Astronomy Tuesday

It's baaaack!

When we last saw comet C67/P Churyumov-Gerasimenko several years ago, the Rosetta probe had landed on it and managed to send back several images before self-destructing.

Its 6.4 year orbit takes it out beyond the orbit of Jupiter but it's approaching the sun again and will be visible through a telescope over the next few months.

Image Credit and Copyright: Rolando Ligustri (CARA Project, CAST)

Sunday bird blogging

A beautiful oystercatcher on the beach at Jacob Riis Park Wednesday.

I love that the bands on his legs coordinate so perfectly with his beak.

Saturday reflections

City windows, throwing the views right back at you. you can see something similar on every avenue in Manhattan; this particular example was in the West 30's.

Wise words

I loved this sign in the bathroom at Jacob Riis Park at the beach.

Please check the roll before you commit are definitely words to live by.

This is how I dress for the beach

Long sleeves, pants rolled up, hat, sunscreen.

(Thanks to Jayne for the picture.)

More on the beach

I've lived on the East Coast for many decades now, and yet the idea of wearing bathing suits on the beach still seems so wrong to this San Francisco native.

On the beach

I really wanted a beach to be the next stop on my Dipping a Toe Back Into Reality program, so I spent an afternoon in the Rockaways. (Technically I spent an afternoon in the car driving out to Queens and back again, with an hour walking barefoot on the sand and another spent eating lunch.)

It was glorious. And these guys made me smile.

Astronomy Tuesday

Nighttime on Saturn, as seen by Cassini two days before its long mission ended in 2017.

Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, Space Science Institute, Mindaugas Macijauskas

It's Monday again

Readings and assignments are starting to pile up, and I have class tonight, so it is definitely a Monday, and unfortunately it feels like one.

Here's a magnificent tree in the morning fog near our place in Wallkill.

Sunday bird blogging

This bird is so remarkably unremarkable that it could be several different species, but I'm going to say juvenile catbird, because there were other catbirds in the area.

I was standing next to another birder/photographer in the park on Friday, and it was a humbling experience. We were looking at exactly the same trees and he kept taking picture after amazing picture of birds I wasn't even seeing--a reminder that first step in photography is noticing.

By Tillson Lake

The stream on the other side of the dam that creates the lake, and the road that leads to the dam.

Saturday reflections

A few perfect miniature clouds hovering over Tillson Lake, near where we were staying in Wallkill.