Contributor Posts

Bernard M. Baruch (1870 -1965)  American financier, statesman, and political consultant.

Keith Champaco on Unsplash

"My friend from Australia was visiting and I promised him I would take him to one of my favorite beach spots. Little did he know that this particular spot is known for sea turtles hanging out on the beach. We named her Brooke –– meet Brooke".

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Dust pillars are like interstellar mountains. They survive because they are more dense than their surroundings, but they are slowly being eroded away by a hostile environment. Visible in the featured picture by the Hubble Space Telescope is the end of a huge gas and dust pillar in the Trifid Nebula (M20), punctuated by a smaller pillar pointing up and an unusual jet pointing to the upper left. Many of the bright dots are newly formed stars. A star near the small pillar's end is slowly being stripped of its accreting gas by radiation from a tremendously brighter star situated off the top of the image. The jet extends nearly a light-year and would not be visible without external illumination. As gas and dust evaporate from the pillars, the hidden stellar source of this jet will likely be uncovered, possibly over the next 20,000 years. Explore the Universe: Random APOD Generator

Ray Hennessy on Unsplash

"This Carolina Wren flew in to the feeders that I had hanging from this gorgeous branch and after having its fill of food it hopped up onto the branch and gave me a few poses. This was my favorite as it stood up tall and right in the one opening in the branches. I had set up to shoot backlit for the feeders because I knew the sun would be too bright for a front lit shot and would look harsh. Using backlight and a row of dark green bushes in shade I was able to capture this dramatically lit shot of the little bird and the beautiful pink spring cherry blossoms".

Photos By Beks on Unsplash

"Perched on a branch as our boat slowly approached it from behind, the cormorant suddenly turned around at the sound of our approach and I captured it just as it lay its eyes on us".

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Shrouded in a thick atmosphere, the surface of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, is really hard to see. Small particles suspended in Titan's upper atmosphere cause an almost impenetrable haze, strongly scattering light at visible wavelengths and hiding surface features from prying eyes. Still, Titan's surface is better imaged at infrared wavelengths, where scattering is weaker and atmospheric absorption is reduced. Arrayed around this visible light image (center) of Titan are some of the clearest global infrared views of the tantalizing moon so far. In false color, the six panels present a consistent processing of 13 years of infrared image data from the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) on board the Cassini spacecraft orbiting Saturn from 2004 to 2017. They offer a stunning comparison with Cassini's visible light view. NASA's revolutionary rotorcraft mission to Titan's surface is due to launch no earlier than July, 2028.

A Feather from an Angel
Floats gently down to earth,
Announcing the demise
Of another mortal life,
Portending the finality
That awaits all of us.

Aaron Burden on Unsplash

Luke van Zyl on Unsplash

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Near the heart of the Virgo Galaxy Cluster, a string of galaxies known as Markarian's Chain stretches across this telescopic field of view. Anchored in the frame at bottom right by prominent lenticular galaxies, M84 (bottom) and M86, you can follow the chain's gentle arc up and toward the left. Near center you'll spot the pair of interacting galaxies NGC 4438 and NGC 4435, known to some as Markarian's Eyes. An estimated 50 million light-years distant, the Virgo Cluster itself is the nearest galaxy cluster. With up to about 2,000 member galaxies, it has a noticeable gravitational influence on our own Local Group of Galaxies. Within the Virgo Cluster at least seven galaxies in Markarian's Chain appear to move coherently, while others may appear to be part of the chain by chance.

Photo by Chuck Ayoub

George Washington  (February 22, 1732 - December 14, 1799)

Jongsun Lee on Unsplash

"Finally I got this small fast, yellow goldfinch"