of the star's component gasses. The supernova explosion was witnessed on planet Earth in the year 1054. Explore Your Universe: Random APOD Generator

Clear are the memories,
in the back of my head.
Not fear, which is projected
with many words of dread.
Gone from her mind,
is what I see now,
no longer the one.
I loved her completely,
as I will continue to say,
for no matter her memory,
mine is here to stay.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Heading for its closest approach to the Sun, or perihelion, on December 19 comet C/2017 K2 (PanSTARRS) remains a sight for telescopic observers as it sweeps through planet Earth's skies in the constellation Scorpius. The comet currently sports a greenish coma, long whitish dust tail, and short ion tail in this deep image from August 18. The 2x3 degree wide field of view includes part of the dusty nebula IC 4592 reflecting blue starlight. Also known as the Blue Horsehead Nebula, IC 4592 is about 400 light-years distant while the comet is just under 17 light-minutes away. First spotted at a distance well beyond the orbit of Saturn C/2017 K2 is on its maiden voyage to the inner solar system, a pristine visitor from the remote Oort cloud.

Photo by CARA Project

Off the cliff,
he sprang
with glee.
He would
soon fly
and it
worried me.
He was
young and
foolish,
you see,
as most
young "Gulls"
are. Just
not you
or me.

Lay low
the land
below my feet.
Underground,
far below,
lay he, waiting,
to discover
a show,
under my feet,
not long ago.
Cross over
the bridge,
it's what
you should know.
To dance with
the Devil,
if your wish
is to grow.

Revisited

 "Beneath Cappadocia's crumbling surface, a marvel of equally gargantuan proportions lay hidden away for centuries; a subterranean city that could conceal the whereabouts of up to 20,000 inhabitants for months at a time"   Read more

Photo credit: Halil Sayim