Annular Solar Eclipse over New Mexico


What is this person doing? In 2012 an annular eclipse of the Sun was visible over a narrow path that crossed the northern Pacific Ocean and several western US states. In an annular solar eclipse, the Moon is too far from the Earth to block out the entire Sun, leaving the Sun peeking out over the Moon's disk in a ring of fire. To capture this unusual solar event, an industrious photographer drove from Arizona to New Mexico to find just the right vista. After setting up and just as the eclipsed Sun was setting over a ridge about 0.5 kilometers away, a person unknowingly walked right into the shot. Although grateful for the unexpected human element, the photographer never learned the identity of the silhouetted interloper. It appears likely, though, that the person is holding a circular device that would enable them to get their own view of the eclipse. The shot was taken at sunset on 2012 May 20 at 7:36 pm local time from a park near Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. Tomorrow another annular solar eclipse will become visible, this time along a path crossing Africa and Madagascar. via NASA http://ift.tt/2bC06Ln

Giants Video: Gorkys Hernandez runs and leaps into the wall to rob Paul Goldschmidt of a hit in 4-2 win vs. Diamondbacks (ESPN)

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Final: Giants 4 Diamondbacks 2. WP: SF M Moore (9-10) LP: ARI S Miller SV: SF S Casilla (ESPN)

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Hurricanes Madeline and Lester


The island of Hawaii rarely takes a direct hit from a hurricane. This week, two Pacific storms are lining up to change that. This natural-color image of Hurricane Madeline and Hurricane Lester is a composite built from two overpasses by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite on the Suomi NPP satellite on August 29, 2016. via NASA http://ift.tt/2c0w2dn

Final: Diamondbacks 4 Giants 3. WP: ARI Z Greinke (12-4) LP: SF J Cueto (14-5) SV: ARI D Hudson (2) (ESPN)

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Aurora over Icelandic Fault


Admire the beauty but fear the beast. The beauty is the aurora overhead, here taking the form of great green spiral, seen between picturesque clouds with the bright Moon to the side and stars in the background. The beast is the wave of charged particles that creates the aurora but might, one day, impair civilization. Exactly this week in 1859, following notable auroras seen all across the globe, a pulse of charged particles from a coronal mass ejection (CME) associated with a solar flare impacted Earth's magnetosphere so forcefully that they created the Carrington Event. A relatively direct path between the Sun and the Earth might have been cleared by a preceding CME. What is sure is that the Carrington Event compressed the Earth's magnetic field so violently that currents were created in telegraph wires so great that many wires sparked and gave telegraph operators shocks. Were a Carrington-class event to impact the Earth today, speculation holds that damage might occur to global power grids and electronics on a scale never yet experienced. The featured aurora was imaged last week over Thingvallavatn Lake in Iceland, a lake that partly fills a fault that divides Earth's large Eurasian and North American tectonic plates. via NASA http://ift.tt/2byz7QQ

Good Morning From the International Space Station


Expedition 48 Commander Jeff Williams of NASA shared this sunrise panorama taken from his vantage point aboard the International Space Station, writing, "Morning over the Atlantic…this one will hang on my wall." via NASA http://ift.tt/2c5sWSy

Young Suns of NGC 7129


Young suns still lie within dusty NGC 7129, some 3,000 light-years away toward the royal constellation Cepheus. While these stars are at a relatively tender age, only a few million years old, it is likely that our own Sun formed in a similar stellar nursery some five billion years ago. Most noticeable in the sharp image are the lovely bluish dust clouds that reflect the youthful starlight. But the compact, deep red crescent shapes are also markers of energetic, young stellar objects. Known as Herbig-Haro objects, their shape and color is characteristic of glowing hydrogen gas shocked by jets streaming away from newborn stars. Paler, extended filaments of reddish emission mingling with the bluish clouds are caused by dust grains effectively converting the invisible ultraviolet starlight to visible red light through photoluminesence. Ultimately the natal gas and dust in the region will be dispersed, the stars drifting apart as the loose cluster orbits the center of the Galaxy. The processing of this remarkable composite image has revealed the faint red strands of emission at the upper right. They are recently recognized as a likely supernova remnant and are currently being analyzed by Bo Reipurth (Univ. Hawaii) who obtained the image data at the Subaru telescope. At the estimated distance of NGC 7129, this telescopic view spans over 40 light-years. via NASA http://ift.tt/2buaoQC

