#bbso

[simstagramus]

#bbso #2017 #oradea

[astroblogs]

De Mercurius transitie in de grootste resolutie gefilmd door het Big Bear Solar Observatory en SDO

Afgelopen maandag konden mensen in grote delen van de wereld de transitie van Mercurius meemaken, de overgang van de binnenste planeet van het zonnestelsel voor het oppervlak van de zon langs. De zeven en een half uur durende transitie werd onder andere bekeken en gefilmd door sterrenkundigen van het Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO) in de VS en van NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) in de ruimte en die hebben een fenomenaal filmpje ervan weten te maken. Begin en einde van de video is van SDO materiaal gemaakt, het tussenstuk met op de achtergrond de granulatie van de zon is door BBSO gemaakt. Kijken!

Bron: Universe Today.

<!-- if(wpa2a)wpa2a.script_load(); //-->

Astroblogs: http://www.astroblogs.nl/2016/05/13/de-mercurius-transitie-in-de-grootste-resolutie-gefilmd-door-het-big-bear-solar-observatory-en-sdo/

[newsvi]

Stunning images of sunspots caught by largest solar telescope The Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO) in California, site of the largest solar telescope on the planet, has issued a mesmerizing video and photos in previously unseen detail of surprisingly active plasma in the sun's fine structures. BBSO's New Solar Telescope (NST) possesses an unprecedented level of high resolution and enables the sharpest-ever photos of the visible corona of our star. One of the sunspots captured by the NST is the size of the Earth, but such structures can be the size of Jupiter.

[bigblackafrica-blog]

Black at Brandeis: The Unabridged Version of The Article I 'co-wrote' For The Justice

Being Black (or African-American) at Brandeis University means existing as a sub-culture within a sub-culture. For some, it means never touching a Kosher fork for fear that you could somehow pollute it. For others it means watching at a distance—observing the designs woven into tiny hats never considering their connection to God. It means acknowledging difference and navigating a border or ignoring the border and staying content within its confines.

The American narrative is home to stories of struggle, triumph and coexistence. The promise of happiness and freedom is literally written into the fiber of our country, but it is a promise systematically kept out of the reach of the country’s minority populations. Between two of America’s most culturally conspicuous minority groups, Blacks & Jews, there has been a tumultuous discourse that follows both groups in pursuit of these promises through a shared history of oppression, disparities in  the allotment of privilege, rise in socio-political awareness, and access to the  American power infrastructure. And it is these themes in our history that have led the two groups from zenith to nadir to hiatus over the last 6 decades. If we posit Brandeis, like all colleges & universities, as a microcosm of society we can follow these trends in the social interactions between Black & Jews on campus.

A mass influx of Jews to the north following WWII, was met by a mass exodus of blacks from the South; the Great Migration. It was in the north that the first substantial contact between Black & Jews was made. Until this point there was little to go on in terms of Black & Jewish relations. For the most part, the two groups lived in their own social spheres and experienced American prejudice independent of each other’s help or commentary. Out of this Northern context grew the first strands of tensions between the two. While Jews were barred from certain profession it seemed to most Blacks that they were in positions of power. They were the landlords, the store owners, the bankers, almost all whites Northern Blacks would interact with were Jewish. As Civil Rights picked up during the mid-50s there was massive Jewish interest in the fight against injustice in the South.  The majority of whites involved in the movement were Jewish and so were its funders.  This is the atmosphere that Brandeis University was created in, the good days, the ‘zenith of the coalition’. Both groups drawing on their oppressive histories working together for the greater good.

Our university’s history offers a unique approach in addressing the need for greater diversity on college campuses.  The institution was founded in response to quotas place on Jewish applicants at elite institutions. Since its inception, Brandeis, has been dedicated to promoting the virtues of equality and social justice in honor of our namesake Louis Dembitz Brandeis. Brandeis himself, a socially progressive Zionist, rose against the odds to become the first Jew appointed to the US supreme court. Our school, a “non-sectarian Jewish sponsored coeducational institution”(see: Wikipedia), has a personal history of commitment to justice in America. But there came a time when more radical identity politics were necessary for the true advancement of the black race and this created an awkward space for white involvement. At Brandeis, the 60s witnessed what was happening at universities throughout the nation, Black students voicing their needs in demands in radical ways. A starch contrast to the sing-songy civil protest of earlier generations. Following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, Black students at Brandeis put forth a proposal that led to the creation of the MLK Scholar program and The Transitional Year Program (TYP). In 1969, 70 students affiliated with the Brandeis Black Student Organization (BBSO) seized Ford Hall, renaming the school Malcolm X University and submitting a list of demands to the administration. They wanted control, they wanted a voice, they wanted equality. This revolutionary energy and it’s byproducts have, in many ways, made Brandeis the place it is today. They forced Brandeis to take the first steps in bridging the gaps between diverse communities and peoples.

While there are currently no major tensions flaring, Black & Jewish relations, on & off-campus, are embarrassingly stagnate. To reiterate my opening, we are two sub-cultures, one inside the other, like Russian dolls. We have drifted so far from our beginnings -- Our world changing marches, our paradigm shifting clashes of opinion. We have become so content in this distance that there is no room for mutual growth. This is dangerous in a society so drenched in hierarchy that silence implies consent. With this in mind, the leaders of Brandeis Black Student Organization, Martin Luther King & Friends, Brandeis Israel Public Affairs Committee with Hillel and others,  have joined together on several occasions despite our different interests, knowing that the consequences of the status quo are too great. We have come together to challenge our community to candid discussion regarding the relationships between the Black and Jewish communities at Brandeis hoping to ignite a spark and change the way students at Brandeis interact with one another.

In an effort to ‘lay the wood’ for these fires, three of these groups, namely MLK & Friends, BBSO & BIPAC, have joined to create a joint pilgrimage to Israel with a delegation of 5 Black and 5 Jewish students. The aim of this trip is to use education and cultural immersion to bridge the gap of cultural differences and create an environment in which the participants understand each other better, and bond over what brings us together, rather than what separates us. Called Brandeis Bridges, the intercultural pilgrimage will be the first step in enhancing and developing student leaders of various backgrounds’ knowledge and appreciation for all the Brandeis has to offer -- exposing non-Jewish students to the importance of Israel in the lives of Jews around the world, as well as exposing students of Jewish descent to a culture that often goes overlooked on campus with a second pilgrimage to a site of equal importance in the African American Diaspora, Ghana, West Africa. Additionally, the trip will expose students to the holiness and history that Judaism, Christianity, and Islam holds in Israel. Most importantly, Brandeis Bridges will serve as a vision of unity for current and future Brandeis students to reach out to the strange and unfamiliar. 

Many say that Brandeis is the microcosm of the American Jewish community, a center of thought that produces innovative and forward looking ideas during a given generation. We would like to go further; to see Brandeis become the microcosm of intercultural dialogue on college campuses across the United States. We hope to change the way peoples of different backgrounds, cultures, and religions interact with one another. The only way to achieve this is through our common voice and action. Bringing together the Black and Jewish communities at Brandeis will serve as the first step.