Public Posts

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.

When did a chopped salad,
become synonymous with a green salad?
Call it a chopped salad,
but make it the way it should be,
not a green salad with torn iceberg
lettuce, with slivered carrots, sliced olives,
shredded cheese and pepperoni slices.
Adding Italian dressing does not make it
a chopped salad. Cube the cheese, carrots,
, pepperoni, chop the lettuce, cucumbers, and celery.
Small complaint it the home but when your
hunger is for a chopped salad. Deliver it.

The saddest sound,
I've ever heard,
came from the mouth,
of a wild bird.

The sound, forlorn,
crying a tune,
was made by a
saddened Loon.

The sound rose higher,
many notes may remain.
A haunting cry,
so much pain.

Do we humans,
react the same,
when our love,
no longer came.

He was cute,
not too tall,
wasn't large,
kind of small.

A friendly boy,
He is the one.
Call him Emmet,
when day is done.

Self-imposed, criticism,
is the worst.
Self-induced pressure,
make my head burst.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

A bright spiral galaxy of the northern sky, Messier 63 is nearby, about 30 million light-years distant toward the loyal constellation Canes Venatici. Also cataloged as NGC 5055, the majestic island universe is nearly 100,000 light-years across, about the size of our own Milky Way. Its bright core and majestic spiral arms lend the galaxy its popular name, The Sunflower Galaxy. This exceptionally deep exposure also follows faint, arcing star streams far into the galaxy's halo. Extending nearly 180,000 light-years from the galactic center, the star streams are likely remnants of tidally disrupted satellites of M63. Other satellite galaxies of M63 can be spotted in the remarkable wide-field image, including faint dwarf galaxies, which could contribute to M63's star streams in the next few billion years.

Photo by Sophie Paulin

Forget about me,
you don't need the grief,
when looking for
the old, love thief.

Sitting, when Harry Nilsson,
starts singing,
"Living without you."
Cripes, just what I needed.
Then I thought of my wife.
Different story. Harrys singing
about leaving a girl.
A choice.
I think about losing my wife.
A choice no one made.

The Ostrich, sticks his head in the sand.
If I can't see anyone, its thought.
Pull your head out of the sand,
it's the middle of the night.

Why do some people,
we most certainly know,
never listen to reason,
saying "I didn't know."

We all must listen to others,
seeking as much advice,
as possible, from others,
it will make our life, nice.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Made with narrowband filters, this cosmic snapshot covers a field of view about the size of the full Moon within the boundaries of the constellation Cygnus. It highlights the bright edge of a ring-like nebula traced by the glow of ionized sulfur, hydrogen, and oxygen gas. Embedded in the region's interstellar clouds of gas and dust, the complex, glowing arcs are sections of bubbles or shells of material swept up by the wind from Wolf-Rayet star WR 134, brightest star near the center of the frame. Distance estimates put WR 134 about 6,000 light-years away, making the frame over 50 light-years across. Shedding their outer envelopes in powerful stellar winds, massive Wolf-Rayet stars have burned through their nuclear fuel at a prodigious rate and end this final phase of massive star evolution in a spectacular supernova explosion. The stellar winds and final supernovae enrich the interstellar material with heavy elements to be incorporated in future generations of stars.

Photo by Craig Stocks