View allAll Photos Tagged Acknowledgment
A snapshot of the Tarantula Nebula (also known as 30 Doradus) is featured in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. The Tarantula Nebula is a large star-forming region of ionized hydrogen gas that lies 161,000 light-years from Earth in the Large Magellanic Cloud, and its turbulent clouds of gas and dust appear to swirl between the region’s bright, newly formed stars.
The Tarantula Nebula is a familiar site for Hubble. It is the brightest star-forming region in our galactic neighborhood and home to the hottest, most massive stars known. This makes it a perfect natural laboratory in which to test out theories of star formation and evolution, and Hubble has a rich variety of images of this region. The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope also recently delved into this region, revealing thousands of never-before-seen young stars.
This new image combines data from two different observing proposals. The first was designed to explore the properties of the dust grains that exist in the void between stars that make up the dark clouds winding through this image. This proposal, which astronomers named Scylla, reveals how interstellar dust interacts with starlight in a variety of environments. It complements another Hubble program called Ulysses, which characterizes the stars. This image also incorporates data from an observing program studying star formation in conditions similar to the early universe, as well as cataloging the stars of the Tarantula Nebula for future science with Webb.
Text credit: European Space Agency (ESA)
Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, C. Murray, E. Sabbi; Acknowledgment: Y. -H. Chu
For more information: www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2023/hubbles-new-view-...
This celestial cloudscape captures the colorful region in the Orion Nebula surrounding the Herbig-Haro object HH 505. Herbig-Haro objects are luminous regions surrounding newborn stars that form when stellar winds or jets of gas spew from these infant stars creating shockwaves that collide with nearby gas and dust at high speeds. The outflows are visible as gracefully curving structures at the top and bottom of this image. Their interaction with the large-scale flow of gas and dust from the core of the nebula distorts them into sinuous curves.
The Orion Nebula is a dynamic region of dust and gas where thousands of stars are forming. It is the closest region of massive star formation to Earth, making it one of the most scrutinized areas of the night sky and often a target for the Hubble Space Telescope.
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, J. Bally; Acknowledgment: M. H. Özsaraç
For more information: www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2022/hubble-peers-at-c...
Upa Pues, apoyemos a los guias locales!
We end our holiday (Botanic and Birding) with our friends ( Joy Chaisua and Jeff Petters)
It was wonderful and we saw a large number of birds (424 species) , almost 71 orchids species also the other plants. Our acknowledgment to all great local guides whom
Gilberto Collazos Bolaños Edison Javier Cañon Daniel F López Martínez Montezuma Rainforest Harvy Murillo Gonzalez Asociación Comunitaria Yarumo Blanco
without his help, we would not have seen many of the species so we are grateful to his knowledge, dedication and effort in this respect.
Tour operated for bogotabirding.com/
Bogota Birding and Birdwatching Colombia Tours
The lazily winding spiral arms of the galaxy NGC 5921 snake across this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. This galaxy lies approximately 80 million light-years from Earth, and much like our own galaxy, the Milky Way, contains a prominent bar – a central linear band of stars. Roughly half of all spiral galaxies may contain bars. These bars affect their parent galaxies by fueling star formation and influencing the motion of stars and interstellar gas.
Given NGC 5921’s serpentine spiral arms, it seems fitting that the galaxy resides in the constellation Serpens in the northern celestial hemisphere. Serpens is the only one of the 88 modern constellations with two unconnected regions – Serpens Caput (Serpent’s Head) and Serpens Cauda (Serpent’s Tail). Ophiuchus, the Serpent Bearer, separates these two regions.
The scientific study behind this image also came in two parts – observations from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 and observations from the ground-based Gemini Observatory. The two telescopes helped astronomers better understand the relationship between galaxies like NGC 5921 and the supermassive black holes they contain. Hubble’s contribution determined the masses of stars in the galaxies. Hubble also took measurements that helped calibrate the observations from Gemini. Together, Hubble and Gemini provided astronomers with a census of nearby supermassive black holes in a diverse variety of galaxies.
Text credit: European Space Agency (ESA)
Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, J. Walsh; Acknowledgment: R. Colombari
For more information: www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goodard/2002/hubble-spies-a-se...
NGC 4666 takes center stage in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. This majestic spiral galaxy lies about 80 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo and is undergoing a particularly intense episode of star formation. Astronomers refer to galaxies that rapidly form stars as starburst galaxies. NGC 4666’s starburst is likely due to gravitational interactions with its unruly neighbors – including the nearby galaxy NGC 4668 and a dwarf galaxy, which is a small galaxy made up of a few billion stars.
NGC 4666’s burst of star formation is driving an unusual form of extreme galactic weather known as a superwind – a gigantic transfer of gas from the bright central heart of the galaxy out into space. This superwind is the result of driving winds from short-lived massive stars formed during NGC 4666’s starburst as well as spectacularly energetic supernova explosions. Two supernovae occurred in NGC 4666 within the last decade – one in 2014 and the other in 2019. The star that led to the 2019 supernova was 19 times as massive as our Sun!
Though the torrent of superheated gas emanating from NGC 4666 is truly vast in scale – extending for tens of thousands of light-years – it is invisible in this image. The superwind’s extremely high temperature makes it stand out as a luminous plume in X-ray or radio observations, but it doesn’t show up at the visible wavelengths imaged by Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3.
Text credit: European Space Agency (ESA)
Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, O. Graur; Acknowledgment: L. Shatz
For more information: www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2021/hubble-uncovers-a...
Special thanks / compstomp acknowledgment to Larry/bnzai9 who suggested I do some Fall color reconnaissance in the Glenwood area last Fall. This year when I reached the area a high dense overcast filled the sky, but as I took some shots along this section of road the clouds to the West grew thinner letting the sun cast a nice soft warm glow across the landscape. N23926 - Happy Fall Color Rush!
The Palais Garnier also known as Opéra Garnier is a historic 1,979-seat opera house at the Place de l'Opéra in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, France. It was built for the Paris Opera from 1861 to 1875 at the behest of Emperor Napoleon III.[4] Initially referred to as le nouvel Opéra de Paris (the new Paris Opera), it soon became known as the Palais Garnier, "in acknowledgment of its extraordinary opulence"[6] and the architect Charles Garnier's plans and designs, which are representative of the Napoleon III style. It was the primary theater of the Paris Opera and its associated Paris Opera Ballet until 1989, when a new opera house, the Opéra Bastille, opened at the Place de la Bastille. The company now uses the Palais Garnier mainly for ballet. The theatre has been a monument historique of France since 1923.
The Palais Garnier has been called "probably the most famous opera house in the world, a symbol of Paris like Notre Dame Cathedral, the Louvre, or the Sacré Coeur Basilica". This is at least partly due to its use as the setting for Gaston Leroux's 1910 novel The Phantom of the Opera and, especially, the novel's subsequent adaptations in films and the popular 1986 musical.[8] Another contributing factor is that among the buildings constructed in Paris during the Second Empire, besides being the most expensive, it has been described as the only one that is "unquestionably a masterpiece of the first rank".
(Source: Wikipedia)
This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope reveals tendrils of dark dust threading across the heart of the spiral galaxy NGC 7172. The galaxy lies approximately 110 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Piscis Austrinus. The lane of dust threading its way across NGC 7172 is obscuring the luminous heart of the galaxy, making NGC 7172 appear to be nothing more than a normal spiral galaxy viewed from the side.
When astronomers inspected NGC 7172 across the electromagnetic spectrum they quickly discovered that there was more to it than meets the eye: NGC 7172 is a Seyfert galaxy – a type of galaxy with an intensely luminous active galactic nucleus powered by matter accreting onto a supermassive black hole.
This image combines data from two sets of Hubble observations, both proposed to study nearby active galactic nuclei. The image also combines data from two instruments -– Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys and Wide Field Camera 3.
Text credit: European Space Agency (ESA)
Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. J. Rosario, A. Barth; Acknowledgment: L. Shatz
For more information: www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2022/hubble-views-a-ga...
[ Important Announcement ]
The 2025 exhibition has been postponed.
Right now, I’m fully immersed in writing—and I’ve been uploading fragments of that work here.
Among the countless artists around the world, my work may be no more than a mere pebble.
And yet, I still feel compelled to create.
America.
Europe.
And now, Japan—faced with the results of this latest election.
The world is already broken.
I don’t believe for a moment that my novel could fix such a world.
But as I’ve always said, I believe that changing the inner world of a single person can change tomorrow.
That belief remains unchanged.
I have confidence in this novel.
To hurt someone.
To love someone.
Is there a wall that separates us from loving one another?
Is money the most important thing of all?
Is art truly meaningless?
I’ve entrusted everything to this story.
That’s why I’ve made the decision to step away from exhibitions for a year.
If things go well, I may begin publishing the novel between January and February of next year.
If not, it will be around late July 2026.
Right now, I’m consumed with breaking through my own limits.
As entertainment, I believe this novel will bring you joy again and again.
Please look forward to it.
July 19, 2025
Mitsushiro
Images
ELLEGARDEN - Lonesome
youtu.be/m1rgXlLkKDc?si=99vILpcJBIeEOrsP
Shot on iPhone 11 Pro.
Motosuka Beach, Sanmu City, Chiba Prefecture, Japan.
(Today’s photo. It has not been released yet.)
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Exhibition 2026
Theme
The Nightfly
Inspired by my upcoming novel:
B♭ (B Flat)
Images
Taylor Swift – This Love (Japanese Subtitles)
youtu.be/PfJzQuqWSSE?si=Y2g0HzhoVjnR46zS
Mitsushiro Nakagawa
Presented by
Design Festa
Venue
Tokyo Big Sight
Schedule
Fall 2026
exhibition.mitsushiro.nakagawa@gmail.com
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【 重要なお知らせ 】
２０２５年の展示は、延期します。
僕は現在、執筆に集中していて、その断片をここへアップロードしています。
世界中に溢れるアーティストのなかで、僕の作品は石ころのような存在です。
けれども、僕はどうしても描きたいのです。
アメリカやヨーロッパ。そして、今回の選挙結果を突きつけられた日本。
世界はすでに壊れています。
壊れた世界を僕の小説が修復できるなどとは決して思っていません。
僕はこれまでにも書いてきたように、たったひとりの個人の内面を塗り替えることで明日を変えられると信じてきました。
それは、いまでも変わっていません。
僕は今回の小説に自信を持っています。
誰かを傷つけること。
誰かを愛すること。
誰かを愛することに壁はあるのか。
お金がもっとも大切なのか。
アートは無意味なのか。
僕はこの小説にすべてを託しました。
ですので、僕は一年間、展示を見送る決断をしました。
小説の発表は、早くて来年の１月から２月ごろにできるかもしれません。
遅くて、来年の７月下旬です。
僕は今、自分の壁を越えることに夢中になっています。
僕の小説は、エンターテイメントとして、あなたを何度も楽しませるはずです。
楽しみに、待っていてください。
19.7,2025.
Mitsushiro.
Images.
ELLEGARDEN - Lonesome
youtu.be/m1rgXlLkKDc?si=99vILpcJBIeEOrsP
iPhone 11 Pro shot .
本須賀海岸。山武市。千葉県。日本。
(. 今日の写真。それは未発表です。 )
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２０２6年の展示
テーマ
The Nightfly
僕の次の小説。B♭（ビーフラット）
そのイメージになります。
Images.
Taylor Swift … This Love 【和訳】
youtu.be/PfJzQuqWSSE?si=Y2g0HzhoVjnR46zS
Mitsushiro - Nakagawa
主催
デザインフェスタ
場所
東京ビッグサイト
日程
2026年 秋。
exhibition.mitsushiro.nakagawa@gmail.com
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My new novel:
B♭ (B-flat)
There’s still more to come. 😃
(This is not the final draft.)
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Scene: Garden 3‑4
Jack slumped deeply in the commander’s chair, his gaze sweeping across the pale glow of the monitor wall.
Camera feeds A17, A18, A19—all fixed on the arena’s center. Yet the security guard on the west side of the stands wasn’t watching there. His eyes were glued to the emergency exit at Section 212. Its sensor blinked once—a flash of red warning across the screen.
“A suspicious movement… the door sensor just lit up,” Jack's low voice vibrated through Ben’s earpiece.
Ben glanced upward at the monitors and whispered,
“Shall I go?”
“No,” Jack replied, his voice dropping. “Don’t leave your post. I’ll handle it.”
He paused, stern. “It’s probably nothing. But—stay alert. Keep your eyes peeled.”
Silence fell over each earpiece, the tension thickening. On the monitor, the door remained motionless—neither opening nor closing—frozen in stillness.
Jack burst from the briefing room, sprinted up from underground into the arena, his view sweeping the western stand. He looked up at the broad, flat ceiling of Madison Square Garden, sensed it swelling with the heat of the crowd. Cheers greeting the presidential candidate blended with jeers—clearly, anti‑Republicans had infiltrated.
Jack narrowed his gaze on the west stand, then lowered his eyes to his iPhone. Multiple social feeds scrolled with frenetic energy, and one post caught his attention: a murder threat, flashing in angry red text.
He dashed down the crowded corridor and reached the west stand, addressing a nearby guard:
“Evening. Everything clear on your end?”
The guard, clad in plain black suit with no tie—just a discreet earpiece—nodded, calm. He lifted his jacket slightly, revealing the outline of a Glock 19 at his waist. No hostility—just a tacit acknowledgment. Jack responded with a silent nod, their training speaking volumes.
“Door sensor tripped once. I’ll check visually.” Jack seized the cold metal handle and cast a glance down the corridor beyond. Darkness swallowed the path; silence reigned.
He spoke into his earpiece:
“All clear in the west stands. Security is solid.”
He patted the guard’s shoulder. “Stay alert.” The man returned a brief smile—and then lights died across the arena.
In the dark, red lasers lanced from ceiling to floor as a menacing bass drum rolled in from below. A crisp hi‑hat scythed in sixteenth‑notes; a heavy kick drum struck four‑on‑the‑floor. A low, rumbling bass synth layered in—and the very air of the arena began to pulse.
The crowd's heartbeat synchronized with the beat. Swirling smoke and laser cuts, the floor trembling. From deep within the sound, a processed male voice intoned again and again:
“Strength. Order. America.”
As smoke thickened the light, colossal center-hung screens flickered to life:
J U S T I N B R A D F O R D
One spotlight pierced the gloom—red, then blue, finally white—tracing the American tricolor. Within its glow appeared a man: Justin. Clad in a dark‑navy tailored suit, a bold crimson tie signifying the Republican Party, a single white rose pinned to his lapel.
Moments later, another spotlight revealed Eleanor Blake, dressed in an elegant black gown, standing behind him. Hand in hand, they strode center stage, each step purposeful. The audience looked on, awestruck, shouting cheers:
—“Take back America!”—
Red, blue, and white lights danced across their feet. Eleanor paused; Justin stepped forward to the microphone as the music faded and lights dimmed again. Silence engulfed the arena.
He made no sound—only a slight, assured smile. That smile was a declaration of war. Saying everything without uttering a word. That posture—that was the bearing of a man who would become the most powerful leader in the world: President of the United States.
Justin scanned the crowd for a moment, then spoke in calm tones. His golden hair, blue eyes—mirroring Eleanor’s—lent gravity to his words:
“Good evening, New York. How’s your night going so far?”
He smiled at a woman in the front row. Following his father’s advice, he spoke as if addressing just one person, not an entire audience—
—“When I arrived in the parking lot tonight, I felt weighed down by the humidity. Eleanor whispered to me: ‘We chose the best course to protect you. Our team would risk their lives for you.’”
His voice rang clear. Thunderous applause erupted from tens of thousands. A wave of anticipation rolled toward the stage. The spotlight seemed to center itself in his eyes—and likewise in Eleanor’s.
“Tonight, we gather to put our will once again at the heart of this nation. To reclaim the ‘light’ America is forgetting. Over the past four years, our party restored the economy, brought back security, rebuilt national order. Now, it’s time to shine that light brighter—not as mere hope, but as our responsibility. If America shines again, the world will follow. We must seize that stronger, purer light. It will illuminate the world.”
Justin’s voice reverberated through the arena—until… a dry gunshot cracked the air from center stage.
Jack dove instinctively. His eyes darted upward to the giant screens: time froze. He saw Justin’s body convulse backwards, his jacket tail flipping off his left shoulder. The first bullet struck his left arm, the second to his left abdomen. Justin crumpled slowly, falling face‑first.
“Justin!” Eleanor’s scream cut across the stage. Her wide eyes fixed on him, trembling. A haze of tears blurred her vision. Secret Service agents shielded her, pulling her back.
“Hit the deck!” Guards and crowd shouted in chorus. Pandemonium erupted. Women's screams overlapped. The reverberation of gunfire lingered ominously in the cavernous space.
Unbeknownst to most, Jack’s ears had discerned two shots. He closed his eyes and re‑ran the sound—each fired from above—each from perilously close.
“Ben—where are you?” Jack pushed through collapsing spectators, heading to the stage.
“By Justin’s side. Missed his heart—just grazed left arm and abdomen. Not arterial, but bleeding heavily.”
“Medical team’s on the motorcade. Justin has Bombay blood—two bags ready on the ambulance. Start transfusion.”
“If that’s not enough, what about Elijah?”
“Either way, he’s en route. Bellevue Hospital stores Bombay bags—confirmed three days ago.”
Bombay blood: a rare type first found in Bombay (now Mumbai) in 1952—not A, B, or O—afflicting about 1 in 10,000 in India, 1 in 2.5 million worldwide. It can only be transfused to someone of the same type.
Ben replied calmly.
They rushed Justin to Bellevue Hospital—the closest to the Garden. Jack called Elijah. Before the first ring ended, Elijah answered, breathless:
“Jack... this is bad. We’ve no blood—no Bombay stock.”
Jack couldn’t believe it.
“I saw the bags in person three days ago!”
Silence, then Elijah replied:
“The blood keeper was killed in a car crash yesterday.”
As Jack absorbed the news, his voice boomed over the arena’s PA, shaking the trembling building. The crowd froze and then shattered. Thousands surged toward exits—only to find them locked.
“There’s explosives in this building. Please, stay calm and head for the exits. I repeat—I am….”
Panic rippled. Eight exits in total—most had been sealed for VIP and motorcade security. The crowd funnelled into the remaining three.
