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kaihuntrr · 8 months

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The Sea Prince: The ‘Red King’, Noblemen, and Hunters.

After exactly 3 months(?) of posting the first batch of designs, I’m finally able to send the second batch! TIES and their lore would be last, since they aren’t hunters- it feels right to finish up the Canaries, especially with the prologue coming out soon.

Closeups and lore under the cut as always, hope you enjoy!

They were so much fun to design! I wanted to reference other smps they were involved in, and try to make them stand out! While I am taking from Pirates SMP as inspiration, Cleo and Scar’s designs come from my interpretations before Pirates came out <3

Let’s start out from the individuals!

‘The Nobles’, children from high places.

A fun fact about all of them is that they come from relatively rich families! Be it in how they dress or act, they have a sense of formality. It was also a way to ‘separate’ them from the other hunters since they weren’t in the latest series :D

‘Ren Dogwarts.’

The suave and charming former leader of the Kestrels, Ren’s heart is as golden as the jewelry he wears. He claims to be related to the King, and dubs himself as the ‘Red King’ to take down the sea monsters in his name. He loves his crew, and loved Martyn much more. His feelings begin to waver when the blonde’s loyalty changes. He knew Martyn loved his former crew, but… their relationship tensed as the fateful day arrived. Now that he’s dead, Martyn’s heart is pained with guilt.

The red coat he wears is a supposed gift from the King, the hat and feather a gift from the Kestrels. The tie he wore is similar to the bandana Martyn wears, as if it were the same item.

‘Mumbo Jumbo.’

A nobleman and childhood friend of Grian’s, he spends his time researching about the different monsters they come across and report his findings to the Doctor, the royal inventor. He is very analytical, coming up with theories for certain creature behaviors and is very much not a fighter compared to other hunters. Due to his connection to Doc and his time in the military, the crew found themselves personally hired by the King.

He has a telescope he keeps with him at all times. It was a gift from Jimmy. Mumbo used to joke about throwing it away, but it’s the most precious item he owns.

‘Lizzie Shadow.’

The inheritor of her parents’ pearl industry, she’s taking her time away from all of that to be with the Canaries. It’s not that she wants to run away from her responsibilities- but she’d rather face her fears of the ocean and truly conquering it before coming home. She acts as a pseudo captain to the crew, and is grateful for all the support she’s been given.

She wears a coat similar to Grian and Joel, and is decorated in pearls. She wears her engagement ring with pride, and ties some of her hair up in a braided hair tie. She taught Jimmy how to make those when he was younger.

‘Clockers’, the hunter-born.

Found family! All of their parents died when they were tweens, so they stuck by each other ever since. They’re a little chaotic, but they have essential roles in the crew.

‘Cleo Zombie.’

Level-headed and headstrong, they’re the stable wall in the Canaries. She uses her previous naval experience as an advantage against the vicious sea monsters. She feels linked to Martyn, being someone to ground him in his messy thoughts, but her focus is on Scar and Bdubs. Those two always get into trouble, and there are times she’d want to join in on the fun.

Her scars are stitched and healing, and she has a Heron necklace from her time in the group. She has a big pocket watch she keeps on her at all times, tied to string on her waist.

‘Scar Goodtimes.’

Living life to the fullest means you have to be ready to face the consequences head on. Nicknamed for the many scars on his body, the man embraces it all with a smile and a hunger for more. Nothing keeps him down, and with his boundless energy, nothing ever will. He keeps the morale high and uplifts anyone in times of need, but even he was distraught when the third captain died.

He wears a bandana as a gift from Cleo and a big pocket watch as a gift from Bdubs. He wears a small parrot feather earring from Grian, and sometimes absentmindedly stares at it with a sense of longing.

‘Bdubs.’

The feistiest of the Canaries since Jimmy, he has a bit of a rebellious streak. Either by sneaking out to meet with Impulse, or coming up with outlandish ideas, he’s a bit unhinged but his heart is in the right place. He’s brave and tough, but sometimes he worries he isn’t doing enough. Whatever- if his crew appreciates him for who he is, that’s enough.

He, like Cleo and Scar, has a big pocket watch he keeps on his belt. He has a knife at the ready and a sword necklace he got as a gift from Impulse. He treasures it dearly.

Everyone has their place in the crew, and together they are the Canaries. Favored by the King and thrusted upon the opportunity of a lifetime, their only goal now is to show they can do the task given despite how crazy it sounds.

They’re determined to give it all.

But what will happen if their target was right in front of them all this time? Will they ever see him the same way again?

Or were they nothing but playthings?

The prologue, ‘Hide & Seek’, is coming soon. Ready or not, here they come.

#the sea prince au #limited life #limited life smp #traffic series #trafficblr #life series #rendog #mumbo jumbo #ldshadowlady #lizzie ldshadowlady #zombie cleo #zombiecleo #goodtimeswithscar #bdubs #bdoubleo100 #clockers #limited life clockers

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flavinbagel · 18 days

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30th June, 1973 - BAC Aérospatiale Concorde 001 F-WTSS as it flies from the Canary Islands to Chad chasing the Path of Totality of a solar eclipse at supersonic speed.

More details about this image under break.

F-WTSS, unit 001, was the first of two prototype models built, and was the first Concorde ever to fly on 2nd March 1969. Though its components differed significantly from those of production Concordes and it never saw commercial service, F-WTSS enjoyed sporadic operation in the early 70s for various high speed and high altitude scientific testing.

One such scientific mission occurred in 1973 during a total solar eclipse over the equatorial Atlantic and Saharan Africa. The airframe was modified to include four portholes in the ceiling, enabling scientists onboard to observe and record the total eclipse, which from the ground would last a crazy long seven minutes. With its cruising speed of 202% the speed of sound (about 1,400mph/2,250kph), the Concorde could happily chase the moon's shadow across the surface of the earth, enabling its occupants to experience an unprecedented 74 minutes of totality.

Additionally, from the jet's crusing altitude of 60,000 ft above sea level, the clarity of the eclipse was unlike any experienced before. Combined with the extended time, this flight provided more scientific data on solar activity than any single solar eclipse could have previously. And here, in this photo, most likely taken through a telescope by Arthur Gibson, such a special event was captured at an absolutely precisely perfect moment, with the mighty jet passing just over the "diamond ring" at the very edge of the totality.

No Concorde has flown since 2003. Unit 001, F-WTSS, now sits in a museum in Bourget, France, still outfitted with its eclipse-viewing portholes. No aircraft flying today has the availability or the onboard space to host a scientific venture while keeping up with an eclipse, as the few fast enough are all military with very small crew spaces and "better" things to do than conduct civillian science. No civilian jet today flies this fast, or this high, and it's not even close. That's why this photo feels so incredibly important to me: not only is it a one-in-a-million snap of a rare event, it's also a great shot of something that will never happen again.

(At least not any time soon.)

Image is as featured in The Smithsonian Book of Flight, Walter J. Boyne, published 1987 by Smithsonian Books, p. 231. Photographed by Arthur Gibson.

