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The cutting-edge technology that keeps the Silverstone motor racing track in tip-top condition could be coming to Croydon. John Bownas spoke to the team hoping to bring it here.
Pot holes – we all hate ‘em, and Croydon certainly has its share.
But now, the borough’s highways team is taking a lead from the people responsible for maintaining Silverstone’s grand prix circuit.
New technology that is good enough for the world’s top racing drivers is being tested in Croydon to see if it is up to the council’s exacting standards.
If trials are successful, the infrared-powered Nu-Phalt repair system could become invaluable to Croydon’s road repair crews who would be the first in London to realise its potential benefits.
Apart from a significant possible cost saving, the biggest advantages that the new technique has over traditional methods are:
•speed: a typical 1 square metre repair can be completed in just 20 minutes; currently, the same job takes considerably longer, and would be only a temporary fix;
•durability: the infra-red triggered thermal bonding means that patch repairs are far more permanent and blend seamlessly into the surrounding road surface;
•environmentally friendly: the process starts by recycling the existing macadam and needs only a small amount of new material to top off the repair.
The council has recently announced a multi-million pound investment project to resurface many of its roads.
However, there will always be a need for fast and efficient repairs in those cases where small patches of tarmac work loose.
This can happen at any time of the year – although it is usually after spells of wet or cold weather that these small holes open up to create a real headache for motorists and cyclists.
In total, the council’s emergency repairs operation currently costs about £560k every year in manpower and materials – and that’s not including the money that is budgeted separately for the major road resurfacing schemes that we will be seeing a lot more of over the next few years.
Steve Iles is the council’s head of highways, and he knows better than anyone else in the borough just how big a task it is to stay on top of the thousands of road repairs that his teams have to carry out every year.
Talking to Your Croydon about this mammoth job and his hopes for the promising high-tech solution, he first ran through some of the big numbers involved.
“We’ve got nearly 3,000 roads in Croydon, and these all get inspected by the council at least twice a year.
“We look out for any problems that might have arisen since the last visit – and particularly any new holes or cracks that could pose a hazard.
“Since January our system’s logged nearly 5,000 new reports from both streetscene inspectors and those members of the public who phone or email to tell us about possible problems.”
In that same time we’ve managed to fill in or repair about 9,800 – but there’s still around 8,600 that we know about waiting to be fixed.
“That takes a lot of doing,” continued Steve, “I’ve got six full-time staff who spend the majority of their day out doing this sort of work.
“And when they can’t do road repairs, because of snow and ice, they drive the gritting lorries to try to keep the roads clear.”
Tony Whyatt is the highways engineer whose research into improved technology solutions has led to the trial of the Nu-Phalt system.
“I’m really optimistic about how this will save us time and money.
“We reuse most of the existing road material on-site and need to add only a small amount of fresh material to each repair.
“There’s no noisy compressors, and the system cuts the number of vehicles and staff involved in each repair.
“We also minimise disruption to traffic – which is good for drivers – and these repairs can be driven over again almost immediately they’re finished.”
Indeed, driving away from our meeting with Tony we drove over a number of holes that had just been filled – and the first thing we noticed was that we didn’t notice them at all.
The repaired road was as smooth as the day it was originally laid.
Back to Tampa FL for more vintage scenery, this time a year later, on 12 April 1982, at Seaboard System's sprawling Uceta and Yeoman yard and shop complex, where we find SW-9 switcher No. 181 (ex-Atlantic Coast Line) working the yard in the short-lived Family Lines attire.
For Monochrome Monday here's a look at Vermont Rail System's Washington County Railroad job at Barre Transfer at about MP 3.2 on the WACR's Montpelier and Barre Division. They have just cut away from a cut of empties pulled from the NECR interchange yard at Montpelier Junction that they have temporarily set off on the old main.
GMRC 804 (a GP9r blt. Oct. 1955 as NW 13) and VTR 206 (a GP38-3 206 blt. Oct. 1969 as SOU 2718 and originally a high nosed straight GP38) are at this location which historically was known as Barre Transfer because it was where the rails of the Central Vermont, Barre Railroad and Montpelier and Wells River all met. The train arrived here via the nearly mile and a half stretch of trackage which was rebuilt on the former M&WR right of way four years ago (rails in lower right). This grade had been bereft of rails for 55 years when trains returned in 2021, and this was my first time photographing it. You can read more about why this happened here: vrs.us.com/reviving-a-historic-route-to-improve-service/non
The trackage coming in from the left where they left the empties is ex Central Vermont, first laid in 1875 when the 1849 branch into the capital city was extended to Barre. Out of sight is a track diverting to the right that once led another 35 miles east to a junction with the Boston & Maine / Canadian Pacific Conn River Mainline at Wells River. Opened in 1873, trains ran until November 1956 when the route was abandoned and the rails removed except for an 1800 ft stub on this end extending east from this switch to a couple long closed customer sidings in East Montpelier.
In 1957 Sam Pinsly's Montpelier & Barre purchased the CV branch and he quickly consolidated it and the old Montpelier & Wells River (later Barre & Chelsea) routes between downtown Montpelier and Barre. The state purchased these rails in 1980 when the M&B petitioned for total abandonment, and they've had multiple contract operators over the years until finally settling on Vermont Rail System's Washington County Subsidiary about two decades ago.
Montpelier, Vermont
Friday August 1, 2025
The cutting-edge technology that keeps the Silverstone motor racing track in tip-top condition could be coming to Croydon. John Bownas spoke to the team hoping to bring it here.
Pot holes – we all hate ‘em, and Croydon certainly has its share.
But now, the borough’s highways team is taking a lead from the people responsible for maintaining Silverstone’s grand prix circuit.
New technology that is good enough for the world’s top racing drivers is being tested in Croydon to see if it is up to the council’s exacting standards.
If trials are successful, the infrared-powered Nu-Phalt repair system could become invaluable to Croydon’s road repair crews who would be the first in London to realise its potential benefits.
Apart from a significant possible cost saving, the biggest advantages that the new technique has over traditional methods are:
•speed: a typical 1 square metre repair can be completed in just 20 minutes; currently, the same job takes considerably longer, and would be only a temporary fix;
•durability: the infra-red triggered thermal bonding means that patch repairs are far more permanent and blend seamlessly into the surrounding road surface;
•environmentally friendly: the process starts by recycling the existing macadam and needs only a small amount of new material to top off the repair.
The council has recently announced a multi-million pound investment project to resurface many of its roads.
However, there will always be a need for fast and efficient repairs in those cases where small patches of tarmac work loose.
This can happen at any time of the year – although it is usually after spells of wet or cold weather that these small holes open up to create a real headache for motorists and cyclists.
