Astronomy Picture of the Day for June 15

Discover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is  featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2012 June 15

M65 and M66

Image Credit & Copyright: Bill Snyder (Heavens Mirror Observatory)

Explanation: Nearby and bright, spiral galaxies M65 (top) and M66 stand out in this engaging cosmic snapshot. The pair are just 35 million light-years distant and around 100,000 light-years across, about the size of our own spiral Milky Way. While both exhibit prominent dust lanes sweeping along their broad spiral arms, M66 in particular is a striking contrast in red and blue hues; the telltale pinkish glow of hydrogen gas in star forming regions and young blue star clusters. M65 and M66 make up two thirds of the well-known Leo Triplet of galaxies with warps and tidal tails that offer evidence of the group’s past close encounters. The larger M66 has been host to four supernovae discovered since 1973.

Astronomy Picture of the Day for June 1

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2012 June 1
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A Sagittarius Triplet
Image Credit & Copyright: Martin Pugh 

Explanation: These three bright nebulae are often featured in telescopic tours of the constellation Sagittarius and the crowded starfields of the central Milky Way. In fact, 18th century cosmic tourist Charles Messier cataloged two of them; M8, the large nebula left of center, and colorful M20 on the right. The third, NGC 6559, is above M8, separated from the larger nebula by a dark dust lane. All three are stellar nurseries about five thousand light-years or so distant. The expansive M8, over a hundred light-years across, is also known as the Lagoon Nebula. M20’s popular moniker is the Trifid. Glowing hydrogen gas creates the dominant red color of the emission nebulae, with contrasting blue hues, most striking in the Trifid, due to dust reflected starlight. This broad skyscape also includes one of Messier’s open star clusters, M21, just above and right of the Trifid.

Astronomy Picture of the Day for April 14th

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

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Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 1300
Image Credit: Hubble Heritage Team, ESA, NASA 

 

Explanation: Big, beautiful, barred spiral galaxy NGC 1300 lies some 70 million light-years away on the banks of the constellation Eridanus. This Hubble Space Telescope composite view of the gorgeous island universe is one of the largest Hubble images ever made of a complete galaxy. NGC 1300 spans over 100,000 light-years and the Hubble image reveals striking details of the galaxy’s dominant central bar and majestic spiral arms. In fact, on close inspection the nucleus of this classic barred spiral itself shows a remarkable region of spiral structure about 3,000 light-years across. Unlike other spiral galaxies, including our own Milky Way, NGC 1300 is not presently known to have a massive central black hole.

Astronomy Picture of the Day for April 9th

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2012 April 9
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Blue Straggler Stars in Globular Cluster M53
Image Credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA 

Explanation: If our Sun were part of M53, the night sky would glow like a jewel box of bright stars. M53, also known as NGC 5024, is one of about 250 globular clusters that survive in our Galaxy. Most of the stars in M53 are older and redder than our Sun, but some enigmatic stars appear to be bluer and younger. These young stars might contradict the hypothesis that all the stars in M53 formed at nearly the same time. These unusual stars are known as blue stragglers and are unusually common in M53. After much debate, blue stragglers are now thought to be stars rejuvenated by fresh matter falling in from a binary star companion. By analyzing pictures of globular clusters like the above image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers use the abundance of stars like blue stragglers to help determine the age of the globular cluster and hence a limit on the age of the universe. M53, visible with a binoculars towards the constellation of Bernice’s Hair (Coma Berenices), contains over 250,000 stars and is one of the furthest globulars from the center of our Galaxy.

Astronomy Picture of the Day for March 21

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2012 March 21
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Aurora Over Iceland
Image Credit & Copyright: Daniel Lopez (El Cielo de Canarias)  

 

Explanation: If you see a sky like this — photograph it. Three nights ago in Iceland, an adventurous photographer (pictured) chanced across a sky full of aurora and did just that. Afterwards, by stitching together five smaller photographs, the entire aurora-lit sky was recreated in this 180-degree panorama taken from Vatnajökull glacier. Auroras are sparked by energetic particles from the Sun impacting the magnetic environment around the Earth. Resultant energetic particles such as electrons and protons rain down near the Earth’s poles and impact the air. The impacted air molecules obtain excited electrons, and when electrons in oxygen molecules fall back to their ground state, they emit green light. Auroras are known to have many shapes and colors.