#eclipse #solar eclipse #concorde #photo #astronomy #astrophotography #flambles #aviation #science history #supersonic

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through-hubbles-eyes · 2 years

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𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒂𝒕'𝒔 𝑬𝒚𝒆 𝑵𝒆𝒃𝒖𝒍𝒂

An enormous but extremely faint halo of gaseous material surrounds the Cat's Eye Nebula and is over three light-years across. Within the past years some planetary nebulae been found to have halos like this one, likely formed of material ejected during earlier active episodes in the star's evolution - most likely some 50,000 to 90,000 years ago.

This image was taken by Romano Corradi with the Nordic Optical Telescope on La Palma in the Canary Islands. The image is constructed from two narrow-band exposures showing oxygen atoms (1800 seconds, in blue) and nitrogen atoms (1800 seconds, in red).

#astronomy #nasa #space #universe #cosmos #nebula #stars #galaxy #wallpaper

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spacetimewithstuartgary · 1 year

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WEAVE spectrograph begins study of galaxy formation and evolution More than 500 astronomers from all over Europe, including members of Catalan universities and research centers—the UPC and the ICCUB—have designed and planned a total of five years of operations for the WEAVE spectrograph, a powerful instrument recently installed at the Canary Islands observatory. Combined with Gaia's measurements, it makes it possible to study a wide range of cases in stellar and galactic science. The first observations show unprecedented aspects of the collision between the galaxies at the heart of Stephan's Quintet, 280 million light-years from Earth. The Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes (ING) and the WEAVE instrument team have presented first-light observations with the WEAVE spectrograph. It is a powerful new generation multifiber spectrograph in the William Herschel Telescope (WHT) at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (La Palma, Canary Islands), which has recently been launched and is already generating high-quality data. Astronomers from all over Europe have planned eight surveys for observation with WEAVE, including studies of stellar evolution, the Milky Way, galaxy evolution and cosmology. Together with the European Space Agency's Gaia satellite, WEAVE will be used to obtain spectra of several million stars in the disk and halo of our galaxy, and thus to do archeology of the Milky Way. Nearby and distant galaxies will be studied to learn the history of how they grew. Quasars will be used as beacons to map the spatial distribution and interaction of gas and galaxies when the universe was only about 20% of today's age. First-light observations: Stephan's Quintet galaxies WEAVE targeted NGC 7318a and NGC 7318b, two galaxies at the center of Stephan's Quintet. Its galaxies, four of which are 280 million light-years from Earth, are colliding with each other, providing an excellent close-up laboratory to study the consequences of galaxy collisions and their subsequent evolution. The first-light observations were carried out with the so-called Large Integral Field Unit (LIFU) fiber array, one of WEAVE's three fiber systems. When using the LIFU, 547 very compact optical fibers transmit light from a hexagonal area of the sky to the spectrograph, where it is analyzed and recorded. WEAVE's LIFU has measured a large number of individual spectra of the two central galaxies of Stephan's Quintet and their surroundings, examining the intensity of the colors of their light, from the ultraviolet to the near infrared. Among other information, these spectra reveal essential details to study collision processes, such as the motion and distribution of stars and gas, and their chemical composition. From these data, we can learn how galaxy collisions transform the other galaxies in the group. ING director Marc Balcells explains that their goal is "to install a unique instrument that will allows us to carry out cutting-edge astronomical research. It has been fantastic to receive financial support from the national research agencies of the three ING partner countries (UK, Spain and the Netherlands) and contributions from other non-ING countries (France and Italy)." "We are pleased to demonstrate that the LIFU part of WEAVE not only works, but produces high-quality data. The ING telescopes will continue to deliver results of high scientific impact in the coming years. We look forward to announcing soon the first-light events for the other observing modes, which are currently in the final calibration stage." WEAVE, a new generation spectrograph The WEAVE spectrograph uses optical fibers to collect light from celestial objects and transmits it to a spectrograph that separates the light according to its different wavelengths. It can work at two different spectral resolutions, which are used to measure the speeds of objects in the line of sight (using the Doppler effect) and to determine their chemical composition. The versatility of WEAVE is one of its main strengths. While the LIFU mode contains hundreds of fibers in a compact distribution, essential for imaging extended areas of the sky, in the MOS mode about a thousand individual fibers can be placed (by two robots) to simultaneously collect light from stars, galaxies or quasars. During the first five years of operation, spectra of millions of individual stars and galaxies are to be obtained, a goal that can be achieved thanks to the spectrograph's ability to observe so many bodies at once. Catalan contribution to the spectrograph The project involves scientists from the Institute of Cosmos Sciences of the University of Barcelona (ICCUB) and the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya—BarcelonaTech (UPC). The Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC) takes part with researchers from the ICCUB and the UPC units. From the beginning of the project, these Catalan institutions have worked on the definition of its scientific objectives and the selection of the objects to be observed—from stars in various evolutionary stages to star clusters—as well as the sampling of quasars, extremely bright and very distant active nuclei galaxies. Specifically, two ICCUB-IEEC researchers, Maria Monguió and Mercè Romero-Gómez, and UPC researcher Roberto Raddi, from the Department of Physics, who is a professor at the Castelldefels School of Telecommunications and Aerospace Engineering (EETAC), are members of the international working groups on young stars, galactic archeology and white dwarfs that make up the team of scientists responsible for planning the observations. Teresa Antoja and Ignasi Pérez-Ràfols, also from the ICCUB-IEEC, co-lead the research teams responsible for galactic disk dynamics and quasars, respectively. Roberto Raddi, commenting on the contribution of the UPC, says, "Our team will contribute to the study of some 100,000 white dwarfs previously observed by Gaia, and discover the secrets behind the last evolutionary stages of Sun-like stars, including the fate of their planetary systems, and the mechanisms leading to supernova explosions in binary systems with white dwarfs." Maria Monguió, from the ICCUB-IEEC, explains, "After years of preparation, we hope to soon be able to obtain the first spectra of stars in the disk of our galaxy. The quantity and quality of the millions of spectra that we expect to observe will allow us, among other things, to analyze regions of recent star formation and to measure how stars move. These data, together with those provided by the Gaia mission, will allow us to address fundamental questions about the formation and evolution of the Milky Way."

#space #science #Astronomy #physics #news

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madame-wilsonn · 2 years

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Anna, would you answer green tea and chocolate fudge for the ice cream asks?

thank you, darling!! 💗💗

green tea— do you have any pets? if so, what kinds do you have and what are their names?

I do! My dad has a German shepherd named obela and also we have tiny little birds, canaries I think. there are 8 at my dad’s and 2 at my mom’s!! they don’t have name though, they’re just… “hey, you”

chocolate fudge— would you prefer a stargazing date or a picnic date?

oooh that’s hard! alright, i can find like…one or maybe two constellations so if we don’t have a telescope, I’d need someone who actually knows stars with me. And picnics are always fun…hmmm. okay, I know! A picnic date at sunset which we turns into a stargazing date!

