Explanation:The lovely Pleiades star cluster shines in Earth’s night sky, a compact group of stars some 400 light-years distant toward the constellation Taurus and the Orion Arm of our Milky Way galaxy. Recognized since ancient times, the remarkable celestial gathering is visible to the unaided eye. The Pleiades cluster is also well-placed for viewing from both northern and southern hemispheres, and over the centuries has become connected to many cultural traditions and celebrations, including the cross-quarter day celebration Halloween. In Greek myth, the Pleiades were seven daughters of the astronomical titan Atlas and sea-nymph Pleione. Galileo first sketched the star cluster viewed through his telescope with stars too faint to be seen by eye and Charles Messier recorded the position of the cluster as the 45th entry in his well-known catalog of things which are not comets. In this dramatic night skyscape from planet Earth, the stars of the Pleiades appear embedded in dusty blue reflection nebulae, poised above Mt Sefton, one of the tallest peaks in New Zealand. There known as Matariki, the star cluster is associated with the celebration of the Maori new year.
Explanation:Halloween is an astronomy holiday and spooky shapes always seem to lurk in planet Earth’s night skies. In fact, near the center of this telescopic view toward the constellation Cassiopeia these swept-back interstellar clouds IC 59 (left) and IC 63 look ghostly on a cosmic scale. About 600 light-years distant, the clouds aren’t actually ghosts. They are slowly disappearing though, under the influence of energetic radiation from hot, luminous star gamma Cas. The brightest bluish star in the frame, Gamma Cas is physically located only 3 to 4 light-years from the nebulae. Slightly closer to gamma Cas, IC 63 is dominated by red H-alpha light emitted as hydrogen atoms ionized by the hot star’s ultraviolet radiation recombine with electrons. Farther from the star IC 59 also shows H-alpha emission, and both nebulae shine with the characteristic blue tint of dust reflected star light. The field of view spans about 2 degrees or 20 light-years at the estimated distance of the interstellar apparitions.
Explanation: Sure, Halloween is an astronomy holiday. But astronomers always enjoy scanning the heavens for spook-tacular galaxies, stars, and nebulae. This favorite is item number 43 from the Beverly Lynds 1962 Catalog of Dark Nebulae, fondly known as the Cosmic Bat nebula. While its visage looks alarmingly like a scary flying mammal, Lynds Dark Nebula 43 is over 12 light-years across. Glowing with eerie light, stars are forming within the dusty interstellar molecular cloud that is dense enough to appear in silhouette against a luminous background of Milky Way stars. Watch out. This Cosmic Bat nebula is a mere 400 light-years distant toward the serpent-bearing constellation Ophiucus.
Dust Shapes of the Ghost Nebula Image Credit & Copyright:Kent Wood
Explanation: Do any shapes seem to jump out at you from this interstellar field of stars and dust? The jeweled expanse, filled with faint, starlight-reflecting clouds, drifts through the night in the royal constellation of Cepheus. Far from your own neighborhood on planet Earth, these ghostly apparitions lurk along the plane of the Milky Way at the edge of the Cepheus Flare molecular cloud complex some 1,200 light-years away. Over two light-years across and brighter than the other spooky chimeras, VdB 141 or Sh2-136 is also known as the Ghost Nebula, seen across the middle of the featured image. Within the reflection nebula are the telltale signs of dense cores collapsing in the early stages of star formation.
Cryptids & Creatures of Folklore Drawtober Day 11 — Gef the Talking Mongoose
In September 1931, the Irving family—consisting of James, Margaret, and their teenage daughter Voirrey—began to experience mysterious happenings on their remote farm near the hamlet of Dalby on the Isle of Man. Strange scratching and rustling sounds emitted from the wood panel walls of their old farmhouse day and night. The culprit soon made themselves known…by talking to the family in a shrill little voice.
The entity behind the voice said its name was Jack at first but it changed that before long, preferring to instead be called Gef. Gef claimed that he was “an extra special mongoose” originally from India where he was born 80 years before. However Gef also claimed to be a ghost or a wayward spirit. Gef told the family, “I am a freak. I have hands and I have feet, and if you saw me you’d faint, you’d be petrified, mummified, turned into stone or a pillar of salt!”
As time went on, the family would catch glimpses of Gef in their home and the land surrounding it. They claimed he was small, perhaps only nine inches long, was yellow-ish brown in color, and had a bushy tail. Gef also had very human-like hands with three fingers that the family would sometimes see poking through holes in the walls of the home.
Gef seemed to love the Irving family and would even kill rabbits for them to eat but he had a foul mouth and fouler temper and would sometimes threaten to kill the family if they angered him. He would go on to cause mischief for years, not just for the Irving family but for members of the neighboring community. He liked to spy on people and gossip but became very angry when anyone came to stay at the farmhouse and attempted to see him, though a few people outside the family did claim to catch glimpses of him over the years.
Gef would haunt the Irving family until James died in 1945. Magaret and Voirrey moved away after his death but both maintained that the story of Gef was true until the ends of their days.
Cryptids & Creatures of Folklore Drawtober Day 31 — Wolf Woman of Mobile
In the spring of 1971, residents of Mobile, Alabama began calling in to the Pioneer Express newspaper with reports of a very strange creature spotted in their town, particular around Davis Avenue.
Witnesses claimed the creature looked like a large wolf but she had the head and long dark hair of a beautiful woman. One man described her as “hairy” and “pretty.” Children in the area were afraid to go out after nightfall during the sightings and one young witness even claimed she begged her older brother to teach her how to shoot because she was so afraid that the Wolf Woman might come after her in the dark.
Sightings tapered off shortly after they began and there haven’t been any new reports of people encountering Mobile’s Wolf Woman in years. Still, probably a good idea to not cause any mischief on Halloween night lest she find you.
And that’s a wrap on Drawtober 2024!! I’ve always gotta end with a werewolf since they are my fav beasties <3 Hope you all enjoyed and a very Happy HOWLoween to you all!
Explanation: Can you see the bat? It haunts this cosmic close-up of the eastern Veil Nebula. The Veil Nebula itself is a large supernova remnant, the expanding debris cloud from the death explosion of a massive star. While the Veil is roughly circular in shape and covers nearly 3 degrees on the sky toward the constellation of the Swan (Cygnus), NGC 6995, known informally as the Bat Nebula, spans only ½ degree, about the apparent size of the Moon. That translates to 12 light-years at the Veil’s estimated distance, a reassuring 1,400 light-years from planet Earth. In the composite of image data recorded through several narrow band filters, emission from hydrogen atoms is shown in red and strong emission from oxygen atoms is shown in hues of blue. Of course, in the western part of the Veil lies another seasonal apparition: the Witch’s Broom Nebula.
Study on Great Plains Native American method of storing pumpkin as dried woven leather mats that could be mass-stored in an efficient method without refrigeration and lasted for prolonged periods of time without risk of spoilage.
I attended a Dungeon Meshi themed dinner last weekend and wanted to share what was brought/devoured! Enjoy the comparison of what the dishes looked like irl vs the show