Daily Cosmic Calendar for March 19th

As the first workday of this week, there could be some strange vibrations going on since the Sun is not only located in the last degree of Pisces, but also in the last degree of the archetypal zodiac that starts with zero degrees of Aries around this date every year. The zodiac contains 360-degrees of space – like any geometric circle – and the solar life-force is now ending one cycle and, at 10:16PM PDT, starting a new cycle. Therefore, much of today’s 24-hour astro-psychic energy-field is filled with a solar dynamic that is harkening back to the past few weeks and months. You may want to mimic this reasoning and conduct a careful review of your last twelve months as a soul-infused personality dwelling on this planet some 93 million miles away from the star that rules over our cosmic neighborhood in the Milky Way galaxy. Re-evaluating your investment and business strategies certainly makes sense because Vesta forms a subtle and yet still important, 30-degree rapport with king of the gods Jupiter (Noon PDT). The Moon enters a 3+ hour void uncertainty zone in Aquarius at 1:32PM PDT and this ends at 5:06PM PDT when the lunar orb enters Piscean waters for the next 2+ days. Tune into your creative imaginative talents, experiment with a video camera or improvise on a favorite musical instrument when the Moon unites with Neptune (8:18PM PDT). Utilize the Sun’s entry into fiery Aries (10:16PM PDT) – one of four sacred turning points of the calendar year at either an equinox or solstice – as an opportunity to take a great leap forward with key enterprises that can give you an enormous boost across the board during the next twelve months.

Astronomy Picture of the Day for Mar. 7 – The Witch Head Nebula

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

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IC 2118: The Witch Head Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright: Gimmi Ratto & Davide Bardini (Collecting Photons) 

Explanation: Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble — maybe Macbeth should have consulted the Witch Head Nebula. This suggestively shaped reflection nebula is associated with the bright star Rigel in the constellation Orion. More formally known as IC 2118, the Witch Head Nebula glows primarily by light reflected from bright star Rigel, located just below the lower edge of the above image. Fine dust in the nebula reflects the light. The blue color is caused not only by Rigel’s blue color but because the dust grains reflect blue light more efficiently than red. The same physical process causes Earth’s daytime sky to appear blue, although the scatterers in Earth’s atmosphere are molecules of nitrogen and oxygen. The nebula lies about 1000 light-years away.

Astronomy Picture of the Day for February 20th

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2012 February 20
See Explanation.Moving the cursor over the image will bring up an annotated version.Clicking on the image will bring up the highest resolution versionavailable.

Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 1073
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Space Telescope 

Explanation: Many spiral galaxies have bars across their centers. Even our own Milky Way Galaxy is thought to have a modest central bar. Prominently barred spiral galaxy NGC 1073, pictured above, was captured in spectacular detail in this recently released image taken by the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope. Visible are dark filamentary dust lanes, young clusters of bright blue stars, red emission nebulas of glowing hydrogen gas, a long bright bar of stars across the center, and a bright active nucleus that likely houses a supermassive black hole. Light takes about 55 million years to reach us from NGC 1073, which spans about 80,000 light years across. NGC 1073 can be seen with a moderately-sized telescope toward the constellation of the Sea Monster (Cetus), Fortuitously, the above image not only caught the X-ray bright star system IXO 5, visible on the upper left and likely internal to the barred spiral, but three quasars far in the distance.

Astronomy Picture of the Day for February 18th

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2012 February 18
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On the Road to Carina
Image Credit & Copyright: Babak Tafreshi (TWAN)

 

Explanation: This rugged road through the dark Atacama Desert seems to lead skyward toward the bright stars and glowing nebulae of the southern Milky Way. If you follow the road you will get to Cerro Armazones peak in Chile, future construction site for the 40-meter class European Extremely Large Telescope. For now though, sliding your cursor across the image will identify wonders of the southern skies in view. The scene is dominated by the reddish glow of the Great Carina Nebula, one of our galaxy’s largest star forming regions. In fact, the remarkable skyscape is not a composite of varying exposures or a photomontage. Far from sources of light pollution, the landscape illuminated by starlight and the Milky Way above were recorded by a modified digital camera and fast lens. The sensitive system captured both planet Earth and deep sky in a relatively short exposure.

