Moon Venus Mars Skyline

Taken on February 20, five different exposures made in rapid succession were used to created this tantalizing telephoto image. In combination, they reveal a wide range of brightness visible to the eye on that frigid evening, from the urban glow of the Quebec City skyline to the triple conjunction of Moon, Venus and Mars. Shortly after sunset the young Moon shows off its bright crescent next to brilliant Venus. Fainter Mars is near the top of the frame. Though details in the Moon’s sunlit crescent are washed out, features on the dark, shadowed part of the lunar disk are remarkably clear. Still lacking city lights the lunar night is illuminated solely by earthshine, light reflected from the sunlit side of planet Earth. via NASA http://ift.tt/1LU3clN

from WordPress http://ift.tt/1AIs3r3

via IFTTT

Mexico Moves to Save Endangered Porpoise by ELISABETH MALKIN

By ELISABETH MALKIN

The government’s new policy bans gillnets for two years across the northern Gulf of California and compensates shrimp fishermen for their lost catch.

Published: February 28, 2015 at 07:00PM

from NYT World http://ift.tt/1GBbkXf

via IFTTT

from WordPress http://ift.tt/1wAHegT

via IFTTT

Pirates Free 4 Fishermen in Somalia by MOHAMMED IBRAHIM

By MOHAMMED IBRAHIM

The four Thais were released after being held for nearly five years, longer than any other hostages seized off the Somali coast.

Published: February 28, 2015 at 07:00PM

from NYT World http://ift.tt/1EAi7RZ

via IFTTT

from WordPress http://ift.tt/1LXTgIe

via IFTTT

New Hampshire Lake Is Lower 48’s Only Ice Runway by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Winter on New Hampshire’s Lake Winnipesaukee means ice fishing, hockey tournaments and, if the ice is strong enough, airplanes.

Published: February 28, 2015 at 09:27AM

from NYT U.S. http://ift.tt/1AGfhsZ

via IFTTT

from WordPress http://ift.tt/1vKOlIt

via IFTTT

Sierra Leone Registers Rise in New Ebola Cases by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

President Ernest Bai Koroma reinstated restrictions in Sierra Leone in response to the rise in confirmed cases of Ebola.

Published: February 28, 2015 at 06:59AM

from NYT World http://ift.tt/1AnnlKu

via IFTTT

from WordPress http://ift.tt/1zO95eP

via IFTTT

National Monument Supporters in California Get Antsy by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

California lawmakers and advocacy groups are ramping up efforts to win national monument designation for four scenic vistas in the state, from vast stretches of the Mojave Desert to redwood stands along the Pacific Coast Highway to canyons and…

Published: February 28, 2015 at 05:44AM

from NYT U.S. http://ift.tt/1AmWC0x

via IFTTT

from WordPress http://ift.tt/1zqMjZc

via IFTTT

Dozens of Syrian and Iraqi Migrants Rescued Off Romanian Coast by REUTERS

By REUTERS

Romania’s coast guard rescued 70 migrants – mostly Syrians and Iraqis – packed on to a small fishing boat that was in danger of sinking as they attempted to make the crossing to Europe in stormy seas on Saturday.

Published: February 27, 2015 at 11:57PM

from NYT World http://ift.tt/1ATKqYN

via IFTTT

from WordPress http://ift.tt/18xeIaO

via IFTTT

Paid Notice: Deaths MERLESMITH, KATHERINE by Unknown Author

By Unknown Author

MERLE-SMITH–Katherine, an artist, teacher, and humanitarian, died February 21, 2015 in Adamstown, MD. She was 92. After attending Foxcroft School, Middleburg, VA, a school founded by her aunt Charlotte Haxall Noland, Mrs. Merle-Smith received her…

Published: February 27, 2015 at 03:05PM

from NYT Paid Death Notices http://ift.tt/1ATKpUS

via IFTTT

from WordPress http://ift.tt/18xeIaM

via IFTTT

What’s on TV Saturday by KATHRYN SHATTUCK

By KATHRYN SHATTUCK

Television highlights.

