#bright star near the comet's head

[apod]

2023 November 9

M1: The Crab Nebula Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Tea Temim (Princeton University)

Explanation: The Crab Nebula is cataloged as M1, the first object on Charles Messier's famous 18th century list of things which are not comets. In fact, the Crab is now known to be a supernova remnant, debris from the death explosion of a massive star witnessed by astronomers in the year 1054. This sharp image from the James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) and MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) explores the eerie glow and fragmented strands of the still expanding cloud of interstellar debris in infrared light. One of the most exotic objects known to modern astronomers, the Crab Pulsar, a neutron star spinning 30 times a second, is visible as a bright spot near the nebula's center. Like a cosmic dynamo, this collapsed remnant of the stellar core powers the Crab's emission across the electromagnetic spectrum. Spanning about 12 light-years, the Crab Nebula is a mere 6,500 light-years away in the head-strong constellation Taurus.

∞ Source: apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap231109.html

[riftfic]

15. Determination

. . .

Warnings: strong language, violence

Featured Characters: Sans, Chara/Frisk (Reader), Asriel, Papyrus, Toriel, Asgore

Wanted to get this out to you before the weekend. :) Hope you enjoy!

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Past shimmering magic and the inner turmoil of a hundred souls, another heart-ached voice cried out. Its miserable, forsaken ballad reverberated across your ancient bond. You clung to Sans’ hand like a lifeline. You knew who waited for you beyond the veil. More than ever, you wanted to save him, though words had never been enough. 

“Asriel,” you called.

His winged form faded into sight among hazy, darkened rainbows. His muzzle hid in his claws. He appeared confused, scrambled, as if all his motivations had fallen out of sight. The souls that had become him no longer listened. They had filled him with emotions beyond anger and hate and abandoned him to face his demons.

In all his terrible majesty, the frightening creature Asriel had become did not deter you. When you glanced back for reassurance, Sans released his grip with an encouraging nod. You stepped as near as you could and touched a small hand to Asriel’s shoulder.

“Azzy . . .” you said more dearly.

“What . . . what did you do?” he murmured. Behind his talons, his eyes shone with sadness, confusion, and anger. “What’s this feeling?”

“It’s okay,” you chose to reassure him. “I’m here.”

“No. NO!” he snarled and tore away. “I don’t need you. I don’t need anyone!”

A hundred tiny comets gathered at his hands. You took a step back, knowing too well the rain of destruction that followed. With a single push of his arms, those projectiles charged you like a murder of crows after scraps. They whizzed like fireworks past your head, fanning wild the burnt umbre of your hair. You followed the steps you had always taken to avoid their pattern, but this formation was different. Without thinking, you dodged one bullet directly into the path of another.

Sans pulled you out of the way with less than a moment to spare. With a crack and blue flash, his shortcut shifted both of you just a few yards from a meteor shower and cosmic annihilation. Your arms clung to his, shaking. This time, you were truly grateful he had stepped in to save you from the treacherous walk along your tightrope.

“Why?” Asriel snapped. “Why do you like playing with him more than me?!”

The magic that had once immobilized Sans outside this dreamspace now crushed him. Pain splintered through every fiber of his body. Though he resisted, Asriel’s raw, merciless strength forced him out of your hold to his knees. One bone snapped, then two. If he could breathe he might have screamed or even begged, anything beyond the wild silent grimace seizing him now. Bright stars burst behind his darkening eyes. Red began to spark and burn bright in his chest. 

“Stop!” you yelped. “You’re killing him!”

Asriel certainly knew. A rage more personal than you had ever witnessed gnarled his face. His razorlike claws curled to channel his magic with mounting pressure. Sans buckled under the torture running fissures through his bones. You dropped to his side and held his cracking form close.

You knew Asriel did it to hurt you. You knew he did it to break Sans’ determined spirit. There was nothing Sans could do to stop it. There was nothing you could do. There was no escape. 

You bit back your hopelessness. No. Giving up was exactly what Asriel wanted. Plenty of opportunity had passed to surrender, and now was not the time to relent. You pushed yourself firmly to your feet to chase one more chance.

“Get away from me,” Asriel growled as you approached again. He bared his teeth. “You think I won’t tear you apart?”

You clenched your fists and walked forward defiantly. 

“I said get away!”

You had already locked your arms around him.

The fury of his magic sputtered like an engine out of fuel. The invisible death grip crushing Sans squeezed tighter, then tighter . . . then slowly released. Asriel’s shoulders slumped.

Sans coughed dust and shuddered amid the red threads sewing him back together. For a long moment, he simply lay there, mind racing with shock and trauma and relief to be free of him. His natural sense for the inner soul, what he focused to ascertain your sins, tasted sour with malintent. Asriel had wanted him to hurt. He had wanted him to pay. 

“Let go,” growled Asriel. He had again curled into himself. “Let me win . . .” 

“Please,” you said. “Please, Azzy, you don’t have to do this anymore.”

“It’s the only way you’ll stay with me,” he protested. He hung his head over your shoulder. “I’m not ready for things to end.”

Sans bitterly rose, muttering several choice words that described “the prince of this world” a little less kindly.

“It doesn’t have to,” you said into the great emblem on Asriel’s chest. “It can keep going. You and me, into the sunset, on the surface.”

“No,” he said. “I can’t. I’ll be a heartless little flower running around the Underground, all alone, forever.” Tears sped down his face. “I’m so afraid, Chara.”

His broad, frightening pauldrons and sharp talons retracted. As his silhouette shrank in more than posture, a small, sobbing boss monster child in a green striped sweater took his place. He clung to you as if letting go would untether him from port, sending him adrift into the maelstrom again.

“I’m so sorry,” he said. 

Asriel wept at length on your shoulder. 

As he watched, a realization both blistering and chilling crept over Sans’ soul. After everything, his great and terrible adversary had been nothing more than a frightened child. He set his teeth and bit his tongue, every inch haunted by the phantom pains of snapping apart. Was any context enough to forgive him?

From the mist of his memory, Toriel emerged. He remembered her grief, her loneliness, the children she had lost. He thought of you, how you had loved the soulless flower enough to save him, even though you couldn’t remember why. 

His heart calmed. If he could reconcile anything, it was that he loved you more than he wanted to hurt him.

Eventually, Asriel dried his eyes and smiled at you faintly. “I always was a crybaby, wasn’t I?”

You nodded. “Just a little.”

He surveyed you as if you had returned from the dead—and for all accounts and purposes, this was true. “Is it really you?” he asked. “Are you really . . . Chara?”

You pondered this for a long moment and for many long moments to come. Chara was the name you had been given at the start of your journey. It was this name that fueled the fire behind Asgore’s law, this name that had given weight to Wingdings’ final experiment, this name that had led Asriel down misery’s path. What were you if not the culmination of your experiences? All you had remembered could not be unwritten. And yet someone had reminded you that who you once were and who you could be were two entirely different things. You were not tethered to your ghosts. The road ahead was yours to choose.

You met Sans’ gaze over your shoulder. He stood a safe distance away, hands pocketed, even if his posture were tense. His left eye burned brighter than the right, at the ready, apprehensive but following your lead. Trust. Even when you lost sight of yourself, he believed in you. He always would. You wanted to be that person.

You wanted to deserve it.

“I go by Frisk now,” you said.

Sans’ burning eye sparked with blue and gold like fireworks. 

Asriel studied the emotions passing between you. Bittersweetness tainted his smile.

“I was so jealous,” he said, “of you two. I still am. It’s . . . childish, isn’t it?”

“an ass-toot observation,” Sans muttered under his breath.

To his surprise, Asriel actually chuckled, even if small and removed with sadness. Sans’ hackles relaxed marginally at the sound. Even at its coldest, his heart always melted to a child’s laughter.

