Poster Wall Redux

Thermostat, shermostat. We aren't afraid of no thermostat!

...Actually, we clearly ARE afraid of a thermostat, since we grabbed the book posters and fled halfway across the house to get away from it.

Until this morning, this wall housed our gaming and movie posters. This wall has several advantages over the previous location:

(1) It's 30% wider, so MUCH more room to grow = more book posters = more books.

(2) The posters are much closer to where the magic happens = more inspiration.

(3) NO THERMOSTAT = ...NO THERMOSTAT

The gaming and movie posters are in the process of being relocated to the evil thermostat wall (and since it's smaller, other places around the house).

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Originally posted on Facebook.

The Beauty of NGC 2275

Look at this gorgeous galaxy! (courtesy of Hubble). And what a striking galactic core. I think I can almost spot the Siyane cruising in from the bottom right to investigate.

"NGC 2275 is classified as a flocculent spiral galaxy, located 67 million light-years away in the constellation of Cancer. Millions of bright, young, blue stars shine in the complex, feather-like spiral arms, interlaced with dark lanes of dust. Complexes of these hot, blue stars are thought to trigger star formation in nearby gas clouds. The overall feather-like spiral patterns of the arms are then formed by shearing of the gas clouds as the galaxy rotates."

https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw2026a/

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Originally posted on Facebook.

The Night Sky in X-Ray

Feast your eyes on the incredible beauty of our sky in X-Ray : https://www.sciencealert.com/this-is-what-the-entire-sky-looks-like-through-x-ray-eyes

"A space telescope launched in July 2019 has just completed its first survey. For months, the eROSITA telescope aboard the Spektr-RG space observatory has been scanning the entire sky, collecting observations for the deepest all-sky survey in X-ray wavelengths.

"Now, all those data have been compiled into a map containing over 1 million bright X-ray objects - approximately doubling the number of such objects from the entire 60 years of X-ray astronomy prior.

"This all-sky image completely changes the way we look at the energetic universe," said astrophysicist Peter Predehl, eROSITA principal investigator at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE).

"Most of the sources in the map - around 77 percent - are supermassive black holes actively accreting material in the cores of galaxies, or what we call active galactic nuclei. These objects are extremely energetic, and there are a lot of them out there."

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Originally posted on Facebook and Twitter.

Hubble Captures Globular Cluster NGC 6441

The Hubble Space Telescope has delivered another outstanding image. This one is of NGC 6441, a massive globular cluster in the constellation Scorpius. It’s one of the most massive ones in the Milky Way, and the stars in it have a combined mass of 1.6 million solar masses.

NGC 6441 is a gorgeous visual spectacle. It’s also of great scientific interest; it hosts four pulsars, an abnormally high number of variable stars, and has a rather high metallicity for a globular cluster. And it’s host to several Type II Cepheid stars, which is unusual for a cluster with high metallicity.

https://www.universetoday.com/146451/hubble-photo-of-globular-cluster-ngc-6441-one-of-the-most-massive-in-the-milky-way/

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Originally posted on Twitter.

Stunning Visualization of the Center of the Milky Way

Visit the Milky Way's supermassive black hole with the 'Galactic Center VR' visualization video. This stunning video is based on data from NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory, as well as other telescopes. The latest iteration allows viewers to see 500 years of evolution at Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), the black hole in the Milky Way's Center.

Video: https://www.space.com/galactic-center-vr-black-hole-visualization.html

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Originally posted on Twitter.

The Luckiest Writer

99% of the authors you've ever heard of are not rich. If they're talented, prolific and very lucky, they're able to make a decent living writing books - enough to pay the bills and go on the occasional beach vacation.

I count myself among the very luckiest. Thanks to all of you, today I was finally able to trade in my trusty *14-year-old* RAV4 for a 2020 Nissan Murano.

...Its name is Caleb. 😋🥰

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Originally posted on Facebook and Instagram.

Jupiter in Stunning Infrared

Infrared image of Jupiter from the Gemini North observatory shows heat welling up from the planet's interior, blotted out by cold clouds up top. Just amazing! Via Corey Powell.

“Gemini Gets Lucky and Takes a Deep Dive Into Jupiter’s Clouds”: https://www.gemini.edu/pr/gemini-gets-lucky-and-takes-deep-dive-jupiter-s-clouds

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Originally posted on Twitter.

Artemis Lander Partners Announced

From NASA: “Big News! The #Artemis generation is going to the Moon to stay. I’m excited to announce that we have selected 3 U.S. companies to develop human landers that will land astronauts on the Moon: @BlueOrigin, @Dynetics & @SpaceX.”

More information here: https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-names-companies-to-develop-human-landers-for-artemis-moon-missions

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Originally posted on Twitter.