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NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Why does this Moon look so unusual? A key reason is its vivid red color. The color is caused by the deflection of blue light by Earth's atmosphere -- the same reason that the daytime sky appears blue. The Moon also appears unusually distorted. Its strange structuring is an optical effect arising from layers in the Earth's atmosphere that refract light differently due to sudden differences in temperature or pressure. A third reason the Moon looks so unusual is that there is, by chance, an airplane flying in front. The featured picturesque gibbous Moon was captured about two weeks ago above Turin, Italy. Our familiar hovering sky orb was part of an unusual quadruple alignment that included two historic ground structures: the Sacra di San Michele on the near hill and Basilica of Superga just beyond. Your Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your friend's birthday? (post 1995)

Photo by Valerio Minato

Official portrait of Tancredo de Almeida Neves during his time as senator for Minas Gerais (1979-1983). He was born on this day 115 years ago.

Senado Federal do Brasil (Agência Senado); Restored by Adam Cuerden      Description BritishImage restorationist, composer, amateur photographer and artist, and Wikipedian As Adam lives in Britain, which makes it incredibly easy to acquire copyright in his works, he grants, if needed, an irrevokable license to use this work however you see fit. He requests attribution where possible, and realises that "where possible" means that that request is not legally enforcable. Adam Cuerden (talk) 15:44, 16 January 2022 (UTC) Date of birth 8 June 1979 Location of birth United States InfoFieldSee file page for creator info., Attribution, via Wikimedia Commons. View source.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

There's a new lander on the Moon. Yesterday Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost executed the first-ever successful commercial lunar landing. During its planned 60-day mission, Blue Ghost will deploy several NASA-commissioned scientific instruments, including PlanetVac which captures lunar dust after creating a small whirlwind of gas. Blue Ghost will also host the telescope LEXI that captures X-ray images of the Earth's magnetosphere. LEXI data should enable a better understanding of how Earth's magnetic field protects the Earth from the Sun's wind and flares. Pictured, the shadow of the Blue Ghost lander is visible on the cratered lunar surface, while the glowing orb of the planet Earth hovers just over the horizon. Goals for future robotic Blue Ghost landers include supporting lunar astronauts in NASA's Artemis program, with Artemis III currently scheduled to land humans back on the Moon in 2027.

Colorful houses in Bo-Kaap, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa.

Dietmar Rabich, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. View source.

"After many years of steady decline, the share of Americans who identify as Christians shows signs of leveling off – at least temporarily – at slightly above six-in-ten, according to a massive new Pew Research Center survey of 36,908 U.S. adults." More at Pew Research ➜

“If you assume that there is no hope, you guarantee that there will be no hope. If you assume there is an instinct for freedom, that there are opportunities to change things, then there is a possibility that you can contribute to make a better world

Avram Noam Chomsky, born in 1928 is an American professor and public intellectual known for his work in linguistics, political activism, and social criticism. Chomsky is also a major figure in analytic philosophy and one of the founders of the field of cognitive science. He is a laureate professor of linguistics at the University of Arizona and an institute professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Chomsky has written more than 150 books on topics such as linguistics, war, and politics. In addition to his work in linguistics, since the 1960s. More Chomsky has been an influential voice on the American left as a consistent critic of U.S. foreign policy, contemporary capitalism, and corporate influence on political institutions and the media. More

M-7 Kenison (ascending), Mount Washington Cog Railway, New Hampshire.

King of Hearts, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. View source.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

With spacecraft thrusters at top center, the rugged surface of the Moon lies below the Blue Ghost lander in this space age video frame. The view of the lunar far side was captured by the Firefly Aerospace lunar lander on February 24, following a maneuver to circularize its orbit about 100 kilometers above the lunar surface. The robotic lunar lander is scheduled to touch down tomorrow, Sunday, March 2, at 3:34am Eastern Time in the Mare Crisium impact basin on the lunar near side. In support of the Artemis campaign, Blue Ghost is set to deliver science and technology experiments to the Moon, part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program. Blue Ghost's mission on the surface is planned to operate during the lunar daylight hours at the landing site, about 14 Earth days.

Chromo-lithograph of the cartoons exhibited by the Cincinnati Pork Packers' Association, at the 1873 Vienna World's Fair. Incorporated on this day 205 years ago, Cincinnati was also known as "Porkopolis"; this nickname came from the city's large pork interests.

Ehrgott & Krebs, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. View source.