Magazine Posts

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Have you ever seen the Man in the Moon? This common question plays on the ability of humans to see pareidolia -- imagining familiar icons where they don't actually exist. The textured surface of Earth's full Moon is home to numerous identifications of iconic objects, not only in modern western culture but in world folklore throughout history. Examples, typically dependent on the Moon's perceived orientation, include the Woman in the Moon and the Rabbit in the Moon. One facial outline commonly identified as the Man in the Moon starts by imagining the two dark circular areas -- lunar maria -- here just above the Moon's center, to be the eyes. Surprisingly, there actually is a man in this Moon image -- a close look will reveal a real person -- with a telescope -- silhouetted against the Moon. This featured well-planned image was taken in 2016 in Cadalso de los Vidrios in Madrid, Spain. Do you have a favorite object that you see in the Moon?

Photo by Dani Caxete

High was the flame,
as it leapt through the grill.
I sucked on a beer
and guzzled it like swill

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

At night you can follow this road as it passes through the Dark Sky Alqueva reserve not too far from Alentejo, Portugal. Or you could stop, look up, and follow the Milky Way through the sky. Both stretch from horizon to horizon in this 180 degree panorama recorded on June 3. Our galaxy's name, the Milky Way, does refer to its appearance as a milky path in the sky. The word galaxy itself derives from the Greek for milk. From our fair planet the arc of the Milky Way is most easily visible on moonless nights from dark sky areas, though not quite so bright or colorful as in this image. The glowing celestial band is due to the collective light of myriad stars along the galactic plane too faint to be distinguished individually. The diffuse starlight is cut by dark swaths of the galaxy's obscuring interstellar dust clouds. Standing above the Milky Way arc near the top of this panoramic nightscape is bright star Vega, with the galaxy's central bulge near the horizon at the right.

Photo by David Cruz

By now, few people question the reality that humans are altering Earth’s climate. The real question is: How quickly can we halt, even reverse, the damage?...Read more

Black is the night,
moonless the sky,
I search for you
and time goes by,
where are you now?
When did you go?
Will you return
to where you belong?
A mind is beautiful,
sad to lose memories,
when you cannot choose.

And yet, it's a good feeling,
a return to a new life,
as I have moved into a
place with my sweet wife.

Once the night air finds you,
it cools while settling your fears.
Stay in the moment, if able
and your spirit will not be in arrears.

Reach not for me
for I am not there.
I'm hiding my feelings,
under the stair.
A place of hiding
for those unaware,
of all the tomorrows,
no longer there.

Up the old river,
aboard a canoe.
Don't just sit there
you must paddle too.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

This colorful telescopic field of view features a trio of interacting galaxies almost 90 million light-years away, toward the constellation Virgo. On the right two spiky, foreground Milky Way stars echo the extragalactic hues, a reminder that stars in our own galaxy are like those in distant island universes. With sweeping spiral arms and obscuring dust lanes, the dominant member of the trio, NGC 5566, is enormous, about 150,000 light-years across. Just above it lies smaller, bluish NGC 5569. Near center a third galaxy, NGC 5560, is apparently stretched and distorted by its interaction with massive NGC 5566. The trio is also included in Halton Arp's 1966 Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies as Arp 286. Of course, such cosmic interactions are now appreciated as part of the evolution of galaxies.

Photo by Nicolas Rolland

Love is peculiar,
love is fun.
You won't understand,
'til loving is done.
We are apart,
then we are one,
a pleasant feeling
under the Sun.

Long lay the grass,
up to his knees,
outstanding in his field
of old broken dreams.
Pursue not the love,
which you'll find on display,
just go out and play
on the beautiful day.
Life is short to worry, so
start living again,
and begin a new show.