Low moans grew to shrieks. People trampled the fallen. A little girl's white blouse had turned grey, her teddy flattened. During flight, no one looked back. At one exit, dozens collapsed, graves to the trampling. The weight buckled railings, jammed the door.
“Doors won’t open!” “There’s children—!” Screams scattered. Security couldn’t reach the scene. Orders were drowned in noise. Control evaporated.
“The crowd is uncontrollable, Jack,” came Zakaria’s voice through the PA, along with a simultaneous link to staff smartphones.
“You got my email? Open the link. No virus, I promise.”
Hurriedly, Jack checked his phone. The site loaded:
“Good evening, New York—and Los Angeles. My name is Zakaria Haddad. My real name. Five years ago, I lived in Gaza. Now I sit in a room many of you recognize.”
On the screen, a brown-skinned man with a trimmed beard—Zakaria—seated in a chair eerily like the Oval Office. Three green-curtained windows behind him—the color favored by Prophet Muhammad. A portrait of Ibn Sina hung on the wall, his gaze deep, delicate—reaching from time’s past to the present.
Zakaria glanced at his watch, then back at camera—an unreadable dark joy flickering in his eyes.
“Breaking news—watch your phone alerts.” Instantly:
Former Democratic President Owen Reed shot at Los Angeles Convention Center
Zakaria hid a wry smile.
“A sad update, America. But don’t mourn. In Gaza, we suffered 55,000 times this. We lost over 55,000 dear souls—and we wept.”
He averted his gaze, clasped both hands, slammed his fist onto the desk. The air thickened. Yet in his eyes brimmed silent tears—quiet sorrow.
“We do not seek money or glory in death. We seek tears equal to the 55,000. Only tears can heal us.”
He rested his elbows, folded his hands, chin supported. A long pause. His eyes twitched with small sorrowful motions.
Zakaria rotated a framed photo toward the camera.
“My family. More precious than my life. Gone in an instant.”
There was no hatred in his voice—only respect and gentle grief. He began again.
“I was one among those 55,000. Even if I perish, their wills persist. I stand here to voice our will.”
He quietly reached into his right drawer, withdrew a Glock 17, chambered a round, and placed the barrel against his temple. His eyes were merciful—gentle, embracing his lost family.
As a Sunni, he stared straight at the camera:
“God bless America.”
Backlit by three blazing windows, he closed his eyes and pulled the trigger. The dry crack snapped through the room. The camera jerked—then the screen went black.
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Previous notes
3
www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/54639396885/in/dateposted...
2
www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/54628511025/in/dateposted...
1
www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/54599616429/in/dateposted...
Note: I gave a brief explanation of this novel in the following video:
youtu.be/3w65lqUF-YI?si=yG7qy6TPeCL9xRJV
iTunes Playlist Link::
music.apple.com/jp/playlist/b/pl.u-47DJGhopxMD
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Notes
1. "Bombay Blood Type (hh type)"
•Characteristics: A rare blood type that lacks the usual ABO antigens — cannot be classified as A, B, or O.
•Discovery: First identified in 1952 in Mumbai, India (formerly Bombay).
•Prevalence: Roughly 1 in 10,000 people in India; globally, about 1 in 2.5 million.
•Transfusion Compatibility: Only compatible with blood from other Bombay type donors.
2. 2024 Harvard University Valedictorian Speech – The Power of Not Knowing
youtu.be/SOUH8iVqSOI?si=Ju-Y728irtcWR71K
3. Shots Fired at Trump Rally
youtu.be/1ejfAkzjEhk?si=ASqJwEmkY-2rW_hT
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Aeon parking lot. Yachimata City. Chiba Prefecture. Japan. Shot on iPhone 13 Pro … 1 / 1
イオンの駐車場。 八街市。千葉県。日本。iPhone 13 Pro shot … 1 / 1
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僕の新しい小説。
B♭ （ビーフラット）
まだまだ投下します。😃
(最終稿ではありません。)
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場面 ガーデン３−４
指揮官席に深く腰を落としていたジャックは、青白いモニター群をくまなく睨んでいた。
カメラ番号A17、A18、A19──いずれもアリーナ中央を捉えている。だが、スタンド席西側の警備員の視線が集中していたのは、そこではなかった。彼が見つめていたのはセクション212の非常扉だった。その扉のセンサーが、わずか一度だけ、反応を示し、ディスプレイに赤い警告が走った。
「不審な動きだな。ドアのセンサーが一瞬、点いた」
ジャックの低い声が、ベンのイヤピースを震わせた。
ベンは即座に 頭上のモニターを見上げ、囁くように言った。
「行くか？」
「…いや。持ち場は離れるな。俺が行く」
ジャックの声がわずかに低くなった。
「たぶん、気のせいだ。ただし──全員、警戒は解くな。そのまま、周囲に意識を集中しておけ」
それぞれのイヤピースに静寂が落ち、張り詰めた空気で満ちた。
モニターに今映っている扉は、開くことも、閉じることもなく、ただ沈黙している。
ジャックはブリーフィングルームを飛び出し、スタンド席、西側が見渡せるアリーナまで、地下から駆け上がった。
マジソンスクエアガーデンの平坦な天井は、吐き出された人の熱気でいつもより膨らんでいるように、ジャックには見えた。大統領候補を歓迎する声とそれを罵倒する叫び声が錯綜し、鼓膜の奥を揺らした。どうやら反共和党も紛れ込んでいるようだ。
ジャックは、スタンド席西側へしばらく目を凝らしてから、手元のアイフォンに目を落とした。画面には、いくつかのSNSが同時に広がっており、それぞれが激しい書き込みによって文字が流れてゆく。右下の、メタの書き込みに、ジャックは目を留めた。殺害予告のメッセージが走り、赤く灯っている。ジャックは喧騒に満ちた通路を駆け抜け、スタンド席西側へ着くと、警備員へ声を掛けた。
「おつかれ。異常はないか？」
ジャックはさりげなく背筋を伸ばした。ジャケットの背中越しに、腰の中央──背骨の下に沿ってぴたりと固定されたグロック19の存在を確かめた。
「どうも。こちらは異常ありませんよ。何かありましたか？」
黒のスーツで、胸元にネクタイはない、プレーン・クロースの私設セキュリティだ。視線は沈着で、イヤピースから伸びるコードが耳の下に覗いている。男は一瞬、ジャックを睨むように見たが、ジャケットの裾を軽く持ち上げ、ホルスターの形をわずかに見せた。男に敵意はなかった。それが合図だった。ジャックも同じように、背筋を伸ばしながら無言で頷いた。この沈黙こそが、互いの訓練と経験を示していた。
「ドアのセンサーが一度反応した。目視で確認する」
ジャックは、冷たい金属の取っ手を掴み、扉の奥を一瞥した。辺りは暗闇に沈み、静まり返っていた。
ジャックはその場からすぐにイヤピースで伝えた。
「スタンド席西側に異常はなかった。セキュリティーにも問題はない」
ジャックは、男の肩を軽く叩いて、いった。
「引き続き、頼む」
男が笑顔でジャックに挨拶すると、アリーナの照明が一気に落ちた。
闇の中、赤いレーザーがガーデンの天井から床まで、縦横に切り裂き、重く低く唸るような打ち込みの硬質なバスドラがアリーナの底から噴き上がった。ハイハットが16分音符で刻まれ、深く沈むキックドラムが四拍を正確に打つ。そこに、低くうねるベース・シンセが重なり、会場全体の空気そのものが脈打つように震え始めた。
観客の鼓動が、低く分厚い音にシンクロし始めた。スモークが舞い、赤いレーザーが切り裂く中、床の震えが増していった。低いベース音に重なった奥から、加工された男性の声が繰り返し聞こえてくる。
“Strength.（強さ） Order.（秩序） America.”
場内のスモークが、光を濁らせるようにさらに舞うと、巨大なセンター・ハング・スクリーンに文字が浮かび上がった。
J U S T I N・B R A D F O R D
その瞬間、中央のスポットライトが、ひとつだけ点いた。赤から青へ──そして白へと、アメリカの三色をなぞるように変化する演出だ。
その光の中、男が姿を現した。
ジャスティンだ。ダークネイビーのテーラードスーツに、共和党を示す真紅のネクタイを巻いている。胸元には一輪の白いバラのピンバッジが添えられていた。
数秒遅れて、彼の背後にもうひとつ光が射した。漆黒のドレスを纏ったエリノア・ブレイクがスポットライトを浴びている。
ふたりは笑顔で手を取り合うと、ゆっくりステージ中央へ歩み始めた。彼らの歩みに迷いはなかった。強さと秩序の意志を現した姿に、観客の誰もがその姿を見上げ、歓声を上げている。
ー アメリカを取り戻せ！ ー
マイクスタンドへ近づくにつれ、アリーナの熱はさらに帯び、波のようにうねった。
赤、青、白の光がジャスティンらの足元を錯綜した。
エリノアを残し、ジャスティンは、一歩前に出て、マイクの前に立った。
音楽が静かにフェードアウトし、照明が再び落ちていく。
── その瞬間、全アリーナが沈黙に包まれた。
彼は、何も言わず、ただ口元に微笑みを浮かべた。その微笑みが、宣戦布告に等しかった。
語らずに、何かを語っている。
それが、世界でもっとも権力を持つ、アメリカ大統領の姿勢なのだ。
ジャスティンは、しばらく観衆を見渡してから、穏やかな口調でいった。エリノアと同じ金色に煌めく髪とブルーの瞳が、彼の言葉をさらに支えるようだ。
「こんばんは。ニューヨーク。今日は、いいことがあったかい？」
ジャスティンは、微笑みながら、最前列の女性に問いかけた。彼は、父のルールを守っていた。多くの聴衆に語るのではなく、たったひとりの身近な人へ言葉を伝えるのだ ーー
「僕は今日、駐車場に着いた時、気が滅入ったよ。ひどい湿気に陰鬱になった。でも、ここにいるエリノアが僕に言ったんだ。あなたを守るために、スタッフは最善の手段を選んだ、とね。そして、スタッフはみな、僕のために命を賭けてくれると」
歯切れよく言い切ったジャスティンの言葉に、再び観衆は沸いた。数万人の熱波がステージへ押し寄せた。
ジャスティンの目には、ステージにあった光を収束させたような輝きがあった。もちろん、エリノアの青い瞳にもだ。
「今夜、僕らがここに集まったのは、それぞれの意志を、再びこの国の中心に叩き込むためだ。アメリカが忘れかけている“光”を、もう一度我々の手に取り戻すためだ。この4年間、我が党は経済を立て直し、治安を取り戻し、国家の秩序を再構築した。今、私たちはその“光”をもっと強く照らす時に来ている。それは、ただの希望ではない。責任だ。アメリカが再び輝けば、世界はそれに倣う。そして、もっと強い、鮮明な光を私たちは手にしなければならない。アメリカが強い光を取り戻すことで、世界をくまなく照らすことができるのだ。私たちには、もっとそれができるはずだ」
ジャスティンの声が、再び会場を震わせた瞬間、乾いた銃声が響いた。ステージ中央あたりからだ。ジャックは音と同時に身を屈め、アリーナの頭上に展開した巨大なセンター・ハング・スクリーンに目をやった。ジャックには映る全ての時間が止まっていた。ジャスティンの身体が弾けたように背後へ揺れた。ジャケットの裾がゆっくり翻り、左肩から崩れてゆく。たぶん、最初の弾は左肩に着弾した。その後、再びジャスティンは前屈みになった。二発目は左腹部だ。ジャスティンの身体は、床へスローモーションのように崩れ落ち、うつぶした。
「ジャスティン！」
エリノアの矯正がステージに響いた。大きく見開いた瞳が、一点を見つめまま、細かく揺れている。一瞬にして透明な薄い膜が幾重にも重なって滲み、零れた。
ジャスティンへ近づこうとするエリノアの体を前面から覆うようにしてSPが抑え込み、引き離している。
「伏せろ！」というSPと観客からの声が同時に周囲を支配した途端、観客席は混乱に包まれた。
女性らの悲鳴が錯綜し、誰か、とやはり別の女性の声がかぶさった。すでに消えている銃声の余韻が、巨大な会場に重く残って覆っている。
ステージにいた者以外は、一聴しただけでは気づかなかったがジャックの耳は聴き分けていた。弾は間違いなく２発だった。騒然とした場内をよそに、ジャックは静かに目を閉じた。発射音から着弾までを想像した。一発目の弾は、ジャスティンのほぼ頭上からだった。そして、もう一発もだ。発射音から着弾までの様子からしておそらくかなりの近距離だ。
「ベン、どこだ」
ジャックは、出口へ卒倒してゆく観客らを抗うようにしてステージへ近づいていく。ベンの冷静な声がすぐに聞こえてきた。
「ジャスティンのそばだ。心臓ははずれているが、左肩と左腹部をかすめているようだ。動脈には達していないが出血がひどい」
「車列にあった救護班がすぐにいく。ジャスティンはボンベイブラッドだ。救急車にブラッドバッグが二つ備えてある。とりあえず輸血するはずだ」
「足らなかった場合は、イライジャのところか？」
「いずれにしても搬入だ。ベルビュー病院にブラッドバッグが保管されている。予備の輸血だ。三日前に確認した」
ボンベイブラッドとは、１９５２年にインドのムンバイ、旧ボンベイで初めて確認された、通常のA、B、Oには分類されない特殊な血液型だ。インドでは１万人にひとり程度だが、世界的には２５０万人に１人ともいわれているもので、同じボンベイ型からボンベイ型への輸血しかできない。
ベンは、冷静にわかったといった。
マジソンスクエアガーデンに最も近いベルビュー病院にジャスティンを運び込む。ジャックは、病院で控えているイライジャに直接電話した。ワンコールが切れる前にすぐイライジャは反応した。
「ジャック、大変だ。血液がない。ボンベイブラッドがないんだ」
ジャックは、耳を疑った。
「三日前に、俺は直接担当の、名前は忘れたな。とにかく目の前でブラッドバッグを確認したぞ」
イライジャは、数秒の沈黙の後、応えた。
「その血液の管理者は、きのう、交通事故で亡くなったんだ」
ジャックがその言葉に沈黙していると、場内にジャックの声でアナウンスが流れた。すでに震えているガーデンをさらにその声が震わせた。ジャックは、再びスクリーンに目をやったが、音声だけがジャックの声だった。
「みなさん、落ち着いてください。私はシークレットサービスのジャック・バンスです。この建物には爆薬が仕掛けられていますが、みなさん、落ち着いて、出口へ向かってください。繰り返します。私は….」
場内の空気が一瞬にして、硬直した。同時に、崩壊した。パニックはすぐに伝染した。数千の観客は、波紋のように大きく揺れ、一斉に出口へ傾れ込んだ。しかし、ジャスティンへの発砲と同時に出口は封鎖されていた。
メインアリーナの出入口は合計8つ――だがその多くは、来賓警備や車列誘導のためにすでに封鎖されていた。群衆の大半が、残された3つの出入口に集中した。
低い声から高い叫び声。倒れた人間を踏みつける足。転倒した白いブラウスの少女はすでに黒ずんでいる。小さな熊のぬいぐるみの顔が真っ平らになっている。
人は、逃げるときに後ろを見ない。出入口の一つでは、すでに数人が折り重なるように倒れ、その上をさらに何十人もの足が越えていった。荷重により手すりが歪み、出口の一部が完全に塞がれる。
「ドアが開かない！」
「子どもが――！」
叫び声が乱れ飛び、場内警備は現場への到達すら困難な状態だった。あらゆる指示が雑音にかき消され、もはや群衆は誰の言葉も聞いていなかった。
制御不能の肉の波――それが、人間の集団というものだった。
「この程度の混乱ではなかったぞ、ジャック」
ザカリアの声が切ったはずのPAから場内へ響いた。同時に、ジャックら警備スタッフへのスマートフォンへリンク先の案内がいっせいに届いた。
「メールが届いただろう？ リンク先を開け。安心しろ、ウィルスは除去済みだ」
ザカリアが笑いを抑え、皮肉混じりにいった。
ジャックは後ろポケットから慌てて、アイフォンを開いた。１件のメール着信を開くと、サイトが現れた。
「こんばんは、ニューヨーク。そしてロサンゼルス。私の名前はザカリア・ハッダード。本名だ。５年前、ガザに住んでいた。今は、みなさんがよく目にする部屋を真似た部屋に私はいる」
褐色の、顎髭をたくわえたザカリアは、アメリカ大統領執務室とほとんど同じ部屋の椅子に座っていた。背後に見える三つの大きな窓には、グリーンのカーテンが掛けられている。預言者ムハンマドが好んだ色だ。
壁面には、剣ではなく詩と理性で世界を導こうとした男、イブン・シーナーの肖像画が掛けられていた。その眼差しは、ワシントンよりも深く、リンカーンよりも繊細なもので、遥か遠く、消え去った時間の底からこちらを見据えているようだった。
ザカリアは腕時計に目を落としてから、再び、カメラに視線を向けた。目には言葉にできない喜びのような暗い影が落ちている。
「そろそろブレイキングニュースだ。スマートフォンの速報に注目して欲しい」
ザカリアがそういった途端、速報が流れた。
【民主党前大統領のオーウェン・リードがロサンゼルス・コンベンション・センターで銃撃された模様です】
ザカリアは、一瞬俯いて笑いを堪えながらいった。
「悲しい速報じゃないか。アメリカのみなさん。でもどうか悲しまないで欲しい。私が経験したガザではこの55,000倍だ。55,000人以上の大切な人を失い、そして、涙を流した」
ザカリアはカメラから目を逸らし、俯いた。そして両手を固く握りしめ、力強く机を叩きつけた。部屋の空気が硬直した。重く固まった空気が画像からも伝わってくる。しかし、顔を上げたザカリアの目にはうっすらと涙が溢れていた。静かな涙だった。
「私たちは、お金を求めない。また、死による名誉も求めない。私たちが欲しいのは、55,000人が流した涙と同じだけの涙だ。流された涙と同じだけの涙だけが、私たちを癒す」
両肘を机につき、両手を組むと、ザカリアは静かに顎を乗せた。目を閉じて、しばらく沈黙が続いた。目尻が細かく震えているようだった。
ザカリアはデスクにあったフォトフレームをカメラへ向け、反転させた。
「私の家族だ。私の命よりも大切な家族だ。すべて一瞬で奪われたよ」
彼の言葉に憎しみはなかった。語尾には、亡くなったものへの敬意とたくさんの優しさを詰め込んだ静けさが含まれている。続けて、ザカリアはゆっくり口を開いた。
「55,000人のうちの私はひとりに過ぎない。私が消えても55,000人もの意思は決して消えず、引き継がれる。私は、私たちの意思をここに表明するためにいる」
ザカリアは、向かって右手の机の引き出しにそっと手を伸ばした。引き出しから、グロック１７を取り出すと、スライドしてチャンバーに弾を流した。そして、銃口を自分のこめかみに当てた。ザカリアの目からは憎悪は消えていた。穏やかで、亡くなった家族を包み込むようなやさしい眼差しだった。
スンニ派である彼は、まっすぐにカメラを見つめ、いった。
「神のご加護を。アメリカ」
執務室の三つの窓から差し込んだ眩い逆光の中、ザカリアは、静かに目を閉じると、トリガーを真っ直ぐに引いた。乾いた銃声が部屋に響いた。一瞬、カメラが横へぶれたが、映像は瞬時に黒へ切り替わった。
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これまでのメモ
3
www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/54639396885/in/dateposted...
