Astronomy Picture of the Day - 2015 August 13 - Moonless Meteors and the Milky Way

Moonless Meteors and the Milky Way 
Image Credit & Copyright: Petr Horálek

Explanation: Have you watched the Perseid meteor shower? Though the annual shower's predicted peak was last night, meteor activity should continue tonight (August 13/14), best enjoyed by just looking up in clear, dark skies after midnight. Of course, this year's Perseid shower has the advantage of being active near the August 14 New Moon. Since the nearly New Moon doesn't rise before the morning twilight many fainter meteors are easier to spot until then, with no interference from bright moonlight. The Perseid meteor shower last occurred near a New Moon in 2013. That's when the exposures used to construct this image were made, under dark, moonless skies from Hvar Island off the coast of Croatia. The widefield composite includes 67 meteors streaming from the heroic constellation Perseus, the shower's radiant, captured during 2013 August 8-14 against a background of faint zodiacal light and the Milky Way. The next moonless Perseid meteor shower will be in August 2018.

Imagenes del Mundo - Isla de Kos - Grecia

Un buque guardacostas se acerca a un bote con inmigrantes a pocas millas de la costa de la isla de Kos, Grecia.

YORGOS KARAHALIS (AP)

Astronomy picture of the day - 2015 August 12 - A Blue Moon Halo over Antarctica

A Blue Moon Halo over Antarctica 
Image Credit & Copyright: LI Hang

Explanation: Have you ever seen a halo around the Moon? Such 22 degree rings around the Moon -- caused by ice crystals falling in the Earth's atmosphere -- are somewhat rare. OK, but have you ever seen a blue moon? Given the modern definition of blue moon -- the second full moon occurring in a calendar month -- these are also rare. What is featured above might therefore be considered doubly rare -- a halo surrounding a blue moon. The featured image was taken late last month near Zhongshan Station in Antarctica. Visible in the foreground are a power generating house and a snowmobile. What might seem to be stars in the background are actually illuminated snowflakes near the camera.

Now, it's time to say goodbye. Ciao, ciao, ciao...

Jacqueline Bisset

CIAO, CIAO, CIAO...

Antonio Mão de Ferro - "Breakout" - Video - Musica

"Breakout"

Astronomy picture of the day - 2015 August 9 - HCG 87: A Small Group of Galaxies

HCG 87: A Small Group of Galaxies 
Image Credit: GMOS-S Commissioning Team, Gemini Observatory

Explanation: Sometimes galaxies form groups. For example, our own Milky Way Galaxy is part of the Local Group of Galaxies. Small, compact groups, like Hickson Compact Group 87 (HCG 87) shown above, are interesting partly because they slowly self-destruct. Indeed, the galaxies of HCG 87 are gravitationally stretching each other during their 100-million year orbits around a common center. The pulling creates colliding gas that causes bright bursts of star formation and feeds matter into their active galaxy centers. HCG 87 is composed of a large edge-on spiral galaxy visible near the image center, an elliptical galaxy visible to its right, and a spiral galaxy visible near the top. The small spiral near the center might be far in the distance. Several stars from our Galaxy are also visible in the foreground. Studying groups like HCG 87 allows insight into how all galaxies form and evolve.

Bryan Ferry - "Slave to love" - Video - Music

"Slave to love"

Now, it's time to say goodbye. Ciao, ciao, ciao...

URSULA ANDRESS

CIAO, CIAO, CIAO...

Fotografia JoanMira

O sua descaradona

Tire a roupa da janela

Que essa camisa sem dona

Lembra-me a dona sem ela

Dependurada com graça

Adejante, colorida

A sua roupa estendida

Afaga o rosto a quem passa

E pede que um pintor faça

Na sua estreita viela

Uma formosa aguarela

Dessa cena fadistona

O sua descaradona

Tire a roupa da janela

Que eu nao  posso suportar

A visão que me sugere

Essa roupa de mulher
Vazia, posta a secar;

Pudera eu cinzelar
Do mundo a estatua mais bela
E inspirava-me naquela
Poupinha que me apaixona
Que essa camisa sem dona
Lembra-me a dona sem ela

Henrique Silva/Daniel Gouveia

Barreiro - 15-09-2014

25 miradouros em Lisboa - Largo da Academia das Belas Artes

Going down this square in Chiado you come across a terrace used as a parking lot, with a beautiful view over downtown Lisbon. A few steps further down, you get a closer look at the top of the Municipal Palace and of the triumphal arch of Rua Augusta.

Atravessando este largo no Chiado, depara-se com um terraço usado como parque de estacionamento, com uma bela vista da Baixa de Lisboa. Um pouco mais abaixo, é possível ver o topo dos Paços do Concelho e do arco triunfal da Rua Augusta.