“Sorry,” Asriel said bashfully, then continued, “I know I can’t have you all to myself. That’s not fair. I’m . . . not entirely sure what brought you together but . . . I can tell it was special.” His small frame shrank further. “I didn’t understand that the way I was ‘playing’ was hurting you . . . or maybe I did. I didn’t care. I couldn’t care. And Sans, you were only protecting them. You were doing what I should have done. I’m so sorry.”

Sans teetered between accepting and refuting the apology. Then, he turned his eyes away, content to do neither. 

Asriel nodded knowingly.

“There’s no excuse for what I did,” he said. “I hurt you. I hurt so many people. Friends, family, bystanders . . . I understand if you can’t forgive me.”

Your heart sank to recognize his words. You knew what he planned to do and what it meant. Like every time before, he would break the barrier and return to the Underground’s depths while the rest of monsterkind walked on sandy beaches under a bright blue sky. You would forgive him, and it wouldn’t matter.

“You’ll do great,” he said quietly. “They believe in you.” His eyes drifted to Sans. “Both of you. Whatever you do . . . don’t give up.”

As Asriel’s young form ascended with mounting energy, Sans rejoined your side. 

When he had broken the barrier in the past, Sans only experienced the sensation of a colossal power falling around him. Every time, a great, bright light had enveloped him and when he opened his eyes, their long-coveted freedom waited just ahead. To be here, standing among every soul accumulating with fervor, radiating like the sun, streaking through the darkness like new stars—the vision was nothing short of phenomenal. 

He rested a hand on your shoulder. His eyes stared into the lights with the same enamoration you had felt roaming the magical streets of New Home. The instant you looked into his face, this moment that had become one of sadness came alive again. You smiled, thankful to share this with him, grateful to have him by your side.

As the barrier shattered into a thousand pieces, Sans’ rapture twisted into dark apprehension. The sight shook you. Shouldn’t he be happy?

Before you could ask him what was wrong, that familiar brightness overtook you more quickly than it ever had before and spat you out from this nightmare into the real world once again.

Your souls burst from Asriel like a flying fish from the water. They rocketed through the air in search of home, spinning around each other like sparklers in a gush of red glitter. Then, they found their marks. They took off like shooting stars, straight toward their empty shells.

The sound of his name called Sans back to life. It sounded spoken at a distance, shrilly, and in dramatic sobs begging him to wake up. The words grew louder until bouncing around his skull. He squirmed in a pair of bony arms that gripped him far too tightly.

“can’t . . . breathe,” he wheezed. He tapped out faintly, three slaps to the dirty, broken floor. “bruh . . .”

“SANS!” screamed Papyrus.

Sans gasped as his brother unsealed the vacuum in his ribcage. He coughed and gagged.

“FINALLY!” Papyrus wiped frantically at his face. “LAZYBONES. ALWAYS NAPPING.”

Sans blinked up at him from his lap, color rising. “were you cryin’?” he asked.

“NO!” said Papyrus. “I DON’T CRY! I JUST . . . CAUGHT SOMETHING IN MY EYE.”

A smile crept onto Sans’ face to recognize this age-old exchange. “what did you catch?”

“TEARS!”

Sans chortled, and Papyrus’ haughty façade quickly crumbled to join him. Skull to skull, arms around each other’s necks, their laughter came from a place much deeper than humor. It echoed through the overfilled halls until every monster in the Underground knew just how happy they were to be alive and together again. 

As their voices calmed to smiles, Sans fondly rubbed the smooth bone of his brother’s skull, the same way as he had when the stalk was only a bean. On an average day, Papyrus would have protested, but things were different now. 

Sans tallied his friends. They had flocked together around Asgore’s fresh hole in the wall, where he had sheltered your empty body. His relief dissipated. He climbed out of Papyrus’ arms and scrambled through rocks, debris, and cracked hallway floors. Just inside the group, he tripped and fell over his own shoelaces, but that did not stop him. He elbowed his way to the front past Undyne and Asgore on his knees. 

Hardly a breath stirred your chest, though subtleties of that new color had returned to your cheeks. A fresh breeze tickled your skin and sunlight glimmered across you with true, unabated warmth. Birds whistled a disjointed chorus into your ears. Though your new name danced around your head in many voices, only one drew you out from the reverie. 

“frisk? frisk!” Sans snapped his fingers in front of your eyes. “c’mon, kid. don’ scare me any more than you gotta.”

You pushed his hand away. “Back up or get chucked on,” you gulped. You rolled over and buried your head in your arms, fighting the urge to expel your guts all over the broken floor. Your vision swam. As the memory of today’s events unfolded behind your eyes, however, you bolted upright and swung your head around. 

“The barrier,” you said.

“Broken,” Toriel answered, gently brushing the hair off your forehead, “with thanks to you . . . Frisk.”

Her touch had felt different, familiar and knowing, timid and shaking. In the dampened, ocean-salted fur of her cheeks bled an aching recognition. Without doubt, she saw the truth of who you really were, even if she didn’t understand it. You opened your mouth.

“Mom?” 

Every face turned toward the flower bed. 

Sans’ clenched your shoulder, then, trepidly, he helped you stand. Your eyes, so bright, so nearly crimson, widened to brand this sun-crisped sight on the inner pages of your soul. Your determination swelled red hot until overflowing.

There, among emerald leaves and amber petals, stood Asriel. 

He looked just as he had the day you met, daylight burning in a familiar halo off pale white fur. His hands, small, frightened, and confused, held his attention. One paw retracted to clutch his heart, as if something unexpected resided there, as if for the first time he felt alive and whole and real.

“Why am I . . . here?” he asked breathlessly. “What is this inside me? Who . . .”

A moment of awestruck silence filled the passage. Then, to everyone’s surprise, Sans burst out laughing. He chuckled like a pull string doll, arms clutching his stomach with relief and joy and perhaps a slightly twisted sense of humor. Papyrus raised a cold hand to slap him upside the head but before he could, Sans pointed a bony finger at Asriel.

“you stole your own soul, you idiot,” he laughed. 

Asriel blinked. “Huh?”

Before he could slip in another word, you had flung your arms around him and tumbled him down into a knot. Leaves, pollen, and petals burst into the air as if to punctuate the act, or perhaps to celebrate it. You nuzzled into the bright fur of your long lost friend, your brother, here, alive, saved. 

Toriel and Asgore soon rushed into the fray. How they felt about each other didn’t matter. Their children had returned. Their children were alive. They sobbed and smiled and questioned reality, but whatever the truth, none of you wanted it to end. You lay there happily engulfed, your lost family whole again at last. 

Soon your friends had piled in to create a pile of bones and scales and fur. Undyne, Alphys, Papyrus . . . you opened your eyes to look for Sans. 

He stood apart, hands pocketed. Though he hadn’t followed, his pinprick eyes watched you fondly over a smile never stronger, never truer. At that moment you knew: it was Sans who had walked your brother home. Somehow, he had discovered the answer and followed through . . . for you. Thankful tears filled your eyes. You should have never doubted him. You outstretched your hand and called his name. He took a bashful step forward. 

Suddenly, he froze. Deep below his feet, seismic shudders warped and churned. Their volume and intensity expounded until stones quivered by the soles of his shoes. His phone vibrated, clattering against his phalanges in a life or death intelligence check against the dungeon master. The results snuffed the lights from his eyes. His smile ran away screaming.

“What’s wrong?” you asked.

“we have to go,” he breathed. 

Asgore rose from the pile. “Sans, what is happening?” he asked.

Sans snatched your outstretched hand and pulled you from the tangle as well. To Asgore, he said, “everybody needs to leave the underground, now.” His eyes dashed wildly through a mist of sprinkling dust. Hairline cracks were spiraling through the floor, walls, and ceiling, still deciding where best to split apart. “we’re outta time. come on, kid, we gotta move.”

When Sans began running with you in the opposite direction, Toriel launched to her feet with dismay. She clung to Asriel, eyes wide with fright. “Where are you taking them?” she cried.

“trust me!” Sans called back, though regret speared his throat. “run!”