An Age-defying Star


An age-defying star designated as IRAS 19312+1950 (arrow) exhibits features characteristic of a very young star and a very old star. The object stands out as extremely bright inside a large, chemically rich cloud of material, as shown in this image from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope. via NASA http://ift.tt/2bMlE8G

Abell 370: Galaxy Cluster Gravitational Lens


What is that strange arc? While imaging the cluster of galaxies Abell 370, astronomers had noted an unusual arc to the right of many cluster galaxies. Although curious, one initial response was to avoid commenting on the arc because nothing like it had ever been noted before. In the mid-1980s, however, better images allowed astronomers to identify the arc as a prototype of a new kind of astrophysical phenomenon -- the gravitational lens effect of entire cluster of galaxies on background galaxies. Today, we know that this arc actually consists of two distorted images of a fairly normal galaxy that happened to lie far behind the huge cluster. Abell 370's gravity caused the background galaxies' light -- and others -- to spread out and come to the observer along multiple paths, not unlike a distant light appears through the stem of a wine glass. In mid-July of 2009, astronomers used the then just-upgraded Hubble Space Telescope to image Abell 370 and its gravitational lens images in unprecedented detail. Almost all of the yellow images featured here are galaxies in the Abell 370 cluster. An astute eye can pick up many strange arcs and distorted arclets, however, that are actually images of more distant galaxies. Studying Abell 370 and its images gives astronomers a unique window into the distribution of normal and dark matter in galaxy clusters and the universe. via NASA http://ift.tt/2bXXoiK

Giants Video: Joe Panik sends a solo blast and a 2-run homer over the right field wall in 13-4 win vs. the Braves (ESPN)

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Final: Giants 13 Braves 4. WP: SF M Bumgarner (13-8) LP: ATL A Blair (0-6) (ESPN)

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Giants put RP Derek Law on DL with elbow strain; 1.94 ERA best among all of team's relievers by more than a half a run (ESPN)

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Lunar Orbiter Earthset


August 10th was the 50th anniversary of the launch of Lunar Orbiter 1. It was the first of five Lunar Orbiters intended to photograph the Moon's surface to aid in the selection of future landing sites. That spacecraft's camera captured the data used in this restored, high-resolution version of its historic first image of Earth from the Moon on August 23, 1966 while on its 16th lunar orbit. Hanging almost stationary in the sky when viewed from the lunar surface, Earth appears to be setting beyond the rugged lunar horizon from the perspective of the orbiting spacecraft. Two years later, the Apollo 8 crew would record a more famous scene in color: Earthrise from lunar orbit. via NASA http://ift.tt/2chQLuW

Final: Braves 3 Giants 1. WP: ATL M Foltynewicz (7-5) LP: SF A Suarez (3-2) SV: ATL J Johnson (13) (ESPN)

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Speeding Towards Jupiter's Pole


Jupiter's north polar region is coming into view as NASA's Juno spacecraft approaches the giant planet. This view of Jupiter was taken on August 27, when Juno was 437,000 miles (703,000 kilometers) away. The Juno mission successfully executed its first of 36 orbital flybys of Jupiter. via NASA http://ift.tt/2bIW01K

Giants: P Jake Peavy placed on 15-day DL with low back strain; P Albert Suarez recalled, will start Saturday vs. Braves (ESPN)

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Giants Video: Angel Pagan slugs a 2-run homer over the right field wall to pad the lead in 7-0 win vs. the Braves (ESPN)

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Final: Giants 7 Braves 0. WP: SF J Samardzija (11-9) LP: ATL J De La Cruz (0-7) (ESPN)

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Katherine Johnson at NASA Langley Research Center


NASA research mathematician Katherine Johnson is photographed at her desk at Langley Research Center. Born on Aug. 26, 1918, in White Sulphur Springs, WV, Johnson worked at Langley from 1953 until her retirement in 1986, making critical technical contributions which included calculating the trajectory of Alan Shepard's historic 1961 flight. via NASA http://ift.tt/2bThBp5

MLB Video: Giants' Matt Moore loses no-hitter with 2 outs in 9th on his 133rd pitch, allows single to Corey Seager (ESPN)

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Final: Giants 4 Dodgers 0. WP: SF M Moore (8-10) LP: LAD R Stripling (3-5) (ESPN)

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Breaking: Giants' Matt Moore has a no-hitter through 8 innings against the Dodgers; 3 BB, 7 K, 119 pitches (ESPN)

