Category Archives: Look! Up in the sky!

Hurricane paths mapped from 1985 to 2005. Wherein Fr. Z rants about life-saving stuff.

Take in this photo from APOD.  These are hurricane paths mapped from 1985 to 2005. A few really bad ones are in there. Disasters always happen to other people… until it’s your turn. You should have plans and backups, especially … Read More

Posted in GO TO CONFESSION, Look! Up in the sky!, Semper Paratus, The Coming Storm, Wherein Fr. Z Rants | Tagged ,
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Supercell

At APOD today there is an amazing video of a supercell. Click over for the explanation.

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Two portentous items: wonders in the heavens above

Today during Holy Mass for Ember Wednesday in the Octave of Pentecost, I read in Latin from Acts 2 what Peter said about the End Times… I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth beneath, … Read More

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26 May 2021: Blood Supermoon Total Lunar Eclipse

Tomorrow, 26 May 2021, there will be a Blood Supermoon Total Lunar Eclipse. It will be visible from southeast Asia, across the Pacific, to the southwest Americas. “Blood” refers to the color of the Moon during full eclipse.  Supermoon means … Read More

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A missed anniversary: Freedom 7

At APOD today we find a pic of the Mercury-Redstone 3 lift-off from Cape Canaveral of Alan Shepard in Freedom 7.  5 May 1961… 60 years ago. 60 years. Alan Shepard would later command Apollo 14 and walk on your … Read More

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Is there ice on Mars? It seems that, yes, there is.

Is there ice on Mars? It seems that, yes, there is. The European Space Agency has released a photo of what they say is water ice in an unnamed crater in Vastitas Borealis near the pole of Mars.  (I love … Read More

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What a rocket launch looks like… from space.

What a rocket launch looks like from space.   This is from APOD. The launch of a Soyez resupply mission for the ISS. One of these days, I’ll make a radio contact with the ISS as it passes over. Meanwhile, on … Read More

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Welcome to AEQUINOCTIUM!

In the North, which is where most of you readers are, it is the first day of Spring, the Vernal Equinox, today.  We are interested in this day in particular because we date Easter as the 1) first Sunday 2) … Read More

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, Just Too Cool, Look! Up in the sky! | Tagged ,
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Seven minutes of terror

No, I don’t mean the homily at “liturgy” by Sister Randi over at the merged cluster of “Sing A New Faith Community Into Being Faith Community” in the Diocese of Libville. Here is a video explaining the landing of  Perseverance … Read More

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ISS NEWS: 4 at once!

This is pretty cool. Four spaceships, the @SpaceX #CrewDragon and three @Roscosmos spaceships, are docked at the station after the departure of the SpaceX #CargoDragon today. More… https://t.co/Hl3lsvCegM pic.twitter.com/5l2l1KGV32 — International Space Station (@Space_Station) January 13, 2021

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I have good news and bad news….

GREAT NEWS! I read that the European Space Agency has created a 3D map of the universe that we can see with tracking of some 1.8 billion stars.  Very cool right?  Surely that’s good news. That’s the good news. Since … Read More

Posted in Global Killer Asteroid Questions, Just Too Cool, Look! Up in the sky! |
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CQ CQ CQ: #HamRadio – International Space Station UPGRADED

Although I am a NASA certified Space Shuttle Door Gunner and a certified expert on the Chemical Oxygen Iodine Laser, I have not yet had a contact with the International Space Station.  Contact, that is, via radio. I received a Just … Read More

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CQ CQ CQ #HamRadio issue: Video from NASA about “Our Next Solar Cycle”

NASA has a video about the next Solar Cycle. Every 11 years your planet’s yellow star goes through a cycle of more or less activity. This activity can effect the layers of your planet’s atmosphere. In turn that impacts the … Read More

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The Tears of St. Lawrence are intensifying

While yesterday was the Feast of St. Lawrence, the Tears of St. Lawrence are to intensify today. Your planet is moving through the debris field of a comet, Swift-Tuttle.  Over the next few days there will be more and more … Read More

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Sun Daggars!

This is super cool. I’ve always been interested in how people track time, during the day and across the seasons. I’ve posted about the sundial of Augustus in Rome and the obelisk of St. Peter’s, the sunclocks of St. Sulpice … Read More

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Comet tales

This morning I am celebrating with an onion bagel and avocado, with really strong coffee in my Unreconstructed Ossified Manualist mug. Thanks to my local Ham Radio “Elmer”, last night I was finally able to get a great glimpse of … Read More

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My View For Awhile: Jezero Crater

My View For Awhile… well… this one might have to be postponed for a while. I’ve signed up with NASA for some news and links for the upcoming launch of PERSEVERANCE and the little Martian chopper INGENUITY. The way I see it, … Read More

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Look! Up in the sky! ISS and Crew Dragon and mini rant.

From NASA’s Astronomy Pic of the Day, comes a time lapse, composite view of the International Space Station zooming along in tandem with Demo-S, Crew Dragon, over Manhattan’s skys.  This was taken at the reservoir in Central Park. Very cool. … Read More

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#LaunchAmerica SUCCESS!

THAT was cool. This afternoon I set things aside to watch the launch of the first manned space flight from USA soil in almost a decade.  Demo-2 atop the Falcon 9.  Postponed a few days ago because of weather, today … Read More

Posted in Just Too Cool, Look! Up in the sky!, The future and our choices | Tagged , , ,
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VIDEO: Today NASA with SpaceX will, God willing, launch men into space, from these USA!! #LaunchAmerica @FatherZ wistfully muses

What I would give today to be several decades younger so that I could be a chaplain in the US SPACEFORCE! Today NASA with SpaceX will, God willing, launch men into space, from these USA!! First time in long time. … Read More

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