Strawberry Moon

I'm working at a camp all week and am completely exhausted after yesterday, but fatigue didn't stop me from getting excited about the Strawberry Moon.  The June full moon happened on the Summer Solstice this year (yesterday), and that hasn't happened since 1948, the year my grandmum was born.  It's truly amazing to have gotten to see a rare astronomical event like that (even if through a fog of clouds) because, for all I know, I may not even be here the next time it happens. And "Strawberry Moon" is an adorable name for an astrological occurrence, isn't it?  Native Americans used the moon cycles as a reference for farming, and the "Strawberry Moon" meant berries were ripe.  #funfact
I'm sending love for everyone's day today!

http://northendwaterfront.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Strawberry-Moon-June-2016-59.jpg

<3 Frances

The Hubble Telescope Can See the Past

In honor of Throwback Thursday, here's some pretty amazing news: the Hubble Space Telescope has just broken the record for "cosmic distance" and seen the oldest galaxy humans have ever found.  The galaxy, which has been named GN-Z11, is from 13.4 billion years ago, which means it formed only 400 million years after the Big Bang.  In cosmic time, that's not a lot.  I was so excited to learn this because, up until now, it hadn't really occurred to me that we could actually see into the past.  But reading about this recent discovery, it all started to make sense.  Light from faraway galaxies has to travel a very long distance to reach us, "so the further the galaxy, the further back in time we see."  That means that an image of a star one light-year from Earth is an image of it from a year ago.  To get more science-y, here's an excerpt from Mary Bowerman's USA Today article:

"Seeing a picture of a galaxy when it was younger or all the way back to the Big Bang 13-billion-years-away, that light has traveled a long way," he [Patrick McCarthy] said. "It's like digging up a fossil, you see what life was like millions of years ago, it’s almost a fossil of the early universe."

For galaxies that are billions of years away, astronomers can measure the distance to a galaxy by measuring its “redshift,” which is caused by the expansion of the universe, according to NASA.

“Every distant object in the universe appears to be receding from us because its light is stretched to longer, redder wavelengths as it travels through expanding space to reach our telescopes,” according to NASA.When the “redshifted” light from these distant galaxies makes its way close enough for our telescope to capture, the information from the light allows researchers to see the galaxies as they were billions of years ago.

If that isn't cool, I don't know what is.

<3 Frances

Space Age Inspiration

There's no denying it: space is having a moment right now.  From Star Wars VII to The Martian to gravitational waves, space and all space-related things seem to be everywhere, and today, in honor of NASA's record-breaking number of astronaut applicants and the developing body of proof for Einstein's black hole ideas, we're looking to the stars above for fashion inspiration.  

<3 Frances

NASA's Space Garden

Well, NASA's done it.  There are now officially space flowers that can grow "from seed to maturity" (CBC) outside our atmosphere.  One of my resolutions this year is to get better at gardening/gardening-related things, and while I'm super excited that there are space flowers, I'm also realizing that their existence renders any excuses I have for garden fails significantly less legitimate.

Anyway, about the space flowers.  They're beautiful orange zinnias, and they mark a brilliant success following several very sad plant deaths :(.  Of course, plants have been grown in space before, but, as I mentioned above, these ones grew from seed to adulthood entirely in space.  It's pretty poetic, isn't it?  I mean, space flowers! Space. Flowers.  I just keep thinking about it over and over again, like the existence of a "space garden" somehow means everything's going to be alright.  Flowers (and all plants in general) are very impressive and inspiring, aren't they? I mean, they die every winter and come back every spring, and now they live in space, too.  If you're feeling down today, remember that.  There are flowers in space.  They're up there, watching over you.

<3 Frances

Supermoons, Sweaters, Stockings

This Christmas marked the first Christmas full moon in 38 years, and it brought with it heightened intuition and emotion.  In other words, if you were having major #feels on Friday, the lunar cycle may be partially responsible (read more in this article). In addition to this, the weather has been kind of crazy (it's really warm here, which is really weird, but it's supposed to get seasonal soon), and there were even some big storms in the southern and central U.S. that led to losses.  I'm sending the force to everyone there (and anywhere else in the world) who experienced any suffering in recent days <3.  The holidays are about togetherness and oneness, and we need to extend our support to those who need it most as we head towards 2016. 

Someone captured the moon with Christmas lights!

On a personal note, I'm still sort of pretending Christmas is still going on.  I know technically the 25th is over, but I just love the comforting music and the presence of my little faux tree and all the pretty twinkling lights so much that I don't want to move on from the season.  Fortunately, the Twelve Days of Christmas technically start the day after Christmas, so it's okay that I still have Darlene Love ad Bruce Springsteen playing on repeat....

<3 Frances

Inspiration from the Universe

Happy Saturday, darlings.  We are deep into the holiday season now, and, while it has brought with it many happy things like twinkly lights and candles, there is also a lot of sadness in the world.  Combined with the stress of the holidays (trying to live up to expectations, etc.), this sadness can be overwhelming, but what I've come to find is that, if we want things to get better, we must go to a place of love as opposed to a place of fear or worry.  I know--it seems so obvious, doesn't it? Almost too obvious to be realistic?  But it isn't.  Love--love for yourself, love for those around you, love for Earth--is really a powerful tool that can be harnessed to do great things.



 

 

 

 

<3 Frances

 

 

Supermoon Eclipse Tomorrow

Hi, Fellow Earthlings!  I hope everyone's Saturday has been nice.  I'm excited because tomorrow night will be a special one for the moon.  It's going to be a "supermoon," meaning it will look larger and brighter than it normally does, and then it will disappear into an eclipse for about an hour.  This won't happen again until 2033 (2033!!!), so, if you get the opportunity to look up at the sky tomorrow night, take it!  The eclipse will start at about 8:00 PM Eastern U.S. Time, peak at 10:00 PM, and be over by midnight.  You can also watch it online if you want to, too, via NASA or Slooh. 

Canterbury Times



 Happy star-gazing!
<3 Frances

Butterfly Nebula

We have yet another reason to thank the Hubble Telescope for his amazing photography skills.  Last week, the valiant little space photographer captured photos of PN M2-9, the Twin Jets Nebula. The nebula is made up of two stars orbiting one another, and it looks like a "cosmic butterfly."  Needless to say, it's a stunning interstellar light show, like two luminous dancers engaged in a heavenly ballet. Seeing it really puts things into perspective--Earth is really such a small part of the universe.

From NASA article

And, for further Hubble-butterfly awesomeness, check out this video:

<3 Frances