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NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

The tail of a comet streams across this three degree wide telescopic field of view captured under dark Namibian skies on December 21. In outburst only a few days ago and just reaching naked eye visibility Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) is this year's brightest comet. Binoculars will make the diffuse comet easier to spot though, close to the western horizon after sunset. Details revealed in the sharp image show the comet's coma with a greenish tinge, and follow the interaction of the comet's ion tail with magnetic fields in the solar wind. After passing closest to Earth on December 12 and Venus on December 18, Comet Leonard is heading toward perihelion, its closest approach to the Sun on January 3rd. Appearing in late December's beautiful evening skies Comet Leonard has also become known as 2021's Christmas Comet. Launch Update: James Webb Space Telescope

Photo by CARA Project

Your first christmas,
no mother to be,
gathered with family,
around the tree.
No idle chatter,
voices won't sing,
embraces now gone.
Soft words spoken,
remembrance, now lost,
missing your mother,
not here today.
With your father,
this heavenly day.

"A symbolic moment of peace, grace, and humility amidst one of humanity’s most violent and disgraceful events".
"In December of 1914, a series of grassroots, unofficial ceasefires took hold of the Western Front in the heat of WWI. On Christmas, soldiers from an estimated 100,000 British and German troops began to exchange seasonal greetings and sing songs across the trenches",........ Continue Reading

Give you thanks,
for what can be,
standing strong
against tyranny,
of those who rail
at our Democracy.
We are one nation,
immigrants, all.
in this great land,
thanks be to God.

My loves sanity
struggled last night.
She is not a crier
but tears clogged her sight.
She couldn't explain
what was happening to she.
The fear in her eyes,
filled with much uncertainty.

Words can be smooth.
Words can be sharp.
Words can cut
straight to your heart.
Words which are hurtful,
as many can be,
when used with hate,
without empathy.
Words can be soothing,
when said with love;
an abundance of care.
Words can bring promise,
when used for praise
or bring a new sadness
if said in malaise.

I love the reflection
of moonlight in your eyes.
A dazzling sight,
cannot be disguised.

An amber beam,
a light array.
Its golden glow,
now on display.
A rising Sun,
a cold sky.
Snow, a treat,
and we rejoice.
It's still wet.

This World we live in,
by the grace of God,
is best enjoyed
on top of the sod.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

The Crab Nebula is cataloged as M1, the first object on Charles Messier's famous 18th century list of things which are not comets. In fact, the Crab is now known to be a supernova remnant, debris from the death explosion of a massive star, witnessed by astronomers in the year 1054. This sharp, ground-based telescopic view combines broadband color data with narrowband data that tracks emission from ionized sulfur, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms to explore the tangled filaments within the still expanding cloud. One of the most exotic objects known to modern astronomers, the Crab Pulsar, a neutron star spinning 30 times a second, is visible as a bright spot near the nebula's center. Like a cosmic dynamo, this collapsed remnant of the stellar core powers the Crab's emission across the electromagnetic spectrum. Spanning about 12 light-years, the Crab Nebula is a mere 6,500 light-years away in the constellation Taurus. Launch Update: James Webb Space Telescope

Photo by Michael Sherick

"As Omicron surges, a shadowy institute filled with fringe doctors appears to be part of big business’ two-year strategy to legitimize attacks on pandemic interventions".....Read more

Source: The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) is a nationally recognized watchdog that leads in-depth, award-winning investigations into the corruption that undermines our democracy, environment, and economic prosperity.