Astronomy Picture of the Day

Jun23

Solstice Conjunction over Budapest
Image Credit & Copyright: György Soponyai

Explanation: Before a solstice Sun rose on June 21, brilliant Venus and an old crescent Moon posed together over Budapest, Hungary for this predawn skyscape. In the foreground the view looks across the Danube river from Buda to Pest toward the dome and peaks of the Hungarian Parliament building. Low clouds are in silhouette against a twilight sky. But far enough above the eastern horizon to catch the sunlight shines another seasonal apparition on that solstice morning, noctilucent clouds. Seen near sunrise and sunset in summer months at high latitudes, the night-shining clouds are formed as water vapor in the cold upper atmosphere condenses on meteoric dust or volcanic ash near the edge of space.

Tomorrow’s picture: all the way to M64

THE SPHINX—I WANT TO AX YOU

Jun22

The Editor:  Is this a question or a wood working article, LL ?

Lumberjack Cat:  It’s a new sport from Colorado.  Here is the first news.

http://www.denverpost.com/2017/06/19/two-ax-throwing-venues-swing-into-denver/

Amigo is familiar with axes, he is part Viking ( The Son of Thor ).  Here is the first recorded American TV film of small ax throwing.  It also got the longest unrehearsed laugh in TV history.

Here are some mixed news items.

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/06/19/woman-sues-casino-giving-steak-dinner-instead-43-million-jackpot/

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2017/06/20/More-Amazon-competition-for-retailers-Try-before-you-buy-Wardrobe/6981497994997/?utm_source=sec&utm_campaign=sl&utm_medium=15

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2017/06/20/rare-blue-plankton-seen-coast-wales/

Those Lumberjacks were men to appreciate.

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Jun22

Northern Summer on Titan
Image Credit: Cassini Imaging Team, SSI, JPL, ESA, NASA

Explanation: While yesterday’s solstice brought summer to planet Earth’s northern hemisphere, a northern summer solstice arrived for ringed planet Saturn nearly a month ago on May 24. Following the Saturnian seasons, its large moon Titan was captured in this Cassini spacecraft image from June 9. The near-infrared view finds bright methane clouds drifting through Titan’s northern summer skies as seen from a distance of about 507,000 kilometers. Below Titan’s clouds, dark hydrocarbon lakes sprawl near the large moon’s now illuminated north pole.

Tomorrow’s picture: Venus by moonlight

25 Strange But True Facts That Will Shock You

Jun21

What’s the weirdest fact you know of? We bet it’s not as strange as any of these! You might think these facts sound totally false, but trust us, they’re totally true! So, if you’ve got 10 minutes to spare, why not check out these  25 strange but true facts that will shock you!

  1. Donkey Kong got his name because his creator believed ‘donkey’ meant ‘stupid’ in English and wanted to convey the impression that the character was a “Stupid Ape”.
  2. The medical name for a butt crack is “intergluteal cleft”.
  3. People can suffer from a psychological disorder called Boanthropy that makes them believe that they are a cow. They try to live their life as a cow.
  4. The name for the shape of Pringles is called a ‘Hyperbolic Paraboloid’.
  5. There is a McDonalds in every continent except Antartica.
  6. Mr Potato Head was the first toy to be advertised on TV.
  7. A duel between three people is actually called a truel.
  8. The stage before frostbite is called “frostnip”.
  9. The two tiny holes drilled in every BIC pen is to ensure that the air pressure is the same both inside and outside the pen, which helps the ink flow to the tip.
  10. In South Korea there is an emergency number (113) to report spies.
  11. There are no bridges over the Amazon River.
  12. The process by which bread toasts is called the ‘Maillard Reaction’.
  13. Snails have 14000 teeth and some can even kill you!
  14. Admiral Ackbar from Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi was not a man in a suit, it was actually a giant puppet.
  15. Sonic the Hedgehog’s full name is actually Ogilvie Maurice Hedgehog.
  16. Even though Froot Loops are different colors, they all have exactly the same flavor.
  17. George Clooney did the voice for ‘Sparky’ – a gay dog in South Park.
  18. Most toilet paper sold for home use in France is pink.
  19. Marmite was one of most confiscated items at airports from the UK – to overcome this issue, Marmite made smaller ones for travelling.
  20. The human nose can remember 50,000 different scents.
  21. Cards against Humanity bought an island in Maine to preserve wildlife. It is called Hawaii 2.
  22. Daddy longlegs have penises, which technically makes them not a spider.
  23. The television was invented only two years after the invention of sliced bread.
  24. Bullfrogs do not sleep.
  25. The dark region on the north pole of Pluto’s moon, Charon, is called Mordor.

Fun Fact

Jun21
 7 Up was created by Charles Leiper Grigg. Grigg came up with the formula for a lemon-lime soft drink in 1929. The product, originally named “Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda”, was launched two weeks before the Wall Street Crash of 1929. It contained lithium citrate, a mood-stabilizing drug, until 1950. Its name was later shortened to “7 Up Lithiated Lemon Soda” before being further shortened to just “7 Up” by 1936. The origin of the name is unclear, though Britvic claims that the name comes from the seven main ingredients in the drink, while others have claimed that the number was a coded reference to the lithium contained in the original recipe, which has an atomic mass of approximately 7.

THE SPHINX—-NEWS

Jun21

News cat:   Here is some good news.

http://www.sltrib.com/news/5398548-155/new-utah-facility-will-be-able

Expect fewer crimes in the Southwest.   With fewer flights airline customers won’t be beaten like they usually are.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2017/06/20/Phoenix-heat-wave-cancels-50-American-Airline-flights/1511497940635/?utm_source=fp&utm_campaign=ts&utm_medium=1

Here is a female NFL player, maybe.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2715385-nfl-first-female-player-becca-longo-kicker

Dog flu is here.

http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2017/06/14/Dangerous-dog-flu-spreading-through-US/8251497487899/?utm_source=fp&utm_campaign=ls&utm_medium=4

Businesses should have been doing this forever.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2017/06/15/Trump-signs-order-expanding-labor-apprenticeships/8721497545995/?utm_source=sec&utm_campaign=sl&utm_medium=6

Here is an expansion that I hope is never needed.

https://www.armytimes.com/articles/army-to-expand-arlington-cemetery-ends-talks-with-county

Bald Eagles raise a hawk.

http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2017/06/16/Eagles-spotted-raising-baby-hawk-with-their-eaglets/3331497636534/?utm_source=sec&utm_campaign=sl&utm_medium=8

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Jun21

A Sundial that Shows Solstice
Image Credit & Copyright: Jean-Marc Mari

Explanation: What day is it? If the day — and time — are right, this sundial will tell you: SOLSTICE. Only then will our Sun be located just right for sunlight to stream through openings and spell out the term for the longest and shortest days of the year. But this will happen today (and again in December). The sundial was constructed by Jean Salins in 1980 and is situated at the Ecole Supérieure des Mines de Paris in Valbonne Sophia Antipolis of south-eastern France. On two other days of the year, watchers of this sundial might get to see it produce another word: EQUINOXE.

Tomorrow’s picture: northern summer, cloudy skies

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