Astronomy picture of the day - 2016 March 5 - Cities at Night

Cities at Night 
Image Credit: NASA, Scott Kelly 

Explanation: Looking toward the south from an altitude of 400 kilometers, this stunning snapshot from orbit finds bright lights of Tokyo and cities across central and southern Japan, planet Earth shining upward through broken clouds.The spacefaring perspective was captured last July by astronaut Scott Kelly during his stay on board the International Space Station. Thin stripes of airglow follow the curve of the planet's dark limb, while beyond lie stars of the constellation Centaurus and the southern sky. Their solar panels extended, a docked Soyuz (bottom) and Progress spacecraft are posed in the foreground. Kelly returned to planet Earth this week after his one-year mission in space.

Portugal - Jesus também tinha 2 pais

L’affiche qui représente Jésus sur fond rose avec le titre “Jésus aussi avait deux papas” se voulait avant tout une célébration de l’adoption définitive de la loi autorisant l’adoption pour les couples de même sexe au Parlement portugais, le 10 février dernier. Mais l’humour du parti portugais de gauche radicale Bloco de Esquerda (BE) n’est pas du tout du goût des catholiques locaux.

Détaillée dans un article du 26 février dans le quotidien portugais Público, la polémique a enflé dès la réception par les médias, le 25 au soir, du nouveau kit de communication du Bloco de Esquarda, dans lequel figurait l’afffiche incriminée. Le lendemain matin la Conférence épiscopale portugaise réagissait déjà, en estimant que l’affiche constituait “un affront aux croyants” et introduisait “une analogie sans fondements”. Dans le même temps, le cardinal de Lisbonne Manuel Clemente déclarait que cette affiche “était le pire des mensonges”.

“Jésus a toujours fait référence à Dieu comme étant son père. Il avait une mère, Marie, et un père adoptif, selon la terminologie d’aujourdhui, qui était Joseph.”

La réaction des partis conservateurs ne s’est pas non plus fait attendre. Pedro Mota Soares, membre du CDS, parti le plus à droite de l’échiquier politique à siéger au Parlement, a évoqué “une offense à la sensibilité de beaucoup de Portugais”, tout en mettant en avant que “la liberté d’expression doit rester totale“. Le député PSD (centre droit) a qualifié l’affiche de “lamentable”, car “l’humour en politique[…] ne peut pas manquer de respect aux croyances et aux convictions des Portugais”.

Le parti de gauche radicale a réagi en soulignant que “nous [le BE] respectons toutes les religions mais n’avons aucun tabou. […] L’affiche voulait faire réagir la population et la phrase est d’ailleurs un vieux slogan du mouvement international pour les droits civils.” Selon la même déclaration officielle du BE, l’affiche n’était d’ailleurs pas destinée à être placardée dans les rues, mais visait uniquement les réseaux sociaux. Le Premier ministre portugais António Costa, dont le gouvernement est soutenu par le Bloco de Esquerda, s’est bien gardé de réagir à la polémique.

Courrier International - France

Fotografia - Saul Leiter - "New-York - 1960"

"New-York - 1960"

New York que Saul Leiter va peindre, car sa photo est avant tout peinture, les gens qui passent, les rues qui mènent au fond de nous-mêmes.

Astronomy picture of the day - 2016 March 4 - Sculptor Galaxy NGC 134

Sculptor Galaxy NGC 134 
Image Credit & Copyright: CHART32 Team, Processing - Volker Wendel 

Explanation: NGC 134 is probably not the best known spiral galaxy in the constellation Sculptor. Still, the tantalizing island universe is a clearly a telescopic treasure in southern skies. It shares a bright core, clumpy dust lanes, and loosely wrapped spiral arms with spiky foreground stars of the Milky Way and the more diminutive galaxy NGC 131 in this sharp cosmic vista. From a distance of about 60 million light-years, NGC 134 is seen tilted nearly edge-on. It spans some 150,000 light-years, making it even larger than our own Milky Way galaxy. NGC 134's warped disk and faint extensions give the appearance of past gravitational interactions with neighboring galaxies. Like the much closer and brighter Sculptor galaxy NGC 253, tendrils of dust appear to rise from a galactic disk sprinkled with blue star clusters and pinkish star forming regions.

