Martians?

A photo from NASA's Curiosity rover has sparked attention because a cluster of rocks appears to resemble a tiny alien walking down a hallway.

Image via NASA/ JPL-Caltech/ MSSS

What people are seeing is a classic example of pareidolia, the brain's tendency to recognize familiar shapes, faces, or figures in random patterns.

Mars imagery has inspired similar interpretations before, including the famous "Face on Mars" and a rock formation that looked like a doorway. In each case, the features are understood to be naturally occurring geological formations rather than evidence of extraterrestrial life.

See the complete article at: EarthSky

Day 16 - Night Sky Observatory

Today marks a milestone in the Night Sky Observatory build - the completed observatory (in manual mode)!

In the next few days I will be starting the move of telescopes and equipment into the building. A desk and computer system has already been placed in one of the bays. 

The Celestron EdgeHD11 is being cleaned and prepped for new cable runs. The clear coat on the scope has weathered badly and is flaking off, so I decided to remove it completely and apply thermal covering to the OTA tube. That will be accomplished tomorrow. 

I have yet to contract an electrician to run the AC and network cables so I will be using a long extension cord for power and either WiFi or another long CAT5 cable run for connectivity as a temporary solution to get things up and running. 

I'm still not sure exactly how the cables will be routed so I'll be experimenting with that as well in the next couple of months. My desire is to get basic functionality by end of this month (or sooner).

Saturn has a Decagon Cloud

Astronomers have confirmed a remarkable new feature at Saturn’s south pole: a giant 10-sided atmospheric wave, known as a decagon. The structure was first hinted at in Hubble Space Telescope images from 2023 and became increasingly clear in observations through 2025. Researchers announced the discovery in 2026 after confirming that the pattern forms a distinct, large-scale geometric shape encircling the pole.

The area around Saturn’s south pole. This photo shows a pattern of clouds,
now confirmed as a 10-sided figure known as the Saturn decagon.
Image via NASA/ ESA/ A. Sánchez-Lavega/ EHU/ AP.

The discovery is especially intriguing because Saturn is already famous for the long-lived hexagon at its north pole. While the new southern decagon appears similar, scientists believe it may represent a different atmospheric phenomenon. The decagon is embedded within a powerful jet stream and extends through multiple layers of Saturn’s atmosphere, suggesting it is more than just a cloud pattern. Researchers are now monitoring it to determine whether it will become a stable feature like the northern hexagon or continue to evolve, offering a rare opportunity to observe the formation of a major planetary weather system in real time.

See the full article at: EarthSky

Night Sky Observatory Build - Day 14 and 15

Day 14, August 29th, the dome assembly was completed - stainless steel track plates were screwed to the bottom flange of the dome to provide support and a running surface for the wheels on top of the building. I needed to climb in there on my back and screw-in the plates - good thing it was cool that day.

Today (day 15) marks a milestone in the build - the dome was lifted unto the walls! Six guys from my church, including my pastor, Quint Merson of Crosslife Bible Church, who scheduled the team to come over early this morning, lifted the dome safely onto the building walls. Just a few more tasks to complete on the inside of the dome and she will be ready for manual mode.

Lifting the dome - most of the guys are behind the building!

Lift team - Dennis, John Mark, Josh, Randy, Vance and Pastor Quint
(I'm in the background)
And, of course, always present are Luna, Echo (on the deck) and Ayla