The luminous purple sky is mirrored in the thin sheet of water across the world’s largest salt flat, Salar de Uyuni, in Bolivia.
Photograph by Xiaohua Zhao
(TheGuardian)
“Pro-lifers” should be forced into adopting one of the many foster children already in need of a home. This puts them into the same position as the women they try to force into pregnancy/birth.
Never apologize for burning too brightly or collapsing into yourself every night. That is how galaxies are made.
Tyler Kent White (via wordsnquotes)
(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQrkkl5SOak)
This Ted Talk has been the most helpful in my own “foxhole” pit recently and I hope this can reach out and help anyone else! A special thank you to my two true friends while I was side tracked by an abusive friend who only used me and I allowed that friendship to continue for far too long. It infuriates me to see how toxic this one friendship was that I lost connection with my closest and truest friends and others. Also for others who dealt with an alcoholic, watch minute 16. It hit me harder than any article and personal research I’ve done yet.
You’re my person 💛
In case you thought only the CDC’s practices were questionable/criminal…
Earlier this May, the Associated Press reported that National Institutes of Health researchers tested AIDS drugs on hundreds of foster children in the late 1980s and ‘90s. In many instances, the drugs were given without independent advocates who monitor the safety of these children. Ed Gordon explores the controversy with two AIDS experts: Dr. Jonathan Fishbein of the National Institutes of Health and Baylor College of Medicine’s Dr. Mark Kline.
On March 4 the first quarter moon passes between Earth and the star Aldebaran, temporarily blocking our view of the star. This is called an occultation.
The occultation begins and concludes at different times, depending on where you are when you view it.
The event should be easy to see from most of the U.S., Mexico, most of Central America, the Western Caribbean and Bermuda.
Observers along a narrow path from Vancouver, British Columbia, to Hartford, Connecticut, will see the moon “graze” the star. The star will disappear and reappear repeatedly as hills and valleys on the moon alternately obscure and reveal it.
As seen from Earth, both Mercury and Venus have phases like our moon. That’s because they circle the sun inside Earth’s orbit.
Planets that orbit between Earth and the sun are known as inner or inferior planets.
Inferior planets can never be at “opposition,” which is when the planet and the sun are on opposite sides of Earth.
But inferior planets can be at “conjunction,” which is when a planet, the sun and Earth are all in a straight line.
Conjunction can happen once when the planet is on the opposite side of the sun from Earth and again when it’s on the same side of the sun as Earth.
When a planet is on the opposite side of the sun from Earth, we say it is at “superior conjunction.” As the planet moves out from behind the sun and gets closer to Earth, we see less and less of the lit side. We see phases, similar to our moon’s phases.
Mercury is at superior conjunction on March 6.
A few weeks later, the planet emerges from behind the sun and we can once again observe it. By the end of March we’ll see a last-quarter Mercury.
On April 20 Mercury reaches “inferior conjunction.”
Brilliant Venus is also racing toward its own inferior conjunction on March 25. Watch its crescent get thinner and thinner as the planet’s size appears larger and larger, because it is getting closer to Earth.
Finally, look for Jupiter to rise in the East. It will be visible all month long from late evening until dawn.
You can catch up on solar system missions and all of our missions at www.nasa.gov
Watch the full “What’s Up for March 2017″ video here:
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com
All credit to @thefrizzkid for the original (the pink)
These two spacecraft are called STEREO, short for Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory. Launched on Oct. 25, 2006, and originally slated for a two-year mission, both spacecraft sent back data for nearly eight years, and STEREO-A still sends information and images from its point of view on the far side of the sun.
STEREO watches the sun from two completely new perspectives. It also provides information invaluable for understanding the sun and its impact on Earth, other worlds, and space itself – collectively known as space weather. On Earth, space weather can trigger things like the aurora and, in extreme cases, put a strain on power systems or damage high-flying satellites.
Because the rest of our sun-watching satellites orbit near our home planet, STEREO’s twin perspectives far from Earth give us a unique opportunity to look at solar events from all sides and understand them in three dimensions.
We use data from STEREO and other missions to understand the space environment throughout the solar system. This helps operators for missions in deep space prepare for the sudden bursts of particles and magnetic field that could pose a danger to their spacecraft.
STEREO has also helped us understand other objects in our solar system – like comets. Watching how a comet’s tail moves gives us clues about the constant stream of particles that flows out from the sun, called the solar wind.
STEREO is an essential piece of our heliophysics fleet, which includes 17 other missions. Together, these spacecraft shed new light on the sun and its interaction with space, Earth, and other worlds throughout the solar system.
To celebrate, we’re hosting a Facebook Live event on Wednesday, Oct. 26. Join us at noon ET on the NASA Sun Science Facebook page to learn more about STEREO and ask questions.
Learn more about how NASA studies the sun at: www.nasa.gov/stereo
Follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com
Eighty (source)
yo lets have a shout out to foster care kids. here’s to all the kids who:
- get moved from home to home. - never had a connection with their family(/families). - doubt if their foster family love them. - have to explain why your last name is different than your family’s. - explain to countless people over and over in their lifetime about fostercare. - have to hear “oh, I’m so sorry” once you do explain your situation. (people who think it’s typically a bad thing to be removed from a home) - have abandonment issues. - feel as though they have to choose one family or the other. - get asked “sooo… why did you get removed?” / “did your parents not want you?” - never get a say in what happens to them/their future. You’re loved, you’re important, and you’re damn strong.