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Space Station View of Grand Canyon National Park


To celebrate the centennial of the U.S National Park Service, Expedition 48 Commander Jeff Williams of NASA has taken hundreds of images of national parks from his vantage point in low Earth orbit, aboard the International Space Station. Here, a series of Williams' photographs are assembled into this composite image of the Grand Canyon. via NASA http://ift.tt/2bA2l1U

Final: Dodgers 1 Giants 0. WP: LAD R Hill (10-3) LP: SF J Cueto (14-4) SV: LAD K Jansen (37) (ESPN)

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Curiosity at Murray Buttes on Mars


What are these unusual lumps on Mars? As NASA's robotic Curiosity rover continues rolling across Mars, it is now approaching Murray Buttes. Several of the 15-meter high buttes are visible ahead in this horizontally compressed 360-degree across image taken inside Gale Crater earlier this month. The buttes are thought similar to Earth buttes in that they are capped with dense rock that is relatively resistant to erosion. In the image center is Curiosity's "arm" and "hand" used to examine rocks up close, drill into rocks, and collect samples. Curiosity has reached its four year anniversary on Mars and has been cleared to spend the next two years further exploring the slopes of Mount Sharp, the peak of which is the distant light-colored structure visible on the far left. via NASA http://ift.tt/2bglGC5

Dodgers: Rich Hill works 6 scoreless innings in team debut vs. Giants, allows 5 hits with 3 strikeouts (ESPN)

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MLB: Johnny Cueto (14-3, 2.90 ERA) leads Giants, as Rich Hill makes his Dodgers debut; watch live in the ESPN App (ESPN)

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New NASA Record Holder For Cumulative Days in Space


On Aug. 24, 2016, Station Commander Jeff Williams passed astronaut Scott Kelly, also a former station commander, for most cumulative days living and working in space by a NASA astronaut (520 days and counting). Williams is scheduled to land Sept. 6, 2016, for a record total of 534 days in space. via NASA http://ift.tt/2bnkEWE

Final: Dodgers 9 Giants 5. WP: LAD K Maeda (13-7) LP: SF M Bumgarner (12-8) SV: LAD K Jansen (36) (ESPN)

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Spacewalkers Successfully Install New Docking Adapter for Commercial Crew Flights


Expedition 48 Commander Jeff Williams (shown here) and Flight Engineer Kate Rubins of NASA successfully installed the first of two international docking adapters Friday Aug. 19, 2016, during a five hour and 58-minute spacewalk. On Sept. 1, the two astronauts will spacewalk outside the space station for the second time in less than two weeks. via NASA http://ift.tt/2bcild3

Tutulemma: Solar Eclipse Analemma


If you went outside at exactly the same time every day and took a picture that included the Sun, how would the Sun's position change? With great planning and effort, such a series of images can be taken. The figure-8 path the Sun follows over the course of a year is called an analemma. At the Winter Solstice in Earth's northern hemisphere, the Sun appears at the bottom of the analemma. Analemmas created from different latitudes appear at least slightly different, as well as analemmas created at a different time each day. With even greater planning and effort, the series can include a total eclipse of the Sun as one of the images. Pictured is such a total solar eclipse analemma or Tutulemma - a term coined by the photographers based on the Turkish word for eclipse. The featured composite image sequence was recorded from Turkey starting in 2005. The base image for the sequence is from the total phase of a solar eclipse as viewed from Side, Turkey on 2006 March 29. Venus was also visible during totality, toward the lower right. If you want to create your own USA-based tutulemma ending at next August's total solar eclipse, now would be good time to start. via NASA http://ift.tt/2bwzRrA

A Moon's Contrasts


Dione reveals its past via contrasts in this view from NASA's Cassini spacecraft. via NASA http://ift.tt/2bpUFzx

Final: Giants 8 Mets 1. WP: SF J Cueto (14-3) LP: NYM S Lugo (0-2) (ESPN)

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Fuselage of NASA's Future X-57 Maxwell All-Electric Aircraft


As NASA celebrates National Aviation Day, the agency's innovators are working to transform air transportation to meet the future needs of the global aviation community. The agency is embarking on a 10-year plan, New Aviation Horizons, that will see NASA field a number of experimental aircraft to demonstrate 21st century ideas for flight. via NASA http://ift.tt/2bjfrkf