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www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/54628511025/in/dateposted...
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www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/54599616429/in/dateposted...
追記 この小説を多少説明しました。
youtu.be/3w65lqUF-YI?si=yG7qy6TPeCL9xRJV
iTunes Playlist Link::
music.apple.com/jp/playlist/b/pl.u-47DJGhopxMD
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メモ
1
「Bombay型（ボンベイ型、hh型）」
•特徴：通常のABO血液型を持たない（A、B、Oに分類されない）特殊な型。
•発見地：1952年、インド・ムンバイ（旧ボンベイ）で初めて確認。
•発生頻度：インドでは1万人に1人程度だが、世界的には約250万人に1人とも。
•輸血制限：同じBombay型しか輸血できない。
2
2024年ハーバード大学首席の卒業式スピーチ『知らないことの力』
youtu.be/SOUH8iVqSOI?si=Ju-Y728irtcWR71K
3
Shots fired at Trump rally
youtu.be/1ejfAkzjEhk?si=ASqJwEmkY-2rW_hT
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#Exhibition #デザインフェスタ #デザフェス #designfesta #tokyobigsight #東京ビッグサイト #iPhone #アイフォン #アップル #イオン #駐車場 #やちまた #八街 #八街市 #yachimata #yachimatacity #cityofyachimata #saipan #サイパン #アメリカ #USA #Japan #Manhattan #Newyork #日本 #千葉 #小説 #Chiba #novel #B♭ #ビーフラット #テイラースウィフト #TaylorSwift #本須賀海岸 #山武市 #千葉県 #日本 #Motosuka #Beach #Sanmu #City #Chiba #Prefecture #Japan
In 1268 their leader, Kublai Kahn (the grandson of the nation’s founder Genghis) sent his emissaries to Japan to demand acknowledgment of Mongol overlordship. This was denied by the Japanese but there was little immediate response to this defiance as the Kahn was engaged in conflict in China, in which he established a substantial foothold by 1273.
Two enormous galaxies capture your attention in this spectacular image taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope using the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). The galaxy on the left is a lenticular galaxy, named 2MASX J03193743+4137580. The side-on spiral galaxy on the right is more simply named UGC 2665. Both galaxies lie approximately 350 million light-years from Earth, and they both form part of the huge Perseus galaxy cluster.
Perseus is an important figure in Greek mythology, renowned for slaying Medusa the Gorgon – who is herself famous for the unhappy reason that she was cursed to have living snakes for hair. Given Perseus’s impressive credentials, it seems appropriate that the galaxy cluster is one of the biggest objects in the known universe, consisting of thousands of galaxies, only a few of which are visible in this image. The wonderful detail in the image is thanks to the WFC3’s powerful resolution and sensitivity to both visible and near-infrared light, the wavelengths captured in this image.
Text credit: European Space Agency
Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, W. Harris; Acknowledgment: L. Shatz
For more information: www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2021/hubble-glimpses-a...
The spiral arms of the galaxy NGC 3318 are lazily draped across this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. This spiral galaxy lies in the constellation Vela and is roughly 115 million light-years away from Earth. Vela was originally part of a far larger constellation, known as Argo Navis after the fabled ship Argo from Greek mythology, but this unwieldy constellation proved to be impractically large. Argo Navis was split into three separate parts called Carina, Puppis, and Vela – each named after part of the Argo. As befits a galaxy in a nautically inspired constellation, the outer edges of NGC 3318 almost resemble a ship’s sails billowing in a gentle breeze.
Text credit: European Space Agency (ESA)
Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, European Southern Observatory (ESO), R. J. Foley; Acknowledgment: R. Colombari
For more information: www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2022/hubble-sights-a-s...
A portion of the open cluster NGC 6530 appears as a roiling wall of smoke studded with stars in this Hubble Space Telescope image. NGC 6530 is a collection of several thousand stars lying around 4,350 light-years from Earth in the constellation Sagittarius. The cluster is set within the larger Lagoon Nebula, a gigantic interstellar cloud of gas and dust.
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, O. De Marco; Acknowledgment: M.H. Özsaraç
For more information: www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2022/hubble-views-a-st...
A beautiful pink sky at sunset over the RNLI Lifeboat Station at Selsey. I've wanted to do a sunset shot here for a while, and recently found out that this iconic building is soon to be demolished to make way for a modern lifeboat house, so decided to get it whilst it was still there!
Selsey Lifeboat Station is an RNLI station located in the town of Selsey in the English county of West Sussex in the United Kingdom.
The station operates a Tyne-class lifeboat RNLB Voluntary Worker (ON 1146) which is launched via slipway from the main boathouse which stands away from the shore on a piled platform. The station also operates a D-class (IB1) inshore lifeboat, RNLB Betty and Thomas Moore (D-691) which is kept in its own purpose built boathouse close to the approach gangway of the main station.
The establishment of a lifeboat service in Selsey was in 1861 with RNLB The Friend; she was launched from the beach by means of skids. For the station's first 25 years the lifeboat's Coxswain was James Lawrence. On his retirement from the service in 1886 he was awarded a RNLI silver medal in acknowledgment of his long and valuable lifesaving service, highlighting rescues such as those of the brigs Governor Maclean (1875) and Sharah Ann (1871), the schooners Exel (1872) and Henrietta (1875), the barques Sueine Meinde (1878), and Tranmere (1883), and the schooner Kyanite (1881). In 1925 work began on the construction of a new boathouse built on a piled platform with a gangway leading to it from the shore. The gangway incorporated a trolley track. In 1927 the boathouse was once more re-built to enable it to house the station's new motor lifeboat.
During the Second World War the station had a busy time. The Watson-class lifeboat RNLB Canadian Pacific (ON 803) made many trips to rescue pilots from fallen aeroplanes and was launched on service 50 times. In one rescue on the 11 July 1940, the lifeboat saved the life of Squadron Leader John Peel, the commanding officer of 145 Squadron based at Tangmere. He was forced to ditch his Hurricane (P3400) into the sea off Selsey Bill after sustaining damage in a fight with German Bombers. Peel was in the water with just a Mae West life saving jacket, but he was pulled from the water by Canadian Pacific only minutes after ditching. Canadian Pacific remained on station until 1969 and records show that she went on 286 services and rescued 157 lives.
In 1952 and into 1953 the boathouse's substructure was improved and strengthened and the slipway was lengthened. In 1958 the boathouse was re-built as the old structure had become unsafe and unserviceable due to years of coastal erosion. The new station was built with reinforced concrete and the deep water roller slipway was re-configured to have a gradient of 1:5. The station was also given a new fabricated steel approach gangway from the shore.
In 1968 the service at Selsey was enhanced with the establishment of an inshore lifeboat rescue division. This new service started in March of that year with the new lifeboat kept in a boathouse located by the approach gangway to the all weather boathouse. The inshore lifeboat was launched on a newly constructed gangway laid on the shingle beach to the eastern side of the main slipway. The first inshore lifeboat was a D-class lifeboat. Further improvements were made to the inshore service with the construction of a new boathouse in 1987, the new structure including a new crew room, storeroom and a souvenir shop.
In 2011 the station celebrated its 150 years as a continuously active lifeboat station. The occasion was marked by the RNLI by awarding the station as a whole an award on Vellum which recognised the station's 150 years of dedicated service in the pursuit of saving lives at sea.
The mass of dust and bright swirls of stars in this image are the distant galaxy merger IC 2431, which lies 681 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Cancer. The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured what appears to be a triple galaxy merger in progress, as well as a tumultuous mixture of star formation and tidal distortions caused by the gravitational interactions of this galactic trio. A thick cloud of dust obscures the center of this image – though light from a background galaxy is piercing its outer extremities.
This image is from a series of Hubble observations investigating weird and wonderful galaxies found by the Galaxy Zoo citizen science project. Using Hubble’s powerful Advanced Camera for Surveys, astronomers took a closer look at some of the more unusual galaxies that volunteers identified. The original Galaxy Zoo project was the largest galaxy census ever carried out and relied on crowdsourcing time from more than 100,000 volunteers to classify 900,000 unexamined galaxies. The project achieved what would have been years of work for a professional astronomer in only 175 days and has led to a steady stream of similar astronomical citizen science projects. Later Galaxy Zoo projects have included the largest ever studies of galaxy mergers and tidal dwarf galaxies, as well as the discovery of entirely new types of compact star-forming galaxies.
Text credit: European Space Agency (ESA)
Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, W. Keel, Dark Energy Survey, Department of Energy, Fermilab, Dark Energy Survey Camera, (DECam), Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, NoirLab/National Science Foundation/AURA, Sloan Digital Sky Survey; Acknowledgment: J. Schmidt
For more information: www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2002/hubble-captures-s...
NASA video release July 13, 2010
To view a still image of NGC 2467 go to: www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/4789705443
This zoom sequence begins with a very wide-field view of the southern sky including the spectacular Milky Way. We gradually close in on the stellar nursery NGC 2467 and as the zoom finishes the full majesty of this complex region of gas, dust and young stars is revealed in a very detailed picture from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.
Credit: ESO, S. Brunier, NASA, ESA and Orsola De Marco (Macquarie University). Acknowledgment: Davide De Martin
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is home to the nation's largest organization of combined scientists, engineers and technologists that build spacecraft, instruments and new technology to study the Earth, the sun, our solar system, and the universe.
This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope features two merging galaxies in the VV-689 system, nicknamed the Angel Wing. Unlike chance alignments of galaxies, which only appear to overlap when viewed from our vantage point on Earth, the two galaxies in VV-689 are in the midst of a collision. The galactic interaction has left the VV-689 system almost completely symmetrical, giving the impression of a vast set of galactic wings.
The angelic image comes from a set of Hubble observations that took a closer look at “Zoo Gems,” interesting galaxies from the Galaxy Zoo citizen science project. This crowdsourced program relies on hundreds of thousands of volunteers to classify galaxies and help astronomers wade through a deluge of data from robotic telescopes. In the process, volunteers discovered a gallery of weird and wonderful galaxy types, some not previously studied. A similar, project called Radio Galaxy Zoo: LOFAR is using the same crowdsourcing approach to locate supermassive black holes in distant galaxies.
Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys took detailed follow-up observations of noteworthy objects from both projects. In keeping with Galaxy Zoo’s crowdsourced nature, the public cast 18,000 votes to choose targets for follow-up Hubble observations. The selected targets include ring-shaped galaxies, unusual spirals, and a striking selection of galaxy mergers such as VV-689.
Text credit: European Space Agency (ESA)
Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, W. Keel; Acknowledgment: J. Schmidt
For more information: www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2022/hubble-explores-g...
The place was tempting to explore, but it sat too open. There were people around - towns people. Watching to see my next move.
I took several photos, sometimes kneeling, sometimes standing on toes. And they watched without greeting or acknowledgment.
I had never heard of this place. I had never seen a photo of it. This seemed strange, uneasy. The whole place was uneasy. Not frightening, really, but like a small ache just starting in your stomache. A pulling.
There was a pulling inward. Into the buildings, which I knew I couldn't go. But pulling as my eyes darted and head turned over shoulders.
.
.
.
'In the Company of Silent Men'
Camera: Mamiya RB67
Lens: Mamiya-Sekor 3.8/90mm
Film: Fomapan 400
Process: Foma Retro Special; 6min
Oklahoma
July 2021
The twin galaxies NGC 4496A and NGC 4496B dominate the frame in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Both galaxies lie in the constellation Virgo, but despite appearing side-by-side in this image they are at vastly different distances from both Earth and one another. NGC 4496A is 47 million light-years from Earth while NGC 4496B is 212 million light-years away. The enormous distances between the two galaxies mean that the two are not interacting, and only appear to overlap because of a chance alignment.
Chance galactic alignments such as this provide astronomers with the opportunity to delve into the distribution of dust in these galaxies. Galactic dust – the dark tendrils threading through both NGC 4496A and NGC 4496B – adds to the beauty of astronomical images, but it also complicates astronomers’ observations. Dust in the universe tends to scatter and absorb blue light, making stars seem dimmer and redder in a process called “reddening.” Reddening due to dust is different from redshift, which is due to the expansion of space itself. By carefully measuring how dust in the foreground galaxy affects starlight from the background galaxy, astronomers can map the dust in the foreground galaxy’s spiral arms. The resulting “dust maps” help astronomers calibrate measurements of everything from cosmological distances to the types of stars populating these galaxies.
Text credit: European Space Agency (ESA)
Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, T. Boeker, B. Holwerda, Dark Energy Survey, Department of Energy, Fermilab/Dark Energy Camera (DECam), Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory/NOIRLab/National Science Foundation/Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Sloan Digital Sky Survey; Acknowledgment: R. Colombari
For more information: www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2022/hubble-observes-a...
While appearing as a delicate and light veil draped across the sky, this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope actually depicts a small section of the Cygnus supernova blast wave, located around 2,400 light-years away. The name of the supernova remnant comes from its position in the northern constellation of Cygnus (the Swan), where it covers an area 36 times larger than the full Moon.
The original supernova explosion blasted apart a dying star about 20 times more massive than our Sun between 10,000 and 20,000 years ago. Since then, the remnant has expanded 60 light-years from its center. The shockwave marks the outer edge of the supernova remnant and continues to expand at around 220 miles per second. The interaction of the ejected material and the low-density interstellar material swept up by the shockwave forms the distinctive veil-like structure seen in this image.
Text credit: ESA (European Space Agency)
Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, W. Blair; acknowledgment: Leo Shatz
For more information: www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2020/hubble-views-edge...
Caldwell 48, also known as NGC 2775, is a spiral galaxy. This image of Caldwell 48 combines visible, infrared, and ultraviolet observations taken by Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 in 2019. It features the galaxy’s large, yellowish, central bulge filled with old stars, encircled by tightly wound spiral arms decorated by dark dust and clusters of young, blue stars. Astronomers used Hubble to study young stars in the galaxy’s spiral arms to better understand star formation there.
Caldwell 48 has an apparent magnitude of 11 and is located 67 million light-years away in the constellation Cancer. It was discovered by astronomer William Herschel in 1783 and is visible in clear, dark skies using a small telescope. Resolving its spiral arms, however, is incredibly difficult even with a large telescope. The best time of year to observe it is late winter in the Northern Hemisphere or late summer in the Southern Hemisphere.
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, J. Lee and the PHANGS-HST Team; Acknowledgment: Judy Schmidt (Geckzilla)
For more information about Hubble’s observations of Caldwell 48, see: www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw2026a/
For Hubble's Caldwell catalog website and information on how to find these objects in the night sky, visit:
[S171]
Due to the recent unauthorized publication of my images in a magazine. newspaper and two published books without payment I have to now make this statement. I keep attending online Railway Soc events where speakers brazenly show my images without any acknowledgment of the photographer or the fact they have just stolen them off my FLICKR site. Hence I have been forced to add a copyright sign in the corner.
This image is the copyright of copyright Peter Brabham or copyright Derek Chaplin family ; Any users, found to replicate, reproduce, circulate, distribute, download, manipulate or otherwise use my images without my written consent will be in breach of copyright laws. I will retrospectively claim £50 per print image if prior written authorization for publication has not been sought. Please contact me at pete.brabham@ntlworld.com for permission to use any of my FLICKR photographs in hard copy publication. I will usually give permission free of charge to Heritage Railways and steam loco restoration project advertising, but profit-making magazines and book authors must pay a reproduction fee. Authors should know the provenance of high quality digital images that they use.
This stunning image by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope features the spiral galaxy NGC 5643 in the constellation of Lupus (the Wolf). Looking this good isn’t easy; 30 different exposures, for a total of nine hours of observation time, together with the high resolution and clarity of Hubble, were needed to produce an image of such high level of detail and beauty.
NGC 5643 is about 60 million light-years away from Earth and has been the host of a recent supernova event (not visible in this latest image). This supernova (2017cbv) was a specific type in which a white dwarf steals so much mass from a companion star that it becomes unstable and explodes. The explosion releases significant amounts of energy and lights up that part of the galaxy.
The observation was proposed by Adam Riess, who (alongside Saul Perlmutter and Brian Schmidt) was awarded a Nobel Prize in physics in 2011 for his contributions to the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the universe.
Text credit: ESA (European Space Agency)
Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, A. Riess et al.; acknowledgment: Mahdi Zamani
For more information: www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2020/hubble-captures-g...
This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope features a richness of spiral galaxies: the large, prominent spiral galaxy on the right side of the image is NGC 1356; the two apparently smaller spiral galaxies flanking it are LEDA 467699 (above it) and LEDA 95415 (very close at its left) respectively; and finally, IC 1947 sits along the left side of the image.
This image is a really interesting example of how challenging it can be to tell whether two galaxies are actually close together, or just seem to be from our perspective here on Earth. A quick glance at this image would likely lead you to think that NGC 1356, LEDA 467699, and LEDA 95415 were all close companions, while IC 1947 was more remote. However, we have to remember that two-dimensional images such as this one only give an indication of angular separation: that is, how objects are spread across the sphere of the night sky. What they cannot represent is the distance objects are from Earth.
