Janet Dowling

Beautiful

Nasa solar probe to make its closest ever pass of sun on Christmas Eve Mission teams will lose direct contact with Parker probe while it passes 3.8 million miles from sun’s surface Nasa’s pioneering Parker solar probe is poised to make its closest ever approach of the sun on Christmas Eve, a record-setting 3.8m miles (6.2m…

Nasa solar probe to make its closest ever pass of sun on Christmas Eve

What a dilemna. I’m a luddite and dont use AI for any part of my research for essays for fear that a phrase or two might slip between. But what can you do when you stand accused. All you can do is show fluency in your subject, but not easy if 6 months have passed.

The world failed to save Syria. Now its people must be free to chart their own path | Simon Tisdall Self-serving meddling by Israel, Turkey and other foreign powers puts the revolution at risk. They should back off now United in duplicity, if nothing else, Russia, Iran, Turkey and the US – key external players in Syria’s long-running drama – all…

The world failed to save Syria. Now its people must be free to chart their own path | Simon Tisdall

Just in case you forgot to watch. No professionals involved , all amateur , all wanting to do their bit against covid. 100 local people took part.

YouTube video by Janet Dowling When COVID Caught Father Christmas in Sidmouth Town

A panto, during lockdown, over 100 people took part filming yhemselves on their phones, or i walked up To Complete strangers and asked them to
Look gor santa, pull on an imaginary rope, and to fight covid with swords, brooms and dusters. m.youtube.com/watch?v=jj4f...

Watermelons 2. I was quite shocked, and went and did my research. It turns out that watermelons are a symbol for Palestine reflecting the colours of their flag banned by Israel. Which is obviously what my friend was supporting. But how to reconcile the different and opposing meanings to them?

Water Melons. Ive known them as a derogatory term and pictures for black people dating from the 19 century when the emancipated enslaved peoples sold them as a cash crop and white racists took that freedom symbol and turned it into a racial slur. recently a good friend sported a watermelon badge

For those of you likely to see Moana 2 - the star constellation ,crucial to the plot , is the european scorpius known to The pacifics peoples as Maui’s hook, and a crucial part of their celestial navigation.

On this week's episode of Local Legends Martin is joined by the rather amazing Dr Maureen James, who is a folklorist, historian, and author of both Cambridgeshire Folk Tales and Lincolnshire Folk Tales! Stream it here: www.threeravenspodcast.com/podcast/epis... #history #folklore #podcast

One of the star observatories that i contacted with my star gazing story programme already has a storyteller as their outreach person- so they get lots of star stories! Excellent news- people are getting to hear the stories. Folktales of the cosmos is getting a wider audience!

New study of monuments built by Scotland's first farmers Some of the stone structures found in Argyll, Highlands and the Western Isles could be 6,000 years old.

A new project aims to uncover more details about ancient stone monuments believed to have been built by Scotland's first farmers.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

National Astronomy Week coincides with National storytelling week at the beginning of feb 2025. Have i mentioned my award winning Folktales of the Cosmos- same stars different stories. I offer stars and moon stories, workshops and different ways to interact with the night sky.

The NIRCam image showcases NGC 3256, a captivating spiral galaxy undergoing a merger. Its distorted shape, long, winding tails, and vibrant core are evidence of the violent cosmic collision that shaped its current form. The image reveals intricate details of the galaxy's structure, highlighting the intense star formation and gas flows triggered by the merger.

NGC 3256.
The result of two galaxies that collided ~500 million years ago.
Processed by @thocarp.bsky.social
www.flickr.com/photos/19746...
🔭 🧪

YouTube video by Janet Dowling When COVID Caught Father Christmas in Sidmouth Town

A panto, during lockdown, over 100 people took part filming yhemselves on their phones, or i walked up To Complete strangers and asked them to
Look gor santa, pull on an imaginary rope, and to fight covid with swords, brooms and dusters. m.youtube.com/watch?v=jj4f...

The Antennae Galaxies - Hubble

Always a sad story. Do you act in the moment of believing your dog killed, and might kill again or do you take the risk of stepping back and investigate more? Id like to think the second, but we are programmed to survive and instinctly lash out.

@theguardian.com

A sapling shooting upwards in a forest, surrounded by light.

"Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it." — Hannah Arendt

The key to the healing power of storytelling is that it nurtures and challenges, rather than directs.

#HealingThroughStories #PowerOfStories #StorytellingCommunity #StoriesAcrossCultures

7500 light-years away from us

Word of the Day is a true favourite, as some of you will know.

Apricity (17th century) is the warmth of the sun on a winter’s day.

It sounds like apricots, and has evokes a fuzzy warm feeling- just like the warmth if the sun on a winters day.

Want to know more about the stars and also peoples cultural experiences of star stories.

Im resident storyteller at the Norman Lockyer Observatory in Sidmouth Devon and specialise in telling stories and workshops about the night sky from different cultures as well as the greek ones. I relate that to archeoastronomy. Author of award winning “Folktales of the Cosmos.”

If you check the night sky, Uranus is just visible, but not for much longer. In the beginning there was Gaia who created the world, then created Uranus to be the sky and also be both her son and her lover. From him the Titans were born to Gaia but Uranus was afraid of them taking over from him.

Phew! That was a near miss! The compass on my phone has reset itself and north and south are back where they are supposed to be. All is well. But the intriguing thing is no one else noticed…

The heaven snd hell one is always s great story for the times. Many thanks.