Ice cream asks

#ma copine lee #lee tag ♡#friends #💌#ask games

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jcmarchi · 3 months

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Most Early Galaxies Looked Like Breadsticks Rather Than Pizza Pies or Dough Balls - Technology Org

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/most-early-galaxies-looked-like-breadsticks-rather-than-pizza-pies-or-dough-balls-technology-org/

Most Early Galaxies Looked Like Breadsticks Rather Than Pizza Pies or Dough Balls - Technology Org

Columbia researchers analyzing images from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have found that galaxies in the early universe are often flat and elongated, like breadsticks—and are rarely round, like balls of pizza dough.

“Roughly 50 to 80% of the galaxies we studied appear to be flattened in two dimensions,” explained Viraj Pandya, a NASA Hubble Fellow at Columbia University, and the lead author of a new paper slated to appear in The Astrophysical Journal that outlines the findings.

“Galaxies that look like long, thin breadsticks seem to be very common in the early universe, which is surprising, since they are uncommon among galaxies in the present-day universe.”

Sample shapes of distant galaxies identified by the James Webb Space Telescope’s Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science (CEERS) survey. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Steve Finkelstein (UT Austin), Micaela Bagley (UT Austin), Rebecca Larson (UT Austin)

The team focused on a vast field of near-infrared images delivered by Webb, known as the Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science (CEERS) Survey, plucking out galaxies that are estimated to have existed when the universe was 600 million to 6 billion years old.

While most distant galaxies look like breadsticks, others are shaped like pizza pies and balls of pizza dough. The “balls of pizza dough,” or sphere-shaped galaxies, appear to be the smallest type of galaxy and were also the least frequently identified.

The pizza pie-shaped galaxies were found to be as large as breadstick-shaped galaxies along their longest axis. “They are more common in the nearby universe which, due to the universe’s ongoing expansion, is made up of older, more mature galaxies.”

Which category would our Milky Way galaxy fall into if we were able to wind the clock back by billions of years?

“Our best guess is that it might have appeared more like a breadstick,” said co-author Haowen Zhang, a PhD candidate at the University of Arizona in Tucson. This hypothesis is based partly on new evidence from Webb—theorists have “wound back the clock” to estimate the Milky Way’s mass billions of years ago, which suggests its likely breadstick shape in the distant past.

Images of what researchers believe are elongated, ellipsoid (i.e. breadstick-shaped) galaxies, captured with the James Webb Space Telescope. The word “believe” reflects the fact that some of the galaxies may be disk (i.e pizza pie) shaped galaxies seen from the side. Image Credit: Viraj Pandya et al.

These distant galaxies are also far less massive than nearby spirals and ellipticals—they are precursors to more massive galaxies like our own. “In the early universe, galaxies had had far less time to grow,” said Kartheik Iyer, a co-author and NASA Hubble Fellow also at Columbia University.

“Identifying additional categories for early galaxies is exciting—there’s a lot more to analyze now. We can now study how galaxies’ shapes relate to how they look and better project how they formed in much more detail.”

Hubble, the space telescope that launched in 1990 and collects data to this day, “has long showed an excess of elongated galaxies,” explained co-author Marc Huertas-Company, a faculty research scientist at the Institute of Astrophysics on the Canary Islands.

But researchers still wondered: Would additional detail show up better with the sensitivity to infrared light that the Webb telescope, which launched in 2021, has? “Webb confirmed that Hubble didn’t miss any additional features in the galaxies they both observed. Plus, Webb showed us many more distant galaxies with similar shapes, all in great detail,” Huertas-Company said.

One question, of course, is why early galaxies tended to be so flattened and elongated. One hypothesis, Pandya explained, is that the early universe may have been filled with filaments of dark matter that formed a kind of “skeletal background,” or “cosmic highway,” that ushered gas and stars along it.

These filaments still exist, but they have grown much more diffuse as the universe has expanded, so they may be less likely to promote the formation of breadstick-shaped galaxies.

The paper is called “Galaxies Going Bananas,” yet another food analogy that sprang into the authors’ minds as they looked at their data. When the authors plotted galaxies’ aspect ratios against their longest axis length, they found that the diagrams that emerged looked distinctly like bananas, a shape that reflects their elongated, ellipsoid (i.e. breadstick) shape.

“The bananas are another way of saying that these intrinsically elongated galaxies seem to be the dominant ones in the first 4 billion years of the universe,” Pandya said.

There are still gaps in our knowledge. Researchers not only need an even larger sample size from Webb to further refine the properties and precise locations of distant galaxies, they will also need to spend ample time tweaking and updating their models to better reflect the precise geometries of distant galaxies.

“These are early results,” said co-author Elizabeth McGrath, an associate professor at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. “We need to delve more deeply into the data to figure out what’s going on, but we’re very excited about these early trends.”