Video credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, J. Dalcanton, Dark Energy Survey/DOE/FNAL/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA; Acknowledgment: L. Shatz
#NASA #STScI #NASAGoddard #NASAMarshall #galaxy #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #galaxy
In 1959 Derek Chaplin accompanied BBC broadcaster Wynford Vaughan Thomas making a radio broadcast catching trains only from Cardiff to North Wales and calling in on both the embryonic Talyllyn and Ffestiniog railways. Subsequently, Derek made up a 35mm slide show called " Trains of Wales 1959" which he showed at railway societies. These 137 mainly Kodachrome slides have been found by his family preserved in a dry wooden storage box and I am privileged to scan them for people to see again. The notes on each slide are minimalist and with no actual dates so anybody who can add interesting information is appreciated.
Due to the recent unauthorized publication of my images in a magazine. newspaper and two published books without payment I have to now make this statement. I keep attending online Railway Soc events where speakers brazenly show my images without any acknowledgment of the photographer. Hence I have been forced to add a copyright sign in the corner.
This image is the copyright of © Peter Brabham; Any users, found to replicate, reproduce, circulate, distribute, download, manipulate or otherwise use my images without my written consent will be in breach of copyright laws. I will retrospectively claim £50 per print image if prior written authorization for publication has not been sought. Please contact me at pete.brabham@ntlworld.com for permission to use any of my FLICKR photographs in hard copy publication. I will usually give permission free of charge to Heritage Railways and steam loco restoration project advertising, but profit making magazines and book authors must pay a reproduction fee. Authors should know the provenance of high quality digital images that they use.
“A future “space taxi” capable of transporting “passengers other than trained astronauts” to earth orbital stations “or to any point on earth within 45 minutes” was described to 150 international scientists meeting in Palo Alto today.
The single-stage, multi-purpose rocket launch vehicle would be “recoverable and reusable,” Douglas Aircraft Company engineer Phil Bono said.
The week-long event is sponsored by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE).
He told the space scientists from Britain, France, Germany and Italy that by refueling in earth orbit, the Douglas designed satellite could also land passengers and cargo on the moon.
SPACE FIGHTER
Bono said the giant rocket could also have military applications including “the jet fighter of the space age…”
Unfortunately, the rest of the article was omitted when affixed to the verso.
8.5” x 11”, so likely original Douglas Aircraft Company-produced for professional presentation, and in this case, press purposes, hence it not being appropriately handled. Fortunately, and despite such, it’s still retained its gloss.
Gorgeous airbrush work by either "Pisakov" or "P. Isakov"...unfortunately, either way...nothing on him/her. Drats.
Also, from the excellent “ATOMIC ROCKETS” website:
“The Saturn Application Single-Stage-to-Orbit (SASSTO) is from Frontiers of Space by Philip Bono and Kenneth Gatland (1969).
In 1966, when winged space shuttle designs were being studied, the Douglas Aircraft Company was doing a cost-benefit analysis. They were comparing reusable space shuttle costs to throwaway two-stage ballistic boosters. Somewhere along the line they took a look at whether it was possible to make a reusable single stage ballistic booster. The SASSTO was the result. The payload was not much, but it was enough for a Gemini space capsule. A Gemini would transform the SASSTO into a space taxi or even a space fighter, capable of satellite inspection missions. Without the Gemini it could deliver supplies and propellant to space stations and spacecraft in LEO.
Bono pointed out how inoperative satellites could become space hazards (although the concept of the Kessler Syndrome would not be created until 1978). A SASSTO could deal with such satellites in LEO (Bono called this Saturn Application Retrieval and Rescue Apparatus or SARRA). Even better, such satellites could be grabbed and brought back to Terra for refurbishment and re-launch. This would be much cheaper than building an entirely new satellite from scratch, which would interest satellite corporations. Only satellites in LEO though, communication satellites in geostationary orbit would be out of reach.
The interesting part was on the base. Conventional spacecraft trying to do an aerobraking landing need a large convex heat shield on the base (for example the Apollo command module.). Unfortunately, a reusable spacecraft has a large concave exhaust nozzle on the bottom, exactly the opposite of what you want. Tinsley's artist conception for the "Mars Snooper" had petals that would close over the exhaust nozzle sticking out of the heat shield, but that was impractical.
Douglas' solution was to use an aerospike engine with the spike truncated (which they confusingly call a "plug nozzle", contrary to modern terminology). The truncated part became the heat shield, the untruncated part around the edge was the aerospike engine.”
At:
www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/surfaceorbit.php#sa...
Additionally, and more directly, from the equally excellent SECRET PROJECTS Forum website, posted by Donald McKelvy/user “Triton” on 24 August 2009, apparently taken from Mr. Bono’s document/presentation at the above referenced SAE Conference Proceedings:
“In late 1966, the vertical launch & landing SSTO proponents at Douglas Aircraft Co. carried out a study to determine whether ballistic VTVLs might be cost-competitive vs. winged VTHL TSTO vehicles in the small payload class. Previous NASA & USAF studies had generally assumed ballistic single-stage vehicles might make sense for unmanned heavy-lift payloads but winged TSTOs were invariably chosen for small manned near-term missions. Consequently, Douglas had to define a small VTVL SSTO manned "space taxi" to demonstrate the key elements of the concept (aerospike engine, lightweight structures, ballistic reentry, vertical landing, actively cooled heatshield etc.) The resulting vehicle became known as "Saturn Application Single Stage to Orbit". Notable design features included an aft-mounted liquid oxygen tank to reduce the difference between vehicle center of gravity & center of aerodynamic pressure, and a hydrogen cooling system for the main engine to provide thermal protection during reentry. Thermal analysis indicated that although the engine itself would be adequately protected by this system, the areas located above the exhaust nozzles would not. Consequently, the designers had to resort to an ablative, expendable material (200 kilograms of Armstrong Insulcork 2760) bonded to the aluminum structure although it would increase the maintenance cost. The oxygen/hydrogen mixture ratio was 6:1 rather than 7:1 since the designers felt a high oxygen ratio would degrade the exhaust velocity & payload capability. 50% hydrogen slush was used to reduce the volume of the fuel tank. The 36-segment plug nozzle propulsion system would have operated at a pressure of 1500psia. It would be used for ascent, orbit insertion, de-orbit and (beginning at an altitude of 760 meters-) the final landing burn. The vehicle would carry enough propellant for hovering for 10 seconds before landing at an unprepared site, if necessary. The estimated landing accuracy of 1853 * 3700 m was not regarded as a major concern since the Gemini 6-12 flights achieved an average touchdown dispersion of only 6.85km although the capsule had essentially no maneuvering capability below 30.5km altitude. The reentry cross-range capability was about +/-370km, permitting a safe landing at El Paso, TX or Wendover Range, UT after 2-3 orbits from Cape Canaveral. Wendover was the preferred emergency landing site since SASSTO easily could have been returned from nearby Hill AFB to Cape Canaveral in a "Pregnant Guppy" S-IV-B transport aircraft.
SASSTO had a payload capability of 3,629kg to a 185km orbit and the standard payload would be a 2-man Gemini spacecraft protected by a jettisonable fairing to reduce drag losses during ascent. This would provide a safe emergency escape system for the test pilots, and the Gemini ejection seats, heatshield, parachutes etc. (1542kg in all) could later be removed as the flight test program increases confidence in SASSTO reliability. Douglas envisioned this vehicle as a "space fighter" capable of satellite inspection missions, or space station resupply flights lasting a maximum of 48 hours. It could also deliver 2,812kg of liquid hydrogen to a spacecraft in Earth orbit.
Since SASSTO was loosely based on the Saturn S-IV-B rocket stage, Douglas also proposed an expendable version for use as a more capable upper stage with the Saturn IB and Saturn V launch vehicles. The expendable SASSTO stage would have had a burnout mass of 7,400kg and carried 85,729kg of oxygen + hydrogen propellant. The stage was thus of a much more lightweight construction than the standard S-IV-B (12,949kg + 104,326kg LOX, LH₂) and the new aerospike engine would have been more efficient as well (464s specific impulse vs. 426s for the J-2 engine). Consequently, the Saturn V's payload capability would have been boosted by 8-11t as well. The Saturn IB's basic 15876-kilogram payload capability to a 185km orbit would have increased to 23814-25855kg depending on whether SASSTO would be flown in expendable or reusable mode. The latter version was known as SARRA (Saturn Application Retrieval and Rescue Apparatus) and was intended for returning stranded Apollo crews from the lunar surface.
Finally, the Douglas design team also compared the cost of SASSTO with two different all-rocket VTHL TSTOs: a winged 1st stage plus lifting-body 2nd stage (center) and winged first & second stages (right). All three vehicles were designed for a 2,812-kilogram payload although the lifting-body TSTO only was able to carry 2,086kg due to center of gravity problems. No attempt was made to estimate the marginal launch cost since there were too many unknown factors. VTVL SSTO would however be expected to yield a significant operational advantage since only a single vehicle must be maintained and the VTVL SSTO does not require a landing runway. SASSTO was expected to cost $1.1. billion to develop (=$5.88B at 1999 rates). The winged VTHL TSTO would cost 2.2 times as much to develop as SASSTO while the smaller lifting-body TSTO variant would be 50% more expensive. The winged and lifting-body 1st unit production costs would be 4 and 2.7 times higher than the SASSTO 1st unit cost, respectively. The general conclusion was that the complex winged or lifting body TSTO shapes result in added liftoff and manufactured weights of a more expensive construction than ballistic wingless SSTOs. For example, the lifting-body TSTO dry mass (12,274kg + 2,086kg payload) is 2.4 times higher, and the winged TSTO weighs 3.6 times as much (18,176kg + 2,812kg P/L) as SASSTO at touchdown. The gross liftoff weights bear the relationships of 1.0 (SASSTO; 97,887kg GLOW), 1.25 (lifting body orbiter TSTO; 122,245kg GLOW) and 1.91 (wing-body orbiter TSTO; 187,020kg GLOW). In that case, is the combination of lower reentry g-loads, better maneuverability (landing go-around with jet engines) and improved cross-range really worth the cost of carrying wings...? Although TSTO thus appears to be uncompetitive vs. ballistic single-stage RLVs for small payloads, the authors admit that requirements for higher payloads (22.68-45.6t) may yield rapid increases in propellant mass fraction for winged two-stage vehicles, making TSTO more performance/cost-effective.
Liftoff Thrust: 1,232.655KN. Total Mass: 97,976kg. Total Length: 18.8m.
Payload capability: 3,674kg to a 185km low Earth orbit.
Stage Number 1: SASSTO. 36 x plug-nozzle engines (1500psia pressure, 1:6 mixture ratio). Gross Mass: 97,976kg. Empty Mass (core vehicle only): 6,668kg. Thrust: 1,232.65-1,557.5KN. Isp=367-464s. Length:18.8m. Width: 6.6m. Propellants: LOX/slush LH₂.
Bibliography:
"Enigma of Booster Recovery - Ballistic or Winged? -- Bono, Senator & Garcia, SAE Conference Proceedings 1967/0382/ p.57”
At:
www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/douglas-rombus.4577/#pos...
Further:
www.pmview.com/spaceodysseytwo/spacelvs/sld017.htm
Credit: PMView Pro website
Finally...possibly the best write-up of Mr. Bono's career that I’ve come across:
"Philip Bono was a renowned space engineer who was probably 30 years before his time. He was born in Brooklyn, New York on January 13, 1921. He graduated from the University of Southern California in 1947 with a B.E. degree in mechanical engineering, and served three years in the U.S. Naval Reserves.
After graduation in 1947, Mr. Bono worked as a research and systems analyst for North American Aviation. His first "tour" with Douglas Aircraft Company was from 1949 to 1951, doing structural layout and detail design. From 1951 to 1960, he worked primarily in structures design at Boeing. Between 1947 and 1949, he worked at Northrop Aircraft R&D. From 1984-1986, he was general manager of Cal-Pro Engineering Consultants doing structures integration and subsystems stress analysis. From 1966 to 1988, he again worked at Douglas Aircraft after Douglas' merger with McDonnell Aircraft where he did the majority of his advanced space design work. He pursued single-stage to orbit space launch vehicles as being simpler and cheaper than conventional launch vehicles. He then proposed to make these vehicles reusable.
Among Mr. Bono's designs were: One Stage Orbital Space Truck (OOST) Recoverable One Stage Orbital Space Truck (ROOST) Reusable Orbital Module, Booster, and Utility Shuttle (ROMBUS), Ithacus, Pegasus, Hyperion, and Saturn Application Single Stage To Orbit (SASSTO). Although his visionary designs were never actually built, his contributions pioneered the advancement of the Space Shuttle, a vertical take off & horizontal landing version of the SSTO spacecraft. From his ROOST design onwards, Bono advocated space launch vehicles without wings, usually using rocket-assisted vertical takeoff and landing (VTVL) configurations. He patented a reusable plug nozzle rocket engine that had dual use as a heat shield for atmospheric reentry. In 1965 and 1967, he obtained two patents for a Recoverable Single Stage Spacecraft Booster. In 1969, he co-authored with Kenneth Gatland "Frontiers of Space," which was published in several languages. Less than three months after Bono's death, the first McDonnell Douglas launch vehicle based on his pioneering work on VTOL, a research test vehicle the DC-X (Delta Clipper), began a largely successful series of test flights.
Among his many awards and recognitions, the Council on International Nontheatrical Events recognized Mr. Bono for his motion picture, "The Role of the Reusable Booster." His ROMBUS design was featured in the "Flight to the Moon" attraction at Disneyland in Anaheim, California in 1967. He was granted Charter Membership in the International Astronautical Academy in 1960, and acknowledgment by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics in 1963, 1965, and 1966 through 1968. He achieved Fellowship in The British Interplanetary Society in 1961, and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society in 1972. His wife of 43 years, Camille, died in November 2014. His son Richard and daughter Patricia, both live in Costa Mesa, California, and daughter Kathryn Hickman lives in Livermore, California. Philip Bono died on May 23, 1993 at the age of 72 in Costa Mesa, California."
From/at:
oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c88s4vjz/
Credit: Online Archive of California website
Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 1300
Credit: NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
Acknowledgment: P. Knezek (WIYN)
The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute conducts Hubble science operations.
Goddard is responsible for HST project management, including mission and science operations, servicing missions, and all associated development activities.
To learn more about the Hubble Space Telescope go here:
This unusual lenticular galaxy, which is between a spiral and elliptical shape, has lost almost all the gas and dust from its signature spiral arms, which used to orbit around its center. Known as NGC 1947, this galaxy was discovered almost 200 years ago by James Dunlop, a Scottish-born astronomer who later studied the sky from Australia. NGC 1947 can only be seen from the southern hemisphere, in the constellation Dorado (the Dolphinfish).
Residing around 40 million light-years away from Earth, this galaxy shows off its structure by backlighting its remaining faint gas and dust disk with millions of stars. In this picture, taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, the faint remnants of the galaxy’s spiral arms can still be made out in the stretched thin threads of dark gas encircling it. Without most of its star-forming material, it is unlikely that many new stars will be born within NGC 1947, leaving this galaxy to continue fading with time.
Text credit: European Space Agency (ESA)
Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Rosario; Acknowledgment: L. Shatz
For more information: www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2021/hubble-views-a-ga...
NASA image releaes Feb 17, 2011
To see a high res still of this spiral galaxy go to: www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/5453113651
This video is a zoom into the majestic disk of stars and dust lanes in the NASA Hubble Space Telescope view of the spiral galaxy NGC 2841, which lies 46 million light-years away in the constellation of Ursa Major (The Great Bear).
Credit: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration, and G. Bacon (STScI)
Acknowledgment: M. Crockett and S. Kaviraj (Oxford University, UK), R. O'Connell (University of Virginia), B. Whitmore (STScI), and the WFC3 Scientific Oversight
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.
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I have been kicking myself for missing some of the spectacular sunrises and sunsets that we have been having lately! So I woke up at 4:00am, just could not sleep, and decided to check the satellite image to see what kind of clouds we had! It could be a boon or a bust! At least five previous attempts have been a bust! So I drove into and around downtown Seattle at 5:30am planning future shots!
I got up to Kerry Park around 6:00am to pick my spot! It was lonely except for the occasional jogger or person walking their dog that morning. While I waited, and waited, more and more fog and medium level clouds kept rolling on by. Once the blue started forming in the sky above the clouds, I saw some potential forming!
The horizon behind Mt Rainier was really lighting up with bright orange. Kind of weird I thought as that is to the south, but a weather front was moving in and the clouds were getting lit up by the rising sun. Now it was after 7:00am and the sky was getting lighter. Another photographer set up shop about 20 feet from me to capture this spectacle that was about to unfold. We exchanged quick smiles of acknowledgment and resumed our clicking of our cameras.
Finally the clouds above the lower level fog were lighting up and producing a real fire in the sky. This continued for about five minutes and then the color above started to die off. Then from the left side of this photo, the sun started to shine it's rays of light and color into the lower level fog. I got some of those shots, but the color was not as intense as the earlier shots, like this one. I was also happy to finally have a shot of the Space Needle with the Christmas lights on the top!
Well the color show was over, and I remarked that fact to the other photographer and she agreed. Then to both of our surprise, we realized that we knew each other!!! A fellow Flickr member! We were so bundled up from the cold, as it was only about 35 degrees outside that we each were in our own little world as the sunrise developed! It was Dene (aka: Seattle Miles) that was standing there!! Her photostream www.flickr.com/photos/denemiles/ . Last time I had seen her was when we hiked up to Spray Park for sunset on Mt Rainier www.flickr.com/photos/fresnatic/4911428179/in/set-7215762... . Definitely a small world!
This is a combination of two exposures (-2, 0) tonemapped in Photomatix4. I tried the three exposures, but there was too much ghosting in the clouds, and I tried just one exposure in Lightroom but the light from the right was too bright! So once this was done, I moved to Photoshop CS5 and sharpened and cropped. I also did a little dodge and burn, then moved to Lightroom3 to desaturate some of the color in the sky and to add a little bit of vignette!
Thank you for your views, comments and faves! I appreciate them! Have a great evening everyone!
Tilamook, Oregon
Purple roses symbolize various meanings, including:
-Royalty, majesty, and opulence
-Love at first sight
-Self-discovery and personal transformation
-Admiration, fascination, and adoration
-Elegance, sophistication, and rarity
-Peace, tranquility, and spirituality
-Nobility, mystery, success, and eternal love
Magical, opulent, beautiful, purple roses represent royalty and majesty. They can also signify admiration, love, enchantment, and self-discovery.