The royals' leap of faith became easier as dirt worked itself loose from the overhead stones in silver drapery. Asgore's booming voice ushered everyone out, a more effective siren than Sans’ quiet cello.

Halfway into the rumbling Core, you still clung to his hand, afraid but trusting. “Where are we going?” you finally asked. “Sans, why are we going the other way?”

Sans flinched as he tried and failed a third time to take a shortcut. The atmosphere swam with an increasing disregard for all laws of physics. The pathways jittered as if each step could fall through or fly away. Thankfully, their footing remained stable, even if deja vu ran their heads ragged.

“when i was in the void,” Sans explained through huffs of breath, “dings said the rift was on the verge of bustin’ wide open.” 

The two of you broke from the Core into MTT Resort. Mettaton’s statue lay in pieces, and you splashed through its rippling puddle on the marble floors. As you hurried onward, Sans quickly urged what lingering monsters remained to flee the underground.

The world trembled more ferociously the farther you traveled.

“one more broken barrier and he couldn’t hold it back anymore.” He led you down the stairs, across Hotland’s quickest path. “but the machine in the basement can stop it.”

You passed the Lab. A hard crack split that edifice down the middle and southward through the plateau. Hot steam billowed threateningly out the fissures, which you dodged following Sans’ deft footsteps. The heat nearly blistered you; no doubt the smallest misstep would have seared straight through your boots. At a glance down the stairs, you could see that the River person was no longer present—and neither was the river.   

Just before reaching the cave to Waterfall, an explosion threw you viciously to the cooling ground, where you collided with Sans in a helpless pile. The two of you turned back to the Lab in horror. 

The building hovered in pieces, slowly lifting in an arc from its shattered foundation. The surrounding earth collapsed into the bubbling lava, splashing and steaming as if a volcano had erupted. A hollow in the molten rock folded inward below an accordion of walls and floors, eaten whole by a crisp fracture slicing reality like a shattered mirror. The Rift was expanding.

“to your feet, kid!” Sans barked.

You scrambled out from your shock and kicked off the ground to follow him.

“I thought you couldn’t fix it!” you shouted above the crackle of earth that chased you.

“dings told me what i was missing,” Sans answered. 

“Which is . . . ?”

He hesitated. “i’ll show ya when we get there.”

Clouds of dark mineral dust showered down from the quaking ceiling. Around your feet, ancient crystals and loosened stone scattered and jostled as if you sped through a rock tumbler. Together you struggled through chaos and occasional monsters running past. You wondered if you should warn them about the rift awaiting them.

Sans guided you through a field of glowing mushrooms, which flickered and faded and illuminated again as if time itself combed their stems. You jumped rivers, slipped between waterfalls, cut corners through unfamiliar caves. He knew this place better than you ever did. 

The cold air nipped at your ankles first. Then, the yawning mouth to Snowdin glittered bright with a blinding cloud of stirred snow. Relief like the scent of familiar incense curled around you a second too soon. Cracks rocketed into ravines in the stone above. They shot ahead to the far opening, where the cavern arch began to give way.

Sans' fingers finally sparked with blue. He set his teeth.

“hold on tight,” he said.

Just as the ceiling snapped and transmuted into plunging rubble, a shocking cyan portal scooped you up and spat you out into a dark room. 

Cold tile pressed against your human skin, and the scent of earthen mildew crawled through the air. The basement. A nearby clatter told you Sans already searched for the light switch.

Under that single fluorescent bulb, there was no hiding his panic. The distant tremors were growling slowly louder, only minutes behind you. Though the earth had yet to tremble here, the sound alone quaked his bones. His shaking hands missed the outlet twice before plugging in the machine.

“Sans,” you said.

He tore back the curtain. That roughened, scorched jumble of metal hardly saw light before his left hand slapped the power switch on its side. It groaned to life with opposition, but once it got used to the idea, it hummed a steady note. The frequency curdled your blood.

“Sans,” you repeated.

His fingers trembled on the keyboard with hesitation, then dashed across the keycaps faster than you could type. Pixels on the screen scrolled through data more quickly than could be read. Its signs and symbols matched the ones you had seen him use when scanning for anomalies: stars, bombs, skulls . . . hands.

“SANS,” you snapped.

Finally he turned to you, though his head hung low on his neck. 

For a moment, nothing but tremors, magic, and electricity shuddered the air. Your hair felt to stand on end. 

“Why am I here?” you croaked. 

This made no sense. It went against everything you knew about Sans to drag you back into the fray. If the Underground were truly moments from collapsing, he should have urged you out with the others. The puzzle had been clicking together, but the missing pieces hid in his pockets.

A hundred emotions crossed his face, emotions he had once guarded from you behind a grinning mask. You couldn’t decide which was worse. He skirted around the back of the machine, where he pried open a dusty compartment. Inside were an empty reservoir and a fogged out fuel gauge that rested on zero. 

“thought this was for regular ol’ magic,” he said quietly. “heh . . . putting gas in the diesel tank ‘s what i was doin’.”

You eyed him uneasily.

After a long, long second, he met your stare guiltily. 

“it doesn’t need magic or electricity, or gas or diesel neither,” he said. The words left him distraught. “it needs . . . you.”

Your eyebrows tried to touch. “I don’t understand.”

“determination!” he nearly burst. His arms spread wide as if to take flight. “a mighty heaping helping of bloody red determination.”

The statement didn’t strike you as worrisome until you saw just how upset it made him. He paced back and forth, breathing fast like a racehorse. His hands balled into fists until they shook and dug their knuckles into his forehead. Blue magic leaked from his left eye.

The realization snuck up behind you. Even if the lab hadn't been destroyed, Alphys had already run through most of her supply treating fallen monsters who would become amalgamates. Only siphoning from a source could supply determination now--directly from a human soul. You had no idea what that meant for you, but by the way Sans acted now . . .

“stars fucking damn it!” he snarled. 

He braced himself against the machine and kicked it once, twice, three times. Then he gripped the corners more gently, and his shoulders heaved.

The tremors were growing louder. 

“kid, it could kill you,” he breathed through a mess of tears. He pressed his forehead to the metal. “you could die and even then it might not be enough to work.”

Plaster and dust exhaled from the ceiling.

“but the rift doesn’t care,” he went on. “it won’t stop with the underground or the surface. if we let it go, sooner or later . . .”

Your heart skipped into your throat.

“i don’t know what to do,” he said. He slumped to sit in front of the temporal flux manipulator and cradled his face in his hands. Angry tears slipped through his phalanges. “i’m sorry.”

You watched him shudder under that impossible weight. Your eyes lifted to the splintering ceiling. Your ears turned to the quaking earth. Your tongue tasted dust in the air. Your nose breathed the scent of dirt and magic. Your mind raced with everywhere you had been, everything you had seen, everyone you had met and learned to love.

Sans felt your human warmth draw near. Behind his fingers, a brightening glow of red permeated the bone. His face twisted alongside his heart in knots.

Your soul pirouetted above your hands just as it had for Asgore, only this time no self-sorry streams decorated your cheeks. A smile lingered instead, melancholy but determined.

“frisk, no,” said Sans. He took your wrists and pushed them back toward your chest. “i can’t make you do this.”

“You’re not making me do anything,” you said. 

“there’s no tellin’ what’ll happen,” he said quickly. “even if it works, we could go back before the barrier was broken and never get out again. whole thing could rewind to the day we clipped the timeline.” Pain clutched his eye sockets. “you and asriel . . . you two could stay dead.”

“What about your brother?” you asked. 

Sans grimaced and blinked another swell of tears from his eye sockets. “there’s a chance,” he said, “maybe the only chance in the world he’ll come back. but it could kill him too. truth be told . . . we’re flyin’ blind.”

Your bright red heart bled for him in your hands. You knelt down only a breath away. “You saved my brother,” you said. “Let me try to save yours.”