Astronomy Picture of the Day for February 16th

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2012 February 16
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NGC 5965 and NGC 5963 in Draco
Image Credit & Copyright: Stephen Leshin 

Explanation: These two spiral galaxies make a photogenic pair, found within the boundaries of the northern constellation Draco. Contrasting in color and orientation, NGC 5965 is nearly edge-on to our line of sight and dominated by yellow hues, while bluish NGC 5963 is closer to face-on. Of course, even in this well-framed cosmic snapshot the scene is invaded by other galaxies, including small elliptical NGC 5969 at the lower left. Brighter, spiky stars in our own Milky Way are scattered through the foreground. Though they seem to be close and of similar size, galaxies NGC 5965 and NGC 5963 are far apart and unrelated, by chance appearing close on the sky. NGC 5965 is about 150 million light-years distant and over 200,000 light-years across. Much smaller, NGC 5963 is a mere 40 million light-years away and so is not associated with the edge-on spiral. Difficult to follow, NGC 5963’s extraordinarily faint blue spiral arms mark it as a low surface brightness galaxy.

Handfasting of the Lord and Lady

Handfasting of the Lord and Lady

By Terri Roessler

 

The Lord and Lady stood before the Celestial Altar,
Facing the High Priestess, who was seen but not seen,
heard but not heard,
the stars were Her gown, a nebula was Her cloak, and the Milky Way Her headdress,
swirling around Her head.

The Lord and Lady, were smiling shyly, for this was Imbolc,
The Sacred day,
The Joyous day,
The day that They would become one.

Around them in the circle
Stood Their children.
Witnessing Their wedding day.
Men, Women and Children,
Birds and Beasts,
Creatures imagined, and some unimagined,
Spirits and Angels,
Creatures of the Land and of the Sea,
The Fey in their multitude of Form,
And creatures of the Otherworld.
All happy to witness the handfasting of their Lord and Lady.

The children looked at the Lady in awe, Her bright face turned up to the Lord,
Multitudes of flowers in Her hair, faeries and butterflies daintily holding the ribbons away from Her face.

And at the Laughing God, decked in greenery, bearded and horned, smiling down on His Lady love.

The High Priestess, Her Awe-inspiring voice heard with the heart,
not with the ears,
did say to the children:

“Do any say nay?”

The hush was instant,
Breath indrawn.

She gazed at the children with Her terrible eyes,
The children looked down with respect and no little fear, not meeting Her eyes.

She turned back to the Lord and Lady,
at the beautiful eyes and the handsome face,
Her smile returned.

Suddenly, She held a cord.
The children’s breath let out, almost a sigh.

The Lord and Lady proffered Their wrists.
Wrapped around them almost instantly,
Was a cord, sparkling with all the colors of the rainbow, the Moon and the Sun.

“Then as the entire Universe as witness”
She said in a voice suddenly loud,
“I proclaim you Husband and Wife!”

The crowd cheered, throwing rose petals into the air.
The petals fell to the ground to be stepped on and release their pungent smell.

The Laughing God bent His Horned Head to the Lady’s mouth, eager to taste the sweetness there.
The Lady’s Eyes opened wide, His Passion a surprise.
The Laughing God’s eyes danced in response.

The Kiss ended.
They turned to the altar,
The Star Woman was gone, as They knew she would be.
They laughed happily and turned to the crowd,
Their sparkling eyes, taking in the sight of Their Children.

Smiling Their blessings to the crowd,
They too were gone.

The children turned their eyes towards the bright heavens,
And beheld the Laughing God and their Lady,
Dancing in the stars.
Somewhere in a nebula far, far away, the Star Woman laughed happily.
The Children danced too,
In joy, on the earth, in the sea, and in the skies. their faces aglow,
As the stardust fell down…..

