Tag: moon

The planet Mars vanishes in San Diego!

The planet Mars vanished from San Diego’s night sky early this evening!

Members of the San Diego Astronomy Association had telescopes trained on the Red Planet near the Fleet Science Center in Balboa Park when it disappeared!

But nobody seemed in the least distressed.

That’s because those gazing skyward understood the moon in its orbit around the Earth had begun to pass “over” much more distant Mars, in what is called a lunar occultation of Mars.

Random people walking through Balboa Park came up and were invited to peer through the telescopes. At times the instruments were aimed at the planet Jupiter and its four largest moons that were made plainly visible: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.

Families and kids looked into space with a sense of wonder. Many then entered the Fleet Science Center to view the monthly planetarium show The Sky Tonight, where we saw the latest jaw-dropping images from the James Webb Space Telescope.

When the presentation ended an hour later, and we all went outside, Mars had returned!

The next image was captured by my small camera a few minutes before the lunar occultation of Mars. I set it on maximum zoom.

You can’t see the moon’s craters, but you can see fuzzy little red Mars!

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Ghost wind, a walking house and moon stones.

A magical look west toward sails, clouds and the descending sun.

I published another short work of fiction a couple weeks ago. I wasn’t sure I wanted to publicize it on Cool San Diego Sights, but I read the story again this morning and I still sort of like it. So here goes…

Ghost Wind is the title. It’s about life. Your life, my life, everybody’s life. How invisible wind fills our sails. Read it here.

While I’m at it, here are two more that I also published not too long ago. You can find them all on my website Short Stories by Richard.

Night Walking is a story about a walking house. And dreaming.

The Specimen is about throwing moon stones. And yearning.

There.

Have a great day!

More cool sights are on the way!

Richard

A sky dance near Seaport Village.

Yesterday evening, as I walked along the waterfront to the Return of the Jedi concert at The Shell, I paused to watch Katch Zed (@KatchZed) performing her sky dance at Embarcadero Marina Park North near Seaport Village.

I took these photographs into the sun as she twirled on the moon.

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

El Rincon’s very colorful mural expands!

El Rincon Restaurant in San Ysidro already had an amazing mural on one side of their building. I posted photos of it here when I blogged last September about a international cross-border exhibition of urban art in both San Diego and Tijuana.

Today I noticed the mural has expanded and now covers three sides of the building!

As I took photos, a friendly young man came out and told me the same artist who painted the original artwork, Michelle Ruby, also known as Mrbbaby, returned about a month ago and added to it!

The side facing San Ysidro Boulevard now features bright, happy suns. The northwest side has a moon theme, and what appears to be the Tree of Life growing between night and day.

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!

We rise by lifting up!

Can your spirits be lifted by an old faded mural in a city alley?

Of course!

I spied a smiling sun and moon near the intersection of University Avenue and 46th Street in City Heights. The enduring message: WE RISE BY LIFTIN.

And I smiled, too!

UPDATE!

I received a comment by Amber M Jahn that provides information concerning this great mural:

You forgot the beauty painted on the alley side of building at 47th and University. The entire wall was first painted by Amber Jahn in about 2017 in which she writes the message “We Rise by Lifting Others” then 2 years ago half the wall was covered, erasing the word Others, and adding a noon to the existing sun…so now it says “we rise by Lifting”….I’d love to see a community day of free hot dogs and get a few local bands to play while the mural is updated, refurbishing the sunshine and adding the word Others to complete the project right. I personally funded the first mural, it would be cool if a lift could be procured for the tallest areas of the building since my 12 ft scaffold only reached 17 feet of the 21ft wall and has been left unfinished as a result. (I’m only 5’2” and did all the work alone one summer while living in a minivan on University Ave. It was a good way to keep my mind distracted from the crisis I was currently enduring. I like that I’ve received messages from local parents thanking me for giving their children something positive to look at on their way to and from school everyday. My pleasure!!

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Morning color and light in Little Italy.

In the early morning yesterday I took a stroll through Little Italy.