Sans shook his head miserably. He still clung to your wrists, though faintly, barely holding on. 

The basement floor’s ceramic tiles began to separate and collide, spitting up caulk and crumbs of stone. Flakes of plaster landed on your shoulders and in your hair.

“We’re running out of time,” you said as calmly as you could when your heart rattled your ribs like prison bars. “It’s either some of us, or none of us. That’s the choice, Sans.”

He hung his head, knowing it to be true.

“I’m determined to do this,” you said. The corner of your mouth twitched into a knifelike smile. “You can’t stop me.”

As he searched your eyes, his soul swelled with conviction, burning hot and red like engine coals. He faltered then, mind rushing with a thought he hadn’t considered, a truth he hadn’t faced until dying repeatedly at the fiery claws of a bitter demon. Determination: the power to stay alive, to undo death, to spool back time until you hit that god damn bullseye. 

“and i’m determined not to let you die,” he said. 

He flattened a hand to his chest, then tugged out his soul by an invisible string. Though scars clenched its shell in a thousand barbed teeth, it burned brighter than the North Star. A brilliant red overtook most of its form, more vivid and overwhelming than he expected, even if the edges whitened like frosted glass.

The sight of it overwhelmed you. Never had you seen a soul like this. Never had you imagined his to be so hauntingly beautiful. 

He lifted you to your feet and pulled you close. The walls around you were crumbling, but your souls hummed strong and true. 

“i promised to see ya through,” his voice lilted into your ear. “so let’s do this together.”

The moment you understood what he planned to do, you shook your head adamantly. “No, you can’t,” you said.

“yes, i can,” he insisted. “ya always try to do everythin’ yourself. just this once . . . let me help you.”

Suddenly, there it was: the truth you had been denying since the start. It had never been the resets at the core of what hurt him. What had truly wedged you apart had been your drive to shoulder everything like a lone wolf. When you had first decided to rewind the clock, you had done it without a word to anyone. When you had sought to save Asriel, you had pursued it alone. Even when Sans had finally forced your hand, you had resisted his aid at every step. It had crushed him to dust. It had broken bridges in Waterfall. It had cast him into the void. It had nearly driven you to darkness, until once again he had reached out into the encroaching night and saved you. 

You held on a moment longer despite the urgency raining down in gray clouds. If he didn’t make it, you wanted to remember how it felt.

“Okay,” you said.

Programs sequenced into action with a few more entries into the data pad, which shuddered the machine into a readying hum. He tied your souls to those machinations in ways you didn’t quite understand: magic threads both warm in the pit of your soul and cold where they spooled into the darkness of an empty chamber. 

He lifted his hand to rest on that all too familiar lever and stilled to find yours already there. You smiled confidently, ready with a single nod. His grip gained courage, and together, you pulled down into gear. Lines of data poured down the cracked monitor. The earth beneath you shook harder. A ravine split through the ceiling. Everything went white and still.

NOTES

One more chapter and then epilogue. :') We're nearly there.

Thank you so much for reading.

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[writeyourdarlings]

bucky was always drawn to lights - any kind of light. study lamp, street lights, fairy lights around a christmas tree, the light coming from behind the curtain of a window, even the light coming out of a firework or a laptop screen. the swift changing from darkness to brightness served as a symbol of healing to him, especially after the winter soldier happened.

now, christmas was truthfully bucky's favourite time of the year, because there's so much lights to see in his hometown and steve knew how much bucky loved the season. thus, during another christmas, after 2 days of snowstorm, steve gently woke him up at noon with a forehead kiss and asked him his favourite question: "want to go for a walk and check out all the lights?"

bucky beamed and got out of his bed immediately, causing steve to chuckle at himself. he went toward his wardrobe, getting dressed in layers and layers of thermal clothes, with bulky sweater, a pair of gloves, and a coat. after that, he walked towards the door, then he could see their xmas tree standing firm in their living room. it wasn't too big, but full of lights, balls, angels, many other decorations and a santa claus near the top, where steve put a big comet star. there was also a bunch of scented candles, some cakes, covers, and little things which steve had bought for old people living alone in a hospice near their town. plus, a pack of dog and cat foods, which were living in captivity into a kennel in their town. it warmed bucky's heart to see how steve prepared so much for christmas. however, steve wasn't actually a festive person, but once he found out bucky loved christmas, his reason of buying gifts and things was just: "i don't know, guess i just want to do so many things with you."

steve looked up at him after lacing his boots and said, "ready?"

bucky smiled and nodded excitedly.

shortly after, they walked together side by side and steve took bucky's hand to hold it and keep it warm. he didn't know where they would be headed, but he'd just let steve guide him along their journey. the snow made a crunching sound under their boots, like walking on a cup of granita. he could hear children's laugh and jingle bells song on every street corner they passed.

he watched steve with full affection, while the blond guy was staring into the distance. he loved that being with steve, he didn't have to say anything to him. just... silence. and nothing was wrong with silence. silence was not awkward. he didn't have to bother filling the cold air. the cold air brushing his rosy cheeks felt amazing. and between their holding hands, there lied something so comforting and safe.

now the residue of the past turns into dust; and everything’s sparkling beautifully under the christmas lights. those days of him being the winter soldier were left burried and forgotten, because all he chose to remember now was steve. his last flicker of light before the dark.

[misspepita]

Polaris and the Trail of Comet ZTF via NASA https://ift.tt/XWzuwTv

Stars trace concentric arcs around the North Celestial Pole in this three hour long night sky composite, recorded with a digital camera fixed to a tripod on January 31, near Àger, Lleida, Spain. On that date Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) was near its northernmost declination in planet Earth's sky. That put the comet about 10 degrees from Earth's North Celestial Pole making the comet's position circumpolar, always above the horizon, from all locations on planet Earth at more than 10 degrees northern latitude. In the startrail image, the extension of Earth's axis of rotation into space is at the left. North star Polaris traces the short, bright, concentric arc less than a degree from the North Celestial Pole. The trail of Comet ZTF is indicated at the right, its apparent motion mostly reflecting Earth's rotation like the stars. But heading for its closest approach to planet Earth on February 1, the comet is also moving significantly with respect to the background stars. The diffuse greenish trail of Comet ZTF is an almost concentric arc mingled with startrails as it sweeps through the long-necked constellation Camelopardalis.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

An astronaut on the International Space Station took these images of the Quirimbas Islands along Mozambique’s coastline near Tanzania’s border on Nov. 24, 2021. The 32 small islands stretch 322 kilometers (200 miles) along the coastline and are partly linked o the coast by mangroves, sand bars and coral reefs. The light blue-green water surrounding the islands highlights the shallow complex of corals, sand and seagrass. The islands are home to an array of plants and animals including 3,000 floral species, with 1,000 being endemic, meaning they are only found on the islands. The islands’ waters host 52 species of corals, 140 species of mollusk, eight species of marine mammals and five species of turtles. Vamizi, one of the largest islands of the Quirimbas Archipelago, is an important nesting site for hawksbill turtles and green turtles. 170 green turtle nests were observed on the island from 2019 to 2020, making it the largest nesting site in Mozambique for the species. https://go.nasa.gov/3xdbWo8 

[NASA Earth]

* * * *

“At 19, I read a sentence that re-terraformed my head: The level of matter in the universe has been constant since the Big Bang." In all the aeons we have lost nothing, we have gained nothing - not a speck, not a grain, not a breath. The universe is simply a sealed, twisting kaleidoscope that has reordered itself a trillion trillion trillion times over. 

Each baby, then, is a unique collision - a cocktail, a remix - of all that has come before: made from molecules of Napoleon and stardust and comets and whale tooth; colloidal mercury and Cleopatra's breath: and with the same darkness that is between the stars between, and inside, our own atoms. When you know this, you suddenly see the crowded top deck of the bus, in the rain, as a miracle: this collection of people is by way of a starburst constellation. Families are bright, irregular-shaped nebulae. Finding a person you love is like galaxies colliding. 

