Yesterday.
Looking out onto the Blackwater River, Fermoy, County Cork
(Thanks Colum Cronin)
Author Archives: Chompsky
Irish History Bitesize tweets:
On this day in 1852: Death Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS. Born #Dublin. Childhood Dangan castle #Summerhill #Meath. PM x2. Victory against Napoleon at Battle of Waterloo 1815. Oversaw passage Catholic Relief Act 1829 @StPaulsLondon
Behold: M2-9, aka, the Twin-Jet or Wings Of A Butterfly nebula – the last great work of a cosmic luminary To wit:
…stars usually create their most artistic displays as they die. In the case of low-mass stars like our Sun and M2-9 pictured here, the stars transform themselves from normal stars to white dwarfs by casting off their outer gaseous envelopes. The expended gas frequently forms an impressive display called a planetary nebula that fades gradually over thousands of years. M2-9, a butterfly planetary nebula 2100 light-years away shown in representative colours, has wings that tell a strange but incomplete tale. In the center, two stars orbit inside a gaseous disk 10 times the orbit of Pluto. The expelled envelope of the dying star breaks out from the disk creating the bipolar appearance. Much remains unknown about the physical processes that cause and shape planetary nebulae.
(Image: Hubble Legacy Archive, NASA, ESA – Processing: Judy Schmidt)
Hot Wheels
at
Behold: the Juiced Hyperscambler 2 – a dinky but powerful e-bike with 160km of range and a top speed of 48km/h.
Along with an optional dual battery setup, the bike has a more than decent 1,000W motor, hydraulic disc brakes, puncture-resistant tires and an oversized, motorcycle-grade LED headlight.
Available later this year from €2,100 (plus shipping).
Hey, Red!
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Mars reappears from behind the Moon last Sunday. To wit:
Of course to reappear it had to disappear in the first place. It did that over an hour earlier when the sunlit southern edge of the waning gibbous Moon passed in front of the Red Planet as seen from Maceio, Brazil. The lunar occultation came as the Moon was near apogee, about 400,000 kilometers away. Mars was almost 180 times more distant. It was the fourth lunar occultation of Mars visible from planet Earth in 2020. Visible from some southern latitudes, the fifth lunar occultation of Mars in 2020 will take place on October 3 when the Moon and Mars are both nearly opposite the Sun in planet Earth’s sky.
Remember last month when Saturn did this?
(Image: David Duarte and Romualdo Caldas)
The eerie red-hued cityscape of San Francisco this week, appropriately set to the sound of Hans Zimmer’s score for ‘Blade Runner: 2049’ by Terry Tsai.
Full screen and sound up as you complete a Voight Kampff test.
Related: The Bear Area