Poem copyright © 1997 Terri Roessler

Calendar of the Sun for Jan. 28th

Calendar of the Sun
28 Wolfmonath

Day of Rules: Eunomia’s Day

Color: Black
Element: Air
Altar: Upon a black cloth light a single white candle, and lay upon it a copy of the Principles, a book of the House rules, and various implements of measuring.
Offering: Discuss the Rules.
Daily Meal: Any food that is wholly correct.

Invocation to Eunomia

Hail, Eunomia, Keeper of Rules,
Hora of the Upraised Hand!
We gather here to praise you,
Even though you seem most stern and forbidding,
For without Rules there are no boundaries,
No accountability, no way to stop the ravages
Of another’s passions. Though we value those passions,
We must also value their limits,
For all things must be kept in balance.
These Rules are not merely the chains that bind us,
They are the ropes that hold us up,
Keeping us from falling into confusion.
We honor your gifts, Lady of Rules,
You who are not afraid to stop
What is not honorable behavior,
You who will not stand by
In the face of deeds of shame.

Call: Hail Eunomia, Keeper of Rules!
Response: Hail Eunomia, Keeper of Rules!

Call: Speak the Rule of Iduna, Lady of the Nectar of Immortality!
Response: I will maintain purity of body.
Call: For the body is the sacred temple given to us that we may experience life,
And to harm it is to disrespect the Will
Of those who bestowed it upon you.

Call: Speak the Rule of Hestia, Keeper of the Hearth!
Response: I will maintain simplicity in my possessions.
Call: For waste leaves empty mouths and empty hands,
And greed has a cold heart and no soul.

Call: Speak the Rule of Agni, Fire and Truth!
Response: I will strive for clarity of words.
Call: For words are weapons of great power,
And should not be used in ways that deliberately confuse,
Or add to the blindness in the world;
Rather they should open eyes and minds.

Call: Speak the Rule of Gaea, the Earth beneath our feet!
Response: I will strive to live sustainably on the Earth.
Call: For She is our Mother, and She gives us all that we need,
And to harm her is to destroy our own future.

Call: Speak the Rule of Artemis, Virgin Huntress implacable, of the purest intent!
Response: I will place no commitment of the heart above my commitment to my path.
Call: For we are placed here in this world to learn and to do what we must,
And a promise once made must be kept.

Call: Speak the Rule of Ogoun, hunter and smith, leopard-god without mercy!
Response: I will commit only to honorable work.
Call: For work that aids what is wrong
Is tainted with wrongness in itself,
And we will not be part of that wrongness.

Call: Speak the Rule of Athena, clear-eyed virgin warrior, Lady of Strategy!
Response: I will maintain clarity in all relationships.
Call: For Love too must have its rules, and honesty,
And there must be distance between each,
That the Spirit may lay between us and join us.

Call: Speak now the Rule of Parvati, Dancer and Mother, Sacred Whore!
Response: I will strive for purity in my sexuality.
Call: For the power of the Root Chakra is not to be defiled
By the soul’s shame and the heart’s despair;
The tides of the body are sacred, and are the libation of that Temple.

Call: Speak now the Rule of Odhinn, All-Father and Magician, who speaks to his own!
Response: I will sustain clarity of faith.
Call: For faith is what bears us up when all else falls,
And before the altars of the Gods we are all mortal.

Call: Speak now the rule of Prometheus, Titan who defies the King’s corruption!
Response: I will submit humbly to honorable authority.
Call: For although there must be leaders, lest we lose our way,
Leadership is not given, but is earned by right behavior,
And must be held to a higher standard.

Call: Speak now the Rule of Brigid, Eternal Flame of the Abbey!
Response: I will maintain loyalty to the endurance of my Order.
Call: For we will not survive unless we survive together,
And though we are all lights, only a great flame will warm us.

Call: Speak now the Rule of Shiva, Lord of the Cremation Ground, Destroyer of Illusions!
Response: I will strive always for mindfulness and clarity of soul.
Call: For this discipline is great above all others.

Call: Hail Eunomia, Keeper of Rules,
Hora of the Upraised Hand!
Response: Hail Eunomia!