Source: Columbia University

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spacenutspod · 6 months

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Two recent asteroid discoveries made by an amateur astronomer highlight what is possible, with access to the right equipment.When it comes to hunting for new astronomical discoveries these days, the competition is stiff. Gone are the days of the lone astronomer with a telescope perched on a lonely hilltop, patiently sweeping the skies looking for something new and out of place.These days, it’s the ‘robotic eyes’ of all-sky surveys are more likely to make astronomical discoveries. Tirelessly canvassing the sky from dark locales night after night, these sentinels have definitely won the war when it comes to new discoveries. You’re more likely to see a survey name like ‘ATLAS’ or ‘PanSTARRS’ on a new comet today than say, ‘Johnson’ or ‘Smith’.As of writing this, there are close to 624,000 numbered asteroid discoveries and counting. This goes back to 1 Ceres, discovered by Giuseppe Piazzi on the first night of the 19th century. While comets are named after their discoverers, the rights for naming asteroids goes to the discoverer, though these also need final approval from the International Astronomical Union.A Tough (But Not Impossible) Search That’s not to say that there aren’t still discoveries to be made. Increasingly, amateur astronomers are simply moving their efforts online. Remote telescopes offering observing time worldwide are now becoming available. A pair of recent asteroid discoveries made by amateur astronomer Filipp Romanov highlights this trend. Universe Today caught up with Filipp recently, to find just how he did it.“Currently, in astronomy, many asteroids have already been discovered, for example, bright or close to Earth,” Filipp Romanov told Universe Today. “But among minor planets fainter than +20th apparent magnitude, unknown ones can still be found. For an amateur astronomer, this is difficult to do due to the fact that large automatic sky surveys constantly monitor the sky and often find new objects.”Amateur astronomer Filipp Romanov.To that end, Romanov took an ‘if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em’ approach.“In 2022, I got a few hours of observing time (for my astrometric measurements of comets and asteroids) at the two-metre aperture robotic Liverpool Telescope (LT) located on the island of La Palma (in the Canary Islands).”A Cosmic Quest Hits Paydirt“At the end of October-beginning of November 2022, I tried to search for asteroids using the LT (Liverpool Telescope); I found two asteroids in the resulting images for which the Minor Planet Checker showed no matches with known asteroids. I observed them for a few days, but then there was updated information that they were already known.”It happens. The data was still useful to refine the known asteroids’ orbits. Undeterred, Romanov continued his search.“Before the November 2022 New Moon, I continued to search for asteroids. I had chosen the areas of the sky near the ecliptic and in the opposition region.” This region tends to be prime hunting grounds for new asteroids, as they’re at their brighest and closest to the Earth. These areas also hadn’t been recently covered by ongoing sky surveys, which Romanov found in the MPC’s Sky Coverage Plots database.“On November 23rd, 2022, two fields of 10 by 10 arc minutes were photographed, and on one of them I found an unknown asteroid which I designated as RFD0004, and on a second field I found an asteroid, RFD0004. I made astrometric measurements and sent my data to the Minor Planet Center.”Confirming New Discoveries “I calculated (using the New Object Ephemeris Generator) where the asteroids will be in the sky in a day, and on November 24, 2022, I received new photographs of the requested areas of the sky. I found RFD0004 again but I didn’t find RFD0005, but I found another asteroid, RFD0006.”Tracking the asteroids in their orbits around the Sun is key to identification as something new. “I continued to track these asteroids for a month, and in December 2022 these asteroids received provisional designations in the Minor Planet Center database: RFD006 was designated 2022 WY16, and RFD0004 was 2022 WY17.” Both asteroids were at about +21st magnitude at the time of discovery.Confirming a discovery, however, can often take months, sometimes years. Objects often get lost in the glare of the Sun, or become too faint to recover as they move away from the Earth. “Assigning permanent designations (numbers) to minor planets occurs when their orbits are well known,” says Romanov. “But in the case of these asteroids, they were found in archival images of sky surveys (in this case, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, going back to 2002) and this made it possible to increase their observation arcs.”Discovery images for asteroids 2022 WY17 and 2022 WY16. Credit: Liverpool Telescope/Filipp RomanovThese discoveries along with others were then released in the July 2023 Minor Planet Center Circular. These are the first asteroids discovered by Romanov, and the first asteroids discovered by the Liverpool Telescope.Naming AsteroidsFinally, it came time to name the asteroids. “Numbered asteroids can be named, and in July 2023 I proposed—to the Working Group Small Bodies Nomenclature (WGSBN) committee of the International Astronomical Union—naming these asteroids in honor of my great-grandfathers.”The asteroids found by Filipp Romanov are:2022 WY16 is now 623826 Alekseyvarkin, named after the discoverer’s great-grandfather Aleksey Makarovich Varkin, who was wounded in World War II while rescuing horses, and later decorated for the act of heroism.The orbit of asteroid 623826 Alekseyvarkin. Credit: NASA/JPL.On a 4.4 year orbit around the Sun, 623826 Alekseyvarkin is a main-belt asteroid, and a member of the Eunomia family of asteroids. Another well-known possible member of the family is asteroid 162173 Ryuku, visited by JAXA’s Hayabusa-2 mission in 2018 and 2019.Next, 2022 WY17 is now 623827 Nikandrilyich, named after the discoverer’s great-grandfather Nikandr Ilyich Romanov, who served as a military veterinarian and later a foreman.On a 5.78 year orbit, asteroid 623827 Nikandrilyich is an outer main-belt asteroid.An Impressive Amateur Astronomer ResumeFilipp observes from far eastern Russia in Nakhodka. This unique locale often fills coverage in a needed longitude gap when it comes to observers worldwide. At age 26, he is self-educated in astronomy. Filipp is the discoverer of 81 variable stars, 3 novae, 2 supernovae, 4 binary stars, and now, 2 asteroids. Not bad.A recent Starlink satellite train pass over Nakhodka. Credit: Filipp Romanov.Romanov has a passion for astronomy, and his path serves to inspire anyone out there to ‘just do it.’“I, my mother and our 18-year old cat are now in the same locality Yuzhno-Morskoy (in my small homeland) near the city of Nakhodka, in the housing of my old grandparents where I independently (based on self-education) make my discoveries in astronomy as an amateur astronomer. I love to study and popularize the science of astronomy, and plan to study as an astronomer at university in the near future in order to make even greater contributions to the science of astronomy.”Supernova SN 2023ixf in the Pinwheel Galaxy Messier 101. Credit: Filipp Romanov.A New Generation of Astronomical DiscoveryAn amazing story, for sure. And there’s more to come. All-sky surveys such as the Vera Rubin Observatory will come online in early 2025. Vera Rubin promises to scour the sky several times a night down below +21st magnitude. These surveys will produce a fire hose of images for anyone with an internet connection to scour though. The time for online sleuths to hunt for asteroids and comets has never been better.Naming a space rock offers a small bit of immortality, out in the depths of the solar system. You can imagine asteroid miners in a future straight out of The Expanse, approaching a prospective space rock. They may wonder just where its obscure name came from as it looms ahead. Fraser (the publisher of Universe Today) has an asteroid, 158092 Frasercain, as do several names in the online skeptical community. As of writing this, I have yet to have the honor, but you just never know…Congrats to Romanov on his surreptitious discoveries, and here’s to more to come!-Follow Filipp on Flickr, YouTube and his own live journal. The post Dedicated Amateur Astronomer Makes Rare Pair of Asteroid Discoveries appeared first on Universe Today.

#space #astronomy #news #science

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sciencespies · 1 year

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The Mysterious Comets That Hide in the Asteroid Belt

https://sciencespies.com/news/the-mysterious-comets-that-hide-in-the-asteroid-belt/

The Mysterious Comets That Hide in the Asteroid Belt

Comets normally fly in from the far reaches of space. Yet astronomers have found them seemingly misplaced in the asteroid belt. Why are they there?

What do you expect to find in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter? Unsurprisingly, asteroids — millions of bits of rocky debris — would be the correct answer. But recently, astronomers have found some oddball objects that appear to be misplaced hiding in the rubble: comets.

Now, as reported last week in a study in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, a survey dedicated to hunting these misfits might have spied another icy individual blasting its own matter into space.

Scientists identified the suspected comet with the Wide Field Camera of the Isaac Newton Telescope on the Canary Island of La Palma. During three observation runs from 2018 through 2020, they watched 534 different asteroids, looking for signs of a comet’s coma — its ephemeral gassy shell — or tail made by the dust in the coma being pushed by the sun’s radiation.

Conventionally, comets are made of a nucleus, a solid core of various ices and dust. As a comet approaches the sun, its most volatile ices vaporize, creating a coma and two types of tails.

Comets are thought to have originated from the fringes of the solar system and beyond. Unlike their frosty cousins that often linger in our star system’s cold outer reaches, asteroid belt, or main belt, comets stick to the warmer edge of the inner solar system. These comets are also as ancient as their neighboring asteroids, making their frozen matter mystifying.