Purple roses are frequently associated with royalty or dignified people and occasions. Purple dyes and pigments were extremely valuable and expensive centuries ago due to the scarcity of purple flowers in nature.
Purple roses have taken on a new significance in recent years, including acknowledgment of accomplishment, achievement, or high honor.
References: wikihow.com/Purple-Rose-Meaning; symbolismandmetaphor.com/purple-rose-meaning-symbolism
This image is best viewed in large screen.
I appreciate your visit and any faves or comments are always greatly appreciated...so thank you very much!
Sonja :-)
In the year 1054 A.D., Chinese astronomers were startled by the appearance of a new star, so bright that it was visible in broad daylight for several weeks. Today, the Crab Nebula is visible at the site of the "Guest Star." Located about 6,500 light-years from Earth, the Crab Nebula is the remnant of a star that began its life with about 10 times the mass of our own Sun. Its life ended on July 4, 1054 when it exploded as a supernova. In this image, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has zoomed in on the center of the Crab to reveal its structure with unprecedented detail.
The Crab Nebula data were obtained by Hubble's Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 in 1995. Images taken with five different color filters have been combined to construct this new false-color picture. Resembling an abstract painting by Jackson Pollack, the image shows ragged shards of gas that are expanding away from the explosion site at over 3 million miles per hour.
The core of the star has survived the explosion as a pulsar, visible in the Hubble image as the lower of the two moderately bright stars to the upper left of center. The pulsar is a neutron star that spins on its axis 30 times a second. It heats its surroundings, creating the ghostly diffuse bluish-green glowing gas cloud in its vicinity, including a blue arc just to its right.
The colorful network of filaments is the material from the outer layers of the star that was expelled during the explosion. The picture is somewhat deceptive in that the filaments appear to be close to the pulsar. In reality, the yellowish green filaments toward the bottom of the image are closer to us, and approaching at some 300 miles per second. The orange and pink filaments toward the top of the picture include material behind the pulsar, rushing away from us at similar speeds.
The various colors in the picture arise from different chemical elements in the expanding gas, including hydrogen (orange), nitrogen (red), sulfur (pink), and oxygen (green). The shades of color represent variations in the temperature and density of the gas, as well as changes in the elemental composition.
Kris Davidson (U. Minn.) led the research team of William P. Blair (JHU), Robert A. Fesen (Dartmouth), Alan Uomoto (JHU), Gordon M. MacAlpine (U. Mich.), and Richard B.C. Henry (U. Okla.) in the collection of the HST data. The Hubble Heritage Team created the color image from black and white data processed by Dr. Blair.
Credit: NASA/ESA/Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) Acknowledgment: W.P. Blair (JHU)
Image Number: PR00-15
Date: June 1, 2000
Drive Train (Ed Howe, fiddle; Stuart Kenney, bass, banjo; Bennett Konesni, guitar), performing at Maine Fiddle Camp, August 9, 2022.
© 2022 Chris Walton; images may be used with acknowledgment by Maine Fiddle Camp and the featured musicians.
(Photo05134)
This image features the spiral galaxy NGC 691, imaged in fantastic detail using Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). This galaxy is a member of the NGC 691 galaxy group named after it, which features a group of gravitationally bound galaxies that lie about 120 million light-years from Earth.
Hubble observes objects such as NGC 691 using a range of filters. Each filter only allows certain wavelengths of light to reach Hubble’s WFC3. The resulting filtered images are colored by specialists who make informed choices about which color best corresponds to the wavelengths of light from the astronomical object that are transmitted by each filter. Combining the colored images from individual filters creates a full-color image. This detailed process provides us with remarkably good insight into the nature and appearance of these objects.
Text credit: European Space Agency (ESA)
Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, A. Riess et al.; Acknowledgment: M. Zamani
For more information: www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2021/hubble-images-a-g...
At around 60 million light-years from Earth, the Great Barred Spiral Galaxy, NGC 1365, is captured beautifully in this image by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Located in the constellation of Fornax (the Furnace), the blue and fiery orange swirls show us where stars have just formed and the dusty sites of future stellar nurseries.
At the outer edges of the image, enormous star-forming regions within NGC 1365 can be seen. The bright, light-blue regions indicate the presence of hundreds of baby stars that formed from coalescing gas and dust within the galaxy's outer arms.
This Hubble image was captured as part of a joint survey with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile. The survey will help scientists understand how the diversity of galaxy environments observed in the nearby universe, including NGC 1365 and other galaxies such as NGC 2835 and NGC 2775, influence the formation of stars and star clusters. Expected to image over 100,000 gas clouds and star-forming regions beyond our Milky Way, the PHANGS survey is expected to uncover and clarify many of the links between cold gas clouds, star formation, and the overall shape and morphology of galaxies.
Text credit: European Space Agency (ESA)
Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, J. Lee and the PHANGS-HST Team; Acknowledgment: Judy Schmidt (Geckzilla)
For more information: www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2020/hubble-sees-swirl...
Title translate to "How are you, friend?" in Tagalog. Close-up street portrait of an older Filipino man, wearing a pink shirt and purple knit cap. His expression is confident and kind, radiating experience and warmth. He was standing quietly outside a small shop when I raised the camera. One nod of acknowledgment —
In that brief moment, he gave something most people hold back: a smile full of life and story.
The weathered textures of his skin, the rich color of his shirt, and the softness in his eyes all tell you he’s seen things. Good, hard, human things.
And yet, he smiled. A simple moment. A powerful gesture.
This is why I keep walking with a camera.
Pictured here is part of the captivating galaxy NGC 2525. Located nearly 70 million light-years from Earth, this galaxy is part of the constellation of Puppis in the southern hemisphere. Together with the Carina and the Vela constellations, it makes up an image of the Argo from ancient greek mythology.
On the left, a brilliant supernova is clearly visible in the image. The supernova is formally known as SN2018gv and was first spotted in mid-January 2018. The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope captured the supernova in NGC 2525 as part of one of its major investigations; measuring the expansion rate of the Universe, which can help answer fundamental questions about our Universe’s very nature. Supernovae like this one can be used as cosmic tape measures, allowing astronomers to calculate the distance to their galaxies.
ESA/Hubble has now published a unique time-lapse of this galaxy and it’s fading supernova.
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, A. Riess and the SH0ES team
Acknowledgment: Mahdi Zamani
A snapshot of the Tarantula Nebula (also known as 30 Doradus) is featured in this Hubble Space Telescope image. The Tarantula Nebula is a large star-forming region of ionized hydrogen gas that lies 161,000 light-years from Earth in the Large Magellanic Cloud, and its turbulent clouds of gas and dust appear to swirl between the region’s bright, newly formed stars.
The Tarantula Nebula is a familiar site for Hubble. It is the brightest star-forming region in our galactic neighborhood and home to the hottest, most massive stars known. This makes it a perfect natural laboratory in which to test out theories of star formation and evolution, and Hubble has a rich variety of images of this region.
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, C. Murray, E. Sabbi; Acknowledgment: Y. -H. Chu
For more information: www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2023/hubbles-new-view-...
The narrow galaxy elegantly curving around its spherical companion in this image is a fantastic example of a truly strange and very rare phenomenon. This image, taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, depicts GAL-CLUS-022058s, located in the southern hemisphere constellation of Fornax (the Furnace). GAL-CLUS-022058s is the largest and one of the most complete Einstein rings ever discovered in our universe. The object has been nicknamed by astronomers studying this Einstein ring as the "Molten Ring," which alludes to its appearance and host constellation.
First theorized to exist by Einstein in his general theory of relativity, this object’s unusual shape can be explained by a process called gravitational lensing, which causes light shining from far away to be bent and pulled by the gravity of an object between its source and the observer. In this case, the light from the background galaxy has been distorted into the curve we see by the gravity of the galaxy cluster sitting in front of it. The near exact alignment of the background galaxy with the central elliptical galaxy of the cluster, seen in the middle of this image, has warped and magnified the image of the background galaxy into an almost perfect ring. The gravity from other galaxies in the cluster causes additional distortions.
Objects like these are the ideal laboratories in which to study galaxies that are often too faint and distant to otherwise see without gravitational lensing.
Text credit: European Space Agency (ESA)
Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, S. Jha; Acknowledgment: L. Shatz
For more information: www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2020/hubble-sees-a-mol...
The ultra-diffuse galaxy GAMA 526784 appears as a tenuous patch of light in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. This wispy object resides in the constellation Hydra, roughly four billion light-years from Earth. Ultra-diffuse galaxies such as GAMA 526784 have a number of peculiarities. For example, they can have either very low or high amounts of dark matter, the invisible substance thought to make up the majority of matter in the universe. Observations of ultra-diffuse galaxies found some with an almost complete lack of dark matter, whereas others consist of almost nothing but dark matter. Another oddity of this class of galaxies is their unusual abundance of bright globular clusters, something not observed in other types of galaxies.
Hubble captured GAMA 526784 with the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), which was installed in 2002 by astronauts during Hubble Servicing Mission 3B. Since then, the instrument has played a pivotal role in some of Hubble’s most impressive scientific results, including capturing the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. The ACS has also photographed Pluto in advance of the New Horizon mission, observed gargantuan gravitational lenses, and found fully formed galaxies in the early universe.
This image comes from a set of Hubble observations designed to shed light on the properties of ultra-diffuse galaxies. Hubble’s keen vision allowed astronomers to study GAMA 526784 in high resolution at ultraviolet wavelengths, helping to gauge the sizes and ages of the compact star-forming regions studding the galaxy.
Text credit: European Space Agency (ESA)
Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. van der Burg; Acknowledgment: L. Shatz
For more information: www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2002/hubble-views-a-ga...
Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captured the quick, fading celebrity status of a supernova, the self-detonation of a star. The supernova, called SN 2018gv, appears in the lower left portion of the frame as a blazing star located on the outer edge of spiral galaxy NGC 2525, located 70 million light-years away.
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When a star unleashes as much energy in a matter of days as our Sun does in several billion years, you know it's not going to remain visible for long.
Like intergalactic paparazzi, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captured the quick, fading celebrity status of a supernova, the self-detonation of a star. The Hubble snapshots have been assembled into a telling movie of the titanic stellar blast disappearing into oblivion in the spiral galaxy NGC 2525, located 70 million light-years away.
Hubble began observing SN 2018gv in February 2018, after the supernova was first detected by amateur astronomer Koichi Itagaki a few weeks earlier in mid-January. Hubble astronomers were using the supernova as part of a program to precisely measure the expansion rate of the universe — a key value in understanding the physical underpinnings of the cosmos. The supernova serves as a milepost marker to measure galaxy distances, a fundamental value needed for measuring the expansion of space.
In the time-lapse sequence, spanning nearly a year, the supernova first appears as a blazing star located on the galaxy's outer edge. It initially outshines the brightest stars in the galaxy before fading out of sight.
"No Earthly fireworks display can compete with this supernova, captured in its fading glory by the Hubble Space Telescope," said Nobel laureate Adam Riess, of the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, leader of the High-z Supernova Search Team and the Supernovae H0 for the Equation of State (SH0ES) Team to measure the universe's expansion rate.
The type of supernova seen in this sequence originated from a burned-out star — a white dwarf located in a close binary system — that is accreting material from its companion star. When the white dwarf reaches a critical mass, its core becomes hot enough to ignite nuclear fusion, turning it into a giant atomic bomb. This thermonuclear runaway process tears the dwarf apart. The opulence is short-lived as the fireball fades away.
Because supernovae of this type all peak at the same brightness, they are known as "standard candles," which act as cosmic tape measures. Knowing the actual brightness of the supernova and observing its brightness in the sky, astronomers can calculate the distances of their host galaxies. This allows astronomers to measure the expansion rate of the universe. Over the past 30 years Hubble has helped dramatically improve the precision of the universe's expansion rate.
Credits: NASA, ESA, and A. Riess (STScI/JHU) and the SH0ES team; acknowledgment: M. Zamani (ESA/Hubble)
For more information: www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2020/hubble-watches-explodin...
This ornate fountain is located centrally to Fochabers. There is a small plaque which tells me it was erected in 1878 by the inhabitants of Fochabers in acknowledgment of the liberty of the sixth Duke of Richmond and Gordon KG in supplying water to the town.
Names have been withheld, really, I quite had to😉
This story is rather hard to peg.
It’s basic skeleton is loosely laid out like an Ocean’s Eleven movie plot, but with far fewer participants…
At it’s heart, it’s a rapscallions’ tale,
at it’s soul, it becomes something much deeper…
Have you ever been cajoled into doing a task that is totally out of your comfort zone and experience? But asked in such a way that your very being cannot resist the urges to carry it out?
That is what this tale is all about, well sort of…
Please Read on….
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Chapter 1
Recess is over
“Sigh Here goes it then, He probably is still sitting and drinking scotch at the bar!” ……
I said this myself as I stood alone in a side court of the brick building that had once been an eel tinning factory in the late 1800s.
I had lit my pipe to help ease the wait as the stage was being set up inside, and also to calm down the reluctance I was feeling for my upcoming task!
As I had sent circles of smoke swirling upwards, I busied myself by looking around at the odd shapes in the aged stained red bricks, surprisingly graffiti-free!
After the eel business failed, the building had seen many uses: a church, field hospital during the raids, a restaurant, and now a photography studio upstairs and fancy reception hall downstairs.
One of my customers had given me tickets to attend this fancy-dress affair, being held in the reception hall. The chance to dance, imbibe in a rather nice selection of liquor, and french appetizers. Along with an opportunity to be charitable to OX Fam.
I had come willingly enough, but my enjoyment of the festivities had been somewhat dampened by being requested to carry out an unexpected task about an hour ago.
A task really quite unrelated to my line of work!
Sort of like a Queen’s Guardsman being asked to do step out of line and do an Irish jig was the way I felt over it!
So, blimey then, why did I agree to be cajoled into it?
Well please read on, all things will be made clear in the end, providing I can pull the bloody stunt off!
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So now I put out my pipe, knocking out the ashes against my patent leather shoe, brown, to go with my brown suit, brown silk tie and solid yellow starched shirt I was wearing out to that afternoons’ reception.
“I suppose, let’s find the Bugger!” I told myself with a slight hesitation, but with no whine in me voice ( for the record)!
I then promptly turned away and moved off, forcibly striding my way back inside…
I needed to see a man about a wager he was unaware that he was making as of yet!
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Chapter 2
Enter the Lecturer
Ten minutes later I was back inside and had made my way through the chattering crowd.
I had said it the first time I had entered, and I repeated myself as I re-entered. I hadn’t seen so many attractively dressed ladies and refine, posh dressed males since the last BAFTA awards party I had been dragged too!
Not that I was complaining mind you, for I am just as much an appreciator of such a view as the next bloke. Especially in my line of business!
So I guess that is my excuse for not quite successfully keeping my focus on the task at hand that was inadvertently before to me...
But I finally managed an approach up to the long scarred oaken bar, after weaving my way amongst the countless numbers of mingling guests, all dolled up for the evening.
Once at my destination, I Ordered an old fashion (with rye ), and looked around.
He was still in his seat at the end of the bar, looking a bit more toshed, his hair and clothes a bit more hardscrabble.
Taking a long gulp of my drink, I carried it over and sat down on a stool next to him and said pleasantly.
” How is it going, Mate?”
He had been studying the dance floor, but with my greeting sighed and pulled himself away to look me up and down with a rather suspicious eye.
I met his gaze squarely, still smiling, avoiding the impulse to stare at the lit cigarette dangling from his lip. Being a pipe man meself , I was a wee bit opinioned when it came to sloppy cigarette smokers, especially those who left the bloody things dangle cheekily in their mouths at all times.
“Wotcher,” he said, a bit snidely I thought since I was just trying to be friendly.
“Do I know you then, Guv?” He quizzically added.
“ Sorry, Thought you looked like a bloke I knew up Manchester way,” I said apologetically.
“Not from there am I, guv !” He stated rather dismissively, as he then took his attention off of me and planted it back onto the dance floor.
I steadfastly plowed on…
“Well, one can’t always be right, can one?”
Then after no reaction, I finished my drink (easily downed, weak as it had been made )and placed the glass down, signaling the Keep.
“Just getting a drink, I see yours is out, whatcha be having then?” I asked as the bartender came up to us.
“Highball,” he said smartly, sneering at me, before turning back away. For some reason, I was not surprised at the bloke’s drink of choice.
If I had not had been given a job to do, and under different circumstances, I would have told the bartender to get him a ‘shirley temple’!
Instead, I placed the order, asking for an Irish whiskey, neat, for myself. I needed support!
I looked back at the man-boy sitting next to me.
He certainly was most interested in the goings-on the ballroom dance floor!
We were served our drinks.
He picked his up with taking his eyes off the dancers!
I took a long, gloriously settling, sip, letting the warmth settle right down to my stomach.
That’s better I thought, letting out a sigh, a bit too deeply probably, but my new acquaintance, with full attention still on the ballroom dance floor, paid my comments no heed.
He hadn’t asked me my name, which was fine by me, kept me from having to remember the one I would have had to make up.
Nor did I care to know this blokes name either, though I was harboring a pretty good guess that it would be a rather recognizable one, either mentioned from the telly or last weeks’ fish and chip wrappers.
But I could see I was losing the chap's attention!
I caught the Keeps eye and indicated a refill was in order for my new found ‘mate’.
“Pretty,” I said following his gaze as I pointed my glass out towards the dancers
“What ‘s pretty ?!” he stated sharply, still not diverting his eyes.
I noticed that they were a bit shifty, his eyes, like a sly, watchful fox, and that they moved with a rapid constancy. Think a young Trevor Howard with Peter Lorre’s eyes, and you have the chap to a T!
“The dancers, mate” I answered, “this lot is dressed rather elegantly tonight!”
He peeled his eyes off the dancers twirling and swishing about and turned slowly to me, a bit scornfully, “what did you expect guv, its full dress tonight, that’s why I have this bloody uncle’s monkey suit on, taint it?”
“Indeed sir” , I said agreeably with what I hoped was a winningly sincere voice.
Though down deep, to be honest, I felt this prig deserved anything but politeness.
Still, I carried on, trying to be friendly, remembering that if this was played right, the endgame would be a most satisfying one!
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Chapter 3
School is in session
T'is time, It was my turn to look away from his smirking gaze.
