Atmospheric Ring of Venus

Why is Venus surrounded by a bright ring? Sometimes called a ring of fire, this rare ring is caused by the Sun’s light being visible all around an object. Usually seen around the Moon during an annular solar eclipse, the ring of fire is also visible when either Venus or Mercury cross the face of our Sun. In the featured pictured taken last week, though, Venus did not pass directly in front of the Sun — the complete atmospheric ring was caused by sunlight refracting through Venus’ thick atmosphere. Venus passed within one degree of the Sun during its inferior conjunction, as it moved from the evening to the morning sky.  The extreme brightness of the nearby Sun made capturing such an image very difficult — the featured image was only made possible by using a temporary filter to block direct sunlight. The image was captured from Thorton, Leicestershire, UK. The pervasive blue sky glow indicates that the image was actually captured during the day. via wordpress https://wp.me/p4wJUi-6La

Picture of the day for June 8, 2020

Wikipedia picture of the day on June 8, 2020: Flower buds in development of Eryngium giganteum ‘Miss Willmott’s Ghost’. https://wp.me/p4wJUi-6L6

Art Quote of the Day

“Art is not a handicraft, it is the transmission of feeling the artist has experienced.” – Leo Tolstoy

Wikipedia article of the day for June 8, 2020

Wikipedia article of the day is Mary van Kleeck. Check it out: https://ift.tt/2QnlvhD Summary: Mary van Kleeck (1883–1972) was an American social scientist and social feminist who advocated for scientific management and a planned economy. She began her career in the settlement movement, investigating women’s labor in New York City. In 1916 she became the director of the Russell Sage Foundation’s Department of Industrial Studies, which she led for over 30 years. During World War I, she was appointed by U.S. president Woodrow Wilson to lead the development of workplace standards for women entering the labor force. After the war, she led the creation of the Women’s Bureau, a federal agency that advocates for women in the workforce. By the 1930s, van Kleeck had become a socialist, arguing that central planning of economies was the most effective way to protect labor rights. During the Great Depression, she became a prominent left-wing critic of capitalism and the New Deal.