I headed west down Cedar Street, north up India Street to Piazza della Famiglia and Piazza Basilone, then back south down Kettner Boulevard.

The sun was beginning to rise and few people were about. Some of the Little Italy restaurants were receiving their morning deliveries. As you can see in several photographs, a full moon was descending in the western sky.

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Snoopy soars with NASA on Moon Landing Anniversary!

Charlie Brown welcomes visitors to the Peanuts Pop-Up Shop in San Diego during 2019 Comic-Con, on the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing.
Charlie Brown welcomes visitors to the Peanuts Pop-Up Shop in San Diego during 2019 Comic-Con, on the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.

Today is the 50th Anniversary of the first human landing on the Moon. Half a century ago, Neil Armstrong, one of three astronauts of the Apollo 11 mission, stepped down onto the lunar surface and proclaimed: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

That first step by a man might not have happened without the help of a beloved cartoon dog.

Visitors to the Peanuts Pop-Up shop in San Diego during 2019 Comic-Con have the opportunity to see fun displays that recall how Charles Schulz, creator of Peanuts, one of the world’s most popular comic strips, helped NASA to safely complete their missions to the moon.

This very special Comic-Con exhibition is titled To the Moon: Snoopy Soars with NASA. The exhibit, which includes humorous comic strips, is on loan from the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, California.

If a couple of my photos appear unusual, that’s because I converted them into cartoons!

To read the signs, click those photos and they will enlarge.

Astronaut Snoopy graphic on the outside of Bubbles Boutique in the Gaslamp Quarter, where the Peanuts Pop-Up Shop is located during Comic-Con.
Astronaut Snoopy graphic on the outside of Bubbles Boutique in the Gaslamp Quarter, where the Peanuts Pop-Up Shop is located during Comic-Con.

A look inside the Peanuts Pop-Up Shop at two walls of the exhibit. (My photo was blurry so I changed it into a fun cartoon!)
A look inside the Peanuts Pop-Up Shop at two walls of the exhibit.

One of two Peanuts comic strips on display. Snoopy won't need dinner now that he's heading to the moon.
One of two Peanuts comic strips on display. Snoopy won’t need dinner now that he’s heading to the moon.

Peanuts, NASA, and the 21st Century. NASA and Peanuts Worldwide have partnered to inspire generations of students to learn about space exploration.
Peanuts, NASA, and the 21st Century. NASA and Peanuts Worldwide have partnered to inspire generations of students to learn about space exploration.

Snoopy to the Rescue. Snoopy became NASA's safety mascot after the fire that killed three Apollo 1 astronauts.
Snoopy to the Rescue. Snoopy became NASA’s safety mascot after the fire that killed three Apollo 1 astronauts.

50th Anniversary of Apollo 10. The Apollo 10 crew chose the call sign for the lunar module during their mission: Snoopy.
50th Anniversary of Apollo 10. The Apollo 10 crew chose the call sign for the lunar module during their mission: Snoopy.

The Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center has the world's largest collection of original Peanuts comic strips.
The Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center has the world’s largest collection of original Peanuts comic strips.

Charles M. Schulz, 1922-2000. Many of his popular characters were named after art instructors he met.
Charles M. Schulz, 1922-2000. Many of his popular characters were named after art instructors he met.

The second of two Peanuts comic strips on display. Snoopy beat the neighbor's cat to the moon.
The second of two Peanuts comic strips on display. Snoopy beat the neighbor’s cat to the moon.

Photos from the Apollo missions, and how Snoopy was an important part of that history.
Photos from the Apollo missions, and how Snoopy was an important part of that history.

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!

A (strange) Method for Reaching Extreme Altitudes!

Art that creates an infinite reflection and contemplates the scale and structure of space and time. The two-way mirror is titled Down the Rabbit Hole (CMS Detector) by artist Adam Belt.
Art that creates an infinite reflection and contemplates the scale and structure of space and time. The two-way mirror is titled Down the Rabbit Hole (CMS Detector) by artist Adam Belt.

Do you enjoy unusual art?