We are all peculiar, unrepeatable, perambulating micro-universes - we have never been before and we will never be again. Oh God, the sheer exuberant, unlikely face of our existences. The honour of being alive. They will never be able to make you again. Don't you dare waste a second of it thinking something better will happen when it ends. Don't you dare."

- Caitlin Moran

[aeontriad]

M1: The Crab Nebula

The Crab Nebula is cataloged as M1, the first object on Charles Messier's famous 18th century list of things which are not comets. In fact, the Crab is now known to be a supernova remnant, debris from the death explosion of a massive star witnessed by astronomers in the year 1054. This sharp image from the James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) and MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) explores the eerie glow and fragmented strands of the still expanding cloud of interstellar debris in infrared light. One of the most exotic objects known to modern astronomers, the Crab Pulsar, a neutron star spinning 30 times a second, is visible as a bright spot near the nebula's center. Like a cosmic dynamo, this collapsed remnant of the stellar core powers the Crab's emission across the electromagnetic spectrum. Spanning about 12 light-years, the Crab Nebula is a mere 6,500 light-years away in the head-strong constellation Taurus.

[andromeda1023]

Upper left: On October 30, 2022, Comet ZTF E3 displayed a blue-green coma, compact nuclear region and two tails — a curved, yellow dust tail and a very faint ion tail pointing straight up from the comet's head. Eduard Demencik

Upper right: Teardrop-shaped Comet ZTF (C/2020 V2) passed near the faint spiral galaxy NGC 3488 in Ursa Major on October 21, 2022. Dan Bartlett

Lower: Comet ZTF E3 is currently plunging toward the plane of the solar system on a steeply inclined orbit. Its position is shown for November 16th. NASA HORIZONS

Ready to chase comets? We look at two fuzzy solar system travelers that will keep you on your toes all fall and winter long.

There are two 10th-magnitude comets now visible in the evening sky, both discovered by the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) and bear its name —  Comet ZTF (C/2020 V2) and Comet ZTF (C/2022 E3). The survey scans the entire northern sky every two nights using an exceptionally wide-field CCD camera on the 48-inch Samuel Oschin Telescope at Palomar Observatory.

Comet ZTF V2 still hovers around magnitude 10.5 as it inches north in the direction of Polaris at a current rate of about ½° per day. In mid-November the comet stands about 20° high at nightfall for observers at mid-northern latitudes and is circumpolar for much of the U.S. and Europe. Maximum altitude occurs just before dawn. An 8-inch or larger telescope under moonless skies should provide a good view of this compact cotton wad.

C/2020 V2 pole-vaults from Ursa Major to Sculptor between now and next October, slowly brightening to a peak magnitude of about 9.0–9.5 in late January and again in late August–early September during its closest approach to Earth on September 17, 2023. Along the way it gives the North Star a nod, passing 3.7° to its southeast on December 22nd and 0.8° west of the bright open cluster M103 in Cassiopeia on January 25th and 26th.

Comet ZTF (C/2022 E3) should become an order of magnitude more spectacular than its doppelgänger namesake. Staying put for now in northern Serpens near the Corona Borealis border, this small, strongly condensed comet glows around magnitude 9.8.

Come January 1st, Comet ZTF E3 quickly accelerates, crossing from Corona Borealis into Boötes, Draco, and Ursa Minor while brightening from magnitude 8 to 5–5.5 by month's end. During the third week of January it becomes circumpolar for mid-northern latitude observers and passes about 10° southeast of Polaris on January 29th. On the night of February 10–11 it pays a visit to Mars. Their separation tightens from about 1.5° during the early evening hours (comet northeast of Mars) to just under 1° before the planet sets. Before this cosmic snowball exits Taurus it buzzes past the Hyades from February 13–15.

Full article, pics, diagrams: https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/sneak-peek-at-two-promising-ztf-comets/

[lunar-lair]

new starlight in the stars’ hands

(SURPRISE IM BACK!! another celestial au piece for @ashwii because, uh, frankly im a little obsessed. so many ideas so little time!! yet again, a piece on leo and his stars. more domestic, more dialogue-y, and i took some liberties. plus im SUPER tired its noon and i pulled an all nighter. regardless i uhhh,,hope it slaps!!! partially under the cut because 1.7k is kinda long lmao)

Leo has always held his stars close.

Ever since he was born into this universe, they’ve been apart of him, his children, his extended family, little loves and bright spots, part of everything he’s ever known and all the endless care in his heart. 

From the beginning, his brothers have understood. Mikey got it well enough, his comets art and loved beings and fleeting adoration, and Donnie knew many other moons and cared for many of Leo’s stars like nephews. Raph was one of them, as he always has been, and cared for them like brothers and nephews, family of his own, just as all of them do. 

So they all knew the fond little smile when a new cluster of stars were born, knew to leave him to it when he’d blip out of existence. (Pros of being every star in the sky, you can get anywhere they’re at, anytime.)

When he was younger, he’d greet them with something bright and a hope that they’d like it here, that this was home for them, that they could stay wherever they liked, that they were part of him and he’d always be here for them, whatever that meant.

He’s still bright, and he’s still fond, but his edges softened out with age. A fondness that slipped onto his face every time he felt it-this bright little thing, almost like a soothing balm, sheer excitement, something warm and a little confused uncurling in the corners of his mind. 

When he described it to April, she said, “So like a notification but for new stars?”

He just shrugged back. “I guess, yeah.”

It was ironic, then, that he’d found himself shivering and grinning, wide and fond and warm.

Before April could say another word, he blinked out of existence, entirely disappearing from the middle of her living room. Kind of astounding that he could still do that while currently in a less celestial state on earth, but whatever, manifestation of stars does what he wants, she guessed. 

She still pointed, though, brow raised. “Uh. Y’all know what just happened?”

Donnie hummed, looking up from the cell phone she’d given him when she met them. (Sometimes she wonders if the phone scales up when they’re in space, or if they just stay the same size, and then she stops because her head starts hurting.) “Ah, he does that. New stars, probably.”

“...ok,” April said slowly. “But why did he just…leave?”

“He’s gotta greet ‘em!” Mikey chimed, and Raph nodded.

“Yeah. He told you they’re like his kids, right? He never leaves them hanging for long.” And hummed, chin in hand. “I’ll have to say sorry to the little guys for not sayin’ hi right away. Wonder if this new batch is near Mercury like he thought they’d be.”

Donnie hummed down at his phone. When April leaned in, he had a doc filled with a ton of confusing science-y (because he still managed to be an expert in everything human he could find, even before he met her) stuff about chemicals and star locations open. “Based on the amount of hydrogen in the area, I’d say he’s right. Besides, Mikey, you know he always knows.”

He hummed back at him. “Yeah, but he’s wrong, like, once every 2,500 years. Close enough, right?”

“Sure. Not like that’s a long stretch of time, even for us.”

Leo blipped back into existence, celestial form burning new stars into his skin, right next to Mercury. 

His grin softened as he observed them for a moment. They were mostly rather small stars, and they had all grouped together around a couple of the bigger ones already. Ah, these were his brighter stars and his constellations. They happened to form together like this, ready to stay together all their lives. 

They were already acting like siblings. It only made his heart warm. 

He approached, and all of them relaxed, like they already knew who he was. (Well, they did, but only innately. They didn’t know him as a person, not really, not yet.) “Hello! You all must be the new stars I felt pop in.”

The largest of them nodded, already taking charge.

He sat down on thin air, crossing his legs and grinning. “Well, I’m Leo! It’s nice to meet you all.” They relaxed a little further, and more of them nodded back this time, smiling. He held a hand to his chest, watching as they followed his arm, stardust falling as it went. “You all are part of me, though I’m sure you all already know that, at least on some level.” He gestured around him, looking up and around, his grin widening as some other stars gathered to meet the new kids. “This is the milky way. It’s your home, and you’re free to live wherever you’d like. You can stick together, you can split up, you can call each other siblings, anything you want, I’d be glad to do what I can to give it to you.” He held out his hands, letting stardust fall, watching the smallest and newest of them give quiet ‘ohhh’s at the little display. “Me and all the other stars, we’re your family. I’ll always be here for you, til the end of your days, and the end of time.”

