Credit: Mohammad Heydari-Malayeri (Observatoire de Paris) et al., ESA, NASA
Explanation: Halloween's origin is ancient and astronomical. Since the fifth century BC, Halloween has been celebrated as a cross-quarter day, a day halfway between an equinox (equal day / equal night) and a solstice (minimum day / maximum night in the northern hemisphere). With our modern calendar, however, the real cross-quarter day will occur next week. Another cross-quarter day is Groundhog's Day. Halloween's modern celebration retains historic roots in dressing to scare away the spirits of the dead. Perhaps a fitting modern tribute to this ancient holiday is the above-pictured Ghost Head Nebula taken with the Hubble Space Telescope. Appearing similar to the icon of a fictional ghost, NGC 2080 is actually a star forming region in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of our own Milky Way Galaxy. The Ghost Head Nebula spans about 50 light-years and is shown in representative colors.
As I leaned back in my chair, it was easier to see the image in the picture, but what is stange is, at the 6 o'clock position I can see a figure in a hooded cape, and at the four o'clock position, I can see an insect looking form. Can anyone else see those, or perhaps something else? Oh well, it is Halloween.
And here I thought Halloween was just for candy. LOL Great blog. I am a chronic learner so this was great to know. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this. I have read about this too. Very interesting were the holidays come from.
ReplyDeleteUh oh.....I think I've lost my mind....I see a lady with her hand raised wielding a knife and her mouth open screaming....Think I can get a group rate for us?
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad someone posted this. I watched the History of Halloween last night on the History Channel and it was so interesting.
ReplyDeleteThat's great, thanks John! Very informative blog.
ReplyDelete- - And yep, that hooded figure is there... eeek.
I always thought halloween was a harvest festival! It is not practised at all where I am from. Sure the comercial side of everything halloween has started creeping into the stores but that is where it stops.
ReplyDeleteNow I got more info about Halloween and I'm glad since we don't celebrate it in here. Thanks for sharing these, John.
ReplyDeleteUmm... what kind of position you want me to do to be able to answer your question?
Maybe I should just stand on my hands to get a 180 degree view? LOL
Oh wonderful John!! I didn't know about the Ghost Head Nebula. The music is great too!! Thanks a lot. :)
ReplyDeletethanks for posting!
ReplyDeleteScatterlings...the belief in the "opening" of the gateway to the dead goes back that far. It wasn't until more recently that it was officially named Halloween ,or All Hallows Eve. It is the eve of the Feast of All Saints. All Hallows Eve was held to clear away evil spirits to make way for the Feast of All Saints, a Catholic holiday, which is officially on November 1.
ReplyDeleteJohn You are so smart about things.....if I had DSl aready I would go into all those links just to see the info you wanted to share.....but I have only dial up......and it takes forever for it to boot up....anyway I sure hope your hallloween is being fun so far.....take care..hugss you tight
ReplyDeleteI see your man with the hood at 6 and I see a Mermaid sitting on a rock just below 3 oclock ~ do you see the doves or the love birds facing each other half way up to 12 oclock? OK, Cherie, make that a group rate for three!!
ReplyDeleteI love the hubble shots. Great music...very halloweeny...I think I see a man in a hood and a woman sitting if I look at the whole picture it looks like a ghost with the head being a dark image and the white being a free flowing dress :)
ReplyDeleteI can see many creatures in this, the more I looked the more I saw. Even a green crocodile on the left..and a tiny seal on the inner circle, and a llama/zebra thingy at the 4oclock position..lol..Im probably certifiable!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting pic though...
I didn't realize about the cross quarter day. Isn't it amazing how much more there is to this holiday stuff than we are aware of?
ReplyDelete