“We need to be able to explain how their ice survived for so long,” said Léa Ferellec, a postgraduate student of astronomy at the University of Edinburgh and an author of the study.

Solving this will help to explain not just the planetary diversity and layout of the solar system, but also one of the greatest questions in astronomy: Where did Earth’s water come from?

Astronomers suspect that at least some of Earth’s water came from a bombardment of comets flying in from afar. However, robotic reconnaissance missions and distant observations have demonstrated that their water’s chemical fingerprints often do not match the Earth’s. It is also easier for objects from the asteroid belt to crash into the planet.

That means objects like main belt comets may “be a source of Earth’s water,” said Colin Snodgrass, an astronomer at the University of Edinburgh and a co-author of the study.

As in other comets, the ices of a main belt comet vaporize and create a coma as they screech past the sun. But bizarrely, they orbit in the asteroid belt, a graveyard of debris that did not coalesce into planets.

The first main belt comet was discovered in 1996, but “you can always explain one weirdo,” Dr. Snodgrass said, suggesting that the belt could have captured an interloping comet. However, eight others have since been detected. Around 20 other belt-bound objects seen shedding mass — possibly because of comet-like periodic ice vaporization, wild spinning or recent impacts by asteroids — are considered candidates to be comets.

Researchers from the study, hoping to spot more mavericks in the main belt, found just one new candidate: 2001 NL19.

“This is the only one that seems to have a little something,” Ms. Ferellec said, describing the object’s faint tail-like feature streaking away from the sun. It could have been born of ice vaporization, making the object cometary. More observations will be necessary as it re-approaches the sun, when a coma or tail is most likely to appear.

Regardless of how 2001 NL19 is classified, the number of confirmed main belt comets suggests that “these things are native to the asteroid belt,” Dr. Snodgrass said. Their genesis remains hazy, though some ideas have been put forward.

Perhaps main belt comets, like their more distant, conventional counterparts, formed far from the sun during the chaotic early days of the solar system, but instead of remaining remote they were jostled by the gravity of other objects and placed into what is now the asteroid belt. After billions of years, any surviving primordial ice would be buried deep below their rocky surfaces. If they are hit by another asteroid, some of this ice will be excavated, exposing it to scorching starlight.

Uncertainties aside, one thing is clear: The existence of these asteroid-comet screwballs complicates the urge to put natural phenomena into neat little boxes.

“I always say, ‘Everything is a comet,’” said Kacper Wierzchos, an astronomer at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona who was not involved with the study. “If you brought my couch close enough to the sun, it would start melting and having a coma.”

#News

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emzeciorrr · 2 years

Video

ENTRE CIEL ET TERRE - La Palma in 4K astrolapse from Night Lights Films on Vimeo.

There are only a few regions in the world where the skies meet the Earth with almost no distinction between the two. La Palma in the Canary islands is one of them. ‘Entre Ciel et Terre’ literally means ‘Between the sky and Earth’ and was a perfect fit here. While most of the volcanic island is isolated under a thick layer of clouds, the tip of its crater often punches through it and allows you to be one step closer to the Heavens. At an altitude of about 2300 meters above sea level you feel so far removed from any kind of civilization especially because of the cloud inversion. The air is thin and pristine and the living conditions are harsh but that’s the reason why the ORM (Observatory Roque de Los Muchachos) -operated by the IAC (Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias) and part of the European Northern Observatory, was built up there. The summit of La Palma’s caldera benefits from dry and clear skies almost year round with almost no light pollution to disturb it, and only rare Calima (this dusty wind coming from the Sahara desert). It’s safe to say that the ‘Isla Bonita’ is one of the top places in the world to observe the northern hemisphere’s night sky!

The purpose of this short was to capture that special place from a different perspective. I really wanted to give the audience sort of a confusion as to where they are because that’s precisely the feeling you get when you look up at the stars from the mountains. You somehow lose sense of any orientation as if you were lost in the immensity of the universe! One image that I had in my head to describe La Palma’s summit was Asgard or Mount Olympus, where all the elements are united and blend together divinely. Even life found a way to survive in this environment bombarded by high-energy rays during the day and battered by cold winds at night. One highlighted species is the fascinating and mind-boggling Tajinaste flower. Also called Tenerife Bugloss or tower of jewels, this docile and resilient endemic plant can endure extreme drought. I included it in the movie because it looks majestic and prehistoric. It really adds something special to the special atmosphere I wanted to convey, especially when the milky way galaxy and the sea of clouds move in the background! By tracking the night sky or displaying the sequences upside-down I was able to give that impression of the Earth floating and rotating in the void of the cosmos. The unusual but innovative close-up views of some parts of the milky way (including the core, Rho Ophiuchi or Cygnus) moving behind the operating telescopes of the OMC helped me give that only human dimension to the movie. The use of an astro-modified camera also enabled me to almost get the full range of colors a DSLR can pick up on single frames from nebulae.

I already traveled to La Palma island in November 2017 but I really wanted to shoot there again for several reasons. First I really wanted to get more shots of the core region that would be less spoiled by light pollution than the ones I recently took on Tenerife. Secondly I desperately wanted to meet the extremely talented photographer Alyn Wallace (check him out: alynwallacephotography.com) and do a collaboration with him on the island. Thirdly I am still on my way of perfecting the novel art of deep-sky time-lapse and I wanted to reshoot some sequences that didn’t give satisfying results in the past. Finally I wanted to personally experience the Spring vibe of the island when all the plants are blooming and give that sweet smell to the air. I am absolutely thrilled to have met all my expectations (and more!), and I really believe the results look stunning!

Everything was recorded with the Canon 6D Baader modified, the Sony a7s, the Sony a7rII and a variety of bright lenses ranging from 14mm to 300mm. I used the Lonely Speck Pure Night and Matt Aust Light pollution filters to reduce light pollution and increase details, and also the Vixen Polarie to track the stars and get cleaner shots. Syrp Genie 3 axis system was used for motion control. All post production was made in Lr with the special timelapse plus plugin, Sequence for mac, TLDF, and final production was made in FCPX. I hope you like the movie as much as I liked shooting and processing it and I thank everyone of you for your support. All content is of course copyrighted AMP&F (except sountrack licensed through Envato Market), and no footage can be used in any way without the author’s permission. Please contact me for media and purchase inquiry. Please share and comment if you liked the video and follow me for more videos like this one! More at adphotography-online.com. 

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apod · 2 years

Photo

2022 January 3

Comet Leonard's Long Tail Image Credit & Copyright: Jan Hattenbach

Explanation: You couldn't see Comet Leonard’s extremely long tail with a telescope — it was just too long. You also couldn't see it with binoculars — still too long. Or with your eyes -- it was too dim. Or from a city — the sky was too bright. But from a dark location with a low horizon — your camera could. And still might -- if the comet survives today's closest encounter with the Sun, which occurs between the orbits of Mercury and Venus. The featured picture was created from two deep and wide-angle camera images taken from La Palma in the Canary Islands of Spain late last month. Afterwards, if it survives, what is left of Comet Leonard's nucleus will head out of our Solar System, never to return.