In total, the council’s emergency repairs operation currently costs about £560k every year in manpower and materials – and that’s not including the money that is budgeted separately for the major road resurfacing schemes that we will be seeing a lot more of over the next few years.
Steve Iles is the council’s head of highways, and he knows better than anyone else in the borough just how big a task it is to stay on top of the thousands of road repairs that his teams have to carry out every year.
Talking to Your Croydon about this mammoth job and his hopes for the promising high-tech solution, he first ran through some of the big numbers involved.
“We’ve got nearly 3,000 roads in Croydon, and these all get inspected by the council at least twice a year.
“We look out for any problems that might have arisen since the last visit – and particularly any new holes or cracks that could pose a hazard.
“Since January our system’s logged nearly 5,000 new reports from both streetscene inspectors and those members of the public who phone or email to tell us about possible problems.”
In that same time we’ve managed to fill in or repair about 9,800 – but there’s still around 8,600 that we know about waiting to be fixed.
“That takes a lot of doing,” continued Steve, “I’ve got six full-time staff who spend the majority of their day out doing this sort of work.
“And when they can’t do road repairs, because of snow and ice, they drive the gritting lorries to try to keep the roads clear.”
Tony Whyatt is the highways engineer whose research into improved technology solutions has led to the trial of the Nu-Phalt system.
“I’m really optimistic about how this will save us time and money.
“We reuse most of the existing road material on-site and need to add only a small amount of fresh material to each repair.
“There’s no noisy compressors, and the system cuts the number of vehicles and staff involved in each repair.
“We also minimise disruption to traffic – which is good for drivers – and these repairs can be driven over again almost immediately they’re finished.”
Indeed, driving away from our meeting with Tony we drove over a number of holes that had just been filled – and the first thing we noticed was that we didn’t notice them at all.
The repaired road was as smooth as the day it was originally laid.
Here's a view looking south from the Amtrak platform (served twice daily by the Vermonter) past the the tidy little wood frame depot at MP 76.4 on the modern day New England Central Railroad's Roxbury Sub. The ex Central Vermont station is believed to be the third at the site and was constructed in 1934 and serves this train and its northbound counterpart every day of the year.
Down in the interchange yard is the Vermont Rail System's Washington County Railroad Montpelier and Barre Division crew in the process of gathering up empty gondolas that they will take back into Montpelier ultimately destined for loading up at Northeast Materials quarry in Websterville atop Millstone Hill. The power consists of VTR 206 (a GP38-3 206 blt. Oct. 1969 as SOU 2718 and originally a high nosed straight GP38) and green GMRC 804 (a GP9r blt. Oct. 1955 as NW 13).
Montpelier Junction
Berlin, Vermont
Friday August 1, 2025
Dust collecting in the gravitational plane of the solar system's planets can be seen illuminated by the sun in space in the spring and fall. Here I captured this zodiacal light" with a Perseid meteor over the Mono Basin.
Although I try to avoid the lights of Lee Vining, often they're an unavoidable addition to my night photographs in the area. Their impact is likely to soon get a lot worse:
Mono County Planning Commission disappoints; Board of Supervisors to vote soon on Tioga Inn project
"Despite overwhelming opposition from the public, on Thursday the Mono County Planning Commission voted 4-0 to approve the Tioga Inn project with few modifications to the final plan and design."
www.monolake.org/today/2020/04/18/mono-county-planning-co...
I've posted more information on my blog:
www.jeffsullivanphotography.com/blog/2020/04/25/light-pol...
Contact members of the Mono County Board of Supervisors if before their May meeting if you have any concerns.
The cutting-edge technology that keeps the Silverstone motor racing track in tip-top condition could be coming to Croydon. John Bownas spoke to the team hoping to bring it here.
Pot holes – we all hate ‘em, and Croydon certainly has its share.
But now, the borough’s highways team is taking a lead from the people responsible for maintaining Silverstone’s grand prix circuit.
New technology that is good enough for the world’s top racing drivers is being tested in Croydon to see if it is up to the council’s exacting standards.
If trials are successful, the infrared-powered Nu-Phalt repair system could become invaluable to Croydon’s road repair crews who would be the first in London to realise its potential benefits.
Apart from a significant possible cost saving, the biggest advantages that the new technique has over traditional methods are:
•speed: a typical 1 square metre repair can be completed in just 20 minutes; currently, the same job takes considerably longer, and would be only a temporary fix;
•durability: the infra-red triggered thermal bonding means that patch repairs are far more permanent and blend seamlessly into the surrounding road surface;
•environmentally friendly: the process starts by recycling the existing macadam and needs only a small amount of new material to top off the repair.
The council has recently announced a multi-million pound investment project to resurface many of its roads.
However, there will always be a need for fast and efficient repairs in those cases where small patches of tarmac work loose.
This can happen at any time of the year – although it is usually after spells of wet or cold weather that these small holes open up to create a real headache for motorists and cyclists.
In total, the council’s emergency repairs operation currently costs about £560k every year in manpower and materials – and that’s not including the money that is budgeted separately for the major road resurfacing schemes that we will be seeing a lot more of over the next few years.
Steve Iles is the council’s head of highways, and he knows better than anyone else in the borough just how big a task it is to stay on top of the thousands of road repairs that his teams have to carry out every year.
Talking to Your Croydon about this mammoth job and his hopes for the promising high-tech solution, he first ran through some of the big numbers involved.
“We’ve got nearly 3,000 roads in Croydon, and these all get inspected by the council at least twice a year.
“We look out for any problems that might have arisen since the last visit – and particularly any new holes or cracks that could pose a hazard.
“Since January our system’s logged nearly 5,000 new reports from both streetscene inspectors and those members of the public who phone or email to tell us about possible problems.”
In that same time we’ve managed to fill in or repair about 9,800 – but there’s still around 8,600 that we know about waiting to be fixed.
“That takes a lot of doing,” continued Steve, “I’ve got six full-time staff who spend the majority of their day out doing this sort of work.
“And when they can’t do road repairs, because of snow and ice, they drive the gritting lorries to try to keep the roads clear.”
Tony Whyatt is the highways engineer whose research into improved technology solutions has led to the trial of the Nu-Phalt system.
“I’m really optimistic about how this will save us time and money.
“We reuse most of the existing road material on-site and need to add only a small amount of fresh material to each repair.
“There’s no noisy compressors, and the system cuts the number of vehicles and staff involved in each repair.
“We also minimise disruption to traffic – which is good for drivers – and these repairs can be driven over again almost immediately they’re finished.”
Indeed, driving away from our meeting with Tony we drove over a number of holes that had just been filled – and the first thing we noticed was that we didn’t notice them at all.
The repaired road was as smooth as the day it was originally laid.
