By Amidstsilence

A Few of Louis XIV’s Favourite Things

1. Louis XIV’s favourite colour was blue, especially a dark and vivid blue. This blue was the colour of the costume de sacre, worn by French kings during their coronation ceremony. Another name for this colour is ‘royal blue’.

2. You know what figs, melons, peaches, asparagus, peas, st. nectaire cheese, and oysters have in common? They were some of Louis’ favourite foods. If any of these foods were present at his table, they would be gone within minutes.

3. Louis loved the smell of citrus fruits, and this all came down to his favourite perfume ‘orange blossom’. In his earlier years, he wore an array of different perfumes. In his older years, however, he could only tolerate ‘orange blossom’.

4. Even though he was at war with the Dutch, that didn’t stop Louis from having a keen interest a certain flower; the tulip. Tulips were his favourite flower; however, they were not planted in his gardens until after the Treaty of Nijmegen was signed in 1678.

5. Louis’ favourite opera was “Atys” by Jean-Baptiste Lully. That’s how it got the alias “the king’s opera”. It was said that Louis would hum some of the arias out loud.

6. I bet most of you have heard about Niccolo Machiavelli’s ‘The Prince’, but you haven’t heard the fact that it was Louis’ favourite book. In his memoirs, Louis stated that this book was his ‘favourite nightcap’, meaning it was his favourite thing to soothe him before going to bed at night.

Greatest Hits — Craters We Love

Our solar system was built on impacts — some big, some small — some fast, some slow. This week, in honor of a possible newly-discovered large crater here on Earth, here’s a quick run through of some of the more intriguing impacts across our solar system.

1. Mercury: A Basin Bigger Than Texas

Mercury does not have a thick atmosphere to protect it from space debris. The small planet is riddled with craters, but none as spectacular as the Caloris Basin. “Basin” is what geologists call craters larger than about 186 miles (300 kilometers) in diameter. Caloris is about 950 miles (1,525 kilometers) across and is ringed by mile-high mountains.

For scale, the state of Texas is 773 miles (1,244 kilometers) wide from east to west.

2. Venus: Tough on Space Rocks

Venus’ ultra-thick atmosphere finishes off most meteors before they reach the surface. The planet’s volcanic history has erased many of its craters, but like almost any place with solid ground in our solar system, there are still impact scars to be found. Most of what we know of Venus’ craters comes from radar images provided by orbiting spacecraft, such as NASA’s Magellan.

Mead Crater is the largest known impact site on Venus. It is about 170 miles (275 kilometers) in diameter. The relatively-flat, brighter inner floor of the crater indicates it was filled with impact melt and/or lava.

3. Earth: Still Craters After All These Years

Evidence of really big impacts — such as Arizona’s Meteor Crater — are harder to find on Earth. The impact history of our home world has largely been erased by weather and water or buried under lava, rock or ice. Nonetheless, we still find new giant craters occasionally.

A NASA glaciologist has discovered a possible impact crater buried under more than a mile of ice in northwest Greenland.

This follows the finding, announced in November 2018, of a 19-mile (31-kilometer) wide crater beneath Hiawatha Glacier – the first meteorite impact crater ever discovered under Earth’s ice sheets. 

If the second crater, which has a width of over 22 miles (35 kilometers), is ultimately confirmed as the result of a meteorite impact, it will be the 22nd largest impact crater found on Earth.

4. Moon: Our Cratered Companion

Want to imagine what Earth might look like without its protective atmosphere, weather, water and other crater-erasing features? Look up at the Moon. The Moon’s pockmarked face offers what may be humanity’s most familiar view of impact craters.

One of the easiest to spot is Tycho, the tight circle and bright, radiating splat are easy slightly off center on the lower-left side of the full moon. Closer views of the 53-mile (85 kilometer)-wide crater from orbiting spacecraft reveal a beautiful central peak, topped with an intriguing boulder that would fill about half of a typical city block.