Astronomy Picture of the Day for Jan. 27th

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2012 January 27
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NGC 3239 and SN 2012A
Image Credit & Copyright: Adam Block, Mt. Lemmon SkyCenter, University of Arizona 

 

Explanation: About 40,000 light-years across, pretty, irregular galaxy NGC 3239 lies near the center of this lovely field of galaxies in the galaxy rich constellation Leo. At a distance of only 25 million light-years it dominates the frame, sporting a peculiar arrangement of structures, young blue star clusters and star forming regions, suggesting that NGC 3239 (aka Arp 263) is the result of a galaxy merger. Appearing nearly on top of the pretty galaxy is a bright, spiky, foreground star, a nearby member of our own Milky Way galaxy almost directly along our line-of-sight to NGC 3239. Still, NGC 3239 is notable for hosting this year’s first confirmed supernova, designated SN 2012A. It was discovered early this month by supernova hunters Bob Moore, Jack Newton, and Tim Puckett. Indicated in a cropped version of the wider image, SN 2012A is just below and right of the bright foreground star. Of course, based on the light-travel time to NGC 3239, the supernova explosion itself occurred 25 million years ago, triggered by the core collapse of a massive star.

Astronomy Picture of the Day for Jan. 23

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2012 January 23
See Explanation.Moving the cursor over the image will bring up an annotated version.Clicking on the image will bring up the highest resolution versionavailable.

Deep Orion Over the Canary Islands
Image Credit & Copyright: Juan Carlos Casado (TWAN) 

Explanation: Which attracts your eye more — the sky or the ground? On the ground are rocky peaks in Teide National Park on Tenerife Island of the Spanish Canary Islands off the northwestern coast of Africa. The volcanic landscape features old island summits and is sometimes used as a testbed for instruments on future Martian rovers. The lights of a nearby hotel shine on the far left. Storm clouds are visible on the horizon, artificially strutted from multiple exposures. Dividing the sky, across the middle of the above deep image, is the vertical band of the Milky Way Galaxy. The red circle on the right is Barnard’s Loop, near the center of which are the famous belt stars of the constellation Orion. Soon after the above image was taken, during an evening earlier this year, storm clouds rolled across, and indoor locations began to attract eyes the most.

Calendar of the Sun for Jan. 22

Calendar of the Sun
22 Wolfmonath

Day of the Water Bearer – Beginning of Aquarius

Colors: Purple and electric blue
Element: Air
Altar: Set with cloth of purple and electric blue, with a tall glass vase holding carbonated water, or plain water with dry ice in it, a feather from a large bird, incense, and a Uranus symbol.
Offerings: A joke that no one has heard yet. Do something differently, or in a new way.
Daily Meal: Waterfowl such as duck or goose. Or try an entirely new and preferably foreign sort of cooking or diet for the day.

Invocation to Aquarius

Bearer of the heavenly waters
Of knowledge and inspiration,
The ebb and flow of the Apsu,
Dipped from the Milky Way,
Neither man nor woman,
Looking ahead in time,
Whose gift is Newness,
Bless us with the ability
To be ready for the future
And all it may bring,
And welcome rather than fear changes.
By the power of all inspiration,
You challenge us
To be open to new things,
And never to give in to stagnation.
May we all go forth in wonder.

Chant:
Wearing my long wing feathers as I fly
Wearing my long wing feathers as I fly
I circle around
I circle around
The boundaries of the Earth.

(Let all present hold hands and dance a simple circle dance while chanting, hands raised high between them. One who is chosen to do the work of the ritual should stand with a great fan, and fan air at the dancers as they pass, like a great wind.)

Astronomy Picture of the Day for Jan. 15th

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2012 January 15
See Explanation.  Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.

Infrared Portrait of the Large Magellanic Cloud
Credit: ESA / NASA / JPL-Caltech / STScI 

Explanation: Cosmic dust clouds ripple across this infrared portrait of our Milky Way’s satellite galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud. In fact, the remarkable composite image from the Herschel Space Observatory and the Spitzer Space Telescope show that dust clouds fill this neighboring dwarf galaxy, much like dust along the plane of the Milky Way itself. The dust temperatures tend to trace star forming activity. Spitzer data in blue hues indicate warm dust heated by young stars. Herschel’s instruments contributed the image data shown in red and green, revealing dust emission from cooler and intermediate regions where star formation is just beginning or has stopped. Dominated by dust emission, the Large Magellanic Cloud’s infrared appearance is different from views in optical images. But this galaxy’s well-known Tarantula Nebula still stands out, easily seen here as the brightest region to the left of center. A mere 160,000 light-years distant, the Large Cloud of Magellan is about 30,000 light-years across.

