Skip to main content

Public Posts

Read more

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Recorded during 2024, this year-spanning series of images reveals a pattern in the seasonal drift of the Sun's daily motion through planet Earth's sky. Known to some as an analemma, the figure-eight curve was captured in exposures taken only at 1pm local time on clear days from Kayseri, Turkiye. Of course the Sun's position on the 2024 solstice dates was at the top and bottom of the curve. They correspond to the astronomical beginning of summer and winter in the north. The points along the curve half-way between the solstices, but not the figure-eight curve crossing point, mark the 2024 equinoxes and the start of spring and fall. Regional peaks and dormant volcano Mount Erciyes lie along the southern horizon in the 2024 timelapse skyscape.

Photo by Betul Turksoy

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

The closest star system to the Sun is the Alpha Centauri system. Of the three stars in the system, the dimmest -- called Proxima Centauri -- is actually the nearest star. The bright stars Alpha Centauri A and B form a close binary as they are separated by only 23 times the Earth- Sun distance - slightly greater than the distance between Uranus and the Sun. The Alphasystem is not visible in much of the northern hemisphere. Alpha Centauri A, also known as Rigil Kentaurus, is the brightest star in the constellation of Centaurus and is the fourth brightest star in the night sky. Sirius is the brightest even though it is more than twice as far away. By an exciting coincidence, Alpha Centauri A is the same type of star as our Sun, and Proxima Centauri is now known to have a potentially habitable exoplanet.

Photo by Telescope Live, Heaven's Mirror Observatory; Processing: Chris Cantrell

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

What do you think this is? Here’s a clue: it's bigger than a bread box. Much bigger. The answer is that pictured NGC 4753 is a twisted disk galaxy, where unusual dark dust filaments provide clues about its history. No one is sure what happened, but a leading model holds that a relatively normal disk galaxy gravitationally ripped apart a dusty satellite galaxy while its precession distorted the plane of the accreted debris as it rotated. The cosmic collision is hypothesized to have started about a billion years ago. NGC 4753 is seen from the side, and possibly would look like a normal spiral galaxy from the top. The bright orange halo is composed of many older stars that might trace dark matter. The featured Hubble image was recently reprocessed to highlight ultraviolet and red-light emissions. APOD Year in Review: NASA Night Sky Network Presentation for 2024

Humoristic cartoon from Puck on the establishment of diplomatic relations between Greece and Persia. In 499 BC, the Persian Achaemenid Empire tried unsuccessfully to conquer various ancient Greek city-states. Finally in 449 BC a de facto peace was concluded and the Greco-Persian Wars effectively ended, but the two sides refused to have any relations. In 1902, Mozaffar ad-Din Shah of Persia and George I of Greece agreed to de jure recognition and after 2393 years established diplomatic relations.

Samuel D. Ehrhart, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. View source.

                      "The cycle of seasons, the tidals of man,
                       Revolve in the orb of the infinite plan;
                       We move to the rhythm of ages long done,
                       And each has his hour — to dwell in the sun!"

This is the last stanza of the poem "Hope" by Georgia Douglas Johnson, published in 1917. Read the full poem 

    Did you know that we have a whole section dedicated to your local community?
Post or read about current happenings or bits of local history. Serious or fun. Invite your friends and neighbors to join. Click the image below to see more.

QUICK LINKS