5. Mars: Still Taking Hits

Mars has just enough atmosphere to ensure nail-biting spacecraft landings, but not enough to prevent regular hits from falling space rocks. This dark splat on the Martian south pole is less than a year old, having formed between July and September 2018. The two-toned blast pattern tells a geologic story. The larger, lighter-colored blast pattern could be the result of scouring by winds from the impact shockwave on ice. The darker-colored inner blast pattern is because the impactor penetrated the thin ice layer, blasting the dark sand underneath in all directions.

6. Ceres: What Lies Beneath

The bright spots in Ceres’ Occator crater intrigued the world from the moment the approaching Dawn spacecraft first photographed it in 2015. Closer inspection from orbit revealed the spots to be the most visible example of hundreds of bright, salty deposits that decorate the dwarf planet like a smattering of diamonds. The science behind these bright spots is even more compelling: they are mainly sodium carbonate and ammonium chloride that somehow made their way to the surface in a slushy brine from within or below the crust. Thanks to Dawn, scientists have a better sense of how these reflective areas formed and changed over time — processes indicative of an active, evolving world.

7. Comet Tempel 1: We Did It!

Scientists have long known we can learn a lot from impact craters — so, in 2005, they made one themselves and watched it happen.

On July 4, 2005, NASA’s Deep Impact spacecraft trained its instruments on an 816-pound (370-kilogram) copper impactor as it smashed into comet Tempel 1.

One of the more surprising findings: The comet has a loose, “fluffy” structure, held together by gravity and contains a surprising amount of organic compounds that are part of the basic building blocks of life.

8. Mimas: May the 4th Be With You

Few Star Wars fans — us included — can resist Obi Wan Kenobi’s memorable line “That’s no moon…” when images of Saturn’s moon Mimas pop up on a screen. Despite its Death Star-like appearance, Mimas is most definitely a moon. Our Cassini spacecraft checked, a lot — and the superlaser-looking depression is simply an 81-mile (130-kilometer) wide crater named for the moon’s discoverer, William Herschel.

9. Europa: Say What?

The Welsh name of this crater on Jupiter’s ocean moon Europa looks like a tongue-twister, but it is easiest pronounced as “pool.” Pwyll is thought to be one of the youngest features we know of on Europa. The bright splat from the impact extends more than 600 miles (about 1,000 kilometers) around the crater, a fresh blanket over rugged, older terrain. “Fresh,” or young, is a relative term in geology; the crater and its rays are likely millions of years old.

10. Show Us Your Greatest Hits

Got a passion for Stickney, the dominant bowl-shaped crater on one end of Mars’ moon Phobos? Or a fondness for the sponge-like abundance of impacts on Saturn’s battered moon Hyperion (pictured)? There are countless craters to choose from. Share your favorites with us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com

History Fun Fact

George Washington was a red head. However, he put white powder in his hair because he felt his hair was unattractive, and socially red heads where looked down upon.  He did not wear a wig.

Be Glad You Don’t Have to Dust in Space!

Throw open the windows and break out the feather duster, because spring is here and it’s time to do a little cleaning! Fortunately, no one has to tidy up the dust in space — because there’s a lot of it — around 100 tons rain down on Earth alone every day! And there’s even more swirling around the solar system, our Milky Way galaxy, other galaxies and the spaces in between. 

By studying the contents of the dust in your house — which can include skin cells, pet fur, furniture fibers, pollen, concrete particles and more — scientists learn a lot about your environment. In the same way, scientists can learn a lot by looking at space dust. Also called cosmic dust, a fleck of space dust is usually smaller than a grain of sand and is made of rock, ice, minerals or organic compounds. Scientists can study cosmic dust to learn about how it formed and how the universe recycles material.

