Beneath The Milky Way

Elephants Trunk Nebula IC1396

Thursday was the first clear night in ages so I took Friday off and stayed up most of the night imaging this beauty. Taken using a Canon 700D and a Canon 200mm lens

“Look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see, and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious.” – Stephen Hawking

Stunning capture by Jordan McInally of @undersoulphotography

Where the land, the sky, and the ocean meet. 

Anastasia State Park, FL

Here’s one I haven’t seen before. Perseid meteors viewed from above, from the International Space Station, 2 in about 2 seconds from the high resolution downlooking camera.

A spectacular video showing climbers going through Mt. Rainier. (Video)

I’d love to be here. 

I went to college in another state from where I grew up. I’d been with my girlfriend for three years at the time so we tried to do the long distance thing. Within a week she was acting weird and then she just suddenly quit talking to me without any goodbye. I was understandably confused, so I called her house to try to talk to her. She wasn’t home, but her dad (who is fucking awesome) told me that she’d been hanging out with my best friend (from here on out referred to as db, for douchebag).

I called DBs roommate that I got along with and asked him to tell me the truth. He said she’d been over every night that week and stayed. I lost my shit. Called them both pissed off, told them to fuck themselves, etc.

Initially I wanted to kick his ass, but by the time I came home for break I’d decided it wasn’t worth it. So I just let it go and moved on. A few years go by, I finish college and move back home.

One day I get a call from db. He’s three hours away from home and his car is broken down. He doesn’t want to pay a towing company to get it home and I’m the only one he knows with a trailer big enough to haul it. He says he knows it’s awkward but he’ll give me $200 if I come get him.

I was fucking ecstatic. Told him I was an hour and a half away from home but I could leave after that if he wanted. He says that’s fine. I get off the phone and go back to watching tv on my couch.

Two hours go by: DB: hey, have you left yet? Me: I’m getting ready now, traffic was bad DB: ok. See you in a few hours

Three more hours: DB: you getting close? Me: my gps screwed up, still about a half hour

Another hour DB: dude where are you at?

Ten minutes DB: hello?

Five minutes DB: answer your phone dude

Five minutes: DB: are you even coming? 

Me: nah, but have fun.

He didn’t respond after that

“Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.” ― Marcus Aurelius Aurora over Kirkjufell, Iceland captured by the always awe-inspiring Sean Parker.

Mercury’s transit at Garching

The ESO Photo Ambassador Petr Horálek captured this image on 9 May 2016, the Mercury’s transit day. The little black dot visible in the lower part of the orange Sun disc is indeed the planet while orbiting between the Earth and the Sun. This stunning picture was taken in the surroundings of ESO’s Headquarters, located at Garching, near Munich, in Germany.

Credit: ESO/P. Horálek

Artist’s impression of the exotic binary star system AR Scorpii

This artist’s impression shows the strange object AR Scorpii. In this unique double star a rapidly spinning white dwarf star (right) powers electrons up to almost the speed of light. These high energy particles release blasts of radiation that lash the companion red dwarf star (left) and cause the entire system to pulse dramatically every 1.97 minutes with radiation ranging from the ultraviolet to radio.

Credit: M. Garlick/University of Warwick, ESA/Hubble

Milky Way from Lake Cuyamaca js