Final: Pirates 4 Giants 3. WP: PIT A Bastardo (1-0) LP: SF D Law (4-2) SV: PIT T Watson (6) (ESPN)

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Five Planets and the Moon over Australia


It is not a coincidence that planets line up. That's because all of the planets orbit the Sun in (nearly) a single sheet called the plane of the ecliptic. When viewed from inside that plane -- as Earth dwellers are likely to do -- the planets all appear confined to a single band. It is a coincidence, though, when several of the brightest planets all appear in nearly the same direction. Such a coincidence was captured just last week. Featured above, six planets and Earth's Moon were all imaged together last week, just before sunset, from Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, Australia. A second band is visible across the top of this tall image -- the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy. via NASA http://ift.tt/2bClNx6

Giants and P Joe Nathan agree to a minor league contract, will report to Double-A; pitched only 2 innings this season (ESPN)

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Lake Powell From the Space Station's EarthKAM


The remotely controlled Sally Ride EarthKAM aboard the International Space Station acquired this photograph on July 14, 2016, as the orbiting laboratory flew over Lake Powell and the border of Utah and Arizona. Located on the Colorado River, Lake Powell is the second largest artificial reservoir in the United States. via NASA http://ift.tt/2bfc1Mp

Final: Pirates 8 Giants 5. WP: PIT R Vogelsong (2-2) LP: SF M Moore (7-9) (ESPN)

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Human as Spaceship


You are a spaceship soaring through the universe. So is your dog. We all carry with us trillions of microorganisms as we go through life. These multitudes of bacteria, fungi, and archaea have different DNA than you. Collectively called your microbiome, your shipmates outnumber your own cells. Your crew members form communities, help digest food, engage in battles against intruders, and sometimes commute on a liquid superhighway from one end of your body to the other. Much of what your microbiome does, however, remains unknown. You are the captain, but being nice to your crew may allow you to explore more of your local cosmos. via NASA http://ift.tt/2aW739w

Giants Video: Hunter Pence loses to fiancee in game of Super Smash Bros., which means he has to change his last name (ESPN)

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Astronauts Kate Rubins and Jeff Williams Prepare For a Spacewalk


Expedition 48 crew members Kate Rubins (left) and Jeff Williams (right) of NASA outfit spacesuits inside of the Quest airlock aboard the International Space Station. Rubins and Williams will conduct a spacewalk on Friday, Aug. 19, 2016, to install a new docking port that will enable the future arrival of U.S. commercial crew spacecraft. via NASA http://ift.tt/2bsR1DP

The Keyhole in the Carina Nebula


The dark dusty Keyhole Nebula gets its name from its unusual shape. The looping Keyhole, in this featured classic image by the Hubble Space Telescope, is a smaller region inside the larger Carina Nebula. Dramatic dark dust knots and complex features are sculpted by the winds and radiation of the Carina Nebula's many massive and energetic stars. In particular, the shape of the dust cloud on the upper left of the Keyhole Nebula may stimulate the human imagination to appear similar to, for example, a superhero flying through a cloud, arm up, with a saved person in tow below. The region lies about 7,500 light-years away in planet Earth's southern sky. The Keyhole Nebula was created by the dying star Eta Carina , out of the frame, which is prone to violent outbursts during its final centuries. via NASA http://ift.tt/2b78zFw

Final: Orioles 8 Giants 7. WP: BAL B Brach (7-1) LP: SF S Casilla (2-4) SV: BAL Z Britton (37) (ESPN)

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Giants Video: Brandon Belt turns on a 1-0 pitch, launches a 2-run blast deep into the seats in 6-2 win vs. Orioles (ESPN)

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Perseid from Torralba del Burgo


Perseid meteors rained on planet Earth last night. This year the stream of dust from periodic comet Swift-Tuttle has produced a stunningly active shower of bright cosmic streaks. In this 25 second long exposure, one luminous Perseid trail, fast and colorful with a small explosion at the end, is witnessed by night skygazers from Torralba del Burgo, Soria, Spain. A second fainter meteor trail appears well below the first. The two can be extended to intersect at the meteor shower's radiant just above the brighter stars of the heroic constellation Perseus. Though the meteor shower's activity is waning, in the coming days Perseids will still flash through the night. But you won't see any if you don't go outside and look up. via NASA http://ift.tt/2aPomqa

Final: Giants 6 Orioles 2. WP: SF M Bumgarner (11-7) LP: BAL K Gausman (3-10) SV: SF S Casilla (27) (ESPN)