“We are made of star-stuff,” Carl Sagan famously said. And it’s true! When a star dies, it sheds clouds of gas in strong stellar winds or in an explosion called a supernova. As the gas cools, minerals condense. Recent observations by our SOFIA mission suggest that in the wake of a supernova shockwave, dust may form more rapidly than scientists previously thought. These clouds of gas and dust created by the deaths of stars can sprawl across light-years and form new stars — like the Horsehead Nebula pictured above. Disks of dust and gas form around new stars and produce planets, moons, asteroids and comets. Here on Earth, some of that space dust eventually became included in living organisms — like us! Billions of years from now, our Sun will die too. The gas and dust it sheds will be recycled into new stars and planets and so on and so forth, in perpetuity!

Astronomers originally thought dust was a nuisance that got in the way of seeing the objects it surrounded. Dust scatters and absorbs light from stars and emits heat as infrared light. Once we started using infrared telescopes, we began to understand just how important dust is in the universe and how beautiful it can be. The picture of the Andromeda galaxy above was taken in the infrared by our Spitzer Space Telescope and reveals detailed spirals of dust that we can’t see in an optical image.

We also see plenty of dust right here in our solar system. Saturn’s rings are made of mostly ice particles and some dust, but scientists think that dust from meteorites may be darkening the rings over time. Jupiter also has faint dusty rings, although they’re hard to see — Voyager 1 only discovered them when it saw them backlit by the Sun. Astronomers think the rings formed when meteorite impacts on Jupiter’s moons released dust into orbit. The Juno spacecraft took the above picture in 2016 from inside the rings, looking out at the bright star Betelgeuse.

Copyright Josh Calcino, used with permission

And some space dust you can see from right here on Earth! In spring or autumn, right before sunrise or after sunset, you may be able to catch a glimpse of a hazy cone of light above the horizon created when the Sun’s rays are scattered by dust in the inner solar system. You can see an example in the image above, extending from above the tree on the horizon toward a spectacular view of the Milky Way. This phenomenon is called zodiacal light — and the dust that’s reflecting the sunlight probably comes from icy comets. Those comets were created by the same dusty disk that that formed our planets and eventually you and the dust under your couch!

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com

                                    Temples of Knowledge (Series 8)

1. Chatsworth House, Derbyshire, England 

2. Library from the East, University Club, New York, NY 

3. Queen’s College Library, University of Oxford, England

4. Library of Parliament, Canada

5. Edinburgh Library, Edinburgh, Scotland. 

6. The Theological Hall, Strahov Monastery Library, Prague

7. Marsh’s Library. Dublin, Ireland

8. Stanford White Library, Bronx, New York City

9. Shiba Ryotaro Memorial Museum Library, Osaka, Japan

10. Biblioteca Civica di Fermo, Fermo, Italy

Beginner Witchcraft - UPDATE

A common post request.

How to begin:

Begin by reading everything you possibly can about witchcraft, plants, other religions, etc.

Take notes on everything you can.

Be creative and use your imagination, look for symbols in your day-to-day lives.  

Re-read your notes and important information,

Do your research.

Make sure you research all paths and philosophies.

Start a consistent meditation and visualization regime.

Find a path you love.

Learn about yourself and your path and beliefs.

Work with your energy and practice harnessing it.

Start practicing your spells after enough research.

Write your own spells and start a grimoire.

Continue reading and learning.                                                                                                                                                                                      

Topics to research:    

Herbalism

Different witchcraft paths

Witchcraft history and its origins.

Different deities in different cultures

Folklore, superstitions,  and wives tales

Mythology from different cultures

The elements Air, Earth, Water, Fire

Basic tools and supplies for the craft

Sabbats and esabats

Witchcraft misconceptions

Nature cycles and lunar phases

Divination

Alchemy

Chakras

Auras

Working with spirits and angels

Tarot

Crystals

Runes                                                                                                       Magickal theory

Spells

Curses - the dangers and how to cast them properly

Sigils

Familiars

Incense

Ways to stay safe when practising

Types of Witches

Cheap witchcraft supplies

Dangers of witchcraft

Solitary v.s Coven witchcraft

Ritual structure

How to set up an altar

Study Nature

Negative energy and how to rid of it.