Former Clinchfield SD45-2 3614 was sunning itself and fading a bit more in Baltimore wearing Seaboard System's French Grey paint with a little yellow on the nose courtesy of CSX.
It was eventually rebuilt by CSX as SD40-2R 8262 and painted into CSX's Yellow Nose 2 paint scheme before being retired.
This cluster of valves is called a fire pump (discharge) test header, an important feature of a building's fire sprinkler system, used for periodic flow testing of the system's water pump as required by applicable fire safety codes. As far as I can tell from research (mostly websites of companies selling fire safety systems and services), the test involves connecting hoses to these valves; each valve then opened at various points during testing to verify the pump meets standards for water flow and pressure (its capacity) under different flow levels.
I've driven past the side of the building many times over the years, but only recently noticed this interesting cluster of valves. Apparently, the number of valves these headers accommodate varies with the size of the building and its fire sprinkler pump capacity.
After setting out all the empties at Barre Transfer on the old main (ex CV) Vermont Rail System's Washington County Railroad crew is headed west at about MP 2.4 on the Montpelier and Barre Division running light with GMRC 804 (a GP9r blt. Oct. 1955 as NW 13) and red VTR 206 (a GP38-3 206 blt. Oct. 1969 as SOU 2718 and originally a high nosed straight GP38).
They are curling along beside Barre Street on the nearly mile and a half stretch of trackage which was rebuilt on the former Montpelier and Wells River Railroad right of way west from Barre Transfer four years ago. This grade had been bereft of rails for 55 years when trains returned in 2021, and this was my first time photographing it. You can read more about why this happened here: vrs.us.com/reviving-a-historic-route-to-improve-service/non
Interestingly the former CV trackage including both bridges was not ultimately abandoned and was actually tied in with switches on both ends and is used as a storage track called appropriately enough the 'Old Main'. This crew will pause just ahead and duck into the west end of the old CV main to pick up the outbound loads they'd left here earlier and take them down to Montpelier Junction yard to the NECR interchange.
Montpelier, Vermont
Friday August 1, 2025
The latest view of Saturn from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captures exquisite details of the ring system — which looks like a phonograph record with grooves that represent detailed structure within the rings — and atmospheric details that once could only be captured by spacecraft visiting the distant world. Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 observed Saturn on June 20, 2019, as the planet made its closest approach to Earth, at about 845 million miles away. This image is the second in a yearly series of snapshots taken as part of the Outer Planets Atmospheres Legacy (OPAL) project. OPAL is helping scientists understand the atmospheric dynamics and evolution of our solar system's gas giant planets. In Saturn's case, astronomers will be able to track shifting weather patterns and other changes to identify trends.
Credit: NASA, ESA, A. Simon (GSFC), M.H. Wong (University of California, Berkeley) and the OPAL Team
Milky Way with Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) at the upper right of the image.
20 sec. exposure, ISO 5000, f3.5
OM1-MarkII, 18mm
Considered a long-period comet, Comet C/2023 A3—also known as Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS or Comet Purple Mountain-ATLAS—recently made its closest approach to the Sun, after having traveled from the Oort Cloud. It’s forecasted to be brightest on October 9 around magnitude -3, and around magnitude +2 on October 12 when the comet is at its closest point to Earth.
Where Did C/2023 A3 Come From?
Comets get the designation long-period if their orbits are more than 200 years long; C/2023 A3’s orbit is at least 80,000 years long. It most likely came from a region called the Oort Cloud, which is a spherical volume surrounding the planets that may have formed early on in our solar system’s history when icy objects were flung outward away from the Sun due to the gravitational action of the planets.
How Was This Comet Named?
Each part of a comet’s name has a purpose! It helps us identify what kind of comet it is, when it was discovered, and where it was discovered.
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS)’s name can be broken down like this:
C/ means that this comet is classified as a non-periodic comet, which is the designation for comets that don’t have a regular orbit around the Sun or comets whose orbits are more than 200 years long
2023 identifies the year this comet was discovered
A3 tells us the time period of the year that this comet was discovered with an alphabetic letter and a number to signify how many other comets were discovered in this time period
A = the first half of January, B = the second half of January, and so on and so forth, except the letter I and Z are never used
Tsuchinshan-ATLAS = the names of the two observatories that jointly get credit for discovering the comet. Pronunciation: [zz-jing-shan]-ATLAS. Transliteration: Purple Mountain [Observatory]-ATLAS.
The 7 train's new Hudson Yards Station opened on September 13, 2015 and is the system's 469th station. A very futuristic design features the mosaic artwork "Funktional Vibrations" by Xenobia Bailey"
This aerial photograph captures the intricate geomorphology and hydrology of a tidal estuarine wetland near the confluence of the Columbia and Willamette Rivers, just north of Portland, Oregon. The image reveals a complex, branching system of braided distributary channels emptying into broad intertidal mudflats, all shaped by the interplay of riverine flow, tidal action, and sediment deposition.
At center, a main distributary splits into a fan of narrower channels, weaving through expansive mudflats that are prominently exposed at low tide. These flats exhibit fine sediment textures—primarily silt and clay—with tonal variation suggesting differences in water content, organic matter, and sediment age. The branching channels represent active sediment transport routes and evolve over time due to erosion, deposition, and tidal flushing.
To the right, the channels snake through densely vegetated marsh islands, likely composed of riparian hardwoods such as willows or cottonwoods. These elongated islands have formed on relatively stable channel margins where suspended sediments settle and support plant colonization. Their green canopies form a rhythmic pattern that reflects natural levee formation and vegetative stabilization processes.
The left side of the image shows a wide expanse of tidally influenced lowland, with dendritic runoff patterns visible in the fine silts. This zone is ecologically critical, offering seasonal habitat for migratory birds and spawning fish, and playing a key role in nutrient cycling and flood mitigation.
Hydrologically, this landscape is shaped by bidirectional flow: freshwater discharge from the Columbia and Willamette mixes with tidal influx from the Pacific Ocean. Though more than 100 miles inland, the Columbia’s massive tidal reach allows estuarine conditions to persist in this area, contributing to the dynamic interface seen here. The system’s sediment load, modulated by seasonal runoff and upstream dam control, further affects channel formation and wetland morphology.
Geologically, this zone represents a classic tidal delta or alluvial fan, where sediment and water energy dissipate across a broad floodplain. Over time, shifting channels and vegetative colonization create a mosaic of wetland habitats—an ever-changing landscape vital to the ecological health of the lower Columbia basin.
Taken together, the image offers a rare, almost painterly glimpse into one of the Pacific Northwest’s most hydrologically complex and ecologically rich river junctions.
The very bright streak is Jupiter traversing the sky, it's a great time to look for our solar system's biggest planet! And don't miss the Perseid Meteor Shower right around the corner peaking Aug. 12th, it should be a good year for it!