Astronomy Picture of the Day for Jan. 9th

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2012 January 9
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Facing NGC 6946
Composite Image Data – Subaru Telescope (NAOJ) and Robert Gendler; Processing – Robert Gendler   

 

Explanation: From our vantage point in the Milky Way Galaxy, we see NGC 6946 face-on. The big, beautiful spiral galaxy is located just 10 million light-years away, behind a veil of foreground dust and stars in the high and far-off constellation of Cepheus. From the core outward, the galaxy’s colors change from the yellowish light of old stars in the center to young blue star clusters and reddish star forming regions along the loose, fragmented spiral arms. NGC 6946 is also bright in infrared light and rich in gas and dust, exhibiting a high star birth and death rate. In fact, since the early 20th century at least nine supernovae, the death explosions of massive stars, were discovered in NGC 6946. Nearly 40,000 light-years across, NGC 6946 is also known as the Fireworks Galaxy. This remarkable portrait of NGC 6946 is a composite that includes image data from the 8.2 meter Subaru Telescope on Mauna Kea.

Astronomy Picture of the Day for January 6th

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2012 January 6
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A Wide Field Image of the Galactic Center
Image Credit & Copyright: Ivan Eder 

 

Explanation: From Sagittarius to Scorpius, the central Milky Way is a truly beautiful part of planet Earth’s night sky. The gorgeous region is captured in this wide field image spanning about 30 degrees. The impressive cosmic vista, taken in 2010, shows off intricate dust lanes, bright nebulae, and star clusters scattered through our galaxy’s rich central starfields. Starting on the left, look for the Lagoon and Trifid nebulae, the Cat’s Paw, while on the right lies the Pipe dark nebula, and the colorful clouds of Rho Ophiuchi and Antares (right). The actual center of our Galaxy lies about 26,000 light years.

NASA Photo of the Day for Jan. 5

 Festival of Lights

Festival of Lights

 

WISE, NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, has a new view of Barnard 3, or IRAS Ring G159.6-18.5, that is awash in bright green and red dust clouds. Interstellar clouds like these are stellar nurseries, where baby stars are being born.
The green ring is made of tiny particles of warm dust whose composition is very similar to smog found here on Earth. The red cloud in the center is most likely made of dust that is more metallic and cooler than the surrounding regions. HD 278942, the bright star in the middle of the red cloud, is so luminous that it is the likely cause of the surrounding ring’s glow. The bright greenish-yellow region left of center is similar to the ring, though more dense. The bluish-white stars scattered throughout are stars located both in front of, and behind, the nebula.

Regions similar to this nebula are found near the band of the Milky Way galaxy in the night sky. This nebulas is slightly off this band, near the boundary between the constellations of Perseus and Taurus, but at a relatively close distance of only about 1,000 light-years, the cloud is a still part of our Milky Way.

The colors used in this image represent specific wavelengths of infrared light. Blue and cyan (blue-green) represent light emitted at wavelengths of 3.4 and 4.6 microns, which is predominantly from stars. Green and red represent light from 12 and 22 microns, respectively, which is mostly emitted by dust.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA

Astral Magic: How It Can Improve Your Life

Astral Magic: How It Can Improve Your Life

Author: Nita

There are a few simple methods that anyone who can astral travel can use to improve their life. Astral travel can be used in many different ways to achieve this.

Man has used the astral planes and alternate realities to affect the physical world from the earliest times. Shamans enter astral realms to help, cure and protect people from things they could not see. Shamans can bring elements or parts of alternative realities into existence for short periods of time. The degree of enduring change possible depends upon the Shaman’s skill, how much energy is used, and how big a change is attempted.

Magic can be used to manipulate the unseen forces that are at work in and around your life. Everyone knows what makes him or her happy or unhappy. Many times I have looked at what was going on in my life and wanted to change things. I’m sure you have too. But how do we go about changing things to make life better for us?

