Public Posts

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) is growing brighter in planet Earth's sky. Fondly known as comet A3, this new visitor to the inner Solar System is traveling from the distant Oort cloud. The comet reached perihelion, its closest approach to the Sun, on September 27 and will reach perigee, its closest to our fair planet, on October 12, by then becoming an evening sky apparition. But comet A3 was an early morning riser on September 30 when this image was made. Its bright coma and already long tail share a pre-dawn skyscape from Praia Grande, Santa Catarina in southern Brazil with the waning crescent Moon just peeking above the eastern horizon. While the behaviour of comets is notoriously unpredictable, Tsuchinshan–ATLAS could become a comet visually rivaling C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE). Comet NEOWISE wowed skygazers in the summer of 2020. Growing Gallery: Comet Tsuchinsan-ATLAS in 2024

Photo by Gabriel Zaparolli

"In the spring of 2022, Gary Bent underwent surgery to remove a bleeding lesion in his brain resulting from melanoma. The procedure left him with severe mobility and cognitive impairments — he couldn’t walk or remember how to read a calendar.
Bent’s physicians said he needed intensive rehabilitation. Luckily, there was a spot available at one of only three facilities in the state that provide that level of care. Then, Bent’s Medicare Advantage plan denied the prior authorization." More at The Connecticut Mirror ➜

"In September, the U.S. Geological Survey Cascades Volcano Observatory (CVO) and Pacific Northwest Seismic Network (PNSN) located six earthquakes at Mount Adams, ranging from magnitudes 0.9 to 2.0. Typically, earthquakes at this volcano are located at a rate of about 1 earthquake every 2-3 years. With just one seismic station near the volcano, monitoring capabilities are currently limited. CVO and PNSN plan to install temporary seismic stations in the Mount Adams area, which will allow detection of smaller earthquakes and better estimates of size, location, and depth, information necessary to assess the significance of the activity. Currently, there is no indication that the level of earthquake activity is cause for concern, and the alert level and color code for Mount Adams remain at GREEN / NORMAL. CVO and the PNSN will continue to monitor earthquake activity and release further updates as the situation warrants". More

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

The second solar eclipse of 2024 began in the Pacific. On October 2nd the Moon's shadow swept from west to east, with an annular eclipse visible along a narrow antumbral shadow path tracking mostly over ocean, crossing land near the southern tip of South America, and ending in the southern Atlantic. The dramatic total annular eclipse phase is known to some as a ring of fire. Still, a partial eclipse of the Sun was experienced over a wide region. Captured at one of its earliest moments, October's eclipsed Sun is seen just above the clouds near sunrise in this snapshot. The partially eclipsed solar disk is close to the maximum eclipse as seen from Mauna Kea Observatory Visitor Center, Island of Hawaii, planet Earth.

Photo by Wang Letian

www.calobphotography.com

"When 19-year-old Aleysha Ortiz, told Hartford City Council members in May that the public school system stole her education, she had to memorize her speech......That’s because she was never taught to read or write — despite attending schools in Hartford since she was 6"  More at The Connecticut Mirror ➜

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

It is the largest satellite galaxy of our home Milky Way Galaxy. If you live in the south, the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is quite noticeable, spanning about 10 degrees across the night sky, which is 20 times larger than the full moon towards the southern constellation of the dolphinfish (Dorado). Being only about 160,000 light years away, many details of the LMC's structure can be seen, such as its central bar and its single spiral arm. The LMC harbors numerous stellar nurseries where new stars are being born, which appear in pink in the featured image. It is home to the Tarantula Nebula, the currently most active star forming region in the entire Local Group, a small collection of nearby galaxies dominated by the massive Andromeda and Milky Way galaxies. Studies of the LMC and the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) by Henrietta Swan Leavitt led to the discovery of the period-luminosity relationship of Cepheid variable stars that are used to measure distances across the nearby universe. Survey: Color Blindness and Astronomical Images

Photo by Ireneusz Nowak; Text: Natalia Lewandowska (SUNY Oswego)

"...In each case, success came after years of persistent efforts by scientists, public health officials and advocates to sway public opinion, often against the deliberate efforts of corporations to undermine them"... More at The Conversation ➜