1 - WORLD - JoanMira

2015-11-13

Astronomy picture of the day - 2015 November 13 - The Tadpoles of IC 410

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~~The Tadpoles of IC 410~~ Image Credit & Copyright: Steven Coates

Explanation: This telescopic close-up shows off the otherwise faint emission nebula IC 410. It also features two remarkable inhabitants of the cosmic pond of gas and dust below and right of center, the tadpoles of IC 410. Partly obscured by foreground dust, the nebula itself surrounds NGC 1893, a young galactic cluster of stars. Formed in the interstellar cloud a mere 4 million years ago, the intensely hot, bright cluster stars energize the glowing gas. Composed of denser cooler gas and dust, the tadpoles are around 10 light-years long and are likely sites of ongoing star formation. Sculpted by winds and radiation from the cluster stars, their heads are outlined by bright ridges of ionized gas while their tails trail away from the cluster's central region. IC 410 lies some 10,000 light-years away, toward the nebula-rich constellation Auriga.

Erro historico: Cartaz da JSD falha alvo e compara Governo de Passos e Portas ao nazismo

A ideia não era de todo essa, mas sim atacar a união da esquerda com a pergunta “Foi nisto que votou?”. Só que jovens sociais-democratas usaram uma imagem histórica de fundo de quando a União Soviética derrotou... o nazismo...

O Twitter não perdoa e há já uma enxurrada de críticas ao mais recente cartaz da Juventude Social Democrata. E para lá da politiquice, o que está em causa é mesmo uma lição de história aparentemente mal aprendida.

A ideia da JSD com a pergunta “Foi nisto que votou?” era causar indignação com a “coligação negativa” da esquerda que derrubou o Governo de Passos e Portas, como pode ver-se na imagem em cima.

No entanto, quem reparar bem, há uma imagem de fundo, atrás de Jerónimo de Sousa, onde se vê a bandeira vermelha com a foice e o martelo sobre o Reichstag. É uma das imagens icónicas do século XX. Cá está ela:

Representa a tomada de Berlim pela URSS, ou seja, a queda simbólica do... nazismo. Estávamos em 1945. Dias depois, a Alemanha rendeu-se e com isso terminou a II Guerra Mundial.

O cartaz acaba, por isso, por poder suscitar a interpretação de que a esquerda 'radical' chegou para derrubar o 'nazismo' de Passos e Portas. E, vindo da JSD, presume-se que não era de todo essa a ideia.

No Twitter, a questão está a gerar polémica, gerando uma série de comentários a insinuar isto mesmo. Para além da "ignorância histórica" de que são acusados, há outras críticas. E, como de costume naquela rede, algumas carregadas de humor.

TVI24 - Portugal

2015-11-12

Fotografias do passado - Avenida da Bélgica - Barreiro - 1960

"Avenida da Bélgica em 1960

(Hoje Alfredo da Silva)

Portugal. Le gouvernement de l'austérité est tombé

“11 jours, 5 heures et 40 minutes” titre ce 11 novembre le quotidien portugais Jornal de Notícias, insistant ainsi sur la durée extraordinaire du “plus court gouvernement de l’histoire de la démocratie portugaise”. La une laisse également la part belle à une photographie du premier ministre Pedro Passos Coelho, semblant quitter le parlement.

En effet, le 10 novembre dernier, trois motions de censures ont été déposées par les formations de gauche, majoritaires au parlement portugais, afin de désavouer le nouveau gouvernement de la coalition de droite. Le président Aníbal Cavaco Silva se voit maintenant dans l’obligation de nommer António costa, leader du Parti socialiste, comme Premier ministre.

Une victoire de la droite, une majorité de gauche : et maintenant ?

Les élections du 4 octobre dernier avaient débouché sur une situation inédite, avec d’un côté une victoire de la coalition de droite et de l’autre une nouvelle majorité de gauche au parlement portugais divisée dans trois différents partis. Le 30 octobre dernier, le président portugais avait tout de même nommé un gouvernement de droite minoritaire, en fait le fac similé du précédent, avec à sa tête le premier ministre Pedro Passos Coelho.

Un accord historique

Devant l’opportunité de débouter le gouvernement pro-austérité, les différentes formations de gauche ont oeuvré pendant des semaines à un accord qualifié “d’historique” par le Jornal de Notícias. Cet accord revient en effet sur un bon nombre de mesures d’autérité prises pendant la précédente législature.

Pour le quotidien, le Président “a une nouvelle fois le dernier mot à dire dans la finalisation du processus” mais “après la chute du gouvernement, c’est [António] Costa qui attend Cavaco [Silva]”.

Courrier International - France

Imagens do Mundo - Portugal - Nazaré

As ondas gigantes estão de volta à Nazaré

Astronomy picture of the day - 2015 November 12 - Kenya Morning Moon, Planets, and Taurid

Kenya Morning Moon, Planets, and Taurid
Image Credit & Copyright: Babak Tafreshi (TWAN)

Explanation: On November 8, a waning crescent Moon joined the continuing parade of planets in Earth's morning skies. Captured here from Amboseli National Park, Kenya, even the overexposed moonlight can't washout brilliant Venus though, lined up near the ecliptic plane with faint Mars and bright Jupiter above. As if Moon and planets aren't enough, a comparably bright Taurid meteor also streaks through the scene. In fact November's Taurid meteor showers have had a high proportion of bright fireballs. Apparently streaming from radiants in Taurus, the meteors are caused by our fair planet's annual passage through debris from Comet 2P/Encke. The comet's dust grains are catching up with Earth's atmosphere at a relatively low speed of about 27 kilometers per second.

2015-11-11

Astronomy picture of the day - 2015 November 11 - An Unexpected Rocket Plume over San Francisco

An Unexpected Rocket Plume over San Francisco
Image Credit & Copyright: Abe Blair (Abe Blair Gallery)

Explanation: What is that unusual light in the sky? A common question, this particular light was not only bright but moving and expanding. It appeared just as the astrophotographer and his friend were photographing the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California against a more predictable night sky. They were not alone in seeing this unusual display -- at least hundreds of people in California reported a similar sight. The consensus of experienced sky observers was that the plume resulted from a rocket launch -- an explanation that was soon confirmed as an unpublicized test of a submarine-launched, unarmed, Trident II D5 nuclear missile. Such tests are not uncommon but do not usually occur just after sunset near a major metropolitan area -- when they are particularly noticeable to many people. Were plume images not posted to the Internet and quickly identified, such a sky spectacle might have been understood by some to be associated with more grandiose -- but incorrect -- explanations.