∞ Source: apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220103.html

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mystarypi-astronomy · 2 years

Photo

This is the Silver Coin Galaxy! 💫💫💫

This intermediate spiral galaxy was found when famous astronomers Caroline Herschel was searching for comets in the night sky. At the center of the populated Sculptor galaxy group, this galaxy is one of the brightest and most active galaxies in the Milky Way’s vicinity! ✨✨✨

Taken by me (Michelle Park) using the Slooh Canary Two telescope on July 20th, 2022 at 4:57 UTC.

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kaihuntrr · 7 months

Text

Chapter One: A Canary’s Song

We meet the main cast of the story; the Canaries!

To read the tumblr version, check under the read more!

The sea was dangerous, but humans could conquer the seas.

Ships hardened by metal and wielding powerful equipment could ward off the beasts, and each day the waters were tamed by powerful hunters. Hunters welcomed people from all classes, sorting themselves into different crews and factions with their own requirements and status. There were hunters who killed frequently, taking down multiple smaller beasts, hunters who took on larger and more imposing beasts but had a lesser kill count, and hunters who strove for a middle ground. None of these hunters or factions could compare to those in the employ of the king himself.

The Canaries were one such group of hunters.

“Beast in sight!”

From the waters rose a gigantic turtle-like beast with a set of large jaws and spikes that lined the edge of its scutes. Its yellow eyes pierced out of the oceanic depths, focusing on the hunters as it let out a bellowing roar. It swam towards the hunting ship as its flippers propelled the beast forward, creating waves that slapped against the side of the ship, rocking it back and forth.

A man with raven black hair and a mustache observed the creature with his telescope as it barreled forward, “It’s a class B, boneback! Aim for the exposed flesh, watch out for the scutes!” As if on command, the scutes on the boneback’s shell rose from its back and fired, creating dents on the ship’s metal plating.

Mumbo raised an eyebrow and chuckled, turning to his captain, Grian, a man with dirty blonde hair with a hat holding three parrot feathers. “It’s going to keep firing. I think we tire it out, then we strike back.”

His captain smiled in return, nodding, “Sounds like a plan. Alright everyone, you heard Mumbo, let’s get this ship moving!” The sounds of engines roared, shifting from a slower idle state to a higher gear. The whole ship came to life with the ground rumbling under them. The boneback growled as the hunters sped across the sea.

Grian turned to his brother, Joel, “Hm, ‘might be best if we get those cannons going.”

“I know that, Grian,” Joel rolled his eyes, noticing Scar loading his crossbow from the crow’s nest. Even without direction, the man knew what he was going to do. Joel grinned, calling up to him, “Give ‘em what you got, Scar! Join in on the fun!”

Scar’s smile was infectious, his excitable energy reaching the crew on the deck, “I have you covered! Hawk-eye!” Iron bolts shot out from the weapon, striking the boneback’s shell as it groaned in pain.

“I got an idea!” a voice piped up over the noise the fight caused.

Bdubs hefted a barrel in his arms, heaving as he attempted to run along the deck. He nearly stumbled, almost lost his footing before another set of hands joined him on the barrel. Cleo, one of his best friends, gave her crewmate a grin as she raised an eyebrow. “A stupid one, I’d bet.”

The white haired man grinned as the two hoisted the barrel of gunpowder together, their crewmates watching on. Cleo glanced at Lizzie, “Turn the ship around, Lizzie! We need a clear shot for this sucker.”

A woman with long, pink hair stood at the helm, locking eyes with Cleo as she gave her a shrug and a smile. Lizzie rolled her eyes, “On it!” The boat rocked as Lizzie made a sharp turn, barrels and boxes sliding towards the opposite side with the engine roaring.

Joel, Grian, and Mumbo were mounted on the cannons. Joel grinned manically, “Fire!”

The boneback groaned as the firearms began to hit the fragile spots of its shell, too exposed with all its scutes gone. It tucked its head into its shell before slamming against the hull. A loud resonating noise rumbled across the ship as the metal dented. The ship dashed through the water, the boneback growled as the hunters glanced to see its head duck out, turning around and charging towards them.

The boneback roared, mouth opening wide as Cleo and Bdubs threw the barrel into its open maw.

Bdubs pulled a gun out from his belt, grinning, “Got you now, beast!”

“Get down!” Martyn’s sudden shout alerted the crew as he ran from the lower deck. Bdubs raised his gun in the air.

Martyn’s eyes focused on the beast and he grinned. He dashed towards Cleo and Bdubs, hearing the beast. Martyn crashed into Bdubs, taking the shot at the boneback while the white haired man was still in shock.

The explosion was bright and blinding. There was a split second for the Canaries to shut their eyes and brace for the blow, the loud bang filling their ears. The shock rattled the ship sideways and their ears rang with white noise.

The beast cried out in pain, smoke and blood pouring out of its gaping maw. Its body jerked before collapsing. There was a brief moment of white noise lingering in the hunters’ ears before the sounds of the calm ocean flooded back in.

Lizzie had shut off the engine, the gentle swaying waves brushed against the sides of the ship. “Tie it up,” Lizzie said, “Let’s head home!”

Joel placed his hand on Cleo’s back, “Come on, Cleo. Help me out with the rope; tie it to the ship.” They nodded, grabbing several thick ropes and handing them to Joel, the man jumping down on the beast’s head to wrap the ropes around its neck.

He fastened the ropes together with a hard knot before approaching the cracked soft shell. Bonebacks would use their hard scutes to fire, but once they’re out of scutes the shell was entirely soft and exposed to cracks. Joel saw a small, malformed scute near the boneback’s head and pried it out with his sword.

Bdubs groaned. He threw his arms up, tapping his foot as he huffed at the blonde who knocked him over, “Aw come on, Martyn! What was that for?!”

Martyn chuckled, scratching his head with a shrug, “Sorry ‘dubs, the adrenaline rush got to me.” Bdubs rolled his eyes, clearly not amused, but Martyn sure was.

Joel used the rope to climb back, the scute pinned between his arm and chest. Cleo grabbed his arm and pulled him back onto the ship.

“Thanks.” Joel smiled, swinging his legs over the ship’s railing and landing on the deck. She had already finished tying the ropes to the back of the ship, allowing them to drag the carcass behind them. Cleo nodded in return, a small smile crept up on their face.

Mumbo elbowed Martyn’s shoulder, “Say that when you were more involved in the fight.” He straightened out his red cravat, dusting off any dirt on his clothes. “Where even were you?”

Joel approached the commotion, holding the scute. “Why are we suddenly questioning him? Martyn contributed to the fight at least.” Bdubs rolled his eyes.

“But that was my plan!” Bdubs crossed his arms. Martyn patted the man’s back, Bdubs sighed.

“You’ll get it next time, promise!” Martyn looked at Bdubs, smiling as the man furrowed his eyebrows. He was sorry! He didn’t want to miss out on a fight. Martyn scratched the back of his head, “I was just… busy.”