Published: February 27, 2015 at 07:00PM

from NYT Arts http://ift.tt/1vImRDb

via IFTTT

from WordPress http://ift.tt/1LUjETb

via IFTTT

Long Lovejoy and Little Dumbbell

Buffeted by the solar wind, Comet Lovejoy’s crooked ion tail stretches over 3 degrees across this telescopic field of view, recorded on February 20. The starry background includes awesome bluish star Phi Persei below, and pretty planetary nebula M76 just above Lovejoy’s long tail. Also known as the Little Dumbbell Nebula, after its brighter cousin M27 the Dumbbell Nebula, M76 is only a Full Moon’s width away from the comet’s greenish coma. Still shining in northern hemisphere skies, this Comet Lovejoy (C/2014 Q2) is outbound from the inner solar system some 10 light-minutes or 190 million kilometers from Earth. But the Little Dumbbell actually lies over 3 thousand light-years away. Now sweeping steadily north toward the constellation Cassiopeia Comet Lovejoy is fading more slowly than predicted and is still a good target for small telescopes. via NASA http://ift.tt/1wtBkn2

from WordPress http://ift.tt/18wJ8Kj

via IFTTT

Mexico Gillnet Ban Taking Effect to Help Endangered Porpoise by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Mexican authorities will use satellite tracking, drones, a series of naval bases and a fleet of small patrol boats to enforce a new gillnet fishing ban in the upper Sea of Cortes in a bid to save the critically endangered vaquita marina, the world’s…

Published: February 27, 2015 at 03:09PM

from NYT World http://ift.tt/1zni8C3

via IFTTT

from WordPress http://ift.tt/1LTN4md

via IFTTT

Four Long-Held Thai Hostages Released by Somali Pirates by REUTERS

By REUTERS

Somali pirates have freed four Thai nationals seized from a fishing vessel at sea in 2010, ending the longest-running hostage drama in the Horn of Africa state, the United Nations said on Friday.

Published: February 27, 2015 at 06:53AM

from NYT World http://ift.tt/17DLpCe

via IFTTT

from WordPress http://ift.tt/1FFBoQ2

via IFTTT

‘The Big Seven,’ by Jim Harrison by SMITH HENDERSON

By SMITH HENDERSON

An outlaw clan terrorizes a town in the Upper Peninsula, and Jim Harrison’s hapless detective is caught in the crossfire.

Published: February 28, 2015 at 07:00PM

from NYT Books http://ift.tt/1Bmqb7S

via IFTTT

from WordPress http://ift.tt/18uG2WZ

via IFTTT

Somali Pirates Release 4 Thai Sailors Held Nearly 5 Years by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Somali pirates have released four Thai sailors who were held hostage for nearly five years, the longest period of captivity of hostages held by Somali pirates, a U.N. official said Friday.

Published: February 27, 2015 at 04:48AM

from NYT World http://ift.tt/1JUOP50

via IFTTT

from WordPress http://ift.tt/1BHHpOY

via IFTTT

France’s Hollande Promises Philippine Storm Survivors a Climate Deal by REUTERS

By REUTERS

French President Francois Hollande on Friday met victims of the biggest-ever typhoon to make landfall and promised them he would secure an international agreement to limit climate change.

Published: February 27, 2015 at 12:42AM

from NYT World http://ift.tt/1AzLUbX

via IFTTT

from WordPress http://ift.tt/1wpmTel

via IFTTT

Love and War by Moonlight

Venus, named for the Roman goddess of love, and Mars, the war god’s namesake, came together by moonlight in this lovely skyview, recorded on February 20 from Charleston, South Carolina, USA, planet Earth. Made in twilight with a digital camera, the three second time exposure also records earthshine illuminating the otherwise dark surface of the young crescent Moon. Of course, the Moon has moved on from this much anticipated triple conjunction. Venus still shines in the west though as the evening star, third brightest object in Earth’s sky, after the Sun and the Moon itself. Seen here within almost a Moon’s width of Venus, much fainter Mars approached even closer on the following evening. But Mars has since been moving slowly away from brilliant Venus, though Mars is still visible too in the western twilight. via NASA http://ift.tt/1MTykFj

from WordPress http://ift.tt/1AeLCT0

via IFTTT

About Wal-Mart CEO Doug McMillon by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Doug McMillon

Published: February 26, 2015 at 07:14AM

from NYT U.S. http://ift.tt/1AbNzzA

via IFTTT

from WordPress http://ift.tt/1AbSNeC

via IFTTT