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Final: Orioles 5 Giants 2. WP: BAL D Bundy (6-3) LP: SF M Cain (4-7) SV: BAL Z Britton (36) (ESPN)

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The Easterbunny Comes to NGC 4725


At first called "Easterbunny" by its discovery team, officially named Makemake is the second brightest dwarf planet of the Kuiper belt. The icy world appears twice in this astronomical image, based on data taken on June 29 and 30 of the bright spiral galaxy NGC 4725. Makemake is marked by short red lines, its position shifting across a homemade telescope's field-of-view over two nights along a distant orbit. On those dates nearly coincident with the line-of-sight to the spiral galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices, Makemake was about 52.5 astronomical units or 7.3 light-hours away. NGC 4725 is over 100,000 light-years across and 41 million light-years distant. Makemake is now known to have at least one moon. NGC 4725 is a famous one-armed spiral galaxy. via NASA http://ift.tt/2bnxiZk

Perseid Meteor Shower 2016 from West Virginia


In this 30 second exposure, a meteor streaks across the sky during the annual Perseid meteor shower Friday, Aug. 12, 2016 in Spruce Knob, West Virginia. via NASA http://ift.tt/2aMxaNq

Perseid, Aurora, and Noctilucent Clouds


Night skies over northern Sweden can hold some tantalizing sights in August. Gazing toward the Big Dipper, this beautiful skyscape captures three of them in a single frame taken last August 12/13. Though receding from northern skies for the season, night shining or noctilucent clouds are hanging just above the horizon. Extreme altitude icy condensations on meteoric dust, they were caught here just below an early apparition of a lovely green auroral band, also shining near the edge of space. The flash of a Perseid meteor near the peak of the annual shower punctuates the scene. In fact, this year's Perseid shower will peak in the coming days, offering a continuing chance for a night sky photographer's hat trick. via NASA http://ift.tt/2aOwwk7

Site of 2016 Summer Olympic Games Viewed by NASA's MISR Instrument


The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument aboard NASA's Terra satellite passed directly over Rio de Janeiro on Aug. 2, 2016, just prior to the opening of the Summer Olympic Games. On the left is an image from MISR's nadir camera; on the right, a map of aerosol optical depth. via NASA http://ift.tt/2b8hQMb

Colliding Galaxies in Stephans Quintet


Will either of these galaxies survive? In what might be dubbed as a semi-final round in a galactic elimination tournament, the two spirals of NGC 7318 are colliding. The featured picture was created from images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. When galaxies crash into each other, many things may happen including gravitational distortion, gas condensing to produce new episodes of star formation, and ultimately the two galaxies combining into one. Since these two galaxies are part of Stephan's Quintet, a final round of battling galaxies will likely occur over the next few billion years with the eventual result of many scattered stars and one large galaxy. Quite possibly, the remaining galaxy will not be easily identified with any of its initial galactic components. Stephan's Quintet was the first identified galaxy group, lies about 300 million light years away, and is visible through a moderately-sized telescope toward the constellation of the Winged Horse (Pegasus). via NASA http://ift.tt/2bfKPSy

Giants Video: Brandon Crawford sends a solo homer to right field for the only run of the game in victory vs. Marlins (ESPN)

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Final: Giants 1 Marlins 0. WP: SF J Samardzija (10-8) LP: MIA D Phelps (5-6) SV: SF S Casilla (26) (ESPN)

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Giants Image: Brandon Crawford meets only other living player with 7 hits in one NL game, former Pirate Rennie Stennett (ESPN)

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A Black Hole Story Told by a Cosmic Blob and Bubble


Two cosmic structures show evidence for a remarkable change in behavior of a supermassive black hole in a distant galaxy. via NASA http://ift.tt/2b8yFuc

Giants Podcast: Coach Ron Wotus tells Baseball Tonight he is happy how guys "handled their business" absent Bruce Bochy (ESPN)

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Final: Marlins 2 Giants 0. WP: MIA T Koehler (9-8) LP: SF M Moore (7-8) (ESPN)

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Giants: Bruce Bochy released from a Miami hospital; expected to manage Tuesday night against the Marlins (ESPN)

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Infrared Saturn Clouds


This false-color view from NASA's Cassini spacecraft shows clouds in Saturn's northern hemisphere. The view was made using images taken by Cassini's wide-angle camera on July 20, 2016, using a combination of spectral filters sensitive to infrared light at 750, 727 and 619 nanometers. via NASA http://ift.tt/2b5OdPE