This is one of my first stacked star trail images, usually in the past I used slide film or used 15-30 min exposures. For this image, 62 1 min 11 sec exposures 1 sec apart were combined with this free Photoshop action. Others you might want to try, especially if you need a stand alone if you don't have PS are here and here. Enjoy!
A week after the release of the first images from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, data from the telescope’s commissioning period is now being released on the Space Telescope Science Institute's Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes. The data includes images of Jupiter and images and spectra of several asteroids, captured to test the telescope's instruments before science operations officially began July 12. The data demonstrates Webb's to track solar system targets and produce images and spectra with unprecedented detail.
In this image, Jupiter, center, and its moon Europa, left, are seen through the James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam instrument 2.12 micron filter.
Fans of Jupiter will recognize some familiar features of our solar system’s enormous planet in these images seen through Webb’s infrared gaze. A view from the NIRCam instrument’s short-wavelength filter shows distinct bands that encircle the planet as well as the Great Red Spot, a storm big enough to swallow the Earth. The iconic spot appears white in this image because of the way Webb’s infrared image was processed.
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, and B. Holler and J. Stansberry (STScI)
#NASAMarshall #msfc #gsfc #jwst #space #telescope #jameswebspacetelescope #jupiter #europa
MARC GP39 #72 leads an eastbound local through Beltsville, MD as the sun sets on a June evening in 1994. Metrorail's inappropriately named Green Line construction is well underway. What was once a lush second growth forest has been cleared for the transit system's maintenance yard.
Fujichrome 100, Nikon N8008
on petrified driftwood, with sandstone. Specimens approx. 3" by 2"
Using the OM System's in camera focus stacking tools.
I see an adjustment is needed in the focus differential between shots. That is under my control.
The camera performs flawlessly.
Following the discovery of the Galactica orbiting within the Sol system's asteroid belt, designs for a new fleet of warships began. The result is the Battlestar Chelone, Greek for turtle. Significantly more armored that her Colonial counterpart, the Chelone-Class Battlestar is built to withstand multiple nuclear missile strikes.
Reference Image.
Since its inception in 1953, Memorial Healthcare System has been a leader in providing high-quality healthcare services to South Florida residents. Moving health forward to meet the needs of the community, Memorial is one of the largest public healthcare systems in the nation and highly regarded for its exceptional patient- and family-centered care that creates the Memorial experience. Memorial's patient, physician and employee satisfaction rates are some of the most admired in the country, and the system is recognized as a national leader in quality healthcare.
Memorial Regional Hospital is the flagship facility of the healthcare system and is one of the largest hospitals in Florida.
Memorial Regional Hospital offers extensive and diverse health care services that include Memorial Cardiac and Vascular Institute featuring renowned surgeons, Memorial Cancer Institute treating more inpatients than any other in Broward County, and Memorial Neuroscience Institute providing innovative technology and world-class physicians.
Memorial Regional Hospital and Memorial Regional Hospital South are both located in Hollywood, Florida, and offer our community a variety of medical and surgical services. Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital at Memorial provides a comprehensive array of pediatric services and is the leading children's hospital in Broward and Palm Beach counties. Memorial Hospital West, Memorial Hospital Miramar and Memorial Hospital Pembroke serve the communities of western Broward County and others in South Florida. Memorial Home Health Services, Memorial Manor nursing home and a variety of ancillary healthcare facilities round out the system's wide-ranging health services.
Memorial has a reputation as one of Florida's leading healthcare systems and is supported by a distinguished medical staff. In fact, the vast majority of physicians are board certified, or board qualified in their specialties and have been trained at many of the nation's finest medical schools and hospitals. Because of its distinguished medical staff and services, Memorial moves health forward for patients from South Florida and beyond.
As Memorial continues to lead in providing the next level of healthcare, many prestigious awards have been earned throughout the system. The accolades include Modern Healthcare magazine's Best Places to Work in Healthcare, Florida Trend magazine's Best Companies to Work for in Florida, 100 Top Hospitals, Consumer Choice Award, Best-Run Hospital, Best Nursing Staff, Best Pediatric Hospital and Best Maternity Hospital. The health care system was also honored by the American Hospital Association with the "Living the Vision" award and the "Foster G. McGaw" award for which Memorial was selected from more than 5,000 hospitals as the national model for improving the health of the community.
Credit for the data above is given to the following websites:
web.bcpa.net/BcpaClient/#/Record-Search
© All Rights Reserved - you may not use this image in any form without my prior permission.
NASA’s Juno mission captured this view of Jupiter’s southern hemisphere during the spacecraft’s 39th close flyby of the planet on Jan. 12, 2022. Zooming in on the right portion of the image reveals two more worlds in the same frame: Jupiter’s intriguing moons Io (left) and Europa (right).
Io is the solar system’s most volcanic body, while Europa’s icy surface hides a global ocean of liquid water beneath. Juno will have an opportunity to capture much more detailed observations of Europa – using several scientific instruments – in September 2022, when the spacecraft makes the closest fly-by of the enigmatic moon in decades. The mission will also make close approaches to Io in late 2023 and early 2024.
At the time this image was taken, the Juno spacecraft was about 38,000 miles (61,000 kilometers) from Jupiter’s cloud tops, at a latitude of about 52 degrees south. Citizen scientist Andrea Luck created the image using raw data from the JunoCam instrument.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS; Image processing by AndreaLuck © CC BY
#NASAMarshall #nasajuno #jupiter #io #Europa
Just the low angle head on take from this spot.
Vermont Rail System's legendary septuagenarian diesel number 405 performs a photo runby with a three car Trains magazine charter special at the Jersey Girls Dairy at the Thompson Road crosding near MP B16.5 of Vermont Railway's Bellows Falls Subdivision (the ex Green Mountain Railroad née Rutland mainline).
This line traces its history back to 1849 when the Rutland Railroad's mainline from the Connecticut River town to Burlington opened by way of its namesake community. The venerable Alco RS-1 rolled out of the Schenectady plant in November 1951 as one of a half dozen of the model and served the erstwhile Class 1 until it shut down for good in 1961. While her siblings were scattered to the wind she never left her home state being picked up by Nelson Blount (founder of Steamtown) and then staying with the Green Mountain Railroad in freight service even after Steamtown left in 1983. She has remained in service on her home rails for 73 years and still occasionally is called up to freight duty, though now largely enjoys an easier life on excursion and passenger duty such as this.