Bdubs glanced at Martyn, raising an eyebrow, “Busy with what?”

Martyn let out a noncommittal hum in response, eyes darting away from the crew. Grian smirked, raising his eyebrows, “Busy on the lower deck, lost in his head daydreaming about him again.” Martyn’s face flushed burning red, raising his hands defensively raising his hands. There was a glint in everyone’s eyes. Martyn hesitated, thinking of something to say, “I- I wasn’t! I was–”

Grian laughed, causing Martyn’s face to flush an even brighter red. Joel gently nudged his shoulder with a grin, “It’s fine, loverboy. We’re going home after this. The king’s expecting us this afternoon, so you’ll see him again.”

See him again.

The thought made Martyn’s heart do all sorts of backflips. Something about him was so- so enchanting, Martyn couldn’t stand the wait to see him again. What he could stand to wait for, however, was his crew openly joking about this. He loved them, but they got on his nerves sometimes.

Martyn covered his face, letting out a sigh, “Joel– ugh. This isn’t funny.”

Martyn could hear Lizzie laugh from the rear end of the ship, “It’s funny to us, Martyn! You get so worked up over it too!” It couldn’t be that obvious, could it?

Martyn’s mysterious ‘him’ was the beautiful Scott Major.

Scott always greeted the hunters with a smile, welcoming and encouraging them to talk about their month on the savage seas. He was a friendly, bubbly guy, and his tavern was always open to those who wanted a place to drink and have a good time.

How Scott acted towards Martyn, however, was a different story.

Scott loved to talk to the Canaries, but to Martyn? Scott winked, playfully nudged, and said things Martyn knew he wouldn’t say to anyone else unless Scott thought they were attractive. God, Scott was flirting with him, and he was falling for every single line.

Martyn adored Scott right back, doing everything he could to flirt back or to talk to him, and this back and forth has been going on for months.

Maybe it was the way Martyn was constantly smiling at the thought of him, or how much his heart raced whenever they came close to shore that made his feelings so obvious to the others. It was probably a bad idea to fall for a guy adamant about remaining on land, but Martyn, mostly, didn’t care.

Martyn shook his head. ‘Best to think of something else for now,’ he told himself, ‘Don’t even think of telling the others how, for a good chunk of time now, you’ve been drawing him in your sketchbook.’

Nope. Definitely do not tell them that.

What were they doing now? Oh, right. They were going home. Meeting the king.

Every end of the month, the Canaries would return with trophies from beasts they’d previously slain and the body of their final hunt. Trophies were to be rewarded with gold and wealth, while the bodies were used for further research into weaponsmithing.

The hunters dispersed into their little groups to relax as the ship sailed back to the kingdom, the engine humming along the waters. Martyn took a glance at Mumbo, writing in his journal. “Writing the gunpowder barrel trick into your notes?” Martyn asked.

Mumbo perked up, snapping his journal shut as he finished, “Of course. Can’t have any killing method go undocumented.” Mumbo was the ship’s analyst and mechanic, and someone Martyn often found himself around. The two would have a calm air of silence as they respectively wrote or drew in their own notebooks. Mumbo had the specific task of documenting the Canaries’ kills and ways they did it, along with any significant change in patterns or behaviors the monsters exhibited. It was always better to be safe than sorry.

Mumbo hummed, “Though it might be best if we don’t use that often. A whole barrel of gunpowder? Just wasted like that? There has got to be a better way to conserve resources...” His eyebrows furrowed and his eyes narrowed as he rested his hand on his chin, mumbling away under his breath.

Best not to disturb him. Martyn tilted his head away, signaling to Mumbo that he’d be leaving. Mumbo’s eyes focused on him for a moment and he nodded.

Cleo, Scar, and Bdubs were off on one side of the deck talking about something, their laughter loud and hearty. Joel had joined Lizzie by the steering wheel, leaving Grian by himself to stare out into the ocean. Martyn sighed. Grian shouldn’t be left staring at the ocean for too long.

He approached the captain, a small smile on his face, “Grian?” he called out just before he got there. The captain flinched, turning around to look at Martyn with his shoulders raised before a sigh escaped him and he deflated. Martyn tilted his head, “Am I.. intruding?”

Grian shook his head, “No, you’re fine. Just… thinking.” Grian tried to force a smile, but his shoulders dropped as he stared outwards again.

Martyn glanced at Grian as he stood beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder, “Thinking about… Jimmy?”

Jimmy Solidarity, Grian and Joel’s older brother, was dead. Been dead for a while.

Martyn silently wished he had been there for them when it happened, but he hadn’t been. It was a difficult situation and he hoped he was doing good by being there for them now.

Grian crossed his arms, “It’s just not right. He can’t be dead. It’s just…”

It was commonplace for Grian to be a bit of a trickster, impressively cunning with an edge of playfulness on the side. He was a fun-loving guy, surprising the crew with pranks and messing with them using jokes and mischievously taking items from a person before returning it with a snarky remark. So seeing this side of their captain hurt. They’d all seen glimpses of it, but Martyn was sure he’d seen more of Grian’s pain than anyone else, save for maybe Joel and Lizzie.

“The ocean’s demons took so much from us,” Martyn hissed, his eyes narrowed. Grian sighed. Martyn turned to his captain, “We’ve all lost people out here.”

Too many important people die out in these waters.

Martyn rubbed Grian’s back, “You’ll find the monster that did it, I know you will.”

Grian shot a glance at Martyn, a smile tugging at his face. “We’ll find out what beast did it, and tear its heart out.” That was a promise.

“And you will,” Martyn nodded, raising an eyebrow, “Leave some of the beast open for the rest of us, though. Everyone on this ship wants a piece out of it too.”

Grian let out a snort, nudging Martyn away with a grin, “We’ll try, but no promises.” Martyn rolled his eyes. At least he was feeling better now. The two shared a laugh as they looked out over the open sea together.

Something caught Martyn’s eyes. He raised his hand to his forehead to block out the sun from hitting his eyes as he leaned in over the railing. “Patrol ships. We should hand this haul over to them.”

Grian nodded, placing his hands on the sides of his mouth to shout down to the crew still on deck, “Untie the beast! They’ll take it from here.”

The whirr of engines rolled closer as the ships approached. The sounds died down as the vessels slowed upon seeing the hunting ship. Two ships sailed in from either side, hailing to the Canaries. “Oh, hunters! What joy it is to see you all alive and well,” the captain on the right beamed, “Wretched thing you got back there!”

“You know it! This isn’t even the biggest we’ve fought,” Joel grinned with a smug look on his face. He shrugged, “Or the most dangerous.”

The captain nodded, “Ah. Your ship must be all tuckered out for the month, then.”

“All tuckered out and ready for proper repairs,” Joel nodded back. He looked at the body of the boneback, “We’re turning in now and getting ready for the next month. I’m sure those researchers are going to enjoy dissecting this one. You can handle taking this back, right?” He gestured to the creature.