The first thing to do is write down what would make you happy and what is causing you problems. The easiest things to work on are things like a new vehicle or material objects to resolve problems.

I once had a car that really was a problem. Every time I started to get ahead, the darn thing broke down and took all my hard-earned money for repairs. I was tired of these recurring problems, but I could not afford another as my current car was doing such a good job of taking all my money.

Finally I decided to use astral magic to get rid of that lemon of a vehicle. I carefully planned out what I was going to do. There is a real time plane when you astral travel. This is the plane most similar to real life. You can form and shape anything you want in the astral plane because it is a fluid environment that is affected by the power of mind.

I astral traveled to the real time plane near my home. I then visualized myself walking out of my house and going to my car. I made sure that the car on the real time plane was different than my present vehicle. I pictured a dependable vehicle; one I could afford that would have me be happy and not take all my money and time fixing it. I did not picture any particular model or make of car. I wanted something that could be pulled into my life easily. Being non-specific about fine details like this makes it easier for life to bring you what you want in a short time. I picked my end result as being happy and unworried about driving my dream car anywhere I wanted to go.

I took my created image and placed it over my present vehicle. I made sure the image kept repeating itself endlessly into the future. I did this by matching the colors and feeling of the energy. I also matched the vibrations and musical notes I received from the image. You can do this by observing things closely in the astral. Everything has colored energy around it. This energy tells you whether it is something good or bad. The pitch of the energy is also a good indicator. The pitch is like the tone you get when you strike a tuning fork. The musical notes of astral energy can form a little tune or medley. If you like the tune and pitch of an astral object’s vibrations and colors, it will usually be good for you in real life. Anything that makes you feel uncomfortable or uneasy should be removed or left alone.

I checked all these things and made sure they felt right for me. I then hooked it all up to my old car. I wanted it to feel like the car I wanted and had created on the real time plane. A week later, I was given a car by a lovely retired couple I hardly knew. They had been sympathetically watching me struggle with my problems. It was an older vehicle but had been well looked after and was dependable. It was just what I wanted. The couple had just received a big settlement and bought a new car. They wanted to do something nice for someone. They had been looking for someone who really needed help and would thus appreciate the gift of their old car.

We can create changes in our physical lives by thinking and doing positive things. This is the power of positive thinking. Bad things and bad luck are caused by discordant energies and negative patterns of thought. These are the underlying causes of bad luck. Unfortunately, many people take bad luck for granted and accept it into their lives, expecting it at every turn. Thinking like this causes you to become stuck in an unhealthy mental pattern where disharmony and a continual stream of problems are manifested in your life. In an astral sense, it could be said you are creating and thus attracting more and more discordant astral colors and tones around you.

Negative astral colors and tones can be cleaned away by positive thinking and regular astral housekeeping. To do this, I perform a simple mental exercise every night before going to bed. This only takes a few minutes.

First I visualize myself going to the real time astral plane. I picture the things I want to have around me or need and visualize them making my life easier. I populate my space with these and hook them over the things in my present space. I feel good colors, vibrations and musical notes replacing those on the physical plane. I see these energies and tones repeating endlessly into the future. I give my own mental image the energies and tones of good health, good luck and happiness. It really does help your life if you do this wholesome practice every day.

When someone you care about is ill or having problems, you can astral project to where they are in the real time plane and help them. You can see the colors and tones of a person’s energy when you are in the astral. It helps if you temporarily change part of your shape when working on a friend or loved one. Extend the length of your arm and fingers and use them to go through your patient’s energy field. Remove any energy that seems wrong or bad and then banish it from the person.

You banish the energy by changing it to a pure white color with different tones. You can also send it to an energy level that will disassemble the negative energy. A high- pitched pure white energy will destroy the components of anything negative. You will find that they do feel better the next time you talk to them. Sometimes they are so used to negative energy that it is drawn back to them. I have found that is because that the inner them feels that is the way it should look in their aura. They have to find the root cause of this and that is where my articles on letting go, forgiving yourself, and finding out if something else could be causing the problems come in handy.

