Aurora! Even from my townhouse parking with light pollution, red, red, red! However, much nicer closer to the Sandias.

From the earth below to the comet above:
Comet SWAN crossing the Milky Way on Saturday October 18. This multiple image shows its motion over 20 minutes.

Pattern of the day: what is it?

What in blue blazes is going on?

First double rainbow of the season! #doublerainbow

Who's been eating the wallflowers?
Western Wallflower - it's time for your closeup! (Erysimum capitatum)

Cool parasitie on ponderosa roots - common name bear corn or cancer root.
New Mexico, Sandia Mountains.

April 30, 2025
Yes, T Coronae Borealis - the Blaze Star - is presently shining in the light of its red giant partner. Brad Schaefer's great summary article in the March 2024 Sky and Telescope about this recurrent nova predicted a 2024 outburst. Here we are at 2025.3 and counting. What's happening?

Gutting the best. Not good for science, global influence or economy. Just plain kakistocracy.
arstechnica.com/space/2025/0...

Great hike yesterday off trail in the rugged Quebradas in central New Mexico. I found this nice limestone vug with calcite crystals lining the cavity 3x1 cm.

Across the country April 5th. Protest the Kakistocracy Oligarchy!

📢 Let Congress know you want to keep America’s awesome history and nature safe and sound for you, your kids, and future generations to explore and enjoy!
#MonumentsForAll share.sierraclub.org/s/fLuXTSjN

Within limitations, it also has the tilt of the earth relative to its orbit, so it also displays seasons.

In my image, it's set to show the configuration for last night's total lunar eclipse.

I'll use it for demonstrations I do for astronomy outreach as a NASA JPL Solar System Ambassador.

While not to scale for orbital distances and only approximately to scale for earth-moon diameters, it does the relative periods of rotations and revolutions pretty accurately for a toy made of 600 snap-together pieces.

Ok, the mystery object is the base of a tellurion, a moving model of the sun, earth and moon. It's actually a Lego product sold as "Planet Earth and Moon in Orbit."

An eclipse!

A fine day for exploring volcanic ridges along the Rio Grande rift valley. Here, the north cone of Cerro de Los Lunas.

Aha! A project is underway.

Guess what it is.