Years Ago, I Worked At A Large Chain Grocery Store In The Southeast US, You Can Probably Guess Which

Lowell Observatory astronomer Phil Massey and his graduate student research assistant Kathryn Neugent recently captured this spectacular image of a beautiful spiral galaxy known as M108 using the Discovery Channel Telescope. This image has not been photoshopped in any way; all that has been done is balancing the three colors to provide a close match to what would be seen by eye.

The dark splotches visible in the galaxy are regions of gas and dust silhouetted by the light of stars that lie behind them. Future generations of stars will be born from this material.

Because M108 is 50 million light years away it’s impossible to see individual stars in this galaxy, we see only their collective glow. The stars you see sprinkled across the image are actually in our own Milky Way galaxy. Like raindrops on a windowpane, these stars get in the way when we look out at more distant objects.

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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

“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.

A room with a view

Taken near the entrance to Paranal site’s Residencia hotel, ESO’s motivation behind building advanced telescopes in such remote and challenging locations could not be clearer. The spectacular sky, free from light pollution, reveals the secrets usually hidden in areas populated by humans. Strict regulations are in place to maintain these conditions, and the lights on the left are needed to mark the sides of the road (known as the stairway to heaven), because cars are not allowed to use their headlights. Palm fronds are not a typical part of the desert skyline, but this particular one was replanted outside after it grew too large to remain inside la Residencia. Unfortunately, the harsh conditions of the Atacama desert prooved too much, and it did not survive long.

The splash of the Milky Way to the left dwarfs the little blotches of the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds to the right.

Credit: H. Sommer/ESO

Afternoon Thunderstorms roll across the prairie. 

Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park, FL

White Ibis (Eudocimus albus) at Sunset

Lido Key Beach, FL

Black Skimmer (Rynchops niger)

Lido Key Beach, FL

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

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day 2016 September 6 

The Whirlpool Galaxy and Beyond 

Follow the handle of the Big Dipper away from the dipper’s bowl, until you get to the handle’s last bright star. Then, just slide your telescope a little south and west and you might find this stunning pair of interacting galaxies, the 51st entry in Charles Messier’s famous catalog. Perhaps the original spiral nebula, the large galaxy with well defined spiral structure is also cataloged as NGC 5194. Its spiral arms and dust lanes clearly sweep in front of its companion galaxy (left), NGC 5195. The pair are about 31 million light-years distant and officially lie within the angular boundaries of the small constellation Canes Venatici. Though M51 looks faint and fuzzy to the human eye, the above long-exposure, deep-field image taken earlier this year shows much of the faint complexity that actually surrounds the smaller galaxy. Thousands of the faint dots in background of the featured image are actually galaxies far across the universe.

Bedroom view from Paranal Residencia

The view from one of the Paranal Residencia bedroom balconies reveals the magnificent view afforded by the remote location in the Chilean Atacama desert. Numerous rust-tinted peaks give way to the sea and, eventually, dark skies that host the unmistakable glow and dust lanes of the Milky Way.

Credit: Jean-Marc Lecleire/PNA/ESO