Candle magick

Astrology

Psychic Practises

Faeries

Protection against harm

Things to practice:

Grounding and centering

Meditation

Casting and closing a circle

Raising, releasing, and visualizing energy.

Record any magick practices, visions, or dreams you receive.   

Spend as much time as possible in nature.        

Listen and observe.               

Practice invoking Gods, Goddesses, and elements.  

Cleansing

Charging

Warding

Keep your grimoire up-to-date

Find a mentor - Someone to help you find your path

Practise staying concentrated

Intent

Remember:

All paths are good paths, do not insult anyone’s path.

You do not need any fancy equipment to practise

You don’t need to practise everyday

Follow your path don’t  let others tell you what to do or force their beliefs on you.

Believe in yourself!

Take care of yourself

Be respectful of others paths and beliefs

Never stop learning

Ask questions

Make lots of friends in the community

Stay safe

Make sure you do not steal from closed religions!

Have fun!

May the moon light your path!

==Moonlight Academy==

On this day in 2006, Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet!

🌟 space facts !! 🌟

1. Venus spins backward, and we don't know why

2. Saturn is not the only planet with rings, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune and the Earth have them too.

4. The Earth's rings are made of cosmic waste.

5. Nitrogen is a part of the composition of the stars, and of our dna.

6. Most of the stars we admire at night are actually dead.

7.The space probe Voyager 1 was send into space in 1977 with a special message for our neighbors of outer space. It was a disc that features pictures, sounds of the earth such as whale, a baby crying and greetings in 55 languages.

8. Venus is the brightest planet of our system, she is often mixed up with a star.

9. It's pretty easy to observe some planets such as mars, venus, jupiter, Saturn at night. It only require a clear night some patience + an app such as skywiew (free on appstore !) can be useful too.

10. If we were on the center of a black hole time would speed up so fast we would live the end of the universe.

11. Shooting stars don't exists, they are actually meteors showers.

12. Jupiter has 67 moons, Saturn 62, Uranus 27, Neptune 14, Mars 2 and the Earth 1.

13. Kepler 22 is an exoplanet also called super-earth that could (potentially) be habitable

14. It rains diamonds on Jupiter + Uranus

15. The moon moves 4cm further each year.

16. There used to be water on Mars, because her and the Earth had a similar beginning.

17. There's trace of organic life on Titan (one of saturn's moon).

18. Voyager 1 (launched in 1977) is closed to leave our solar system.

19. There's a vast ocean underneath the ice of Europa (one of Jupiter's moon).

20. Pluto was discovered in 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh, in 2015 the probe new horizon approached pluto with the ashes of Tombaugh inside.

21. Pluto is smaller than the earth's moon.

22. Saturn could float into water.

23. Our cosmic adress is : planet earth, the earth-moon system, the solar system, the milky way galaxy, the local group, the virgo supercluster.

Science fact time! Neutron stars.

Is “starquake” not the coolest word?

List of things I wished they would've included in Turn

-John Laurens -Lafayette sucking at dancing -Lafayette crying at John Andre’s hanging and Hamilton trying to defend John Andre by saying he’s too beautiful to be hanged -Flashbacks of Ben and Nathan -Lafayette and George taking a nap after the battle of Monmouth -the duel between John Laurens and Charles Lee -Baron von Steuben -the fucking way Baron von Steuben came into the fucking camp like some sort of god -Baron von Steuben falling in love with Benjamin Walker -FLASHBACKS OF BEN AND NATHAN -the time everyone thought Hamilton died and then he stood in the doorway dripping wet -Scenes with Lafayette, Hamilton and Laurens doing things that actually happened like pushing their beds together or spending whole nights on the grass outside and just talking about politics -just the three of them being besties -JOHN LAURENS!!!!

I mean there are obviously more things and probably more important things but this the stuff they easily could have included on the show.