I took a sip of my Irish and looked out over the dancefloor.
It looked like something out of the ballroom scene from Shaw's ‘Pygmalion’( Or My Fair Lady)
I was looking for some in particular, a certain lady actually!
I soon saw her, and after watching for a few wistful seconds, I raised my glass and pointed her out to my drinking mate.
“That lass in the green is pretty,” I remarked, nodding in a direction by the far corner of the floor to where a rather petite, jittery appearing, lady with black hair, prettily clad in a shiny bit of a green gown. She was wearing large black glasses that were owlishly perched on her nose. She also was flaunting a rather nice little set of shimmering emeralds!
The petite lass was dancing with a bird-like bloke wearing, of all things, a scarlet red vest.
“Whotcher looking at Guv?” he asked, interest peaking up as he began eagerly scanning the room to see what I was on about.!
“That lass in greens satin, dancing with robin redbreast by the mirrors!” I pointed out, the added…
“Personally, I like the way her emerald jewelry sets off against her gown!”
He caught sight of them as the danced by one of the big reflective mirrors that lined the dance floors’ west wall.
He took the view in, and I noticed he had nearly drained his highball in one gulp and had set it down without a kind word, like say, thank you for buying..!
He was on his way to a real bender if he kept up with that pace I thought, eyeing the two other, empty glasses, already collected at his elbow on the bar top!
Which is right where we needed him to be! I thought as I nodded again to the barkeep to bring another round…
I looked back at my drinking buddy, I could see his shifty eyes flitting about.
“Whas'at” he finally stated sourly, “You like that gangly four-eyed bird dancing with cock robin? He snorted at his own ‘witty’ remark.
Then looking at me for a long second, he continued on...
“Like her jewels do ya than mate?” He said not bothering to hide the snide meaning in his comment! “Meself, Guv, I notice more than a sweetie’s bloody jewels!”
He again chuckled dryly at his presumed wit, I did not choose to join in, just sat there smiling to myself before speaking again.
“Occupational hazard I guess, noticing Jewels, I mean.”
I admitted, choosing not to expound on my drinking partner’s opinion.
“I own a small jewelry shoppe on a village green.” “Nothing much, but it pays one’s rent.”
That opened him up, just a wee bit…
“I guess than a gent like you would prattle on about jewels” “Is that what brings you alone here this evening?” “I ain't seen you out dancing with anyone.”
There was definitely insinuation behind his voice and though I would for the world like to put this bugger in his place, my responses to him would continue treading along a delicate path. I had to mince words if I didn’t want my emerging scheme blowing up in my face.
Which is why I would not be giving any quick replies!
So, after the observation was spoken, I let him continue on in his dry, sniping tone that I was beginning to realize was his normal manner of speech! For the upper class education this twit had had, he certainly had not grasped the proper way of speaking. Professor Henry Higgins would have had a field day with this bloke!
Let this nitwit lead himself into the trap, I thought to myself, this may prove easier then we thought!
So, I just smiled in acknowledgment as he spoke further…
“So, you just want a bit of a peek at what you sell guv!” he snorted, elbowing me before continuing on…
“Myself, I just like looking at the whole bleeding curvy package, ‘iffin you get my drift ! Though your green bird wearing them shiny bits you like, is a bit underdeveloped in my opinion! ”
Giving me a weaselly little grin, he again nudged me with his elbow, editing a mirthless cackling laugh!
Then, taking the last long gulp of his drink, wiping his mouth on a tux sleeve, he turned his attention raptly back onto the thronging occupants of the dance floor.
He didn’t signal for another round, which was probably because he was too cheap to repay me in kind!
So I again caught the Barkeep’s eye, we were becoming rather acquainted with one another, he came back over, and I indicated a refill for my friend, indicating I was still good with mine.
I believed I had now spotted the opening I had been trying to lead him around to! I took a deep breath and delved into the breach.
For our ploy, it was now sink or swim time!
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Chapter 4
History Lesson
When one is trying to do something for the first time, without prior practice, it is difficult not to make a mistake(s).
So, The Risk of what I was about to try was that I had just had the request sprung on me, without any forewarning or time to practice! If I made a single mistake or misspoke then my whole attempt would tumble down like a house of cards!
What I was trying to pull off was getting this smart-mouthed cockney git to make a wager with me, a rather unconventional one at that!
So, I just threw all caution to the wind, and began a buildup to reach my selling point!
I started with a question after he was served his fresh drink.
“So then, what do you do when you are not attending these rather posh affairs?”
I asked this, trying to keep a wedge in our conversation. Even though the answer was pretty obvious from the blighter’s manner of dress, and baby smooth manicured fingers!
“Nuttin” he said through gritted teeth, never diverting his gaze to me…
“Don’t hafta work like a regular blighter, gets a small allowance from me father don’t I! Not much though, old parental gents are too cheap by half if you ask me, livin in the stone age where an extra few quid is concerned!!”
He spat out the last few words.
So, this rich guys pup can always use a bit of cash I thought happily to myself!
“Shame” I sympathetically pretended to agree, “but still, cheers to being able to keep a roof over one’s head.” I raised my still ¼ full drink and clinked it against his glass.
We both drained our glasses in salute and I again ordered another round.
After we were served, my new ‘friend’ , out of the side of his mouth since his eyes were glued back on the ballroom dancers, stated wryly…
“You like’n them emeralds Guv? ”
I could see his eyes were again stuck on watching the girl with the unfortunately large eyeglasses, who was elegantly wearing,( in my own humble opinion), the green satin gown. The whole affair offset with her brite glittering emeralds.
He went on as if thinking aloud…
“Broad’s a bit too mousey for my taste, ole 4 eyes there, still, I wouldn’t say no to admire’ in what curves she has under that shiny dress!” And he let out another little guffaw at his crude witticism.
Crude, apparently being a trademark of all this Bloke’s remarks!
I choose to ignore his rather rude comment, and went on, trying to remain unruffled by my new friends' rather blunt outlook on the fairer sex!
As we both were watching her, I amiably made her the target of our small talk, gently leading him around to the query and wager I was leading up to…
“I admire any gemstones that I can sell my dear sir. But there are other things that I will also allow to command my interest!” I said casually, delicately, “
“ W’thats you on about then?” He asked, reluctantly taking his eyes from the dance floor and placing his attention fully back onto me, as he looked me over like he had just now noticed I was there!
I remembered thinking, yeah ya bleeding prig, three free drinks and not a thank you insight, ya haven’t even asked my name! Not that the one I would have given him would have been my own! Picked a winner here, I did!
But when I spoke, my words and manner of speech did not betray any of those thoughts!
“Well”, I admitted rather sheepishly, “In my line of work I come across many alerts from the constabulary about ladies who have had jewels come up missing, and am asked to keep an open eye out for them.”
He looked suspiciously at me.
“The bloody bobbies ask YOU about it?” he questioned.
“No” I admitted, “all jewelers receive the same circulars. But you see, the thing that piques my curiosity at these events is to try and catch one in action!”
“Catch one what guv ?” he asked quizzically.
“Thief!“ I announced in an ‘everyone one knows’ tone of voice’, pausing a few seconds before I continued on…
“You see lad, a good many circulars describe how ladies lose a bit of their jewelry at functions like these from time to time. It is assumed that the expensive pieces just had bad clasps, but me, I am not so sure that is the case, for it appears to happen far too frequently in these parts! Plus a lot of times they end up trying to be pawned at shoppes like mine, and the clasps looked fine. So are they just finding them lost on the floor, or is there something else going on!”
“What else would it be guv?” He asked, his sluggish curiosity, finally, peaking!
“Well,” I said, leaning into him rather conspiratorially…
“ I have come to the conclusion that there are a fraction of thieves out there that can lift jewels being worn by ladies, like these being worn here tonight, without being caught in the act! And I attend functions like these on the off chance to see if my thesis is correct!”
“Thesis?” my rather cheeky friend asked, not getting the drift. “
I sighed inwardly, thinking entirely to myself that we will be here all evening if I have to explain everything to this. most likely privately schooled, but still uneducated Git! I decided to go easy on the verbiage with him going forward!
“Thesis means theory lad, a belief that, say, our lady yonder in the green frock could be parted from her emeralds by one of her dance partners, if the bloke was of the mindset to acquire them in that manner! If you get my drift.”
He didn’t, so I calmly went into more detail…
“What I am saying is that since she wouldn’t be suspecting it, a dance partner, say, may have an eye for her necklace, and slip the emeralds away from around her very throat. Without her even noticing, until he was long gone!”
“ You sayin guv?” “ that that swarmy cock robin bloke dancin with that skrawny 4 eyed chick, maybe after her necklace?”
“Rot!” he smirked, taking his eyes off of the couple and onto me, “nigh impossible to do such a thing!”
He snickered at the thought, then added…
“Besides, If someone was that interested in nicking her jewels, why not just follow her out and do a complete job of it !?”
“A lot more risk involved being caught doing it that way Mate, not to mention it is rather obvious that she is being robbed! No, to do it this way a thief could come away scot-free with the goods without any suspicions falling upon himself.”
I stated in a quite logical tone of voice.
With his eyes back on the dancing couple, he questioned my reasoning…
“But a bloke would have to be a rather quick-fingered one like a pickpocket wouldn’t he now?”.
And have someone to practice on, I thought to myself before answering in a reassuring tone…
“Not A ‘toll my good sir,” I assured, “I think it could be done by anyone with relative ease, I bet even non-thieves like you or I could do it with some success, especially if the lady in question has had a bit too much to drink, or is nearsightedly clumsy !”
“Or both!”
he stated without thinking…
Then catching himself, he snidely went on questioning me…
Blimey mate, your still half-cracked barmy for even thinking that way!”
He sneered, but I knew a seed had been planted…
For I saw him take a long, speculative look at the lady fetchingly clad in green satin, still being waltzed merrily along the dance floor.
I also found it vexing that she was completely unaware that her nicely shimmering emeralds had become such a rather unscrupulous topic of speculative supposition over them being lifted off from her!
A topic that needed to become more than mere speculation!
So In conspiracy, I commented under my breath…
“Ten quid lad!”
“Whots that then mate?” He perked up while addressing me quizzically, “Tenner for what?”
“Ten quid Says I could lift that particular lady’s emerald necklace straight away, and not be caught out in the process?
He thought about it for one long minute, finishing his drink in the meantime. “Don’t know guv, the local Bobbies may frown upon that!”
I countered, trying to set the hook in deep, figuring a bit of creative lying would be in good order to ease away from his concerns.
“Not if I don’t get caught lad, and that necklace is only a cheap imitation. She probably got it out of a crackerjack box, and being chintzy, she wouldn’t be surprised at the clasp breaking away and it falling as she danced! If she would happen to even notice my amateur attempt, would she now?”
I could see he was mulling something over as I spoke, as his limp cigarette was bobbing up and down still clamped in his pursed lips. It was certainly a long time coming together, this blokes’ imaginary skills!
He nodded towards the lady in green, as she was happily being swished around the dance floor in all of her innocence bliss. Those brilliant emeralds of hers making a nice show of it, sparkling on like they were, just crying out to be noticed and admired, which they were, and perhaps soon that sparkling cry would be hushed out by admiring fingers!
“Suppose that gangly 4 eyed bird looks gullible enough to try it out on. Probably too shy, so won’t make much fuss when she catches you trying!”
He looked at me cynically...
“And make no mistake guv, you will be caught… and then I wouldn’t know you from Adam!”
He held out a greedy hand, fingers beckoning as he chortled …
So, the, with that said, make it two for one guv, I’ll hold onto your twenty, and you are on a bet!” He chortled.
And like that, the hook was set! Though, blimey, I had seen carp from the ‘Myths’ finally taking the bait with less subtly!
“Capital!” I acknowledged, “I appreciate a good challenge!”
But my newly found ‘Mate’ did not answer, his eyes greedily studying the £20 in his grasp!
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Chapter 5
Field Trip
I arose, straightening my jacket and tie, and looking over to where the lady wearing the green gown was blissfully dancing…. I commented under my breath, half encouraging to myself…
“You are on lad!”
And marched myself off to the dance floor without looking back, even when I clearly heard him smirkingly make a rude sound to my back!.
The current song was ending and I caught up with my quarry as she began nicely swishing her way off the dance floor with cock robin leading the way.
Gently laying fingers upon a scintillating satin clad shoulder, I touched her from behind.
She turned and fixed me with a rather fetchingly heart-tugging demure look of questioning upon her face from a pair of intriguingly hazel coloured eyes.
Said eyes were rather enticingly enlarged by being behind the thick-lensed black glasses she was wearing.
“Care to dance?” I asked, with some earnest, ( after all twenty quid is twenty quid)!
She smiled, laying upon me an aire of innocence that rather took me aback for an instance…, then said sweetly
“Sorry lad, I am a bit worn out just now !”
My heart dropped down to my feet at that!
Seeing my utter disappointment, then she continued with a perked smile, placing a gloved hand to her throat and playing with the very necklace, one which decidedly, despite my earlier comments, would not have come from a crackerjack box!
“I will be guess‘in that I can’t see what harm one more dance could do a girl, would it then ?”
She spoke with a rather soft sort of Irish brogue, that was the second generation at best, but had me hooked with its lyrical lilt!
She turned towards her waiting escort, who was casting daggers my way with his eyes!
She nodded to, raising her green gloved hand for him to take with a gentle dismissal, and then he begrudgingly left!
“Brilliant!”
I said with heartfelt meaning and led her back to the wooden dance floor as the orchestra was getting ready to start up playing music again.
A slow dance started up and I took her in my arms, keeping a discreet, friendly distance between us.
We made small talk, though I avoided talking anything about jewelry.
Trying to think like a thief would in this situation.
I was figuring in my mind that if the plan was to be carried out with success, I, and my victim, needed to stay well away off the subject of the jewels she was wearing!
I did, however, manage to steal several discreet glances at her necklace, a pretty thing.
It consisted of a thin gold chain, set with a single row of emeralds divided by small sparkly chips of diamonds. It had a loose lay around her neck, bouncing easily along with their perch, which was just nicely above the girl’s tightly satin clad chest!
All in all, a quite completely vexing show indeed!
Also, by how the necklace was moving loosely about, partially laying on the slick green satin of my partner’s gown, It appeared that one could slip the whole necklace off rather easily.
If I was to now be a quick, unaccustomed judge of such matters!
After a few random comments concerning the evening’s doings, I complimented her on her pretty hair.
Which it was, pretty I mean, strikingly black, falling softly down to her shoulders where its’ curled ends swayed with a most delighting motion.
Also, the long emerald earrings that kept peeking in and out as they swung merrily from her hair were putting on a rather playful show!
She blushed, turning her head down, earrings and necklace swaying out in a rhythmic beat!
By the purely innocent way, she bashfully responded to my compliment, I was encouraged to go ahead and proceed in winning my wager!
I removed my hand from around her waist and lifted a lock with my left hand in emphasis, taking the opened opportunity to study her necklaces clasp caught in the reflection of the mirror now conveniently behind her.
I re-set my hand upon her a rather sensuous feeling backside, gently laying it nonchalantly just upon her shoulder.
The way her eyes were closed in a basking manner, she appeared not to notice the change in my grasp.
She happily ate up my compliments, giggling with pleasure as she flicked her hair back, sending her pair of lovely, longish earrings sparkling alongside her enchanting face!
The whole effect was made even more lively with those eyeglass magnified, doe-like wide hazel coloured eyes smiling with pure pleasure!
She was quite a vexing, most charming thing, my dance partner, and the conversation flowed easily between us.
She appeared to be an absolutely sweetly trusting soul, and I, with some slight reservation, made the most of it!
My hand meanwhile was still rested upon her shoulder, and I slowly allowed it to travel closer to her necklace, watching for any sign of skittishness from my dance partner.
But she continued chatting away, accepting smiles from me as silent answers, which was just as well, for my mind was set on other things, and any conversation requiring me too think out an answer would have intruded on my concentration, hampering me on the way of acquiring her necklace, and winning of our wager!
But soon there were other emotions in play!
For her long green satin gown felt like heaven under my fingertips, and I was beginning to become pleasantly mesmerized by how the sleek material fluidly swished and fluttered around us as we danced.
Actually, I soon realized that so spellbinding was my partner, that I found myself almost convinced not to play any tricks and let the wager be lost!
But then I looked up and in the reflection of the mirror, saw the smug face of the git staring at me from the bar and decided I just could not let him win!
That cleared my mind, I will say, and rekindled my interest in seeing if I could do this!
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It was then I realized that the dance music was in its final chords...
I decided I had to go for it now!
So I forced out a comment about one of the blokes sitting at the bar ( far from my fellow conspirator!), her eyes sought and found the gent out, then she fetchingly giggled in agreement to my observation.
Meanwhile, my fingers had deftly reached up to the end of the gold chain hanging down from the clasp of her necklace.
Ever so slowly I pulled it down like one would a lampshade chain, and the whole affair obligingly came down!
The hinged clasp soon was captured in my grasping fingers.
At the same time, I was watching the necklace with its flickering emeralds and diamonds, from the front, as her head had been turned towards the bar.
I noticed how the necklace was moving up, smoothly slithering along with the sleek material of her pretty gown, praying it would not catch and draw her attention!
But the sparkling little beauty behaved, and gave its’ unaware mistress no fair warning!!
We twirled around and I led her to a far corner where a group of fake trees was clustered, giving me a bit of haven from the possibility of being seen making my final move!
The music started on its final chord, I probably only had a little over a minute to make good on my attempt!
I knew the type of her necklaces’ clasp, now wedged in my fingertips, and having worked on many like it, this one presented no problem.
So it was, with surprising ease given me nervousness, the diamond emerald necklace’s necklace’s clasp nicely popped open, leaving one end of the expensive necklace laying over her shoulder, resting like a shimmery snake in the green grass, as it laid out upon her sensuously shiny gown!
Then, in quick fashion, timing it perfectly as the song ended…
I bought her willingly into a friendly hug thanking her, whilst at the same moment whisked the necklace from around the neckline of her satin gown!
It came away, smooth as sliding a melting ice cube across the surface of a piping hot griddle!
It easily slipped off, then fell safely away and was securely stowed away into a tux pocket before we had fully broken apart.
Shamelessly I smiled into her eyes.
“Thank you luv, that was rather quite pleasant !”
I told her this in all sincerity as I removed my left hand from my pocket, and delicately took her green gloved one up to kiss adieu!
