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NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

The Cat's Eye Nebula (NGC 6543) is one of the best known planetary nebulae in the sky. Its more familiar outlines are seen in the brighter central region of the nebula in this impressive wide-angle view. But this wide and deep image combining data from two telescopes also reveals its extremely faint outer halo. At an estimated distance of 3,000 light-years, the faint outer halo is over 5 light-years across. Planetary nebulae have long been appreciated as a final phase in the life of a sun-like star. More recently, some planetary nebulae are found to have halos like this one, likely formed of material shrugged off during earlier episodes in the star's evolution. While the planetary nebula phase is thought to last for around 10,000 years, astronomers estimate the age of the outer filamentary portions of this halo to be 50,000 to 90,000 years. Visible on the right, some 50 million light-years beyond the watchful planetary nebula, lies spiral galaxy NGC 6552.

Photo by Jean-François Bax

Quesadillas are a delicious Mexican dish made by filling a flour tortilla with cheese, vegetables, and/or meat, then folding the tortilla in half and cooking it on a griddle or in a frying pan until the cheese is melted. This easy recipe from Simply Recipes has step-by-step instructions for making a basic quesadilla: More at Simply Recipes ➜

Is it time?
Did it sell?
Did all things,
not go well.

These questions,
are those I ask,
about the work
on a simple task.

My world, has flipped,
upside down, Topsy Turvey.
What was up, is down.
My life's habits, environment,
are no more.

Cripe, I am uncertain,
where the door
to one's life is.
What has happened?

Sitting at breakfast,
I'm overcome with
a sadness, I don't understand,
unable to comprehend,
do not like...

I feel unwell,
physically and mentally.
If I am about to
slip over the edge.
I feel lost, alone.
What is happening to me?

What is missing,
when I can say,
I miss you more,
every single day?

Silence is golden,
this I've heard,
but now your gone,
without a word.

Have I failed,
when I say,
I still miss you,
in my own way?

Through a window, darkened,
a scratching sound was heard.
Could it be coming from,
a large, aggressive bird?

Or was it from the branches,
of a weeping willow tree.
Our imagination, in effect,
when it's dark and we can't see.

Looking in the darkest night,
was our task to do.
We worked extra hard,
finding the noise, came to,

through a darkened window,
the scratching sound we heard,
was from willow tree branches,
It was not from a bird.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Sometimes we witness the Moon moving directly in front of -- called occulting -- one of the planets in our Solar System. Earlier this month that planet was Jupiter. Captured here was the moment when Jupiter re-appeared from behind the surface of our Moon. The Moon was in its third quarter, two days before the dark New Moon. Now, our Moon is continuously half lit by the Sun, but when in its third quarter, relatively little of that half can be seen from the Earth. Pictured, the Moon itself was aligned behind the famous Lick Observatory in California, USA, on the summit of Mount Hamilton. Coincidentally, Lick enabled the discovery of a moon of Jupiter: Amalthea, the last visually detected moon of Jupiter after Galileo's observations. Gallery: Moon Occults Jupiter in 2023 May: Notable Submissions to APOD

Photo by Rick WhitacreNatalia LewandowskaSUNY Oswego

"The production of biochar is an ancient farming practice dating back thousands of years to the fertile Terra Preta soils in Brazil. A kind of black powder, used to improve soil health. it is made by heating up organic matter such as wood chips, manure, leaves, or indeed coffee husks, in a process known as pyrolysis. A study in 2010 found that 12 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions could be offset with biochar. Researchers in 2022 also found that mixing wood biochar with cattle manure can cut methane emissions — a huge contributor to climate change — by an astonishing 79 percent"  More at Reasons to be Cheerful ➜

Water coursing.
hill and glen,
eroding soil,
then on
to rivers
and the Sea.

Life goes on,
without the
incessant tug
of politicians.

Have I become calloused,
inured to the pain
of others, here?
Is my empathy feigned?