Contributor Posts

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

This floating ring is the size of a galaxy. In fact, it is a galaxy -- or at least part of one: the photogenic Sombrero Galaxy, one of the largest galaxies in the nearby Virgo Cluster of Galaxies. The dark band of dust that obscures the mid-section of the Sombrero Galaxy in optical light actually glows brightly in infrared light. The featured image, digitally sharpened, shows the infrared glow, recently recorded by the orbiting Spitzer Space Telescope, superposed in false-color on an existing image taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope in visible light. The Sombrero Galaxy, also known as M104, spans about 50,000 light years across and lies 28 million light years away. M104 can be seen with a small telescope in the direction of the constellation Virgo.

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to go on safari in southern Africa. One of the greatest thrills was going out at night looking for predators on the prowl: lions, leopards, hyenas....As we drove through the darkness, though, our spotlight occasionally lit up a smaller hunter – a slender, tawny feline, faintly spotted or striped. The glare would catch the small cat for a moment before it darted back into the shadows. More at The Conversation ➜

When I was young,
not much of a man,
I wanted to be good,
and thou said I can.

Now I am older,
you see what I am,
just an ordinary person,
pretending to be a man.

My sense of humor has
no bounds, so here is a
random writing.

Hit in the back
by a sack of rocks.
My oh my,
it rolled down my socks.

Please don't leave me,
when I need your warm hugs
and sweet kisses.
I am lonely for those
sweet smiles and hellos.
How must I go on,
without you?

Please return my wife to me
for I am lost and cannot see.
It's hard to be in bed, alone.
Oh God, I wish I were home.

I touch the brakes gently,
instead of the gas,
slowing at the intersection,
so, I could pull out and pass.

On a Sunday morning,
it was cold and clear.
Watching for hazards,
and watching for deer.

There were tractors, wagons
to just name a few,
which were slower than stop,
as they sometimes would do.

When I get in trouble
and have no place to go,
I would go to a movie
or go to a show.

A double feature,
two in a row,
eating popcorn,
watching the show.

I loved the smell of popcorn,
and I still do,
but it always reminds me
of the lovely you.

No more the movies,
no more the show,
for now, I have no one,
when I go to the show.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

It's fun to scribble on the canvas of the sky. You can use a creative photographic technique to cause the light of point-like stars to dance across a digital image by tapping lightly on the telescope while making an exposure. The result will be a squiggly line traced by the star (or two squiggles traced by binary stars) that can reveal the star's color. Colorful lines, dubbed Ghirigori, made from stars found in the northern sky constellations Bootes, Corona Borealis, Ophiucus, and Coma Berenices, are captured in this artistic mosaic. The 25 stars creating the varied and colorful squiggles are identified around the border. Of course, temperature determines the color of a star. While whitish stars tend to be close to the Sun's temperature, stars with bluer hues are hotter, and yellow and red colors are cooler than the Sun. Weekend Watch: Perseid Meteor Shower

Photo by Paolo Palma

Author’s Note: As a nationally recognized expert on mental health and the proud owner of a doctor’s white medical jacket costume I bought on Amazon.com for a Halloween party a few years ago, I periodically share emails I receive from some of my patients in hopes it may shed light on an issue others may be grappling with. This is one of those letters.  More at View from the Bleachers ➜