You can repeat this astral cleansing as often as necessary. You can also add pure white or pure light blue energy in a pretty shade to their energy. You can notice the different energy that it creates around them. They will heal quicker and feel better quickly. Cleansing with an electric purple color is akasha flame and will destroy unhealthy and unwholesome energy. You can do all of these methods for yourself or others.

I once had a friend who was really ill. I saw some really strange, discolored spots in her aura. In an effort to help, I astral traveled to her home that night. I again saw the same discolored spots in her aura. I combed these out with my extended astral fingers and removed them. I then filled her aura with bright-blue energy from head to toe. I saw her the next day and she told me she had experienced a burst of energy that morning. Her disorder healed rapidly and I repeated the astral healing each night until I was sure she was healed.

The astral dimension is also the best place to pray and contact God, in any shape or form that a person may worship. The restrictions of the physical planes are removed and you can contact and receive their true essence. You can use this connection to ask forgiveness for anything you might have done wrong, or to ask for help with problems.

You can also thank whatever forces have given you help or assistance. Joining to the principles and virtues of God or the great Now is the best way to resolve any problems and restoring the Good to your life. Your Good is there and waiting for you no matter what mistakes you have made because of the energies of divine love and kindness.

I also use dreams to get advice to solve seemingly unsolvable problems. I ponder and meditate on my problem before sleep and ask for help. I then dream up solutions while I sleep, and know the answers in the morning.

Astral projection can also be used to meditate on the types of energies you would like to bring into your life. A little research will unearth a wealth of symbols, runes for example, each of which has a different meaning. I project out and then visualize and create a doorway. I visualize the most appropriate rune appearing on the door. I have the door attached to a wall, with a doorknob so I can get in and out easily. I walk through the door in my astral body and enter the realm of that symbol.

I ask for help with problems, ask specific questions, or simply ask to learn what I need to know. I feel what energy, vibration and pitch the symbol has, so I can draw it into my life in the real world. I then try and absorb what the experience has taught me, so I will remember and realize it better. This can be an amazing and enlightening experience.

Every symbol has its own realm. If you open yourself to its energies, it brings you into an understanding of the elements it is composed of, and of what can best help you in your life. It also opens you up to the elements involved with that symbol, so never use anything symbolizing something you do not want to experience. Many shamanic type symbols involve birth, death, and rebirth. You can almost duplicate the elements of a near death experience by using them. This gives you a way to review your life and decide what directions you would like to go in and the things you would like to experience. You can also use this to talk to Saints and Angels. You write their name upon the doorway and the symbol of the cross. You can use this for any God or Goddess or Buddha depending upon your beliefs. I feel this method has much to offer for everyone.

You can use the symbol energies in these planes to accomplish the goals they represent. It takes careful research and thinking to pick the symbols that relate best to you, your life and its problems, and your dreams and aspirations. Some of the symbols I have used are the cross, ankh, Buddha, pentacle, and the curved spiral of shamanism.

It is important to erase and remove each doorway you create when you have finished using it. This cleans up your personal space and makes it so you don’t have conflicting symbols that might cause you problems. I suggest keeping a diary of everything that you do, and rating the effect it had upon your life when you used any symbol or method. This helps remind you which symbols you have used, so with hindsight you can link it to the effects it had upon your life at that time.

A good book with meditations and exercises for each rune symbol is “Esoteric Rune Magic” by D. Jason Cooper. The Germanic runes are excellent examples of shamanic symbols. Using these will show what I mean about their different aspects, energies and the effects these can have upon your life.

All these methods are easy to do once you are capable of astral traveling. These practices can make your life easier and richer and prevent problems before they happen. Ignoring problems, or potential problems, will not make them go away. Being aware of your life, working on yourself, thanking the forces that help you and asking for advice can solve far more problems than ignoring them ever will. I believe in taking an active role in my future and helping myself along my life path. I hope that you enjoy and benefit from these methods as much as I have.



Footnotes:
Further Reading
“Esoteric Rune Magic” by D. Jason Cooper, 1994, Llewellyn Publications, St Paul MN, USA, ISBN 1-56718-174-0.
“Tree of Life, A Study in Magic” by Israel Regardie, June 1983, Samuel Weiser, ISBN 0877281491.