Raise Your Sights

Here in the third orbital path out from Sol in the year 2017, things may have seemed like they were, well, crappus maximus. But there were really quite a few cool things that went on, and one of the arenas where that happened was astronomical photography. The good folks at Atlas Obscura have compiled some cool shots (and one artist's conception) to stimulate both wonder (Jupiter's clouds, photo #7) and curious imagination (Saturn's hexagonal north pole -- just why does it have such a regular shape?).

The advent of the tablet has signifcantly reduced the need for printed calendars to be placed on the wall, but I still buy one or two for backups. Most of the time they're astro-photography of some sort. What goes on down here, good and bad, is important, of course. But it's good to lift one's gaze now and again to remember where we are on the scale of things.