“Til the end of our days?” One of the bigger ones spoke, and all of them quieted for a moment as Leo’s knowledge spread throughout the group. 

Every star was quiet, for a moment. The moons still chattered and the planets still spun on their axes, but the light of the universe was silent.

Leo smiled at them again, but it was a little sad, a little pained. “Yes. Stars die, after a time. I’ve outlived every one I’ve met, and I’ll outlive you all, too.” Stardust fell, and he only realized they were tears when some of them crowded forward into his hold. He readily held them back, sighing softly as the others caved in and gathered as well. “What’s important is that we love. That we live, with everything we have, together, until your final moments.”

They all nodded back at him, whether slow or vigorous, determined to live ;ife to the fullest, just as he had asked. 

He leaned back, and grinned at them, soft. He always felt like syrup and honey when he was with his stars, like he was made of the light they gave off. “No matter what, though, I’ll be here for you. I’d be more than glad to be your father, your caretaker, or anything else you wish.” He laughed, holding two of the eldest’s cheeks in hand. “After all, humans wish on us all the time. I think we deserve some, too.”

They all laughed at that, his knowledge innate. Everything he knew, it was theirs to know and see, as long as they wanted to. 

He leaned back, letting them go. “Now! Before I let you meet everyone else, we need to decide on names!”

It was always the same routine: a real name based on their location and age-MU, a dash, and a number for Mercury, VE, a dash, and a number for Venus, so on-and a nickname. It could be anything, something on Earth or something celestial or even something the humans had made themselves. If Leo knew it, they had it to pick from. 

A lot of them chose simple names, as they always did. Then some of them chose names like Jamie, human names, or things they’d made or colors they’d named, like Scarlet or Tower. 

He never minded. He called them nicknames, but really, they were more proper names, to him. He’d lived his whole long life with a name for people to call him by, and he only felt they deserved the same. 

He turned to look around, and laughed. Nearly every older star and some of the others that didn’t have places they preferred to be were gathered around, nervously waiting around Mercury’s orbit. He waved them over, turning to the new stars with a bright grin. “Now that you’ve got names, you can meet the others!” He threw up a peace sign. “I’ve gotta dip. Got places to be, embodiment and all. But I promise I’ll be back with my brothers to check in soon!” 

They waved goodbye, and he disappeared, popping near earth and then popping in again in April’s living room, wide grin on his face.

His brothers just stood there, looking bored, but she nearly fell off her couch. Again. Jeez, it’s been years, she should be used to that. She pointed an accusing finger at him over her coffee table. “I know what you’re thinkin’, Leo! Ain’t no way I’m ever gettin’ used to that! At least text me, you heathen!”

“You are the only one who can do that,” Donnie hummed, sipping the coffee April made him while Leo was gone. (Honestly, one of the best things humans have ever made. Reminds him of being full moon, but it’s synthetic. Astounding.) “And you only do it on occasion, anyways.”

April tsked. “Still kinda weird that you can do it just with some stardust you leave behind. Gives me the heebie jeebies. Like, what is it, your sweat? Your blood?”

Leo shrugged. “I think of it as skin cells.” She just grimaced back at him.

Mikey pulled him into a side hug. “Welcome back! You’re gonna introduce us to the new guys later, right?”

Leo patted his arm, grin easy and light. “Of course, Mikey. They’ve gotta meet Raph, too, you know that.”

Donnie nodded. “We can head over to Mercury when we leave.”

For now though, they settled down, chatting with April for a while about this or that. Leo was never very good at paying attention unless he wanted to. 

He was pretty excited to see his stars again. 

He grinned warmly, staring up at April’s ceiling.

He knew what they were already; the makings of a new constellation. Some of the bigger ones, they were the focal points. The others were the areas in between, filling in empty space. 

He leaned back, resting his hands behind his head. 

He can’t wait to see what the humans think of the new starlight in their sky. 

[nyotasaimiri]

Arc Two (redux) 54

The jump to Muhlifain went smoother this time. Nyota made a mental note, as the stars stopped blurring and she lowered her hologram controls, to thank Pete next time she saw him. Custom control systems were tricky enough to work with, especially on a ship that was technically salvage. But the Jubilee was responding better than ever, and with minimal jostling to her crew. She had a feeling that smoothness would be needed.

Hadley joined her by the window to survey the scene. “You know, it might save me a whole lot of trouble if you just fired this thing’s lasers into that mess,” she said.

“It would cause us a lot more trouble if that damages or destroys the only Gate we know of,” Nyota said drily.

Hadley shrugged. “There’s always something.”

A long moment passed between them. “I’ll be okay out there,” she said.

Nyota looked down at her, and realized how obvious her worry must have been. “I don’t mean to imply you won’t,” she said. Hadley hated to be belittled, she knew that well from many fights over the months. Realizing the time made her pause. It felt far longer than months. She and her crew, they had been through so much together. Nyota put a hand on Hadley’s shoulder. “I trust you and your skill.”

Hadley put her hand over Nyota’s. “Thanks, ma’am.”

There was something surreal and familiar about watching Hadley climb into the mech a second time, more familiar than it should have been. Nyota frowned and shook away the memories of her own lessons, so very long ago. She did not need clouded thoughts today. “Arjun put an emergency teleportation beacon in your mech,” she said as Hadley tested the limbs to make sure everything was working. “Activate it if your mech gets dangerously low on energy.”

“Understood,” Hadley said, an uncanny imitation of Nyota. The effect was spoiled when she grinned a moment later. “Relax, Captain. You sound like my mother.”

Nyota snorted and shook her head, then ran a hand through her bangs to get them out of her eyes again. “One day, I would like to meet your mother just so we can share tales of how reckless you are.”

“That will be the day…” Hadley stopped. “Hang on. Are you serious?”

“About complaining? Yes,” Nyota said. One of her fangs showed in a half-smirk.

“No, about meeting Ma.” Hadley was too agitated to make any dismissive or impolite gestures this time. “You really want to meet her? You’re Protectorate, Captain. That’s not a bright idea. We don’t like Protectorate.”

Nyota looked at the Protectorate insignia on Hadley’s shirt, then locked eyes with her. “I see that.”

Hadley huffed. “Okay, point taken. But seriously… You know what, we’ll talk about it later. I’ve got a rock to smack.” She caught Nyota’s eye again before shutting the mech hatch. “I’ll be careful. It’s fine.”

Nyota nodded, swallowed the strange fear that rose in her throat, and hit Deploy.

-

Hadley found herself marveling again at how nice the silence was. It was a different kind of silence this time. Inside the old hulk, it had been a sterile sort of stillness. Nothing to move, nothing to make sound. Out in space, with the S.S. Cherry Jubilee above her and nothing but stars around, the emptiness felt alive somehow. Hadley watched the distant glittering trail of a comet as it passed near this system’s distant blue sun. She caught herself wondering just how many stars it had seen.

“Captain, you and Sonny’s boyfriend are really rubbing off on me,” she said aloud. “Can I get a refund?”

“Flustered. We’re not—”

“Hey now, he ain’t—”

“No refunds or exchanges,” Nyota cut in smoothly over the dual protests. “But you may get a laugh if you explain what you want it for.”

Hadley waved vaguely at the space around her, biting back a curse as her hand clanked on the inside of the cramped cockpit. “It’s quiet out here. That’s nice.”

She could almost see the captain’s slow nod of understanding, and knew they were both remembering all the times Hadley had challenged her or Namina to a spar with the words it’s too quiet. “Enjoy it while it lasts,” Nyota advised, glossing over the irony they both recognized. “It won’t stay quiet when you enter the asteroid field.”