Giants Video: Brandon Crawford rips a single for his 7th hit of the game, brings in go-ahead run in 8-7 win vs. Marlins (ESPN)

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F/14: Giants 8 Marlins 7. WP: SF G Kontos (3-2) LP: MIA D McGowan (1-3) (ESPN)

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MLB: Giants' Brandon Crawford singles in 14th inning for his 7th hit of the night, ties NL record for hits in a game (ESPN)

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MLB: Giants' Brandon Crawford singles in 14th inning for his 7th hit of the night, ties NL record for hits in a game (ESPN)

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Perseid Meteors over Mount Shasta


Where are all of these meteors coming from? In terms of direction on the sky, the pointed answer is the constellation of Perseus. That is why the meteor shower that peaks later this week is known as the Perseids -- the meteors all appear to came from a radiant toward Perseus. In terms of parent body, though, the sand-sized debris that makes up the Perseids meteors come from Comet Swift-Tuttle. The comet follows a well-defined orbit around our Sun, and the part of the orbit that approaches Earth is superposed in front of the Perseus. Therefore, when Earth crosses this orbit, the radiant point of falling debris appears in Perseus. Featured here, a composite image containing over 60 meteors from last August's Perseids meteor shower shows many bright meteors that streaked over Mount Shasta, California, USA. This year's Perseids holds promise to be the best meteor shower of the year. via NASA http://ift.tt/2aV4SkG

MLB: Giants manager Bruce Bochy admitted to Miami hospital, will miss Monday's game; expected to return to team Tuesday (ESPN)

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Giants: Bruce Bochy admitted to hospital after feeling ill, expected to return Tuesday; Ron Wotus to manage Monday (ESPN)

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Giants Image: Hunter Pence tweets photo of black eye he received after fouling a ball off his own face; \"I scare people\" (ESPN)

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Aurora and Manicouagan Crater


An astronaut aboard the International Space Station adjusted the camera for night imaging and captured the green veils and curtains of an aurora that spanned thousands of kilometers over Quebec, Canada. via NASA http://ift.tt/2aLT32y

Las Campanas Moon and Mercury


Last Thursday the view toward sunset from the 2.5 kilometer summit of Cerro Las Campanas in the remote Chilean Andes was amazing. Bright but fading Mercury stood very close to a two day old Moon. Both a sunlit lunar crescent and earthlit lunar nightside are captured with the fleeting innermost planet in this breathtaking mountainscape. Even below the conjunction of Moon and Mercury, a close pairing of brilliant Venus and bright star Regulus hangs in the sky, still above the colorful western horizon. Of course amazing skies above Las Campanas are not unexpected. The region is currently home to the twin Magellan telescopes of the Las Campanas Observatory and the summit location is the site of the future Giant Magellan Telescope. via NASA http://ift.tt/2b1a5vU

Giants Video: Hunter Pence fouls off a ball that bounces and hits his face, stays in game despite visible black eye (ESPN)

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Final: Giants 7 Nationals 1. WP: SF M Cain (4-6) LP: WSH S Strasburg (15-2) (ESPN)

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Apollo 15 Panorama


On July 31, 1971, Apollo 15 astronauts Jim Iwrin and Dave Scott deployed the first Lunar Roving Vehicle on the Moon. Using it to explore their Hadley-Apennine landing site they spent nearly three days on the Moon while Al Worden orbited above. This digitally stitched panorama shows Scott examining a boulder on the slope of 3.5 kilometer high Mons Hadley Delta to the left of their electric-powered, four-wheel drive vehicle. The sun at his back, Irwin casts the strong shadow to the rover's right. The panoramic view extends farther right to the sunward direction, over Hadley Rille and lunar terrain, revealed in harsh, unfiltered sunlight. In total, the rover traversed 28 kilometers (17 miles) on the lunar surface. The Apollo 15 mission returned about 76 kilograms of moon rocks to planet Earth. via NASA http://ift.tt/2aXWG6w

Final: Nationals 5 Giants 1. WP: WSH G Gonzalez (7-9) LP: SF J Samardzija (9-8) (ESPN)

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Giants Podcast: Announcer Duane Kuiper tells Baseball Tonight that Madison Bumgarner and Matt Moore can \"compare notes\" (ESPN)