There’s a cool exhibition now showing at the San Diego Central Library’s ninth floor Art Gallery called A Method for Reaching Extreme Altitudes. On display is the work of eight local artists: Adam Belt, Matthew Bradley, Sheena Rae Dowling, Andrew McGranahan, Arzu Ozkal, Cheryl Sorg, Jones von Jonestein, and Melissa Walter.

Some of the artwork is quite cosmic and trippy, while other pieces take a curious look at science fiction and our popular culture’s obsession with space travel, UFOs and extraterrestrial visitation.

If the exhibition’s name seems familiar, that’s because A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes was the title of a 1919 monograph by Robert H. Goddard, the founding father of modern rocketry.

After examining this artwork one might wonder: Exactly how did Goddard come up with plans to build a rocket? Was he actually a visitor from outer space? Is it possible? Maybe?

The fun exhibition will continue through September 16, 2018!

Inside the Art Gallery of the San Diego Central Library, where an exhibition explores A Method for Reaching Extreme Altitudes.
Inside the Art Gallery of the San Diego Central Library, where an exhibition explores A Method for Reaching Extreme Altitudes.

Visitors view artwork that concerns space travel and its effect on modern life, culture and human imagination.
Visitors view artwork that concerns space travel and its effect on modern life, culture and human imagination.

Artist Melissa Walter, science illustrator for NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, explores the threat of orbital debris by casting geometric shadows.
Artist Melissa Walter, science illustrator for NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, explores the threat of orbital debris by casting geometric shadows.

This multimedia installation by Jones von Jonestein is titled The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, after a novel by science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein.
This multimedia installation by Jones von Jonestein is titled The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, after a novel by science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein.

The collage-like artwork pokes gentle fun at the notion the moon landing was a hoax, and that governments conspire to suppress evidence of extraterrestrials.
The collage-like artwork pokes gentle fun at the assertion the moon landing was a hoax, and that governments conspire to suppress evidence of extraterrestrials.

Amateurs! A dog on the sound stage! A cameraman's reflection! Wind on the moon!
Amateurs! A dog on the sound stage! A cameraman’s reflection! Wind on the moon!

Space art depicting vast clouds of glowing dust and gas. The One that Got Away, by artist Sheena Rae Dowling.
Space art depicting vast clouds of glowing dust and gas. The One that Got Away, by artist Sheena Rae Dowling.

One of several collages exhibited by artist Andrew McGranahan. His retro-futurism embraces both utopian and dystopian imagery.
One of several collages exhibited by artist Andrew McGranahan. His retro-futurism embraces both utopian and dystopian imagery.

A cool digital print by artist Arzu Ozkal. She explores how humans are guests in a universe of microbes.
A cool digital print by artist Arzu Ozkal. She explores how humans are guests in a living universe of microbes.

A flying saucer above a Lucky supermarket! Artist Matthew Bradley has fun with the popular imagination in the Space Age.
A flying saucer above a Lucky supermarket! Artist Matthew Bradley has fun with popular imagination in the Space Age.

Bright UFOs painted in the night sky above the United States Capitol dome!
Bright UFOs painted in the night sky above the United States Capitol dome!

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!

Magical light while walking home.

Magic in this world is abundant. I sensed some of it this evening during my walk home.

As I headed west along Broadway, slanting sunlight touched downtown buildings in unexpected ways, as if cast by a wizard with a flashing wand. The sun rolled away and the moon brightened. And then a few city lights blinked on.

The magic was plainly visible to anyone with lifted eyes.

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Photos of winter along San Diego River.

Temperatures are dropping. It’s starting to feel a bit more like winter. Nights in downtown are chilly. Our first storm is coming.

This morning I left home while it was still dark and headed to a stretch of the San Diego River in Mission Valley. After the sun rose, I walked along the river from Qualcomm Way to Mission Center Road.

Ducks were feeding. The slanting morning light brightened yellow leaves. Farther to the east, a thin layer of fog hovered above smooth water. You can see it in the beautiful photograph that I saved for last.

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!