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NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

The beautiful Trifid Nebula is a cosmic study in contrasts. Also known as M20, it lies about 5,000 light-years away toward the nebula rich constellation Sagittarius. A star forming region in the plane of our galaxy, the Trifid does illustrate three different types of astronomical nebulae; red emission nebulae dominated by light from hydrogen atoms, blue reflection nebulae produced by dust reflecting starlight, and dark nebulae where dense dust clouds appear in silhouette. But the red emission region, roughly separated into three parts by obscuring dust lanes, is what lends the Trifid its popular name. Pillars and jets sculpted by newborn stars, above and right of the emission nebula's center, appear in famous Hubble Space Telescope close-up images of the region. The Trifid Nebula is about 40 light-years across. Too faint to be seen by the unaided eye, it almost covers the area of a full moon in planet Earth's sky. Open star cluster M21 just peeks into this telescopic field of view along the bottom right edge of the frame.

Photo by Vikas Chander

“I’ve been a humor writer for 13 years – a source of unceasing embarrassment for my wife and daughters. Over the years, I’ve routinely received suggestions for what readers think would be a funny article for me to write about in my column. I’m grateful to the scores of people who have unselfishly submitted their ideas. I distinctly remember this one time when the suggestion was almost usable”.... Continue reading

The Sadness

Posted by MFish • Profile • 08/04/22 at 05:56PM • Life Stories - Memories • See more by MFish

The sadness of Dementia,
as it transforms into Alzheimer's,
is painful to see,
as a loved one changes
in front of me.
There is pain from memory lost.
She does not believe she has Dementia.
It was a given in the beginning.
She was aware and spoke of it.
Now she believes she is getting better,
she is not.
I wish there was a cure for this
terrible disease. Unfortunately, there
isn't and I'll continue to be with her.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

In 1716, English astronomer Edmond Halley noted, "This is but a little Patch, but it shows itself to the naked Eye, when the Sky is serene and the Moon absent." Of course, M13 is now less modestly recognized as the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules, one of the brightest globular star clusters in the northern sky. Sharp telescopic views like this one reveal the spectacular cluster's hundreds of thousands of stars. At a distance of 25,000 light-years, the cluster stars crowd into a region 150 light-years in diameter. Approaching the cluster core upwards of 100 stars could be contained in a cube just 3 light-years on a side. For comparison, the closest star to the Sun is over 4 light-years away. The remarkable range of brightness recorded in this image follows stars into the dense cluster core. Distant background galaxies in the medium-wide field of view include NGC 6207 at the upper left.

Photo by Joan Josep Isach Cogollos

To

Posted by MFish • Profile • 08/03/22 at 09:01PM • Poetry • See more by MFish

To love,
to laugh,
to cry, again,
to feel,
to know
you have a friend.
To say
the words,
so often
not said,
"I love
you so"
is what
she spoke.
Stay here
with me,
one night,
more, for
I need
you more
then I
can say.
If you
cannot stay
anymore,
I will
show you
the door.
Goodbye love,
perhaps we
will meet
once again.
Unti then,
let us be
just friends.

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