Today is Valentine’s Day. What better way to express that
you love someone than with an intergalactic love gram? Check out some of our
favorites and send them to all of your cosmic companions:
Your love is galactic
The Hubble Space Telescope revolutionized nearly all areas
of astronomical research — and captured some truly lovely
images. Here, a pair of intersecting galaxies swirl into the shape of a rose as a
result of gravitational tidal pull. What type of roses are you getting for your
love — red or galactic?
I think you’re n{ice}
IceBridge is the largest airborne survey of Earth’s polar
ice ever flown. It captures 3-D views of Arctic and Antarctic ice sheets, ice shelves
and sea ice. This lovely heart-shaped glacier feature was discovered in
northwest Greenland during an IceBridge flight in 2017. Which of your lover’s
features would you say are the coolest?
You’re absolutely
magnetic
Even though we can’t see them, magnetic fields are all
around us. One of the solar system’s largest magnetospheres belongs to Jupiter.
Right now, our Juno spacecraft is providing scientists with their first
glimpses of this unseen force. Is your attraction to your loved one magnetic?
You’re MARS-velous
This heart-shaped feature on the Martian landscape was
captured by our Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. It was created by a small impact
crater that blew darker material on the surface away. What impact has your
loved one had on you?
I <3 you
From three billion miles away, Pluto sent a “love note” back
to Earth, via our New Horizons spacecraft. This stunning image of Pluto’s
“heart” shows one of the world’s most dominant features, estimated to
be 1,000 miles (1,600 km) across at its widest point. Will you pass this love
note on to someone special in your life?
Light of my life
Our Solar Dynamics Observatory keeps an eye on our closest star
that brings energy to you and your love. The observatory helps us understand
where the Sun’s energy comes from, how the inside of the Sun works, how energy
is stored and released in the Sun’s atmosphere and much more. Who would you say
is your ray of sunshine?
Do any of these cosmic phenomena remind you of someone in
your universe? Download these cards here to
send to all the stars in your sky.
In early 2018, scientist Nicholas Pilfold and his team set up a number of cameras in order to track and study leopards. The cameras were set up in the land of
Loisaba Conservancy in northern Kenya. Thanks to the cameras, the scientific team was able to capture this incredible footage of a black panther - or a melanistic
leopard - thriving. This is only one of the handful of black panthers that were captured on film. As of 2017, only one photograph of a melanistic leopard in Africa was proof of this mutation living in the area. That single photograph was taken in 1909 in Ethiopia.
The Suckling will be released on Blu-ray/DVD combo pack on March 26. Orders placed directly from Vinegar Syndrome ($24.49) will receive an embossed slipcover designed by Earl Kessler Jr. (pictured below), limited to 1,500.
Also known as Sewage Baby, the 1990 direct-to-video horror oddity is the only feature from writer-director Francis Teri. Frank Rivera, Lisa Petruno, and Marie Michaels star, with Michael Gingold as the titular creature.
The Suckling has been newly restored in 2K from
the 16mm original camera negative. It features reversible cover art. Special
features are below.
Valentine’s Day is a time to celebrate romance and love and kissy-face fealty. But the origins of this festival of candy and cupids are actually dark, bloody — and a bit muddled.
Though no one has pinpointed the exact origin of the holiday, one good place to start is ancient Rome, where men hit on women by, well, hitting them.
From Feb. 13 to 15, the Romans celebrated the feast of Lupercalia. The men sacrificed a goat and a dog, then whipped women with the hides of the animals they had just slain.
The Roman romantics “were drunk. They were naked,” says Noel Lenski, a historian at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Young women would actually line up for the men to hit them, Lenski says. They believed this would make them fertile.
The brutal fete included a matchmaking lottery, in which young men drew the names of women from a jar. The couple would then be, um, coupled up for the duration of the festival — or longer, if the match was right.
The ancient Romans may also be responsible for the name of our modern day of love. Emperor Claudius II executed two men — both named Valentine — on Feb. 14 of different years in the 3rd century A.D. Their martyrdom was honored by the Catholic Church with the celebration of St. Valentine’s Day.
Image: Hulton Archive/Getty Images Caption: A drawing depicts the death of St. Valentine — one of them, anyway. The Romans executed two men by that name on Feb. 14 of different years in the 3rd century A.D.
