Contributor Posts

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

What type of cloud is that? This retreating cumulonimbus cloud, more commonly called a thundercloud, is somewhat unusual as it contains the unusual bumpiness of a mammatus cloud on the near end, while simultaneously producing falling rain on the far end. Taken in mid-2013 in southern Alberta, Canada, the cloud is moving to the east, into the distance, as the sun sets in the west, behind the camera. In the featured image, graphic sunset colors cross the sky to give the already photogenic cloud striking orange and pink hues. A darkening blue sky covers the background. Further in the distance, a rising, waxing, gibbous moon is visible on the far right.

Photo by Alan DyerThe Amazing Sky

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Looping through the Jovian system in the late 1990s, the Galileo spacecraft recorded stunning views of Europa and uncovered evidence that the moon's icy surface likely hides a deep, global ocean. Galileo's Europa image data has been remastered here, with improved calibrations to produce a color image approximating what the human eye might see. Europa's long curving fractures hint at the subsurface liquid water. The tidal flexing the large moon experiences in its elliptical orbit around Jupiter supplies the energy to keep the ocean liquid. But more tantalizing is the possibility that even in the absence of sunlight that process could also supply the energy to support life, making Europa one of the best places to look for life beyond Earth. What kind of life could thrive in a deep, dark, subsurface ocean? Consider planet Earth's own extreme shrimp.

Hugo Simberg (1873 – 1917) was a Finnish symbolist painter and graphic artist. The Wounded Angel is one of the most recognizable of Simberg's works, and was voted Finland's "national painting" in 2006  Read more
Image: Public domain

Leaks forth the light
beneath yon sill,
as it flows to the darkness
of this warped mind,
lost in raw anguish,
of a love, now gone.
Look for me, not,
I've gone away
and shan't return
until the morrow's
fullest Blue Moon.

Come to me now,
for adventures abound,
with beautiful music,
a glorious sound
of horn and strings,
as our feet move around,
to dance with thee,
is what I have found.

Downward the path
of broken dreams.
All the lost souls,
are over, not gone,
for there is no time
to grieve for another,
no matter what's said,
for we must all grieve,
for those who are dead.

A leather glove,
a velvet sky,
a soft caress,
asking you why,
you left me
with no goodbye?

Years ago,
time gone by,
when a foggy morning
had settled on our street.
I heard the honking
of geese in flight.
Couldn't see them,
not in sight.
When down the street,
15 feet high
the geese were flying
in the foggy sky.
Quite a sight for me
another sighting of
flying geese for thee.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

An island universe of billions of stars, NGC 1566 lies about 60 million light-years away in the southern constellation Dorado. Popularly known as the Spanish Dancer galaxy, it's seen face-on from our Milky Way perspective. A gorgeous grand design spiral, this galaxy's two graceful spiral arms span over 100,000 light-years, traced by bright blue star clusters, pinkish starforming regions, and swirling cosmic dust lanes. NGC 1566's flaring center makes the spiral one of the closest and brightest Seyfert galaxies. It likely houses a central supermassive black hole wreaking havoc on surrounding stars, gas, and dust. In this sharp southern galaxy portrait, the spiky stars lie well within the Milky Way.

Photo by Mark Hanson

Fly the geese, wild,
high in the sky,
Honking, honking,
as they pass by.
An annual migration,
a passage of time.
Once more the season,
life springs sublime.
Soon there'll be goslings
down, by the pond,
as life in the World
will keep continuing on.

The ancient ground,
was hallowed then.
A sacred place,
with fertile soil.
The richest flowers,
bloomed every year,
in early Spring.
Fronds of Ferns,
will provide shape,
outlining a path,
beneath the trees,
as songbirds
sang a sweet
tune of melodies.