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Neil Armstrong in NASA Ames' Bell X-14 Aircraft


Neil A. Armstrong is photographed in the cockpit of the Ames Bell X-14 aircraft at NASA's Ames Research Center. Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, was born in Wapakoneta, Ohio, on August 5, 1930. via NASA http://ift.tt/2aAr5q7

M63: Sunflower Galaxy Wide Field


The Sunflower Galaxy blooms near the center of this wide field telescopic view. The scene spans about 2 degrees or 4 full moons on the sky toward the loyal constellation Canes Venatici. More formally known as Messier 63, the majestic island universe is nearly 100,000 light-years across, about the size of our own Milky Way Galaxy. Surrounding its bright yellowish core, sweeping spiral arms are streaked with cosmic dust lanes and dotted with star forming regions. A dominant member of a known galaxy group, M63 has faint, extended features that could be the the remains of dwarf satellite galaxies, evidence that large galaxies grow by accreting small ones. M63 shines across the electromagnetic spectrum and is thought to have undergone bursts of intense star formation. via NASA http://ift.tt/2akDW0Y

F/10: Giants 3 Phillies 2. WP: SF S Romo (1-0) LP: PHI S Gonzalez (0-2) SV: SF S Casilla (25) (ESPN)

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Curiosity's Arm Over 'Marimba' Target on Mount Sharp


NASA's Curiosity Mars rover began close-up investigation of a target called "Marimba," on lower Mount Sharp, during the week preceding the fourth anniversary of the mission's dramatic sky-crane landing. via NASA http://ift.tt/2awWxlG

Behold the Universe


What if you climbed up on a rock and discovered the Universe? You can. Although others have noted much of it before, you can locate for yourself stars, planets, and even the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy. All you need is a dark clear sky -- the rock is optional. If you have a camera, you can further image faint nebulas, galaxies, and long filaments of interstellar dust. If you can process digital images, you can bring out faint features, highlight specific colors, and merge foreground and background images. In fact, an industrious astrophotographer has done all of these to create the presented picture. All of the component images were taken early last month on the same night within a few meters of each other. The picturesque setting was Sand Beach in Stonington, Maine, USA with the camera pointed south over Penobscot Bay. via NASA http://ift.tt/2aPLnOx

F/12: Phillies 5 Giants 4. WP: PHI L Garcia (1-0) LP: SF G Kontos (2-2) (ESPN)

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Astronauts Test Orion Docking Hatch For Future Missions


Engineers and astronauts conducted testing in a representative model of the Orion spacecraft at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston to gather the crew's feedback on the design of the docking hatch and on post-landing equipment operations. via NASA http://ift.tt/2asGUOr

MLB Video: Home plate umpire hears enough of a fan's heckling, ejects him from the stands during Giants-Phillies game (ESPN)

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Final: Phillies 13 Giants 8. WP: PHI H Neris (4-3) LP: SF W Smith (1-4) (ESPN)

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Giants: Newly acquired P Matt Moore will make first start Thursday vs. Phillies; P Jake Peavy will move to the bullpen (ESPN)

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Field Testing NASA's New Carbon-Dioxide Measuring Instrument


A team of NASA scientists and engineers is poised to realize a lifetime goal: building an instrument powerful and accurate enough to gather around-the-clock global atmospheric carbon-dioxide (CO2) measurements from space. Developers of the CO2 Sounder Lidar instrument snapped this photo during a field campaign over California and Nevada. via NASA http://ift.tt/2ax2BeL

Giants trade 3B Matt Duffy and minor leaguers SS Lucius Fox, 1B Chris Shaw to Rays in Matt Moore trade - New York Post (ESPN)

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Giants send prospects P Phil Bickford, 21, C Andrew Susac, 26, to Brewers in P Will Smith deal - multiple reports (ESPN)

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Giants acquire RP Will Smith from Brewers - Yahoo! Sports; 27-year-old is 1-3 with 3.68 ERA in 27 games this season (ESPN)

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Acadia National Park


Acadia National Park is one of the most visited parks in America, drawing more than 2.5 million visitors per year to the craggy, jagged coast of Maine. The park is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2016. On September 6, 2015, the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on the Landsat 8 satellite acquired these images of the park and its surroundings. via NASA http://ift.tt/2aJKh6Q

Giants Buzz: Team's interest in Reds OF Jay Bruce \"overstated\"; focused primarily on bullpen upgrades - Jerry Crasnick (ESPN)

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