She looked down at our hands for one brief second, and I eyed the quite glaringly empty spot where her rather fine necklace of emeralds and diamonds had until so very recently had been dangling.
Could it really be that easy I thought curiously to myself!
Briefly wondering also what thoughts would be in a real thief’s mind upon successfully reaching this point!
She looked back up and smiled winningly at me as I innocently looked into her eyes
I could tell she was truly clueless as to what had just transpired!
She chirped back with her rich Irish brogue…
” Pleasure was all mine, to be sure, kind sir, thank ye for the quite lovely dance, but now it’s time for a restin of weary feet ya know.”
She slipped her hand, hesitantly I thought, from mine.
And with that, she turned and I watched for a rather few elongated seconds as she swished her way off, almost wishing to myself that at the last minute she would notice the necklaces’ absence.
And in my mind, I imagined being given a second dance as a reward for finding her lost necklace, or perhaps something even better may come of it … well worth losing twenty quid over!
But she didn’t notice and was gone, soon melting in with the crowd on the opposite fringe of the wooden dance floor.
And all my imaginings and desires evaporated with her…
I then finally noticed heart was pounding up a storm!
For there I was, standing there like a loon with a lady’s still warm necklace in my jackets’ pocket!
Some thief!
We hadn’t even exchanged names, which would have been a quite natural thing to do if one was trying not to appear doing anything out of the ordinary!
It’s a wonder she hadn’t noticed and start to wonder… Maybe she was? And I pictured how she had played with the necklace as I had asked her to dance. Blimey, I wasn’t out of the woods yet, was I!.
I forced myself to turn away, and head back before any undue attention was given to me,
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Chapter 6
Social Studies
I made my way quickly to the grinning git at the bar, intending on collecting my winnings.
“That was easy!” I lied as I regained my seat and took a long sip of my drink, trying to appear complacent over the entire affair.
“Codswallop”
He said unhappily, not bothering to reach for his billfold!
“ Knew the twit was gullible, but not that stupid, she never caught on, did she now? So You were just lucky then that’s all !? ”
“I was a bit lucky” I admitted.
“But it does prove true what I was saying earlier, and if a rank armature like me could pull it off, then just think about what a regular thief could do, rather proved my point, don’t it now!”
He drained his glass and set it down sharply before responding…
“It's not Cricket guv.”
He singled to the Barkeep by fidgeting with his empty glass, ordering another. Just for himself, apparently buying others a drink was not in this Blokes mindset, as well as paying off his depts!
He looked at me…
“Ya know Guv, I was just remembering there was a telly show where these were ladies marooned on an island. They got all themselves’ gussied up one evening with one of them dancing with this bloke she knew was a thief. She knew, and he still was able to take her necklace while dancing with her, as you did with that four-eyed twit! I would not have bet you if I had remembered that sooner. If he could do it, then I should have known any bloke could do so!”
I smirked to myself, I had seen that show also once, though I knew it was not a reality show but had been scripted with the actress being quite aware her necklace was going to be lifted ahead of time. I wondered if this blighter knew the difference!?
By the way, he still was grasping my £20, I realized that not only was the weasel not going to pay me for winning, but he was also making it look like I had cheated him to keep it!
“Bye the bye, what do you do now with her necklace guv?”
He asked accusingly, looking down at his fresh drink.
“Or are you one of them telly thieves… Maybe I should call the bobbies!?”
As he said this, he nonchalantly pocketed away my money!
I inwardly sighed…
“No worries lad, I’m just a jeweler like I said, I’ll turn it over to security at the door, found it just laying here on the floor don’tcha know sir… !”
“Security will return it to the lady, no harm done!”
Then, with a co-conspirator’s smile, I lied again...
“As I said me, lad, it’s a cheap bit of rhinestones! Otherwise, I probably would have been too nervous to accomplish it!”
He hesitated before answering, his eyes with a faraway look in his eyes!
I found myself wondering if this prig was contemplating trying to get more of my money!
This thought prompted me to say something, and as luck would have it, it turned out to be the key to opening up the whole affair!
I said, “Look, Mate, your right, she hasn’t even caught on like that lady you mentioned seeing saw on that ‘telly’ show!”
We both looked over at the lady in green. She had reappeared, joining a group at the far end, and no one is actually aware of anything amiss, let alone her innocent self!
Though I had to admit that I found the necklace’s absence from around her throat quite a glaring concern… But I remained calm about it!
The longer she took to notice, the less likely she would connect its loss with our dance, I reasoned with myself, almost feeling into the part of a suave jewel thief one sees acting out in the movies!
Turning to my co-conspirator, I admitted…
“Perhaps you are right, I may have made that wager knowing it was easy!”
He looked at me suspiciously, but I continued…
“Look now, I tell you, lad, women think their jewels are safe whilst being worn. The last thought any of em would suspect is that someone can lift their jewels off and be away..! That’s my theory on how thieves with light fingers could operate on in my humble opinion, and not only just to win ten quid on a bet!”.
I could tell that something was churning about in my now, quite liquored, friend’s narrow mind.
He turned his eyes back to our black-haired, hazel-eyed victim wearing the shiny green gown!
“Okay guv, you got away with it this time!”
“Tell you what lad,” I said turning the heat up on the situation as I pulled my wallet from a breast pocket, and counted out pound notes...
“Let us make it up to you! One hundred quid says you can do the same as I did!”
He picked up his drink, taking thoughtful sips, still studying my face, as his mind continued churning things about, before finally asking…
“And if I lose?”
I smiled, knowing the hook had been set!
“If you lose, then I will pay you twenty quid. So you will win no matter what happens, laddie!”
“Actually guv two Hundred if I win, that how sure you are I could do it? “
I whistled softly under my breath for emphasis, ”That’s about all I have !” I lied, appearing a bit hesitant.
“Com’ on Guv, a rich jeweler like yourself!” He nudged me again, and let out a snide cackle, a new cigarette dangling from a sneering lip.
“Anything but rich mate, but you are on!”
I pend my billfold and counted out the additional £100 in a pile, letting him eye up for a few seconds, the nicely thick pile of notes!
“All Yours,” I said,” if you dare try and are successful!”
I reached out my hand, he did not take it
“ And I pick the broad, right mate?” he stated.
“As long as it is not my lass in green” I answered.
He nodded in agreement, finally shaking my hand
And I shook his hand, watching a rather foxy grin spread all over his Weasley face, he openly drooled over the healthy pile of pound notes, his sodden cigarette bouncing up and down quite vigorously in his pursed lips.
Any idiot could see that he was up to something!
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Chapter 7
The A Levels Test
Not a good poker player, are ye lad I thought to meself, keeping my face in an easy grin that no way betrayed what I was actually thinking!
^^^
Feigning Curiosity, though I knew the answer I asked him…
“Whom do you have in mind?” I asked looking around with a conspirator’s aire?”
Soon I spied a rather easy mark of a gangly young lass, admirably wearing a tawny coloured taffeta gown, her tightly worn frock appearing as slick an easy a material to slip away jewelry from as the green gown my victim was wearing so winningly!
And this lass was wearing a simple, longish string of polished faux pearls, fastened with an uncomplicated hook –in-eye clasp! An easy, light necklace just begging to be lifted!
Now actually curious as to his seeing what this blighter’s reaction would be to this, I nodded his attention over in her direction, drawing his eyes from the money pile!
“That fetching lass over there in brown, one with the pearls, looks to be an easy enough one, don’t you think? Would you be eye’ in that one then?”
Not surprisingly, He shook his head no…
“Nah, as I said, I’ll choose one to my liking!”!”
As he said this, I watched as his eyes sought out and then nodded in the direction of a particular lass I had suspected he would choose…
“There, that one in blue near to your pearl hanger!” he smirked, “the one dancing with the prat in white!”
I looked over and acted as if I had just noticed her, though it had been pretty obvious that she was the one my ‘friend’ had had a watchful eye on all evening.
She was a diminutive lass, rather provocatively wearing a short sky bright blue dress of sleek silk, tightly outlining her rather pleasingly curved figure!
She was also openly sporting a nice collection of diamonds!
Authentic diamonds consisting, of a rather eye-catching bib like, 3 tiered necklaces that blazingly rippled fiery sparkles from around her throat!
Matching tiered earrings and bracelets, all equally glittering and sparkling with priceless prickles of colourful fire as she moved about almost completed the show!
She also was wearing a vulgarly large friendship diamond on her pinky, but all her other fingers were bare!
Openly appearing somewhat doubtful he could pull it off, I also kept mum about the fact her jewels being risky real, I wished him good luck!
Because, for one, mine at least obligingly had her necklace laid entirely along the collar of her gown, but this one in blue had a ruffled scooped collar, her necklace laid out above totally on the bare skin of her throat!
Granted the skin glistened with a bit of sweat, which may make it a bit more doable!
The pearls would have been much easier for him!
This one, I wouldn’t have picked her for a first attempt! Not even a second or third attempt!
It would take a master thief ( if they actually existed) to lift away that necklace off from a girl dressed as such! And despite all my assurances to my drinking mate, he was no master at anything, even sober, the caddish prig...!
That money may be as good as mine if I could pry his hands from it!!
But, in the seconds that my mind played this out, he had quickly gotten up and beelined to her, cutting in abruptly and sending her Brad Pitt look-alike dance partner, the one wearing the unfortunate white tux, scuttling off.
Subtly was not a virtue of that lad! “Bull in a china shop that one!” I whispered unbelievingly under my breath as I ordered one last Irish whiskey neat…
I watched with wonder as they danced, the lit limp dangling cigarette blowing curling hazy smoke into her face, and she scrunched her nose unhappily each time it did.
He made her dance close and had wrapped one hand, snake-like, up and around her shoulder, his lips whispering close in her ears.
She looked rather like a skittish colt but surprisingly appeared accepting of her unfortunate fate of a dance partner.
But, by Jove, despite all his cheekiness, lack of sophistication and his victim’s unease, the twit actually started to pull it off!
His hand traveled up along her backside until it reached flesh and gruffly trying to pry open her necklaces jeweled clasp.
I really don’t know how she never felt it.
But she didn’t and before one could blink (or wince), he had the jeweled clasp worked opened and had pulled the glittering necklace of diamonds moving with a shimmer up and over her slick silk covered shoulder!
His backside was now to me, and I watched the necklace, like a shimmering waterfall, drip dangling down from his fist behind her! Its glittering diamonds back-dropped nicely by the blue coloured shiny material of her dress. Surprisingly, no one else saw it in the seconds before he managed to stow it roughly away in a side jacket pocket!
I watched him turn her around in his arms until he was able to make eye contact with me, and I saw him give me quite the ‘thumbs up’ look of triumph.
He then abruptly left her, the half-drunk twit not even bothering to finish the song even, that much was he in hast to collect his pile of £200 in winnings!
And in that haste to make it back to the money pile, pretty much plowed over the green gowned lass standing in his way! The same one whose purloined necklace was now residing in my pocket!
As I saw this happing, I reached into that pocket and reassuringly felt that necklace with me fingers as I was watching it all unfold...
Now, so abrupt was the encounter on the dance floor, that the poor lass’s heavy glasses were knocked off, and she stumbled against him as she bent down to retrieve them... He pushed her unsteady figure aside, as she looked up to him for unoffered assistance, causing her to fall onto her knees.
As others came to her rescue, he walked away without a backward glance, and came over to me, smirking widely with an arrogant, self-satisfied look upon his (rather punchable at that point ) smug face.
I felt sorry for the lass in green as she picked up her gasses and was helped up by none other than cock robin in the red vest!
But red-faced with embarrassment, she left him standing there, and rushed off to take refuge in the ladies’ loo. Holding her glasses, squinting her eyes she ran up against a few guests as she scurried away in humiliating retreat!
Pay it up lad he said with a rather churlish grin… and I uneasily picked up the thick pile of notes and handed it to him.
I felt like saying something about his rudeness to the green satin gowned lass, but since I had been a rude one myself when I took her necklace, I let that sleeping dog lay quiet like.
Instead, I freely lied …
“Nicely done, old chap “Don’t forget to turn it in, I am sure the lady will eventually be a missing that very pretty piece!”
He slapped me on the backside as he gleefully counted my £ 200 worth of pound notes, looking all the world like a crafty cat who had eaten the gilded canary!
“No worries guv, she’ll get it back in due course!”
He was so sure of himself during the whole endeavor that I suppose warning bells should have been going off like gangbusters, but I gave no outward sign, my demeanor remaining icy calm, not an easy trick I will say, especially at that place and time!
I Just causally rose, and shaking his greasy, sweaty palm ( the one not tightly holding me money), lied again by sayin…
“Smartly played mate!”
I turned on me heel, my back to the bloke and walked off not looking back, letting out a long sigh of relief.
I had actually pulled the bloody spur of the moment scheme off!
I looked out onto the dance floor, marveling in the richly adorned dancers who her swishing and swirling about!
However, gone from the scene was a diminutive lass in blue, and still missing was my dance partner in green with the thick glasses!
I knew that off the pair of loos there was a back exit leading the rear parking lot, and I suspected she may have fled the ballroom using that as an escape.
“Pity.”, I said to myself, would have liked to have had a final look over at her, and her fine green-clad figure, lit under those dance floor lights one last time…!
So, I just continued dispassionately on, making my way back to the far side of the enormous chamber…
Quickly losing meself back amongst the throngs of gaily dressed, well liquored, unknowing partiers who were circling around the rest of the chamber…
Almost home I murmured happily…!
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Chapter 8
Grading on a Curve
I was meaning to leave the premises via a back exit, with its brick patio that led into the hedges surrounding the gardens.
As I went, I passed a non-caring security type on my way.
I did not wish to bother to shatter his bliss by stopping to hand over a lady’s emerald necklace, plus then having to take the time trying to explain how It happened to be in my possession!
So the lass would not be getting back her necklace in that fashion.
With a nod, I just walked casually by, a bloke with nothing to hide by all outward appearances.
That was me!
As I went outside, I felt the fresh breeze hit me face, and I breathed it deeply in, finally feeling free of all bother and worries.
I headed directly through the gated opening in the hedges, my final objective was reaching to the far side exit off of the lengthy garden that led off to the place where the red touring auto I drove was parked.
A bit of a walk, but amongst other things, It gave me time to marvel over how easily I was able to work through a situation that I was sure would Fail!
I made my way, slowing down a tad and admiring the flowers and rather ornate fountains that made up this hedged in proper little English garden.
I had one at home myself, behind the cottage, but nothing on this scale, just a brick path amongst some moss rose and lilies, with a rather ancient wrought iron bench overlooking a small stone-built pond in its centre.
I found myself automatically reaching for me pipe and pouch, figuring to contemplate with a long smoke as I walked. But immediately thought the better of it, time was, after all, still decidedly of the essence.
Soon enough, I reached my objective, then for the first time turned to look directly behind me, no one else was about!
I breathed a sigh of relief, it finally was over!
I turned and exited through the back gate…
I approached the curve that lined the parking lot when from another path off to the side I suddenly saw a shadow emerge, detaching itself from behind a tree.
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At the same instant, I was made aware of the sound of a quick swish of something silky, and before I could turn about, a very feminine set of fingers gently grasped my arm.
For the briefest part of a second, my mind pictured the young lass in sky blue, the one whose diamond necklace had been lifted as a result of my wager.
My ears met with a soft voice speaking in a lilting Irish accent, whispering cheerily behind me.
“Ta, my love, I’m here!”
I turned and looked again into those rapturing hazel eyes, prettily magnified by her heavy black glasses.
“Ta, here you are indeed !”
I enthusiastically agreed, and pulled her up against me, hugging into her sweet figure, my hands , openly this time, relishing in the splendid feel of her luxuriously soft, shimmery green satin gown, and the warm cuddling figure it encased!!
“Apparently, some turd stole me necklace while we danced !”
she whispered this playfully in my ear...
“ ‘ere now! By chance would ya know who the jester was laddie?!”
We broke apart, and as she stood there facing me with a rather smugly coy look about her, one hand on her chest, the other playing along her gown’s barren neckline. I gave her ravishing figure a quick once over before my eyes finally coming to rest once again on the empty neckline of her shiny green coloured gown.
“Indeed, I do “ I admitted, patting me tux outer pocket!
She gazed at me as I admitted my sin, a rather lusting look I knew, and melted for over oh so many times past!
Nice to know that feelings were still strong between us: after a five-year partnership before being married, and now a full 10 years vehemently lost in wedded bliss.
And what a lovely bride she had been… and still is for all that matters….!
I think her thoughts were going on about the same lines as mine, and may have led to us being rather a bit naughty right there an then under the witch elm tree that grew on the green lawn that separated the gardens from the parking lot!…. But!
But, shaking our heads clear in unison, we both turned back to peek into the still empty gardens…
Then we looked at each other directly in the eyes, and chuckling out loud together, proclaimed in sync…
“Let’s get going!”
We forthwith went to the auto, and I helped her slid onto the left side leather passenger inside our small, but quite fast, red coloured touring convertible.
Once she had slithered down, pulled in the loose ends of her long green gown, and nestled into the warm black leather of the seat, I closed her door.
I then promptly hopped in on the right, and fired up the engine into roaring life , and pulled off, leaving the place agreeably, as they say in the olde B.W. movies, in our dust...
About a mile down the road I looked up in the rear mirror, no one was following, but then, really why should they?
Though I was sure that by now there was some unsettling commotion going on back amongst several of the guests at the party we had both so recently left, there was really no way they could have logically connected me, or my wife, to any of it!
Suspicions, of course, maybe raised, but no one there knew enough about either of us to track down and ask!
With that thought in my head, I glanced over at my wife, saying rather with a cheeky tone of voice…
“Luv, we may actually have gotten away with this one!”
I saw my wife winningly smile as she pulled herself from what looked like deep thoughts, not breaking her gaze from the curving road ahead.
I stole another glance down at her clasped hands holding closed over an unseen object tightly within…
Catching my eye, she tenderly chided...
“Hush now dear husband, don’t go ‘an spoil this lucky find we worked so hard to acquire.”
At which point she opened her clasped hands so we could both have a look!
^^^^^^^^^^
I’ll end the chapter here for a bit of a mystery, though I am sure that anyone reading up to this point suspects all too well what we had come away from the party with 😉
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Chapter 9
Skipping Class, not for a smoke either!