“Aye aye, Captain.” Hadley made the mech salute and glided forward slowly. This close, she could see debris between the rocks, too regular and smooth to be more rock. Metal, worked metal. “Looks like I’m not the first person out here,” she muttered, eyeing the scrap for signs of a bigger wreck. “Or it’s just a lot of space junk. Could be a whole lot of space junk…”

The proximity sensor beeped sharply. Hadley sighed. “Who am I kidding?” she asked no one in particular, and switched the mech to combat mode.

[apod]

2023 October 27

Encke and the Tadpoles Image Credit & Copyright: Dan Bartlett

Explanation: History's second known periodic comet is Comet Encke (2P/Encke). As it swings through the inner Solar System, Encke's orbit takes it from an aphelion, its greatest distance from the Sun, inside the orbit of Jupiter to a perihelion just inside the orbit of Mercury. Returning to its perihelion every 3.3 years, Encke has the shortest period of the Solar System's major comets. Comet Encke is also associated with (at least) two annual meteor showers on planet Earth, the North and South Taurids. Both showers are active in late October and early November. Their two separate radiants lie near bright star Aldebaran in the head-strong constellation Taurus. A faint comet, Encke was captured in this telescopic field of view imaged on the morning of August 24. Then, Encke's pretty greenish coma was close on the sky to the young, embedded star cluster and light-years long, tadpole-shaped star-forming clouds in emission nebula IC 410. Now near bright star Spica in Virgo Comet Encke passed its 2023 perihelion only five days ago, on October 22.

∞ Source: apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap231027.html

[cosmos-pics]

Cocoon Nebula Wide Field - Andy Ermolli When does a nebula look like a comet? In this crowded starfield, covering over two degrees within the high flying constellation of the Swan (Cygnus), the eye is drawn to the Cocoon Nebula. A compact star forming region, the cosmic Cocoon punctuates a nebula bright in emission and reflection on the left, with a long trail of interstellar dust clouds to the right, making the entire complex appear a bit like a comet. Cataloged as IC 5146, the central bright head of the nebula spans about 10 light years, while the dark dusty tail spans nearly 100 light years. Both are located about 2,500 light years away. The bright star near the bright nebula's center, likely only a few hundred thousand years old, supplies power to the nebular glow as it helps clear out a cavity in the molecular cloud's star forming dust and gas. The long dusty filaments of the tail, although dark in this visible light image, are themselves hiding stars in the process of formation, stars that can be seen at infrared wavelengths.

[hobbyspacer]

Night sky highlights for April 2024

Check out the night sky this month, April 2024. Here are videos highlighting the top sights to observe. ** What's Up: April 2024 Skywatching Tips from NASA - NASA JPL What are some skywatching highlights in April 2024? Catch Mars and Saturn rising, and Jupiter hangs out with Comet 12P. Plus NASA has you covered for the total eclipse whether you're headed to totality or watching from afar. 0:00 Intro 0:14 Moon & planet highlights 0:57 Comet 12p/Pons-Brooks 1:38 Total solar eclipse 3:45 April Moon phases Additional information about topics covered in this episode of What's Up, along with still images from the video, and the video transcript, are available at https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/skywatch.... — Additional Resources — NASA's Solar Eclipse hub: https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/fut... Find events & clubs: NASA's Night Sky Network: https://science.nasa.gov/skywatching/... Skywatching resources from NASA: https://science.nasa.gov/skywatching https://youtu.be/hm__8GGxJpA ** Tonight's Sky: April 2024 - Space Telescope Science Institute - Tonight's Sky Clear April nights are filled with starry creatures. Near the Big Dipper, you will find several interesting binary stars. You can also spot galaxies like the Pinwheel Galaxy, M82, and M96—the last of which is an asymmetric galaxy that may have been gravitationally disrupted by encounters with its neighbors. Keep watching for space-based views of these celestial objects. About this Series ... “Tonight’s Sky” is a monthly video of constellations you can observe in the night sky. The series is produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute, home of science operations for the Hubble Space Telescope, in partnership with NASA’s Universe of Learning. This is a recurring show, and you can find more episodes—and other astronomy videos—at https://hubblesite.org/resource-gallery/tonights-sky. https://youtu.be/LuA8Qs5rDwI ** What to see in the night sky: April 2024 - BBC Sky at Night Magazine Pete Lawrence and Paul Abel reveal what's in the night sky this month, including Comet 12P/Pons Brooks, the Moon and the Pleiades, the April 8 solar eclipse, Lyrid Meteor Shower and the Plough asterism. 00:00 Intro 00:18 Inner planets 02:23 Outer planets 07:31 Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks 10:54 Solar eclipse 12:38 Moon and the Pleiades 13:16 Jewelled Handle 13:48 Lyrid Meteor Shower 14:22 Summer Triangle 15:20 Comet C/2021 S3 PANSTARRS 16:30 The Plough 21:03 Deep-sky objects https://youtu.be/TUWWa9wFrHI ** Sky & Telescope's Sky Tour Podcast - April 2024 - Sky & Telescope Youtube https://youtu.be/mTI7hKsZMeM See also - Sky Tour Astronomy Podcast: Upcoming Celestial Events - Sky & Telescope - This Week's Sky at a Glance, March 29 – April 7 - Sky & Telescope ** Night Sky Notebook April 2024- Peter Detterline https://youtu.be/2w0qoX96H-E ** See also: - The Night Sky in April 2024 | Day By Day Astronomy Events - What's in the Sky This Month? | April 2024 | High Point Scientific - April 2024 Night Sky Calendar | Voyageurs Conservancy - Tonight's Night Sky: April 2024 | A Total Solar Eclipse, Visible Planets, Bright Stars, Astronomy | Almanac.com - Astrophotography in April 2024: what to shoot in the night sky this coming month | Digital Camera World - Meteor shower guide 2024: Up next the April Lyrids | EarthSky.org === Amazon Ads === Celestron 70mm Travel Scope Portable Refractor Telescope Fully-Coated Glass Optics Ideal Telescope for Beginners BONUS Astronomy Software Package == Stellaris: People of the Stars Read the full article

[nlockett]

APOD November 9, 2023 M1: The Crab Nebula The Crab Nebula is cataloged as M1, the first object on Charles Messier's famous 18th century list of things which are not comets. In fact, the Crab is now known to be a supernova remnant, debris from the death explosion of a massive star witnessed by astronomers in the year 1054. This sharp image from the James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) and MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) explores the eerie glow and fragmented strands of the still expanding cloud of interstellar debris in infrared light. One of the most exotic objects known to modern astronomers, the Crab Pulsar, a neutron star spinning 30 times a second, is visible as a bright spot near the nebula's center. Like a cosmic dynamo, this collapsed remnant of the stellar core powers the Crab's emission across the electromagnetic spectrum. Spanning about 12 light-years, the Crab Nebula is a mere 6,500 light-years away in the head-strong constellation Taurus.

[syrakhanistan]

Short stories, part 3

===

Story 6: Prologue in Heaven

===

PROLOGUE IN HEAVEN : -(2011)-

===

The LORD, her HEAVENLY HOST

===

Afterwards, MEPHISTOPHELES

===

Three Archangels: [LEFT INTENTIONALLY BLANK]

: Sun sings in adulation, path predestined, lofty works uncomprehended...

: Swift, splendour, ocean tides breaking...

: Chain of actions, forged, gentle movement of thy day, thunder's crashing way...

THREE: Works uncomprehended, power as bright as Creation's hour!

-()- : O my Lord, deign'st to approach again, pardon with lofty speech, my PATHOS move thy laughter, and suns and worlds have yet nothing...

===

The attached images show:

1. A bright light cutting through a blue sky, colouring the surrounding edges a dark pink. The description reads "The fairest stars from Heaven she Requireth, From Earth the highest raptures and the best, And all the Near and Far that she desireth Fails to subdue the tumult of her wings..."

