Massimo Marengo
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mmarengo.bsky.social
Massimo Marengo
@mmarengo.bsky.social
1.1K followers 3.1K following 210 posts
Astronomer / Faculty at #FSU. Pulsating stars and how to use them to reveal the universe. I use big telescope for work (HST, JWST, etc) and small lenses for play. Photography / Smartphone photography: https://photoblog.ornitorinko.org (He/Him/His)
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mmarengo.bsky.social
A blue dasher dragonfly resting on a hot and humid summer Florida day.

#photography #photosky #flower #dragonfly #blue #bluedasher #macro @bskyphotos.bsky.social #nikon
A Blue Dasher dragonfly resting on the pickerel blue flower stem. As the name suggest, this dragonfly has a metallic blue body, and moves quickly from one resting spot to another. Sometimes that play in pairs, maybe as part of a mating ritual.
June 15, 2025 at 9:40 PM
mmarengo.bsky.social
Venezuelan's paramo. When I could still visit that magnificent country and its kind people, suffering so much from their own government, and now ours.

#photography #photosky #travelphotography #landscape #landscapephotography #mountains
@bskyphotos.bsky.social
#Venezuela #Merida #paramo #nikon
A Valley in the Andes of Venezuela. In the foreground the flat bottom of a glacial valley, with scattered "frailejones" (espletia, a plant endemic in the high altitude "paramo" of Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador). In the background the high peaks of the Andes in the state of Merida, Venezuela. Despite being close to the equator, this area has an Alpine climate due to the very high altitude, that can reach ~ 16,000 ft (5,000 m) altitude in the Pico Bolivar. The region was hosting several permanent glaciers, that have all but disappeared in the last decades due to climate change, destroying a unique ecosystem in the process. Nikon D100, December 22, 2004 (when it was still possible for my family to visit Venezuela).
April 5, 2025 at 3:00 PM
mmarengo.bsky.social
Closeup of a magnolia flower. Reminder that despite everything spring will eventually come.

#photography #photosky #flower #magnolia #pink #macro @bskyphotos.bsky.social #nikon
Closeup of Magnolia flower. The pink center shows the pistils in focus. The rest of the flower and the white petals are in an area with soft focus. The photo was taken in Iowa in May, which is when magnolias bloom there. My magnolia tree in Florida instead bloomed in February... what 15 deg latitude difference make! Ames Iowa, May 4, 2014. Nikon D700.
March 1, 2025 at 11:16 PM
mmarengo.bsky.social
Looking opposite to the setting sun from the sand dunes walkway. Crane Beach, Massachusetts.

#photography #photosky #sea #water #sunset #clouds #pink @bskyphotos.bsky.social #Massachussets #CraneBeach #Ipswich #nikon
Sunset time at Crane Beach, Massachusetts, looking opposite to the setting sun. The bottom part of the image shows the long grass as seen from the walkway on the sand dunes. Where the grass ends, the beach, with a few remaining people getting ready to leave for the day. Low on the horizon, opposite to the bay, one can see Sandy Point on the Plum Island State Park. The sky is colored pink and purple, with some translucent clouds illuminated by the last rays of sun. June 26, 2005, Crane Beach, Ipswich, MA, USA. Nikon D100.
February 20, 2025 at 11:58 PM
mmarengo.bsky.social
November sunset at Ledges State Park, Iowa.

#photography #photosky #travelphotography #grass #prairie #clouds #sunset #golden #landscape #landscapephotography
@bskyphotos.bsky.social
#LedgesPark #Ames #BooneCounty #nikon
Sunset autumnal light on the prairie at Ledges State Park in central Iowa. The golden sun rays graze the tall prairie grass. The prairie looks like a wavy sea until it met the horizon, liked by dark grey clouds. Purple and pink frayed clouds overhead. At the center of the frame, a distant grove of trees peek over the grass. Ledges Park, Iowa (USA). November 10, 2013. Nikon D700.
February 7, 2025 at 11:25 PM
mmarengo.bsky.social
On the road to San Pedro de Atacama, Chile, on my way to a meeting on pulsating stars.