Chester, Vermont
Saturday September 28, 2024
The subject of this image is a group of three galaxies, collectively known as NGC 7764A. They were imaged by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, using both its Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). The two galaxies in the upper right of the image appear to be interacting with one another — indeed, the long trails of stars and gas extending from them both give the impression that they have both just been struck at great speed, thrown into disarray by the bowling-ball-shaped galaxy to the lower left of the image. In reality, however, interactions between galaxies happen over very long time periods, and galaxies rarely collide head-on with one another. It is also unclear whether the galaxy to the lower left is actually interacting with the other two, although they are so relatively close in space that it seems possible that they are. By happy coincidence, the collective interaction between these galaxies have caused the two on the upper right to form a shape, which from our Solar System's perspective, ressembles the starship known as the USS Enterprise from Star Trek!
NGC 7764A, which lies about 425 million light years from Earth in the constellation Phoenix, is a fascinating example of just how awkward astronomical nomenclature can be. The three galaxies are individually referred to as NGC 7764A1, NGC 7764A2 and NGC 7764A3, and just to be really difficult, an entirely separate galaxy, named NGC 7764, sits in the skies about a Moon’s distance (as seen from Earth) away. This rather haphazard naming makes more sense when we consider that many of the catalogues for keeping track of celestial bodies were compiled well over 100 years ago, long before modern technology made standardising scientific terminology much easier. As it is, many astronomical objects have several different names, or might have names that are so similar to other objects’ names that they cause confusion.
Credits: ESA/Hubble & NASA, J. Dalcanton, Dark Energy Survey, DOE, FNAL, DECam, CTIO, NOIRLab/NSF/AURA, ESO; CC BY 4.0
Acknowledgement: J. Schmidt
Comet Hale-Bopp, the cometary visitor of a lifetime, here appearing to a plunge into a region of Aurorally brightened sky, seen from my backyard in Tok, Alaska.
Imagine the violence done to these dusty snowballs from the dawn of creation as the pull of our daystar detours them into the inner solar system's neighborhood ... The icy worldlet's surface boils explosively, geysers erupt, city sized chunks break off .... If they can avoid smashing into a passing planet along the way, or getting sucked directly into our sun, they lose a lot of weight on each passage, till only a rocky cinder survives to cruise eternally through the darkness.
However, the tenuous dust trails left in cometary wakes continue to traverse the gravitational lanes almost endlessly, and when you look up to see the sparkling flash of a meteor, or "shooting star", you are likely watching a tiny fragment of a comet encountering our atmosphere.
Taken on Fuji 1600 film, with a Praktica LTL3 and wide angle lens, piggybacked on the motorized mount of my refractor, I believe it was about a 2 minute exposure.
“A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him, he fled naked, leaving his garment behind” (Mark 14:51–52)
Follow Seginus, a time traveller and ranger in the ‘Search & Rescue’ department of the United Human Settlements (UHS), the Solar System’s human habitat with man-made planets, space stations, and other habitable planets, in his journey through space and time who travelled from the year 31021 to the time of Jesus to find and rescue three lost time travellers, Diantha, Aleksy, and Leandros. What happens when Jesus not only assists him in his journey but also in reuniting him with his long-lost lover and finally revealing the true mission for Seginus?
The book is available on Amazon Kindle
www.amazon.com/Seginus-Eternal-Traveller-Ganesh-Shenoy-eb...
Following the discovery of the Galactica orbiting within the Sol system's asteroid belt, designs for a new fleet of warships began. The result is the Battlestar Chelone, Greek for turtle. Significantly more armored that her Colonial counterpart, the Chelone-Class Battlestar is built to withstand multiple nuclear missile strikes.
Reference Image.
The subject of this image is a group of three galaxies, collectively known as NGC 7764A. They were imaged by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, using both its Advanced Camera for Surveys and Wide Field Camera 3. The two galaxies in the upper right of the image appear to be interacting with one another. The long trails of stars and gas extending from them give the impression that they have both just been struck at great speed, thrown into disarray by the bowling-ball-shaped galaxy to the lower left of the image. In reality, interactions between galaxies happen over very long time periods, and galaxies rarely collide head-on with one another. It is also unclear whether the galaxy to the lower left is interacting with the other two, although they are so relatively close in space that it seems possible that they are. By happy coincidence, the collective interaction between these galaxies has caused the two on the upper right to form a shape, which from our solar system's perspective, resembles the starship known as the USS Enterprise from Star Trek!
NGC 7764A, which lies about 425 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Phoenix, is a fascinating example of just how awkward astronomical nomenclature can be. The three galaxies are individually referred as NGC 7764A1, NGC 7764A2, and NGC 7764A3. This rather haphazard naming makes more sense when we consider that many astronomical catalogs were compiled well over 100 years ago, long before modern technology made standardizing scientific terminology much easier. As it is, many astronomical objects have several different names, or might have names that are so similar to other objects’ names that they cause confusion.
Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, J. Dalcanton, Dark Energy Survey, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Fermilab (FNAL), Dark Energy Survey Camera (DECam), Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), NoirLab/National Science Foundation/AURA, European Southern Observatory (ESO); Acknowledgment: J. Schmidt
#NASA #NASAMarshall #Hubble #galaxy #galaxy
As NASA's Cassini spacecraft spends its last few weeks in orbit around Saturn before making a controlled impact with the planet in what NASA dubbed Cassini's "Grand Finale," some of those who helped launch the mission 20 years ago are thrilled with the success of the massive probe they helped dispatch to one of the solar system's most intriguing worlds.
Image credit: NASA
My late father and I were standing on the front deck of Central Railroad of New Jersey EMD SD35 2503 in Chessie System's Riverside yard in Baltimore in 1975. I was such a cute and precocious child.
Date is approximate as I found this among my dad's possessions when he passed and I look about the way I would have in 1975. So damned cute even if blinded by the sunlight.
Photo most likely taken either by my late mother or my Uncle Bill.
Suspended above the city of NeoExtropia, Sky Port Bury hangs in a tangle of steel, secrets, and light. Power is traded in whispers, beauty is engineered, and loyalty runs on voltage.
When casino matriarch Vivienne Ravenwood finds a broken synthetic in a back-alley, she doesn’t call security—she takes it home. What begins as curiosity becomes obsession, and in the city’s electric heart, creation always asks for something in return.
The Ravenwood Construct Book I: Eidolon
A new series of noir-cyberpunk stories from the world of NeoExtropia.
Chapter 1 – Vivienne and the First Signal
Sky Port Bury was bracing for a storm. One of the high, thin tempests that hovered instead of falling, turning the air sharp and expectant. Neon flickered against dry steel, and the freight lifts sighed somewhere below. Vivienne Ravenwood moved through the service alleys in a long red coat and a pace that kept the city from catching up.
She’d meant to cut ten minutes off her night. Instead, she found a body.
Not human. Human-shaped.
It sat propped against a dumpster, plating gone in places, framework showing like a graphite sketch under paint. The face, even half-ruined, had been engineered toward beauty—cheek geometry tuned for light, orbital wells proportioned to imply calm. Someone had cared how it would be seen. Someone else had cared less and left it here like a confession they couldn’t finish.