The captain laughed, “Ay, I’ll bet! It must be proper beaten then, with you lot being the king’s hunters and all.”

The Canaries were proud hunters. On top of being hunters personally employed by the king, they were out on the wild seas most of the time, so they always brought home many trophies within the span of a month.

“We’ll take it from here, lads.” The captain gave a small salute towards Joel.

The captain looked at the sky, checking the time, “Judging by the sun’s spot in the sky, the king’s court should be over in a couple of hours, so you made it just in time. Welcome home, Canaries!”

The two ships sailed past the Canaries and tied the carcass of the boneback to their stern, sailing away with it. The Canaries’ ship’s engine shut off as the sails came down, the wind blowing inland. Lizzie maneuvered the ship, steering it towards the main gates. Joel approached Martyn and Grian, who smiled upon his arrival.

Mumbo approached where Martyn, Grian, and Joel were standing by the railing, his face scrunched up as he watched the body of the beast get dragged away. “I was looking through my notes earlier.” He opened his journal and flipped to the page for the turtle-like monster. It was full of notes and scribbles of its anatomy, weak points, size charts, and some illegible handwritten notes. Mumbo pointed at one of the notes, “It says here that bonebacks only attack in warmer weathers. It’s the beginning of autumn,” he fidgeted with his notebook, “So this boneback is far too active for this time of year, it’s supposed to be preparing for hibernation.”

Right, winter was on its way. Once the ice freezes over island shores, hunters were to remain on land until the ice thawed and the temperature no longer deathly cold. Those were always the weirdest months. No salty sea air, no adrenaline-inducing monster fights, none of that. Only the cold weather, snowfall, and the chance to catch up on sleep. Other hunters enjoyed the winter because of it, engaging in their own hobbies or going off to do anything else, but not Martyn. Martyn would rather be out there on the waters fighting monsters than being stuck on an island for months! Hunting to him was like an itch to be satisfied, and not hunting made the itch unbearable.

One thought lingered in his mind, however; what if he spent the winter with Scott?

Scott definitely enjoyed his company, and did constantly tease Martyn about his lacking presence in his life. It could be possible. It’d give him something to do other than sulk around or continue to train.

Hunting was an essential part of his life, he didn’t know who he was without it. Hunting made him alive. It gave him a passion. His parents raised him into being the best hunter, and he hoped it showed.

Martyn’s eyes darted around until he noticed Mumbo waving at him. “Martyn? Martyn, are you listening?”

Martyn blinked rapidly, shaking his head, “Wha– sorry, I wasn’t. I remember you mentioning the boneback strikes in warmer waters?”

Mumbo tilted his head and hummed. He glanced at his journal, his eyebrows furrowed as he frowned. “It’s worrying. Maybe it’s a change in territory location, or new behavior in general. We’ll have to look out for these types of changes. I’m not sure what it means yet.” He closed his journal, shrugging.

Monsters act weird all the time. They’re monsters.

It’s hard to understand what isn’t supposed to be understood. Maybe it’s some weird behavior quirk, or maybe it's… but why wouldn’t they just attack the ship instead of sending monsters? Martyn waved the thought away.

—————

The ship rocked slowly as they passed through the stream, Martyn was with Lizzie as she held the steering wheel. It had been a comfortable ride without any monster attacks. The beasts live in the salty deep ocean, so there was nothing dangerous here, nothing but fish for people to catch and eat. Pure bliss.

Lizzie looked at Martyn, “Do you have any plans for winter?”

Martyn paused. He did think of spending time with Scott, but he didn’t ask yet. He shook his head, “No, not really. I was hoping I could just sleep the whole winter away, hibernate or something.” He shrugged, “...Maybe I’ll ask Scott out or something. It’s been eating at me.”

Lizzie let out a little chuckle. Martyn blushed and crossed his arms. She smiled at him, “You should! Sooner is better than later.” Martyn was silent, unsure of how to answer. Lizzie raised an eyebrow at him, a small blush rising to her cheeks, “I crushed on Joel for a while before he confessed to me. Maybe Scott’s waiting for you to make the first move.”

“Is- is he? No- no, no that’d be stupid,” Martyn blushed. He could hear Lizzie’s laugh. He looked away, “I- I’m not- I’m not sure I’m ready yet.” He shook his head with a sigh.

“I understand. Things like this are a serious commitment.” Lizzie looked at her engagement ring.

Martyn felt all warm and fuzzy whenever Lizzie or Joel showed off their rings. They were planning on getting married soon, the date wasn’t set but they were planning it during the winter. That was probably why she asked Martyn if he was doing anything. He didn’t dwell on it.

Lizzie glanced down to where Joel was talking to Scar and Bdubs before their eyes made contact. Joel grinned and waved at her, causing Lizzie to give a small wave back with a little giggle.

She continued to stare at her ring then looked at Joel again. A wistful sigh escaped her, Lizzie catching Martyn off guard with a quick hug, “Don’t rush it. There’s going to be a time and place when both of you will be ready to take the world on together, you just need to wait for the right moment.”

While Lizzie loved to join in on the teasing, the advice she’d give was a constant reassurance.

Martyn placed his hand on top of Lizzie’s. “Thank you, Liz.”

“Anytime,” Lizzie grinned, “It looks like we’re here!”

Before them was a huge gate, walls adorning the sides as layers of steel and nets lowered to provide an entrance to the hunters. They could see the sprawling port town in front of them, and far from here, past the forests and mountains, was the kingdom proper.

The town was nothing too spectacular. It had concrete walls and flooring, and buildings made with different types of stone and wood stood near the entrance. Market stalls were set up in various places of the entrance as the town went further and further in. A forest separated the town from the castle town and rivers sprawled out into the waters.

Martyn glanced at Lizzie as she gave him a smirk. “Can’t leave him waiting, can you?”

They were here.

The ship was docked to one of the ports. Scar laid down the gangplank to connect them to solid ground once more. Scar grinned, spreading his arms out to the crowd, “We have returned!”

The citizens of the port lit up in cheers as they disembarked the ship. Martyn breathed a sigh of relief. Once again, they had made it back in one piece, as always.

Grian approached Martyn, jerking his head towards the town, “Go ahead. We got things covered here. The carriage should be around soon, and we’ll have the others lift the trophies.”

“Get out of here, loverboy!” Joel laughed, giving Martyn a push from the gangplank.

Martyn can hear the other Canaries shouting at him, all friendly and encouraging, but stupidly embarrassing for him. “Go on, Martyn! Tell him we said hi!” “Kiss him already!” “Don’t be stupid!”

Martyn rolled his eyes, fully aware of the blush on his face. “Alright, alright! Jeez!” he laughed, shaking his head as he began a run towards the tavern he and his huntermates were all too familiar with.

He wanted to hear Scott’s laugh again. See his eyes again. See his smile. He wanted to see Scott.

He can’t wait to see Scott again.

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