Contributor Posts

Awake I am,
a flickering flame.
Words flow out,
I hear your name.

My heart beats fast
nowhere to hide
the fears I have,
for this long slow ride.

My eyes flash,
with my fear
of losing you,
this coming year.

In the days,
before your time,
life was good,
a sunny clime.

We ran and swam,
most every day.
It wasn't work,
just fun to play.

Working hard on
a hay bailing crew,
dirty work, but,
earning money, too.

If I say to you,
young lady, thou,
write your thoughts,
starting soon, or now.

Let your words flow
from your head.
Write them down,
no fear, no dread.

You're in control
of what you write.
No matter what,
you are right.

MFish

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Comet ZTF has a distinctive shape. The now bright comet visiting the inner Solar System has been showing not only a common dust tail, ion tail, and green gas coma, but also an uncommonly distinctive antitail. The antitail does not actually lead the comet -- it is just that the head of the comet is seen superposed on part of the fanned-out and trailing dust tail. The giant dirty snowball that is Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) has now passed its closest to the Sun and tomorrow will pass its closest to the Earth. The main panel of the featured triple image shows how Comet ZTF looked last week to the unaided eye under a dark and clear sky over Cáceres, Spain. The top inset image shows how the comet looked through binoculars, while the lower inset shows how the comet looked through a small telescope. The comet is now visible all night long from northern latitudes but will surely fade from easy observation during the next few weeks. Comet ZTF Gallery: Notable Submissions to APOD

Photo by Javier CalderaMiguel Gracia

Photo credit: Alessio Soggetti -  Unsplash

A life's path,
has failed, we.
The life wanted,
will no longer be.

My loved one,
cannot see,
our memories,
not meant to be.

Our life's adventure,
once so free,
no longer live,
in her memory.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Globular clusters once ruled the Milky Way. Back in the old days, back when our Galaxy first formed, perhaps thousands of globular clusters roamed our Galaxy. Today, there are less than 200 left. Over the eons, many globular clusters were destroyed by repeated fateful encounters with each other or the Galactic center. Surviving relics are older than any Earth fossil, older than any other structures in our Galaxy, and limit the universe itself in raw age. There are few, if any, young globular clusters left in our Milky Way Galaxy because conditions are not ripe for more to form. The featured image shows a Hubble Space Telescope view of 13-billion year old NGC 6355, a surviving globular cluster currently passing near the Milky Way's center. Globular cluster stars are concentrated toward the image center and highlighted by bright blue stars. Most other stars in the frame are dimmer, redder, and just coincidently lie near the direction to NGC 6355.

Photo shared by Heather Cox Richardson from Letters from an American

Along the window,
against the pane,
frost is trying
to build again.

My heart beats,
just for thee.
You are my love,
like it should be.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Where did all the stars go? What used to be considered a hole in the sky is now known to astronomers as a dark molecular cloud. Here, a high concentration of dust and molecular gas absorb practically all the visible light emitted from background stars. The eerily dark surroundings help make the interiors of molecular clouds some of the coldest and most isolated places in the universe. One of the most notable of these dark absorption nebulae is a cloud toward the constellation Ophiuchus known as Barnard 68, pictured here. That no stars are visible in the center indicates that Barnard 68 is relatively nearby, with measurements placing it about 500 light-years away and half a light-year across. It is not known exactly how molecular clouds like Barnard 68 form, but it is known that these clouds are themselves likely places for new stars to form. In fact, Barnard 68 itself has been found likely to collapse and form a new star system. It is possible to look right through the cloud in infrared light. Postcards from the Universe 2022: APOD Year in Review

This may come as a shock to you - unless you have known me for five minutes or longer - but I have zero Do-It-Yourselfer skills. NADA. Zilch. I blame it on my father, because, well, he passed away 43 years ago, so he’s not here to defend himself. Read more