Vivienne crouched. Cold oil and ozone; the city’s perfume. Close up, the chassis revealed quiet wealth in its design: anti-shear anchors at the shoulders, micro-gimbal spine segments, a combat-grade pelvis coupler disguised as grace. Industrial strength folded into elegance. She traced the line of the jaw where dermal mesh had torn back from its seam. The synthetic looked like a statue interrupted.
“Who threw you away,” she murmured, “and why did your worth change?”
A small light flickered deep inside the skull cavity—nothing dramatic, a moth inside a lamp. Not power; a capacitor’s envoi. Then she heard it: two quiet tones in succession, nearly subsonic, more gesture than sound.
Da - dum.
She didn’t believe in omens. She believed in patterns. The two notes repeated, slightly lower. The second slid. A human would call it wistful. A diagnostic would call it noise.
Vivienne stood. “All right,” she told the empty air. “You’re mine.”
She called no one on the casino channels. She didn’t like paperwork in the stormlight.
Ten minutes later, a plain cargo van eased into the alley. Two of her dockhands—one old enough to know what not to see, one young enough to want a promotion—lifted the chassis under her eye. Vivienne insisted on a blanket around the torso, an absurd courtesy that made the younger man less brave and the older one less curious.
“Workshop A?” the old one asked.
“Beneath Workshop A,” Vivienne said. “And use Route Three. No cameras.”
The van pulled away, leaving the alley to its hum. Da - dum, she thought, and almost smiled.
The private lift smelled like sterilized winter. Vivienne stepped out into a room that appeared on no Ravenwood blueprint: low-lit, three gurneys, a ceiling that remembered silence, a ring of devices named with numbers because names were incriminating. Her security chief had called this place a rumor. That was the point.
“Put it there,” she said. “Arms along the sides. Head turned slightly to the left.”
The dockhands obeyed. She dismissed them with enough pay that would keep them indebted and silent—two conditions she trusted more than loyalty. When the door shut, the room felt like a stage without an audience.
The synthetic lay where she’d wanted it, as if it had chosen the pose. Vivienne circled, cataloguing: servo array graded for torsion, knuckle housings built to take a blade, throat cavity widened for a speech modulator. There was taste in the build. There was money. And there was the violence of a hurried disassembly—cut lines not unscrewed, brackets warped where patience would have sufficed.
“Who were you to them,” she asked, and the question left condensation in the air.
The platform’s diagnostic rails extended with a quiet hydraulic curtsey. She connected three lines: power, data, and truth. Power would be patient. Data would be hungry. Truth would be whatever she could prevent from being a lie.
“Shell only,” she told the system. “No core wake. Map the lattice and stop at thirty percent.” Her voice slowed when she gave orders to machines. People mistook it for tenderness. It was tuning.
Screens bloomed. The lattice unfolded in false color, a cathedral of logic in cross-section. Weathered, yes. Sabotaged, no. And there—like writing under scraped paint—an encrypted partition nested beneath the system’s scheduling layer, mislabeled as inert fabric support. Not corporate. Not Guild. Not any vendor she’d bribed.
The identifier was wrong in a specific way: too short by two characters and too symmetrical to be a mistake.
EIDOLON.
Vivienne tasted the word like a jeweler tests metal—instinct before science. She didn’t touch the encrypted partition. Not yet. Let a thing think you hadn’t noticed it and it would tell you who it was trying to impress.
“Slow copy of the surface layers,” she told the system. “And prep the dermal frame for re-anchoring.”
If she was going to keep it—and she was, after all—she would not parade a ruin. Beauty wasn’t weakness; it was armor. People got hypnotized by beauty and confessed things they didn’t mean to.
She keyed three messages, disguised as unrelated repair orders:
To Kel Foran, who fixed neural lattices because he couldn’t fix his own sleep:
Prototype drone. Mesh burn on scheduler. Need reflow and stitch, no full boot. My lab.
To Lio, who worked the port’s edges where the cameras gave up:
Collector’s piece—frame reinforcement and servo retrofit. Has to run silent. Assume nothing. Tell no one.
To the ex-Arcova engineer who changed names monthly:
Behavioral dampers and etiquette bundles for a civilian face. You don’t know what you’re working on. If you think you do, you’re wrong.
She watched each message send, tracking acknowledgments. When the room was quiet again, she lifted a tray of dermal mesh, midnight-soft and threaded with carbon shimmer. The synth’s cheekbone caught the light at the angle the mesh would lay; the room believed in symmetry and Vivienne obliged.
Then—the two-tone hum again, fainter this time, carried in the transformer’s throat. Da - dum. The second note stepped down.
“I didn’t ask you for a song,” she said.
No answer, of course. The platform hummed and waited for her to invent meaning. Vivienne set the mesh down and let her hand find the curve of its jaw, almost gentle.
“You belong to me,” she said—not loudly, not for the cameras that didn’t exist down here, not for the city that kept its own ledgers. For the room. For the machine. For herself.
Da - dum.
Visit Sky Port Bury at maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Kasieopeia/219/128/534
The Ravenwood Construct Book I: Eidolon Chapter 1 Vivienne and the First Signal
The Ravenwood Construct Book I: Eidolon Chapter 2 Vivienne and the Second Signal
The Ravenwood Construct Book I: Eidolon Chapter 3 Vivienne and the First Steps
The Ravenwood Construct Book I: Eidolon Chapter 4 Vivienne and the First Memories
This mosaic of Caloris basin is an enhanced-color composite overlain on a monochrome mosaic featured in a previous post. The color mosaic is made up of WAC images obtained when both the spacecraft and the Sun were overhead, conditions best for discerning variations in albedo, or brightness. The monochrome mosaic is made up of WAC and NAC images obtained at off-vertical Sun angles (i.e., high incidence angles) and with visible shadows so as to reveal clearly the topographic form of geologic features. The combination of the two datasets allows the correlation of geologic features with their color properties. In portions of the scene, color differences from image to image are apparent. Ongoing calibration efforts by the MESSENGER team strive to minimize these differences.
Caloris basin has been flooded by lavas that appear orange in this mosaic. Post-flooding craters have excavated material from beneath the surface. The larger of these craters have exposed low-reflectance material (blue in this mosaic) from beneath the surface lavas, likely giving a glimpse of the original basin floor material. Analysis of these craters yields an estimate of the thickness of the volcanic layer: 2.5–3.5 km (1.6–2.2 mi.).
The MESSENGER spacecraft is the first ever to orbit the planet Mercury, and the spacecraft's seven scientific instruments and radio science investigation are unraveling the history and evolution of the Solar System's innermost planet. In the mission's more than three years of orbital operations, MESSENGER has acquired over 250,000 images and extensive other data sets. MESSENGER is capable of continuing orbital operations until early 2015.
Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
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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A silhouette of me looking at the Milky Way from the Fish River Canyon in Namibia. I know the correct grammar is "The Milky Way and I", but that sounds far too impersonal to describe the awe and wonder that you experience standing under the stars in the Desert.
This single 5 second exposure "beginner astro-photo" has special significance as it was one of my first Astophotography images that rekindled my lifelong interest in Astronomy and Astrophysics. Technical imperfections and all (which I decided to keep unfixed for sentimental reasons), this single short exposure was one of the catalysts that made me embark on a personal lifelong learning adventure in an attempt to better understand our place in the Cosmos.
I got my first small Telescope soon after I took this photo. Feel free to visit my Astrophotography Gallery with a collection of old and new images of the observable Universe, on my journey of discovery.
"Not all those who wander are lost." - J. R. R. Tolkien.
“I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.” - Sarah Williams.
About the Milky Way, and Earth's place within it:
The Milky Way Galaxy is estimated to have over 400 billion stars. Stars are suns, and just like in our Solar System, many of the stars have planets with moons orbiting them. Our sun is a middle aged Yellow Dwarf star, located in the Orion Arm (or Orion Spur) of the Milky Way Galaxy. It’s a minor side spiral arm, located between two larger arms of the Milky Way Galaxy's spiral. The Milky Way is merely one mid-sized barred spiral Galaxy, amongst over 100 billion other Galaxies in the observable Universe. When we look up at the night sky from Earth, we see a glimpse of the Carina-Sagittarius Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy. It takes about 250 million years for the Milky Way Galaxy's spiral arms to complete one rotation.
The size, distance and age of the Universe is far beyond human comprehension. The known Universe is estimated to contain over One Billion Trillion stars.
1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000
Astrometry info for this photo:
nova.astrometry.net/user_images/774720#annotated
Click on this link to view an image that illustrates ''our Solar System's position within the Milky Way Galaxy''.
Consult Google & Wikipedia for more information and other interesting facts.
Martin Heigan
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Another wide angle shot of this scene just cause I think it's pretty cool to see a little bit of long abandoned railroad reborn.
Vermont Rail System's Washington County Railroad crew has run thru downtown Montpelier and is arriving at Barre Transfer at about MP 3.2 on the WACR's Montpelier and Barre Division with a cut of empties pulled from the NECR interchange yard at Montpelier Junction. They are in the process of setting them over on the old main (track to left) and then they will return to retrieve the loads they'd brought down from Barre and left in town earlier and deliver them to the NECR yard.
Red VTR 206 (a GP38-3 206 blt. Oct. 1969 as SOU 2718 and originally a high nosed straight GP38) and green GMRC 804 (a GP9r blt. Oct. 1955 as NW 13) are the assigned power on this little outpost which is isolated from the rest of the Vermont Rail System network.
Historically this location was known as Barre Transfer because here the rails of the Central Vermont, Barre Railroad and Montpelier and Wells River all met. The train arrived here via the nearly mile and a half stretch of trackage which was rebuilt on the former M&WR right of way four years ago (the track in center). This grade had been bereft of rails for 55 years when trains returned in 2021, and this was my first time photographing it. You can read more about why this happened here: vrs.us.com/reviving-a-historic-route-to-improve-service/non
The trackage coming in from the left is ex Central Vermont, first laid in 1875 when the 1849 branch into the capital city was extended to Barre. The track diverting to the right once led another 35 miles east to a junction with the Boston & Maine / Canadian Pacific Conn River Mainline at Wells River. Opened in 1873, trains ran until November 1956 when the route was abandoned and the rails removed except for an 1800 ft stub on this end extending east from this switch to a couple long closed customer sidings in East Montpelier.
In 1957 Sam Pinsly's Montpelier & Barre purchased the CV branch and he quickly consolidated it and the old Montpelier & Wells River (later Barre & Chelsea) routes between downtown Montpelier and Barre. The state purchased these rails in 1980 when the M&B petitioned for total abandonment, and they've had multiple contract operators over the years until finally settling on Vermont Rail System's Washington County Subsidiary about two decades ago.
Check out this shot from five years ago. In it you can see the abandoned right of way that is now rebuilt:
Montpelier, Vermont
Friday August 1, 2025
Conditions were difficult both weather wise (strong wind and annoying cloud periods) and techically with some issues with my filter wheel.
This meant I lost a substantial amount of imaging time but I was able to complete a few runs, before cloud invaded with rain overnight.
Mars presented a nicely detailed disk showing strong contrast upper and lower due to the Martian topography. The bright area of Olympus Mons (the solar system's largest volcano) was obvious.
I have included an annotated version of the image, identifying some of the albedo features imaged this Mars opposition night.
Imaged with a Celestron C8 SCT and a ZWO 290MM camera equipped wih Baader RGB filters.
When the Little Green Men started to work on the factory floor at Magrathea certain items of equipment had to be modified in order to conform to their religious objection to applying direct drive to a wheel.
The standard Container Carriers were modified by Llwyngwril System's vehicle design department, using a special outboard engine. The resulting vehicle was strange, unique and surprisingly safe and effective.
The Junk Yard (Edgewood Auto Wreckers). A vast array of junked vehicles are just as interesting as the train. How many do you recognize? RF&P GP40-2s-147 & 144 are leading the W/B 'OBSS' (Orange Blossom Special Service) TOFC train on Chessie System's Philly Sub main. The close track is the Van Bibber siding. Today, in 2022, the hillside and all above is completely blocked out by tree growth.
On a crystal clear, unseasonably warm Columbus Day, Pan Am train AD-1 heads south on the Vermont Rail System's Hoosick Main into the low afternoon sun at White Creek. The train, which is returning to home rails with a cut of interchange traffic from the VRS, will only be in Vermont for a few more seconds before crossing the state line into New York just behind me.
There are 44 stations in the Copenhagen Metro, a driverless rapid transit system serving Copenhagen, Frederiksberg and Tårnby in Denmark. Of the original 22 metro stations, nine are underground, twelve are elevated, and one is at street level.Christianshavn Station offers transfer between the system's two original lines (M1 and M2), which share track between Vanløse and Christianshavn stations. From Christianshavn, M1 branches south traveling to Vestamager Station, while M2 heads southeast to Lufthavnen Station, which serves Copenhagen Airport.
