Absolutely Beautiful

As seen from Earth we find λ λsun = 372.0322 ° = 12.0322 ° ( mod 360 ° )

Our burning star in the cosmic void around us. The sun has driven the evolutionary arms race on earth for eons, it's warmth gives us life and energy to move forward. Like many stars the sun is a beacon of light amongst the darkness its gentle rays have been the catalyst to birth life on the planet earth. We should take time to appreciate that

RA 19h 55m 46s | Dec -20° 57′ 29″

coordinates for Jupiter from Earth, jupiter the largest planet in our local solar system. It has a mass of 1.898 × 10^27 kg and a surface area of 23.71 billion mi². Juptier is the largest of the outerplanets and one of the largest gas giants we know of its distance from the sun is 483.8 million mi and sports a grand total of 79 moons due to its mass many asteroids and other bodies get caught in its orbit.

Many of its moons are just simple asteroids while others are larger bodies with complex and unique surface environments.

The Moon Io also known as Jupiter 1 is the inner most and third largest galilean moon. It is also the fourth largest moon in the solar system and has the highest density of all of them. The Ionian surface is dry with the lowest amount of water on an astronomical body in the solar system.

Ganymede the largest of Jupiters moons. It is the largest moon in the solar system and the ninth largest object in our local system. While Ganymede is massive with a mass of 1.4819 x 1023 it does not support a substantial atmosphere leaving its surface bombarded by stellar radiation.

Europa also known as Jupiter 2 is smallest of the four galilean moon. Europa is unique amongst many moons due to its potential for supporting life. It is believed Europa has an icy surface with a large liquid ocean below it much like our own.

Callisto or Jupiter 4 is the second largest moon of Jupiter after Ganymede. Callisto has an extremely thin atmosphere combosed of carbon dioxide gas and molecular oxygen while also sporting an intense ionosphere. Callisto is believed to have formed from Jupiter itself instead of being a captured stellar object.

And here is the orbital path ways of Jupiter's many moons for anyone interested.

Poor creature :(

befriended this little lady today

NGC 7293 also known as the helix nebula, sporting beautiful colors

With Every Breath You Take, Thank the Ocean

When was the last time you thought about your breathing? Take a breath right now and think about it. You breathe because you need oxygen, a gas which makes up 21 percent of the Earth’s atmosphere. All that oxygen has to come from somewhere. You might already know that it comes from photosynthetic organisms like plants. But did you know that most of the oxygen you breathe comes from organisms in the ocean?

That’s right—more than half of the oxygen you breathe comes from marine photosynthesizers, like phytoplankton and seaweed. Both use carbon dioxide, water and energy from the sun to make food for themselves, releasing oxygen in the process. 

Want to know who to thank? Up top, we have a picture of the giant kelp, a brown algae that grows along coasts in cooler regions around the world. The swirling blue image is of the ocean and was taken from a satellite in space. The light blue areas are where there are high concentrations of chlorophyll, the molecule used by phytoplankton to convert sunlight into energy. Lastly, this zoomed in image of a red algae shows its filamentous hairs, which are only a single cell width across, at 250x zoom. Pretty cool!

Watch as I Grow Mad with Power

I have recently discovered Plants. Did you know: if you find a plant you like, you can just… collect its seeds? Or, you can dig it up and plant it somewhere else?? OR (now this one is crazy but stick with me) you can take part of it and grow it into a new plant?!?

Amazing! First, I started small: I noticed some milkweed was spilling floaty seeds everywhere, so I borrowed a couple, planted them, and several months later I had so many Monarch and Queen caterpillars I had to give some away.

Next: I noticed a baby morning glory vine had popped up in my side yard. I didn’t want it in my side yard, so I dug it up, put it in my brand new flower garden, and several months later it has taken over the entire back half of my yard.

Then: my coworker brought in some lemongrass cuttings she’d done, and I planted it in my yard. It exploded and it’s the most massive lemongrass bush I’ve ever seen.

Now that I’ve done my “hands off” experiment with the back yard (conclusion: invasive grasses will completely take over and prevent any natives from taking root), I am ready to become the master of my realm. But I’m still broke as heck. So!

Milkweed vine (Matelea?) and Monarda seeds nabbed from the field at work!

Every mango I ever eat ever again! (Three germinated, started #4 last night)

Ruellia simplex which I *cough* may have borrowed from a park. I took five because I didn’t have scissors or a knife and I didn’t trust my ability in making cuttings but ALL FIVE ROOTED and some are starting to bud!!!

Red yucca from the parking lot at work

It’s contagious! My coworker went for a walk in her neighborhood, and saw a strange tree with these 15 inch long seed pods that look like giant string beans. So of course she took one to give to me. It matured over the weekend, and today I popped it open and LOOK AT ALL THESE SEEDS!!! It’s a Catalpa tree, which is native to the eastern and southern US states. It makes HUGE F-ING flowers which it drops everywhere, making a huge mess. They get TALL. And I have a HUGE HANDFUL of them. What am I going to do with 100+ Catalpa trees?!?! My (not very large) yard is already filling up with trees (though I eagerly await the total consumption of my house into thick wooded forest in the middle of my housing development). I’m thinking Bonsai 😂

September 11, 2018

I don’t have many followers, but seeing as the Amazon rainforest is in Big Trouble and we all want to do something, here are 6 reliable websites you can donate to!

If the Brazilian Government is not going to care or help, we have to do something

Protoplanets around PDS70

370 Light years away in the constellation of Centaur (southern hemisphere constellation), a small K type star of just 5 million years is sporting 2 potential new planets. 

While 5 million years is a lifetime for a Blue O type star, K type stars live longer than our own sun’s 10 billion years, so it’s a mere babe. 

Planets form from the left over components of the star creation slowly over time condense and combine to form planets, as they do, we refer to them as protoplanets. 

The two in question are large gas giant planets, probably larger than Jupiter, and they exist within a cleared gap of dust that circles the star.

Source : http://www.sci-news.com/astronomy/images-two-protoplanets-pds-70-08445.html

I love these

Long-tailed semi-slug, Ibycus rachelae, Helicarionidae Found in Malaysia and Indonesia

Semi-slugs are land gastropods whose shells are too small for them to retract into, but not quite vestigial.

Photos 1-2 by arnoldwijker Photos 3-5 by Art Anker - Shared with permission; do not remove credit or re-post! Photo 6 by sandralamberts, and 7-8 by sohkamyung