Imagens de Lisboa - Interiores secretos - Palacio das Necessidades

This palace was the only royal residence to survive the 1755 earthquake. Despite its cultural and architectural signirficance it’s not a tourist attraction, as is now occupied by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and therefore closed to the public. Its precious collection of jewelry was transferred to the National Museum of Ancient Art, and many of the furnishings were placed in the palaces of Ajuda and Queluz. However, it still has an opulent regal interior, where heads of state are often received.

Este palácio foi a única residência real que sobreviveu ao terramoto de 1755. Apesar do seu valor cultural e arquitetónico, não é uma atração turística, pois é hoje ocupado pelo Ministério dos Negócios Estrangeiros, estando por isso fechado ao público. As suas preciosidades de ourivesaria foram transferidas para o Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, e parte do mobiliário foi colocado nos palácios da Ajuda e de Queluz. No entanto, ainda possui um interior opulento, onde são muitas vezes recebidos chefes de estado.

Astronomy picture of the day - 2016 September 15 - Retrograde Mars and Saturn

Retrograde Mars and Saturn 
Image Credit & Copyright: Tunç Tezel (TWAN)

Explanation: Wandering Mars and Saturn have spent much of this year remarkably close in planet Earth's night sky. In a sequence of exposures spanning mid-December 2015 through the beginning of this week, this composited skyview follows their time together, including both near opposition, just north of bright star Antares near the Milky Way's central bulge. In the corresponding video, Saturn's apparent movement is seen to be back and forth along the flattened, compact loop, while Mars traces the wider, reversing S-shaped track from upper right to lower left through the frame. To connect the dots and dates just slide your cursor over the picture (or follow this link). It looks that way, but Mars and Saturn don't actually reverse direction along their orbits. Instead, their apparent backwards or retrograde motion with respect to the background stars is a reflection of the orbital motion of the Earth itself. Retrograde motion can be seen each time Earth overtakes and laps planets orbiting farther from the Sun, the Earth moving more rapidly through its own relatively close-in orbit.