The Copenhagen Metro opened in 2002, with additional stations opening in 2003, and the M2 branch to the airport completed in 2007.[4] M1 and M2 are in total 21 kilometers (13 mi) long, of which 10 kilometers (6.2 mi) is in tunnels and 11 kilometers (6.8 mi) is elevated. It takes 23 minutes to travel on each line from one end to the other.[5] The City Circle Line is intended to form a 15.5-kilometer (9.6 mi) loop around the city center, with a full circumference taking 25 minutes.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
B/W conversion using Silver Efex Pro
One of Chessie System's pride and joys leads BN97 under the trestle that leads to Grand Trunk Western's RailPort piggyback yard. We're on duty at 49th Street tower back in September of 1980. By the sun's angle, it looks like I was working first trick, as the one unit wonder heads north for 22nd St, where he will get on the BN for the short trip to Clyde Yard in Cicero. BN97 was a run-through that originated in Garrett, IN and ran through the Chicago Terminal without working anywhere. The 3717 is about to cross the out of service Pennsy PanHandle that headed down to Conrail's 59th St yard, which was in the process of being dismantled. Today, this has changed dramatically and 59th St has been reborn as a CSX intermodal yard. BN97, 49th St, Railport, and the Pennsy are all gone, and me, too, employment wise...
Pan Am Railways train 11R (E. Deerfield, MA-Mechanicville, NY) is seen taking the scenic route through Vermont due to a partial collapse of the Hoosac Tunnel in Florida, MA. MEC 5967 is seen leading the 4-pack of GE B40-8s (ex-CSXT), VTR 303, 310, and a nearly 100-car general freight. The train is seen passing the former Rutland Railroad depot in Wallingford, VT, which now is used by the town's fire department. This line is Vermont Railway System's Bennington Branch.
Vermont Rail System's Trains Magazine Charter crosses the bridge at Cuttingsville on a sunny late-September afternoon in 2024. Leading the way up to Rutland was GMRC 405, an ALCO RS1 decked-out in Rutland Railroad decals for the event.
Despite snow being sparse in the farm fields outside of Rutland, it's only a week before Christmas in this view of Vermont Rail System's B&R Job heading south through North Clarendon, VT. Former B&M GP40-2 303 is leading the short 6 car train for North Bennington, a nostalgic reminder of the days when red and green rather than GATX blue were the image of the VRS.
Merry Christmas everyone and best wishes for the new year.
AMTK SDP40Fs 644 & 608 are backing Amtrak's S/B train #91, the Silver Star, onto the Chessie System at Bayview Tower (above GG1-909). Once on Chessie System tracks, the 644 & 608 will haul the train to Washington's Union Station via Chessie System's Washington Sub.
IMG_4379r1 Washington, DC
Metro's elevators and escalators provide access to the transit system's many underground stations and to station platforms. Metro has the most elevators (278 in stations and parking garages) and escalators (618) of any transit system in North America.
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
The first of the gas-giant orbiter’s back-to-back flybys will provide a close encounter with the massive moon after over 20 years.
On Monday, June 7, at 1:35 p.m. EDT (10:35 a.m. PDT), NASA’s Juno spacecraft will come within 645 miles (1,038 kilometers) of the surface of Jupiter’s largest moon, Ganymede. The flyby will be the closest a spacecraft has come to the solar system’s largest natural satellite since NASA’s Galileo spacecraft made its penultimate close approach back on May 20, 2000. Along with striking imagery, the solar-powered spacecraft’s flyby will yield insights into the moon’s composition, ionosphere, magnetosphere, and ice shell. Juno’s measurements of the radiation environment near the moon will also benefit future missions to the Jovian system.
Ganymede is bigger than the planet Mercury and is the only moon in the solar system with its own magnetosphere – a bubble-shaped region of charged particles surrounding the celestial body.
Left to right: The mosaic and geologic maps of Jupiter’s moon Ganymede were assembled incorporating the best available imagery from NASA’s Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft and NASA’s Galileo spacecraft.
Image Credit: USGS Astrogeology Science Center/Wheaton/NASA/JPL-Caltech
#NASA #MarshallSpaceFlightCenter #MSFC #Marshall #jpl #jetpropulsionlaboratory #nasamarshall #MSFC #solarsystem #juno #jupiter #space #astronomy #nasajuno #nasamarshallspaceflightcenter #GreatRedSpot #junocam
Zodiacal light is the forward scattered illumination of cosmic particulate left over in the solar system’s accretion disk, not in the earth’s atmosphere like a typical sunrise or sunset. Viewed from Mauna Kea on a late spring evening, the glowing cone of light appeared extending along the ecliptic through Gemini and terminated near the Praesepe cluster (M44).
A couple of restored Bentley's overtake Vermont Rail System's Rutland to Bennington turn on Richville Rd, Manchester VT, on 4 October 2017.
GATX #2684, leading, began life in 1971 as a GP40 with the Baltimore and Ohio and was later rebuilt as a GP38-2.
350D_IMG_5808_1600
Obligatory profile shot for SHIPtember, 2016.
Following the discovery of the Galactica orbiting within the Sol system's asteroid belt, designs for a new fleet of warships began. The result is the Battlestar Chelone, Greek for turtle. Significantly more armored that her Colonial counterpart, the Chelone-Class Battlestar is built to withstand multiple nuclear missile strikes.
Reference Image.
The core stage for the first flight of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket is seen in the B-2 Test Stand during a second hot fire test, Thursday, March 18, 2021, at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. The four RS-25 engines fired for the full-duration of 8 minutes during the test and generated 1.6 million pounds of thrust. The hot fire test is the final stage of the Green Run test series, a comprehensive assessment of the Space Launch System’s core stage prior to launching the Artemis I mission to the Moon.
Credit: NASA
#NASA #space #moon #Mars #NASAMarshall #msfc #sls #spacelaunchsystem #nasasls #rockets #exploration #engineering #explore #rocketscience #artemis #SSC #StennisSpaceCenter
I’ve been keeping watch on the lovely celestial show in the western sky after sunset in the closing days of November. After commencing a new cycle on the 26th of the month, the Moon has been dancing its way through the gathering of naked-eye planets in that part of the heavens. On this night–28th November–I photographed the Moon when it was only 1% illuminated and a mere sliver of light pushing through the haze of bushfire smoke that marked the sky near Nerriga, Australia.
The pinprick of light that you can see above and to the left of the Moon denotes the position of Jupiter, our Solar System’s most massive planet and also the second-largest source of gravitational disturbance in our planetary nuclear family. High above, its light at once diffused and brightened by the endemic smoke and cloud, the planet Venus unmistakably telegraphs its location to those on the lookout for such wonders.
To quote the late Leonard Nimoy from his role in “The Simpsons”, Season 4/Episode 12, “The cosmic ballet goes on”.
For this single-frame photo, I used my Canon EOS 6D Mk II camera, a Tamron 70-300mm lens @ 200 mm @ f/5.0 using an exposure time of 6.0 seconds @ ISO 1600.