2. A pale white-winged angel with no face walking across a path of clouds; it is lined with an endless number of angels with black wings, their heads removed. Above the cloud path, a massive moon-like structure hangs in the sky, held up by multiple strings of purple light. The description reads "Sees not the Gardeners, even while they bud the tree; Both flower and fruit, the future years adorning?"

3. What appears to be a satellite image of a city, covered in the shadow of a storm. There are no people or cars, or any sign of life; yet the city itself appears to be completely intact. The description reads "Candle CANDLE, burning BRIGHT. How much WRATH doth thy wax bring to BLIGHT?"

4. A satellite image of the Earth. Both the Moon and the Second Moon are visible; one can also clearly see a sprawling and large space station in orbit, with it's anchor jutting towards the Earth showing what appears to be a bright blue light. The description of this image is scrawled in a different set of handwriting to the last, reading: "It's spreading the brainrot its spreading. I can see it, as clearly as the day shines, I declare it as thee ist ansilt. are'. a fallen angel flies the lowest a feast for the flesh and the bones of the devils. heaven is empty, throne left bare. the black city lost to time lies to you, and brings a light which darkness cannot conjureth." ===

Story 7: OBLIVION, featuring Suns and Stars

===

A short extract from a digital book, the author lost to time. The published date is barely understandable, and quite possibly impossible - as it reads "30XX" - around a thousand years in the future.

===

Falling... Falling for so long.

I don't really know what had happened. I remember... [EXTRACT CORRUPTED]

...now, I just feeling falling... almost fading... bathed in the dark.

Then, there was... A single, odd light. It slowly expanded in my field of view, before zooming towards me.

It exploded into millions of little lights, before I woke with a start.

I was in... what appeared to be a hospital cot. There were rows and rows of other people in this long hallway, what looked almost like an old gymnasium, all seemingly waking up or in the process of waking up as I had.

Someone shouted towards me; I ignored them. Where was my family? I... I...

I stumbled out of the cot, running to one of the large metal doors that was open.

Into the light.

Into a new world.

The sky was cut in half, the clouds separated by a single line of pure blue.

Despite it seemingly being day, the sky was full of stars. Red flashes flew past; a ring of... asteroids...?

The sky was constantly moving. Between the flashes of clouds, the asteroid belt seemingly straddling the Earth's horizon, I witnessed hundreds, no, thousands of different planets handing in the sky. Moons, gas giants, even some lights that looked like the sun.

The red streaks continued, like an eternal stream of comets.

Three Moons sat stationary close to the edge of my view. Luna, the Second Moon, and a New Moon. Hanging in the sky, glistening and shining with an almost... friendly... ferocity.

...

The world had begun a new. I... I don't understand much of it, any of it really. I recall a news story of some sort of cosmic event... Humanity reaching to the stars. The President of some far flung nation had sacrificed herself in some sort of, and I quote, "Cosmic Contract", with some aliens? Or Gods? Of some sort of alternative world, or reality, or planet?? Or something?

It depended on who you believed.

Now, these unknown skies were open to us all. The shattered skies were reforged, our liberties returned. The world was free... From what, I am unsure - but I cannot help but feel as though there is a fresh new happiness in the air, like a new chapter for humanity had begun.

...

I walked with my family along the blackened ashen beach, the waves reflecting the new night sky. The waves were utterly clear, but filled with almost luminescent lights - you must have heard of those documentaries about sea bacteria that lights up, right?

The sky continued to endlessly swirl. It was relaxing, almost hypnotic, to watch the Red lines constantly battering the ring surrounding the world. The three Moons blinking at us, a warm gaze.

My daughter's four new pets are... odd. Adorable, but odd. Two cats - one a pale flesh colour, another a pitch black, that loved to chase one another. A squirrel of almost pure white, with speckled red dots, had fallen asleep on her shoulder; it almost looked like some sort of burden had been lifted from it's shoulders.

And the puppy.

It was usually so calm, almost timid; a puppy that veterinarians had told us was acting abnormally old - a newborn pup that acted like a worn-out guard dog, a bedraggled spotted coat of grey and black with a hint of almost yellow or gold.

But, on this occasion, the puppy suddenly ran away from us. My daughter shouted; I ran to catch up to it.

I found it barking at a young couple lying on the sand, bathing in the light of the Three Moons.

A taller girl with unnatural hair and fashion sense; and a thin, small girl that looked almost like a war veteran, covered in scars... but smiling like she'd won the lottery.

They laughed at the little puppy yapping at them; the smaller, dark haired girl shook her head, a warm smile on her face. She stood up, and knelt down to pet the puppy. The puppy stopped yapping, and the two stared at one another.

I looked to the skies, and thought of the future, as the young couple and my family moved to talk to one another.

The two proud cats woke up a little, and gave a simultaneous meow of greeting - not to the people, but to the stars.

I turned around, and...

The rest of the text is illegible and corrupted.

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

On This Day in 2020: Comet NEOWISE

Since NASA Earth Observatory started publishing images in 1999, the archive has grown to contain more than 17,000 stories. This week, Image of the Day stories highlight this robust archive with a look back at images acquired “on this day.” Our brief retrospective illustrates that Earth observations are more than just snapshots in time; together they allow us to better understand—and marvel at—our diverse, changing planet. This story was originally published with the text below on July 18, 2020.

Look up toward the stars this month, and you just might spot the brightest comet to grace Northern Hemisphere skies in decades. In July 2020, comet NEOWISE (short for C/2020 F3 NEOWISE) has thrilled skywatchers in North America, in Europe, and in space. If you don’t spot the comet this time around, you won’t get another chance. It has a long, elliptical orbit, so it will be approximately 6,800 years before NEOWISE returns to the inner parts of the solar system.

Comet Neowise has a nucleus measuring roughly 5 kilometers (3 miles) in diameter, and its dust and ion tails stretch hundreds of thousands to millions of kilometers while pointing away from the Sun. The icy visitor was discovered on March 27, 2020, by NASA’s Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) spacecraft as the comet was headed toward the Sun. The comet made its closest approach to the Sun on July 3, and then turned back toward the outer solar system.

Comets are made of frozen leftovers from the formation of the solar system roughly 4.6 billion years ago. The masses of dust, rock, and ice heat up when approaching the Sun; as they get closer, they spew gases and dust into a glowing head and tail. Satellite data indicate the NEOWISE has a dust tail and possibly two ionized gas tails. The comet is made visible by sunlight reflecting off of its gas emissions and dust tail.

“It’s quite rare for a comet to be bright enough that we can see it with the naked eye or even just with binoculars,” said Emily Kramer, a co-investigator of the NEOWISE satellite, in a NASA Science Live webcast. “The last time we had a comet this bright was Hale-Bopp back in 1995-1996.

The photo above shows the comet (bottom-right) on July 14, 2020, against the backdrop of a green aurora in western Manitoba, Canada. The bright streak at the top is a meteor. The purple, ribbon-like structure is an aurora-like structure called STEVE (short for Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement), a phenomenon that was recently discovered with help from citizen scientists. Donna Lach, the photographer and an avid participant in the Aurorasaurus project, observed the scene for three hours and said the comet even out-shined the brilliant aurora at times.

Astronaut photograph ISS063-E-39888 was acquired on July 5, 2020, with a Nikon D5 digital camera using a focal length of 28 millimeters. It is provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations Facility and the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, Johnson Space Center. The image was taken by members of the Expedition 63 crew. The image has been cropped and enhanced to improve contrast, and lens artifacts have been removed. The International Space Station Program supports the laboratory as part of the ISS National Lab to help astronauts take pictures of Earth that will be of the greatest value to scientists and the public, and to make those images freely available on the Internet. Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA/JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth. Time-lapse animation by Sara Schmidt of the Earth Science and Remote Sensing group at NASA JSC. Aurora and comet photograph by Donna Lach, used with permission. Caption by Kasha Patel.