Magazine Posts

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Could you survive a jump off the tallest cliff in the Solar System? Quite possibly. Verona Rupes on Uranus' moon Miranda is estimated to be 20 kilometers deep -- ten times the depth of the Earth's Grand Canyon. Given Miranda's low gravity, it would take about 12 minutes for a thrill-seeking adventurer to fall from the top, reaching the bottom at the speed of a racecar -- about 200 kilometers per hour. Even so, the fall might be survivable given proper airbag protection. The featured image of Verona Rupes was captured by the passing Voyager 2 robotic spacecraft in 1986. How the giant cliff was created remains unknown, but is possibly related to a large impact or tectonic surface motion.

The roar of the wind
through the limbs of the trees,
sounds like a Lion
with a real bad wheeze.
The wind blowing in bursts,
rattles our window panes.
Where do you go now?
What do you do,
when the sound of the wind
reminds me of you?

Some times we're like animals,
but lest I repeat,
we can behave like
dogs coming into heat.
There are many emotions
down by our feet,
of jealousy and anger,
which are not a treat.
Some numb the senses,
like love so complete,
then a deep sadness,
causes one to retreat;
run from this life,
once more a defeat.

There is a special time,
when evening is nigh,
you are with me,
close to my side.
No social distancing
for us to decide,
it's time to enjoy life,
our eyes opened wide.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Grand spiral galaxies often seem to get all the glory, flaunting their young, bright, blue star clusters in beautiful, symmetric spiral arms. But small galaxies form stars too, like nearby NGC 6822, also known as Barnard's Galaxy. Beyond the rich starfields in the constellation Sagittarius, NGC 6822 is a mere 1.5 million light-years away, a member of our Local Group of galaxies. A dwarf irregular galaxy similar to the Small Magellanic Cloud, NGC 6822 is about 7,000 light-years across. Brighter foreground stars in our Milky Way have a spiky appearance. Behind them, Barnard's Galaxy is seen to be filled with young blue stars and mottled with the telltale pinkish hydrogen glow of star forming regions in this deep color composite image.

Photo by Martin Pugh

I love the sound of a fire outdoors.
It's the smell of the smoke, I abhor.
All the wood smoke clings to your clothes.
The odor you bring is not from a Rose.

What are the words, you now write,
full of platitudes, just didn't seem right,
like a shirt on your old body,
has shrunk again; now it's too tight.
Why writing these words, have become trite.
Try as I will; it is my plight,
to do better with all my might,
not writing these words, an oversight.

No matter how near.
No matter how far.
You will always be
My brightest star.
For you bring love,
It's who you are,
The best in my life,
My brightest star.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

This Long March-5 rocket blasted off from the Wenchang launch site in southernmost Hainan province on Tuesday November 24, at 4:30 am Beijing Time, carrying China's Chang'e-5 mission to the Moon. The lunar landing mission is named for the ancient Chinese goddess of the moon. Its goal is to collect about 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of lunar material from the surface and return it to planet Earth, the first robotic sample return mission to the Moon since the Soviet Union's Luna 24 mission in 1976. The complex Chang'e-5 mission landing target is in the Oceanus Procellarum (Ocean of Storms). The smooth volcanic plain was also visited by the Apollo 12 mission in 1969. Chang'e-5's lander is solar-powered and scheduled to operate on the lunar surface during its location's lunar daylight, which will last about two Earth weeks, beginning around November 27. A capsule with the lunar sample on board would return to Earth in mid-December.

Photo by Jeff Dai

The old fool has risen,
he's going to fall,
his mind is not working.
It's not working at all.

Serendipity is now in play
as an old memories have gone away.
Ask not of him of what it might be,
For his exploits in life, you cannot see.