Skip to main content

Space Rocks!

 Friends,

Turning 55 today has me pondering the great philosopher Sammy Hagar's inability to drive my age. As the eighties earworm echoes in my head, another lead-foot comes to mind: the late Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) probe, which was doing 14,000 MPH when it clocked into Dimporphos, a 525 foot diameter asteroid, on Monday, If you missed the crash, google "DART probe." When you do, an animated probe will crash into the results page, tilting it one degree—which was the desired post-impact change in the asteroid's trajectory! (pardon my inner geek, but that alone is pretty cool!).  Watching the last image of the live transmission, it occurred to me that the asteroid's rocky texture would make a great rock album cover (get it?). In fact, the barrage of space images coming-in these days seems purpose built for cover art. Bands of all genres could save a ton by using these amazing pics. To illustrate my point, I've mocked-up a few ideas, using real bands and whimsy album titles (sorry, no red rocker tunes in this collection). So grab a donut and peruse the records. Afterwards, you might play a match on your pew, pew, pewter Star Wars chess set. Alright, I'm all out of funny.

Image Credit : NASA, DART image of Dimorphos (right before the crash) transmitted 9/26/2022

Image Credit: ESA, IC 5332 Galaxy's "bones", shot by Webb Space Telescope 9/28/2022

Image Credit: NASA, Tarantula Nebula shot by Webb Space Telescope 9/6/2022

Image Credit: NASA, Neptune, it's rings and satellites shot by Webb Space Telescope 9/21/2022

Image Credit: NASA, Carina Nebula (a star nursery) shot by Webb Space Telescope 7/13/2022

Image Credit: NASA/ESA?CSA, Phantom Galaxy shot by Webb Space Telescope 8/29/2022

Happy Friday!

P.S. A special thank you to Marilyn Bromberg for the wonderful birthday poem.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Donut Doodle Dandy

Dear Members and Constituents, In trying to figure-out Wednesday’s cool-looking Google Doodle ( Jorge Luis Borges’ 112 th birthday ), I stumbled across a list of Google Doodles you’ll never see. This, and a Rockies game later that day, were sufficient inspiration to get my head spinning around what other doodles Google might never noodle? I’m sure you’ll probably have a few ideas of your own, but I was able to come-up with a couple. How about a former Colorado Rockies player whose unfortunate encounter with a moth put him in the news this week? The Matt Holliday doodle might look something like this… Another item which, surprisingly enough, has not been made into a doodle are donuts. Although I was slightly taken aback to find this delicious pastry has not been featured, after the initial disappointment, I decided to take matters into my own hands and take a stab at one (perhaps Google can use it next year for national donut day )… or to celebrate Greek police having “ blown a ho...
Post a Comment
Read more

Gilding the Donut

Friends, Despite writing about donuts (sort of) for over 20 years, I don’t believe in sugar coating, after all, honesty is the best policy. Gilding, on the other hand I’m good with. Take the church of the Society of Jesus in Quito, (AKA La Compañía). Built in fits and starts between 1597 and 1765, the volcanic rock baroque facade conceals a spectacular interior. I had the chance to go inside this week and although I had heard about the gold leaf work inside, the descriptions had not done it justice. The details from floor to ceiling transport you to another world, perhaps that’s the point. If you’re ever there, be sure to visit. And while you’re there stop by one of the many panaderías … if you’re lucky they might even have a donut. Happy Friday!
Post a Comment
Read more

The Wrong Word

Friends, Do you ever find yourself starting to say a word, realizing it’s the wrong choice and trying to change it while speaking — making it worse? For me, it’s happened more times than I care to admit. A recurring faux pas for me occurs at the part of the mass where the congregation says “when we eat this bread and drink this cup we proclaim your death, o Lord, until you come again”. For some reason my brain wants to say “profess” instead of “proclaim” — which would essentially mean the same thing. Unfortunately, in my clumsy attempts to fix my mistake mid-word, what comes out sounds like “profane” — totally the wrong vibe. Good thing the entire congregation is saying the same thing in unison. If someone heard me they might think the priest was consecrating a donut, instead of the host. Happy Friday!
Post a Comment
Read more