History

2021-08-02

Eagle Nebula, and the “Pillars of Creation”

I guess it does look like an eagle, sort of. This is the site of the famous “Pillars of Creation” image taken by the Hubble. It’s a bit hard to see; here is a closer crop of the above image;

This one is rotated to match the Hubble image…

2019-11-112019-11-12

Nuremberg and Nazis

Today we toured Nuremberg, and learned more about Nazis and their signature war.

A wartime poster in the Nuremberg Art Bunker — Poster in the Nuremberg Art Bunker, a re-purposed beer cellar. [“The enemy sees your light. Darken!”]

Morning: a tour of an “Art Bunker”, where works of art were stored during WWII to prevent destruction by Allied bombs.

In the afternoon we visited the Nazi Party Rally Grounds, where up to half a million people attended Nazi rallies. Here’s a picture from wikipedia of the rally grounds in operation:

[Scherl]
Reichsparteitag 1937.
Der grosse Appell des Reichsarbeitsdienstes auf dem Zeppelinfeld.
Übersicht während der Rede des Führeres.
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This is what Trump fantasizes his MAGA rallies to be, but they are puny pale imitations. Here’s a picture of the grandstand from the same wikipedia article:

Here’s what remains in its Ozymandias glory:

Remains of the Zeppelinfeld at the Nazi Party Rally Grounds

Later we visited Room 600, where the Nuremberg trials were held.

Everywhere we go in Germany there are echoes of the war, grim reminders of what can happen when you let bad people run your country.

2016-05-222019-03-12

The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

Originally shared by John Trikeriotis

An artistic rendering of one of the ancient Seven Wonders of the World, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

The temple was destroyed by the invading Goths in 262 AD.

Unfortunately, all that remains of the temple is a single column which was constructed of fragments discovered on the site.

Image – Socorro Public Library