EARTH CAUGHT MOONLIGHTING

It’s a wonderful time to be alive, isn’t it? Think of all the thousands of things that we can see that nobody else has ever even dreamed of. The Hubble Space Telescope and all of its orbiting cousins are great producers of wonder. And almost everything they do is owned by the public and distributed for free and to all. Here’s a few from NASA that have blown me away in the past few days. First is a photo of our home planet Earth eclipsing the Sun that’s taken from the moon. Don’t be seduced by the dark side of Earth. It’s illuminated by the Moon, which is reflecting the light of the Sun – the star that supplying all the light in the photo. The entire photo, with its moonscape, is just as breathtaking -- but for different reasons. And then NASA outdid itself by releasing a slew of new snapshots of Saturn. They’re all spectacular and available here. While you’re there, be sure to play the video from a spacecraft passing through Saturn’s rings. I’ve told you before of one of my all-time favorite web sites, but I’ll gladly tell you again about the Astronomy Picture of the Day.. And check out the site’s amazing archive. Thousands of pictures documenting mans discovery of the universe. It is wonderful to be alive. p.s. Sorry about the long time between posts.