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The heart is a
remarkable thing,
for during our life's
journey, it will bring.

How many times,
can a heart break,
while still repairing itself,
what an effort it will take.

Yet here we are,
on this barren ground,
looking for love,
wherever it may be found.

I desire to return,
to a normal life.
One I haven't seen,
in 10 years of strife.

Careless the heart,
quick to share love,
to an unplanned response's
message from above.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

In late 2021 there was a total solar eclipse visible only at the end of the Earth. To capture the unusual phenomenon, airplanes took flight below the clouded seascape of Southern Ocean. The featured image shows one relatively spectacular capture where the bright spot is the outer corona of the Sun and the eclipsing Moon is seen as the dark spot in the center. A wing and engine of the airplane are visible across the left and bottom of the image, while another airplane observing the eclipse is visible on the far left. The dark area of the sky surrounding the eclipsed Sun is called a shadow cone. It is dark because you are looking down a long corridor of air shadowed by the Moon. A careful inspection of the eclipsed Sun will reveal the planet Mercury just to the right. You won't have to travel to the end of the Earth to see the next total solar eclipse. The total eclipse path will cross North America on 2024 April 8, just over one week from today. NASA Coverage: Total Solar Eclipse of 2024 April 8

Photo by Petr Horálek (ESO Photo Ambassador, Inst. of Physics in Opava) ; Acknowledgement: Xavier Jubier

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Discovered by accident, this manuscript page provides graphical insight to astronomy in medieval times, before the Renaissance and the influence of Nicolaus Copernicus, Tycho de Brahe, Johannes Kepler, and Galileo. The intriguing page is from lecture notes on astronomy compiled by the monk Magister Wolfgang de Styria before the year 1490. The top panels clearly illustrate the necessary geometry for a lunar (left) and solar eclipse in the Earth-centered Ptolemaic system. At lower left is a diagram of the Ptolemaic view of the Solar System with text at the upper right to explain the movement of the planets according to Ptolemy's geocentric model. At the lower right is a chart to calculate the date of Easter Sunday in the Julian calendar. The illustrated manuscript page was found at historic Melk Abbey in Austria.

Photo by Library of Melk Abbey, Frag. 229

I can still keep
looking for love
and companionship,
with guidance from above.

We all need love.
From the day we were born,
when love finds you,
come blow your horn.

A parallel of time.
Another day and year.
I will search for you,
over the ocean, over here.

Life has changed,
less smiles, more tears,
as I discover why,
my life is in arrears.

I remember,
the sweetness,
of your lips.
Our first kiss.

You were everything
to me, my courage,
my strength and
my personal sage.

Let me love you till
there's no tomorrow.
We'll live for the moment,
forever, without sorrow.

Yesterdays are gone,
I am alone,
waiting for you,
to come along,

to rescue my soul,
with me so long,
in this life, mine,
and its sad song.

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. The Juno spacecraft currently in Jovian orbit has also made repeated flybys of the water world, returning images along with data exploring Europa's habitability. This October will see the launch of the NASA's Europa Clipper on a voyage of exploration. The spacecraft will make nearly 50 flybys, approaching to within 25 kilometers of Europa's icy surface.