My Wife’s green satin gloved hands, which had been clasped closed upon her gown’s shiny lap, were now opened a little and I peaked at the wild glistening of the 3 tiered bibbed necklace of quite genuine diamonds that lay nestled in her gloved palms.
Whistling, I asked…“I assume that those came from the gent’s tux pocket ?”
“ Quite she said, and a rather easy pick it twas , muggy bumping into me like he did!”, “ Rather a rude ‘un wasn’t he!”
She straightening her glasses in remembrance.
I chuckled in the memory of just how annoying the bloke had been, then said…
“Yes, most certainly was, rude, the self-centered wealthy young twit! Absolutely agree on that subject my love!!...plus the bugger smelled of something rude! ”
My eyes on the road, as I said this, I swerved to miss a clump of a cow’s by-product on the road, then continued on…
“It was a good plan! Played out just as you said it would! Sorry I doubted you!”
My wife, and partner in crime, smiled as I glanced over to her…
“Happy out!
When you first pointed out her diamonds, I knew that the spoiled missy’s necklace was the best take there by far of the other jewels stingingly being worn by any of the other ladies! And Bob’s me, uncle if those weren’t her maters anyways! “
I shook my head….
“Umm, possibly a bit too modern a setting for her mother, maybe a filthy rich admirer behind the curtains, so to speak...judging by the friendship ring she was flaunting about under everyone’s nose?”
My wife was still smiling, studying the brite necklace as it lay piled in her palm, a nice contrast, flickering diamonds on a green satin bed!…
Me pretty wife went on…
“Could be luv… but moer’ in likely ah disgustingly rich one than filthy he would be at that, judging by the quality of these diamonds she was wearing so flagrantly. One could see that without a jewelers' microscope!”
“But, of course, the fly in the ointment, was missey’s shadowing brother, watching her like a hawk from that barstool! The poor thing couldn’t enjoy herself properly, let alone wander off anywhere alone where a person like m’self could be expected to acquire a bit of them jewels in a proper fashion!!”
My eyes back on the road, I nodded in agreement, then with a sigh, I said…
“Yes and we both saw she wasn’t drinking and didn’t appear to be needing to use a powder room…”
“So we met up in that secluded side court to hold council, and agreed it was all up to me!”
She looked over at me, rather meekly...
“So, what better way than to have her brother take them, and obligingly deliver them to us?”
I sighed again, for dramatic reasons…
“ I know luv… at first, I was against the idea, especially since it placed me in the spotlight!”
Turning my eyes from the road, I gave both her, and the necklace she held, a brief, but warming, glance!
Then continued on…
”You, after all my lovely one, are the actress and pickpocket in the family!”
My wife laid a softly gloved hand upon my shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze…
“ I was knowin you could do it luv, and the gambit was well worth its outcome if successful, which so far, it has!”
I chuckled…
“And it only cost us a mere £220!
I said this with triumph, for we both knew what the value of those diamonds would represent against a normal fortnight’s work to the year’s family income!”
My wife lowered her hand from my arm and laying it on my lap, squeezed my leg quite in a happy fashion.
As I, and the family jewels, both perked up at this, she snickered and commented….
“I think we are done for the weekend my luv, perhaps we should head on towards for home now, I think that I can ‘feel’ that you may be in agreement? “
Smiling outwardly at her words, I had to ask, half curious…
“What about the black-tie tomorrow night at the Regents’ castle then Luv?”
I was referring to the rest of our plans for the outing.
“Could collect a few gems other than diamonds to come home with on Monday?”
I was maybe a wee bit disappointed, which she knew by my next question…
“And I thought you still were a wanting the opportunity to play out the ‘Damsel in Distress’ routine we’ve been working on and had been originally planning on trying out today?”
I stole over a glance as I said this, half hoping I could change her mind and she would be game for it!
She slipped her arm in mine and drawing her sweet self-close to me murmuring, purposefully deepening her rich Irish brogue, purred…
”I think we have done a rather good bit of business for this trip laddie!”
As my wife, nestled up against me she looked up into my eyes before continuing …
I was smiling, for as she had moved, my ears caught the distinctly pleasant sound of rich thicke satin slithering along with fine leather! A rather richly provocative sound, to me, anyway!
Needless to say, my attention was now taken as my wife spoke on in her persuading fashion…
“Not often we have a big score this early! And its more ‘in enough, husband of mine, that we can afford to skip over the other things for now? New routines can wait, Don’t’cha agree wit me now m’ lad?”
She ended with a hopeful beckoning sort of look, a winning weapon that most wives are quite adept at using from their wily arsenal of emotional tugs….
I automatically smiled, never being one to resist that type of lure….
She saw that I was in agreement with my grinning face…
“That’s it then, I can see you agree! Darling, on Home to Badger’s Drift it is now!”
“And If you be want'in any more jewels stolen, you can continue to practice on me tonight!”
She had leaned up and over, as she whispered cheekily, her lustily breath tickling my ear while a long jeweled earring intentionally was allowed to hit me alongside a cheek.…the same cheek she than pecked a kiss upon!!!
Mission accomplished, She broke away and happily settled back into her seat as my voice finally found it’s tongue!
“ OK, Let’s not press our luck on, correct me, fine lass!”
I stated this in absolute agreement…and, feeling a familiar tingling start down between my legs, responded by letting my foot push the accelerator, causing the purring old engine to rev it up and add a bit of speed to our journey!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Up Last
Chapter 10
Homework Prep
The car jumped in acceleration, I heard my wife beside me exhale a long, deep breath while reaching up and pulling down the visor and glanced at herself into the mirror.
I then heard her murmur.
”Have a watch for passer-byes willa Luv?”
From the corner of my eye, I saw her gently lift the diamonded necklace and carefully fasten it around her throat, letting it dangle down, whilst both of us then admired the rather dazzling, quite eye-catching results.
In a far off, wistful voice she said…
“I guess I do now feel it’s a bit of a waste to have bothered being this dressed up for an evening and not stopping anywhere else?”
I felt a sudden rise as I anticipated where her thoughts may be leading upon at the moment “
“ Ya know my love, we are going to be passing that muggy little bar on the wharf, the one we had a stop in on our last excursion, and…”
She let her voice trail off, and I knew it was for me to continue.
“Care to stop in again for a final drink on our way home?”
“And you can minx the natives with your finery, plus I am feeling a bit peckish..?... Sounds like a plan me dearest!?”
I asked with a wholehearted voice of agreement
She answered whilst still watching the reflection of the diamonds in the newly acquired necklace she was now wearing. The buggers were certainly screaming out their flickering brilliance in the mirror...
“Indeed sir, stop in for a bit of sup, a nip, then you can have a pull at your pipe and tell me how pretty I look!”
I chuckled while adding to her statement…
“A Jewel in the rough indeed you will be in there amongst the sometimes rather dicey patrons at the Poet and the Peasant Pub!”
Brilliant she said, leaning into me, her head gently resting on my chest, giving me an eyeful to look down upon! My eyes took a quick journey along the front of her rather perked features, tightly outlined by the green satin gown, as she grasped my arm!
My eyes also took in the emblazoned diamonds dripping down from her throat, wincing at the brilliant fiery sparkles of the magnificent necklace!
From a distance, they had stood out exquisitely from around the lass in blue’s throat, but up this close, they were almost too bloody blinding of an affair!
I knew full well along what lines my wife was half fancifully conniving up deep in her desires… And wearing that squinty necklace out into that pub was at the center of them!!
^^^^^^^^^^^
I chuckled, knowing we both knew it would be a folly on, oh so many levels, to flaunt about any jewels we had managed to ‘acquire’ in such devious ways whilst out and about on our occasional jaunts we made into the public realm for such related purposes..!”
But I decided to make sure by saying…
“But you know luv, best not wear those diamonds around your throat into a waterfront pub, or anywhere else for that matter!
She was disappointed, but still said teasingly…
“Righto party pooper!”
Then added, lying through her pretty while teeth…!
“ I really wasn’t planning on wearin the pretty things, just joking really…!”
Breaking away she again slipped back into her seat, with a deep sigh of remembrance, before contemplating somberly with a shiver...
“Remember luv? That bloody party we went to for fun instead of working it over.
There we were, you in a tux, me in my best taffeta gown and real diamonds, enjoying ourselves for once… and in the course, letting our bloody guards down!
She took a long sigh, then continued, almost snarling out her words…
“Then go and ending that evening, while admittedly a bit tipsy, and certainly gullibly dressed up in my finest, only to meet that puppy sad-looking lass in the loo! Then while we were both in there, buying into her sob story!...
Then letting her lure me out alone by acting the good Samaritan to help her…!”
I could sense my wife gritting her teeth as she spits out the last bit…
“Then grabbed, waylaid and stripped of everything in a back alleyway by her thievin ruffian friends!!!” Well, I will agree, allowing that to happen once in me life was enough I’ll tell you that!”.
With a shudder, my now wretched-looking wife took in a deep breath after that outburst, then relaxing her expression, said in a more easy-going manner…
“Just say’n your quite right luv…! A second time may spoil the currant mood a bit anyhow, not to mention the loss of these pretties you worked so hard for, husband of mine!!”
(If anyone would like me to post the full separate story of how the back alley thievery event occurred, described briefly above, please let me know in the comments!)
Out of the corner of an eye, I had watched her unhappily undo the fiery necklace and place it back into her smooth lap, and then, as she still spoke, opening our car's glove case.
My wife reached in and popped open a small secret panel in the back. Pulling out a small, thin black velvet pouch, she carefully poured the sparkling necklace inside…
Then she pulled off her earrings, bracelet and rings…placing them inside also.
Then placed the now plump pouch back inside the hidden niche, and securely closed the secret panel. I heard her give a long sigh unhappily as she did so….. and knew her mind was heading into a darker corner of past experiences…
She patted my pocket which still held her necklace…
“Keep my emeralds safe then for me love!?”
Then she sighed…
“So tis agreed all around then! Stopping at the Poet and the Peasant pub for supper and a nipper, then it is off home to the Drift we go !“
Her mood shifting back, she exclaimed this part merrily!
Then she sighed happily while pulling off the owlish glasses she had been disguisedly wearing from their, perch and carelessly flipped them into the back-jump seat.
Then, reaching up into her hair, undid her matching twin emerald clips (placing them with a smirk into my jackets pocket), and pulled off her shoulder-length black wig, allowing her longish hair, the natural colour of sunset cerise, to freely cascade down from its long-held, tight bindings of a bun… The long black wig soon joined in the back with the discarded glasses.
She then nestled comfortably back into her seat, once again giving my ears a treat from the sounds of her gown slithering against leather, she exclaimed!
“Lead on, Macduff!”
^^^^^^^^^^^^
We sped off, soon putting many miles between us and the soon to be quite surprised, rather mangy cigarette slobbering, empty pocketed blighter!
The snarky brother to the now str
In this spectacular image captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, the galaxy NGC 2799 (on the left) is seemingly being pulled into the center of the galaxy NGC 2798 (on the right).
Interacting galaxies, such as these, are so named because of the influence they have on each other, which may eventually result in a merger or a unique formation. Already, these two galaxies have seemingly formed a sideways waterspout, with stars from NGC 2799 appearing to fall into NGC 2798 almost like drops of water.
Galactic mergers can take place over several hundred million to over a billion years. While one might think the merger of two galaxies would be catastrophic for the stellar systems within, the sheer amount of space between stars means that stellar collisions are unlikely and stars typically drift past each other.
Text credit: European Space Agency (ESA)
Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, SDSS, J. Dalcanton; Acknowledgment: Judy Schmidt (Geckzilla)
For more information: www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2020/hubble-views-a-ga...
Leo II dwarf galaxy
Credit: DESI LIS, Giuseppe Donatiello
RA,Dec = 168.3627, 22.1539
Leo II is a dwarf spheroidal satellite galaxy of the Milky Way at about 690,000 light-years away in Leo. It was discovered in 1950 by Robert George Harrington and Albert George Wilson, from the Mount Wilson and Palomar Observatories in California. Leo II consists largely of metal-poor older stars.
Acknowledgments
The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) data are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (“CC BY 4.0”, Summary, Full Legal Code). Users are free to share, copy, redistribute, adapt, transform and build upon the DESI data available through this website for any purpose, including commercially.
This image used data obtained with the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI). DESI construction and operations is managed by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of High-Energy Physics, under Contract No. DE–AC02–05CH11231, and by the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, a DOE Office of Science User Facility under the same contract. Additional support for DESI was provided by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), Division of Astronomical Sciences under Contract No. AST-0950945 to the NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory; the Science and Technology Facilities Council of the United Kingdom; the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation; the Heising-Simons Foundation; the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA); the National Council of Science and Technology of Mexico (CONACYT); the Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain (MICINN), and by the DESI Member Institutions: www.desi.lbl.gov/collaborating-institutions. The DESI collaboration is honored to be permitted to conduct scientific research on Iolkam Du’ag (Kitt Peak), a mountain with particular significance to the Tohono O’odham Nation. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy, or any of the listed funding agencies.
light shafts
through trees
dawn stage
of an entire life time
echoing
events before
thousands of years ago
stumbling along
riding in our DNA
right into the 21st century
dancing alive
hooting loudly
letting us know
where we all came from
before we
turn around this corner
heading towards
YOUTH stage
must remember now
that original split
8000 years ago
leaving hunter and gather
nature dependent
behind
while embracing
domestication of plants and animals
AND OUR HUMANITY
in pain riddled accounts
now needing acknowledgment
healing
acceptance well before
we set out
over the new land
laying outstretched
in-front of the bridge
we can never return on
remember
those times
feel those days
know why
understand what we have carried
let go and breath air
into those old pains
drop the cloak in the sand
walk on naked of attachments
embracing truth
shake off all dust on your souls
step forward with physical feet
carry the spirit and soul forward
towards maturity
destiny fulfilled
completing
our original promise to God
all those eons past
when we all stood together
beneath the
TREE OF LIFE
together
as one
united in purpose
we are meant to return...
Clustered at the center of this image are six brilliant spots of light, four of them creating a circle around a central pair. Appearances can be deceiving, however, as this formation is not composed of six individual galaxies, but is actually two separate galaxies and one distant quasar imaged four times. Data from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope also indicates that there is a seventh spot of light in the very center, which is a rare fifth image of the distant quasar. This rare phenomenon is the result of the two central galaxies, which are in the foreground, acting as a lens.
The four bright points around the galaxy pair, and the fainter one in the very center, are in fact five separate images of a single quasar (known as 2M1310-1714), an extremely luminous but distant object. The reason we see this quintuple effect is a phenomenon called gravitational lensing. Gravitational lensing occurs when a celestial object with an enormous amount of mass – such as a pair of galaxies – causes the fabric of space to warp. When light from a distant object travels through that gravitationally warped space, it is magnified and bent around the huge mass. This allows humans here on Earth to observe multiple, magnified images of the far-away source. The quasar in this image actually lies farther away from Earth than the pair of galaxies. The galaxy pair’s enormous mass bent and magnified the light from the distant quasar, giving the incredible appearance that the galaxies are surrounded by four quasars – when in reality, a single quasar lies far beyond them!
Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) imaged the trio in spectacular detail. It was installed on Hubble in 2009 during Hubble Servicing Mission 4, Hubble’s final servicing mission. WFC3 continues to provide both top-quality data and fantastic images 12 years after its installation.
Text credit: European Space Agency (ESA)
Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, T. Treu; Acknowledgment: J. Schmidt
For more information: www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2021/hubble-sees-cosmi...
Artist (group): Weather Report
Vinyl LP (1974)
Label: Columbia
Catalog No.: KC 32494
Stereo
Vinyl, out-of-print (original pressing)
Number of Discs: 1
**************
▶ Rear cover: here.
▶ LP on turntable: here.
▶ Inner sleeve: here.
**************
☞ Side 1
1. Nubian Sundance 10:40
2. American Tango 3:42
3. Cucumber Slumber 8:22
☞ Side 2
1. (4) Mysterious Traveller 7:18
2. (5) Blackthorn Rose 5:02
3. (6) Scarlet Woman 5:47
4. (7) Jungle Book 7:20
The album cover and inner liner erroneously list Jungle Book after American Tango on side 1, and omit Cucumber Slumber.
*************
▶ Musicians (Weather Report)
☞ Joe Zawinul – leader, electric and acoustic piano, synthesizer, guitar, kalimba, organ, tamboura, clay drum, tack piano, melodica
☞ Wayne Shorter – soprano and tenor saxophone, tack piano
☞ Miroslav Vitouš – acoustic bass (tr. 2)
☞ Alphonso Johnson – electric bass
☞ Ishmael Wilburn – drums
☞ Skip Hadden – drums (tr. 1,4)
☞ Dom Um Romão – percussion, drums
☞ Various guest musicians, including:
Ray Barretto – percussion (tr. 3)
☞ Helmut Wimmer (Hayden Planetarium) – front artwork
**************
▶ "In 1974, three years after the band's inception, Weather Report became one of the world's most popular jazz groups due to their uncompromising originality and musicianship. This was the year that founding member Miroslav Vitous was replaced by Alphonso Johnson, who became a critical asset as both a fluid, creative bassist and a composer. Drummer Ishmael Wilburn and Brazilian percussionist Dom Um Romao, with a shifting cast of supporting players, laid the foundation for the band's most exciting incarnation yet. The overdue reissue of Mysterious Traveller is a welcome acknowledgment of this mid-period lineup's importance in the evolution of fusion."
**************
▶ To me, 1974's Mysterious Traveller marked Weather Report's transition from the improvisational sound of Miles Davis' Bitches Brew, in its first albums, to the more composed-through funk/rock vamping of its later efforts. It's also my personal pre-Jaco (Pastorius) favorite of Weather Report's oeuvre, and, in particular, the cuts: Blackthorn Rose with a beautiful soprano sax/piano duet, the miniature electronica of American Tango, the ethereal (and mysterious) title track, Mysterious Traveller, and the jazz-funk workout of Cucumber Slumber.
A wonderful find in a local thrift shop — and in good condition— in...
Avondale Estates, Georgia, USA.
13 August 2020.
***************
▶ Photo by Yours For Good Fermentables.com.
▶ For a larger image, type 'L' (without the quotation marks).
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▶ Camera: Olympus Pen E-PL1.
▶ Commercial use requires explicit permission, as per Creative Commons.