What is Night?

Thanks to Ted Chiang, I now know "night for what it [is]: the shadow of the Earth itelf, cast against the sky." Why didn't I ever think to put it like that?         

Came across the great picture from 1992 (Galileo spacecraft on its way to Jupiter snapped this on its way out) so you can not only see the Earth's shadow but the Moon's as well and the orientation between the two that give us the "Phases" of the Moon:

I think it's a gibbous moon, but is it waxing or waning? I want to say waxing (getting bigger) but without knowing the Galileo spacecraft's trajectory I'm not sure...

Aaaw yeah...

A former student (CF) just emailed this to me.  She used an app that puts random quotes on pictures on a photo she snapped of me on a recent visit to the new high school. Please note the red pen and carefuly crafted Earth-tones look.

Eerily insightful, that app.

Astrophysics and Art

Thanks to the Boston Globe for turning me onto the glass artist Josiah McElheny:

Island Universe