Rui Veloso - "Sei de uma camponesa" - Video - Musica - Ao vivo

"Sei de uma camponesa"

Astronomy picture of the day - 2016 March 3 - Moons and Jupiter

Moons and Jupiter 
Image Credit & Copyright: Phillip A Cruden 

Explanation: Some of the Solar System's largest moons rose together on February 23. On that night, a twilight pairing of a waning gibbous Moon and Jupiter was captured in this sharp telescopic field of view. The composite of short and long exposures reveals the familiar face of our fair planet's own large natural satellite, along with a line up of the ruling gas giant's four Galilean moons. Left to right, the tiny pinpricks of light are Callisto, Io, Ganymede, [Jupiter], andEuropa. Closer and brighter, our own natural satellite appears to loom large. But Callisto, Io, and Ganymede are actually larger than Earth's Moon, while water world Europa is only slightly smaller. In fact, of the Solar System's sixlargest planetary satellites, only Saturn's moon Titan is missing from the scene.

Imagens do Mundo - Rio de Janeiro - Parte da Zona Sul fotografada da Vista Chinesa

Parte da Zona Sul fotografada da Vista Chinesa

O Globo - Brasil

Morreu Severino Filho, fundador de "Os Cariocas - "Samba do avião" - Video - Musica - Ao vivo

RIO - O músico Severino Filho, do grupo de bossa nova Os Cariocas, morreu na manhã desta terça-feira. Severino, que fundou o grupo ao lado do irmão Ismel Netto, em 1942, é pai da atriz Lúcia Veríssimo e tinha 88 anos. Internado desde o dia 18 de janeiro com um quadro de trombose pulmonar no Hospital Quinta D'Or, o músico sofreu uma parada cardiorrespiratória.

O Globo - Brasil

Leia mais sobre esse assunto em http://oglobo.globo.com/cultura/musica/morre-severino-filho-do-grupo-os-cariocas-aos-88-anos-18780565#ixzz41k3Z6WMb 

"Samba do avião"

Astronomy picture of the day - 2016 March 2 - Unusual Clouds over Hong Kong

Unusual Clouds over Hong Kong 
Image Credit & Copyright: Alfred Lee

Explanation: What's that in the sky? Earlier this month, in the sky high above Hong Kong, China, not just one unusual type of cloud appeared -- but two. In the foreground was a long lenticular cloud, a cloud that forms near mountains from uprising air and might appear to some as an alien spaceship. Higher in the sky, and further in the background, was a colorful iridescent cloud. Iridescent clouds are composed of water droplets of similar size that diffract different colors of sunlight by different amounts. Furthest in the background is the Sun, blocked from direct view by the opaque lenticular, but providing the light for the colors of the iridescent. Either type of cloud is unusual to see in Hong Kong, and unfortunately, after only a few minutes, both were gone.

Astronomy picture of the day - 2016 March 1 - NGC 3310: A Starburst Spiral Galaxy

NGC 3310: A Starburst Spiral Galaxy 
Image Credit & Copyright: AAO ITSO Office, Gemini Obs./AURA & T. A. Rector (U. Alaska Anchorage)

Explanation: The party is still going on in spiral galaxy NGC 3310. Roughly 100 million years ago, NGC 3310 likely collided with a smaller galaxy causing the large spiral galaxy to light up with a tremendous burst of star formation. The changing gravity during the collision created density waves that compressed existing clouds of gas and triggered the star-forming party. The featured image from the Gemini North Telescope shows the galaxy in great detail, color-coded so that pink highlights gas while white and blue highlight stars. Some of the star clusters in the galaxy are quite young, indicating that starburst galaxies may remain in star-burst mode for quite some time. NGC 3310 spans about 50,000 light years, lies about 50 million light years away, and is visible with a small telescope towards the constellation of Ursa Major.