Picture of the day for May 21, 2020

Wikipedia picture of the day on May 21, 2020: Eurasian blue tit leaves the nest box. https://wp.me/p4wJUi-6xi

Phases of Venus

Just as the Moon goes through phases, Venus’ visible sunlit hemisphere waxes and wanes. This composite of backyard telescopic images illustrates the steady changes for Venus during its current stint as our evening star, as the inner planet grows larger but narrows to a thin crescent. Images from bottom to top were taken during 2020 on dates February 27, March 20, April 14, April 24, May 8, and May 14. Gliding along its interior orbit between Earth and Sun, Venus grows larger during that period because it is approaching planet Earth. Its crescent narrows, though, as Venus swings closer to our line-of-sight to the Sun. Closest to the Earth-Sun line but passing about 1/2 degree north of the Sun on June 3, Venus will reach a (non-judgmental) inferior conjunction. Soon after, Venus will shine clearly above the eastern horizon in predawn skies as planet Earth’s morning star. After sunset tonight look for Venus above the western horizon and you can also spot elusive innermost planet Mercury. via https://wp.me/p4wJUi-6xu

Annie and John Glenn Arrive for the Gemini IV Flight

Annie and John Glenn arrive at the Mission Control Center for the Gemini IV launch on June 4, 1965. John Glenn was the first American to orbit the Earth. https://wp.me/p4wJUi-6wt

Art Quote of the Day

“Art is like a border of flowers along the course of civilization.” – Lincoln Steffens

Wikipedia article of the day for May 21, 2020

Wikipedia article of the day is Marcel Lihau. Check it out: https://ift.tt/2i7AutR Summary: Marcel Lihau (1931–1999) was a Congolese jurist, law professor, and politician who helped create two constitutions for the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He attended the Université catholique de Louvain in Belgium, becoming one of the first Congolese to study law, and was made dean of the law faculty at Lovanium University in 1963. The following year, he helped deliver the Luluabourg Constitution, which the Congolese adopted by referendum. In 1965, Joseph-Desiré Mobutu seized control of the country and directed him to produce a new constitution. Lihau was First President of the new Supreme Court of Justice of the Congo from 1968 until 1975, when Mobutu summarily removed him from his post and placed him under house arrest. After Lihau helped found the reform-oriented Union pour la Démocratie et le Progrès Social, Mobutu suspended his rights and banished him to a rural village. Lihau eventually moved to the United States, where he continued to advocate for political reform in the Congo until his death.