#photography #photosky #travelphotography #desert #mountains #clouds #landscape #landscapephotography @bskyphotos.bsky.social #Atacama #NorteChico #SanPedroDeAtacama #Chile #nikon
Deserted area at the edge of the Atacama desert (Chile). In the foreground there are some bushes adapted to desert environment. In the middle there is a barren terrain with what looks like the day bed of a river. Further out some hills with rocks with a distinct purple tint. In the background there are mountains, with a peak that looks like a volcano, under cloudy, stormy skies. Road to San Pedro de Atacama from Antofagasta (Chile). November 30, 2016. Nikon D700.
January 25, 2025 at 6:39 PM
mmarengo.bsky.social
Fire and ice: like the spine of a fire-breathing dragon, the remnant of a sunken boat emerges from the ice-covered sea at Crane Beach, MA.

#photography #photosky #travelphotography #seawreck #sea #water #clouds #night #blue @bskyphotos.bsky.social #Massachussets #CraneBeach #Ipswich #nikon
The skeleton of a sunken boat emerges from an ice-covered sea at Crane Beach, Massachusetts. The tone of the image is deep blue, with the sunset light in a shade of pink in the top of the image. The wreck is in the shape of the skeleton of a mythical beast, like a dragon. It is actually the wooden planks of the corroded hull of half the boat. It periodically emerges from the sands of Crane beach according to the tides. The wreck was identified as the Ada K. Damon, a schooner that wrecked on Crane Beach on December 16, 1909, during the "Great Christmas Snowstorm" that hit the region, as far south as Maryland. Fortunately the crew of the ship was not on board during the storm, and no lives were lost. March 19, 2005. Crane Beach, Ipswich, MA, USA. Nikon D100.
January 13, 2025 at 10:28 PM
mmarengo.bsky.social
Blue night on Lake Superior.

#photography #photosky #travelphotography #landscape #landscapephotography #lake #water #clouds #night #blue @bskyphotos.bsky.social #Minnesota #LakeSuperior #GrandMarais #nikon
After-sunset photo of Lake Superior from the shore of Grand Marais, in Northern Minnesota. The image is largely blue, with dark blue ominous clouds, a blue lake with a still horizon, and an inner pond reflecting the clouds and rippled by the wind. The iron-rich rocks in the foreground have dark red hues, while the pine trees on a peninsula protruding on the lake are dark green. A wall with a flat walkable top snakes through the land towards the tip of the peninsula. December 15, 2024, Nikon D700.
January 4, 2025 at 7:26 PM
mmarengo.bsky.social
Split. White clouds hovering on a very dark Lake Superior. The photo has minimal processing, the water was really this dark.

#photography #photosky #travelphotography #landscape #landscapephotography #lake #water #clouds @bskyphotos.bsky.social #Minnesota #LakeSuperior #GrandMarais #nikon
View of Lake Superior from Grand Marais, MN. The image is split horizontally in two: the bottom part is occupied by the lake's water, that appears very dark, almost black, with just some reflections from the clouds in the sky. In the top part the sky is cloudy, with some white clouds in the foreground hovering on the lake. August 18, 2016. Nikon D700.
December 29, 2024 at 3:02 PM
mmarengo.bsky.social
Pristine snow in New Zealand Southern Alps. Views like this prove how the Lord of the Rings movies could not have been show anywhere else. Have a good break, y'all.

#photography #photosky #travelphotography #landscape #landscapephotography #mountains #snow @bskyphotos.bsky.social #NewZealand #nikon
A view of the New Zealand Southern Alps covered in pristine snow. In the foreground green pastures with cows on the top of the hill. The scene is sunny, with an deep blue sky. An unsealed road crosses the bottom of the image, framed by bushes and small trees. June 2008. Nikon D100.
December 26, 2024 at 6:36 PM
mmarengo.bsky.social
Rule of Thirds: the full Moon rising on Lake Superior, Minnesota, as it crosses the Belt of Venus.

#photography #photosky #travelphotography #landscape #landscapephotography #abstract #sunset #MoonRise #Moon #geoabstract @bskyphotos.bsky.social #Minnesota #LakeSuperior #lake #nikon
The full Moon rising on Lake Superior at sunset. The photo is divided horizontally in three parts: at the bottom the lake, with the reflection of the Moon. The two top thirds show the "Venus's belt", which is the blue shadow of Earth in the bottom part of the sky, and the pink sunset light on top. The Moon is in the middle of the transition between the pink and blue sky. August 2016, Nikon D700.
December 21, 2024 at 6:31 PM
mmarengo.bsky.social
The last ginkgo leaves, hanging on Spanish moss like golden butterfly. Fall has finally reached Northern Florida.

#photography #photosky #nature #leaves #fall @bskyphotos.bsky.social #Tallahassee #Florida #FSU #ginkgo #SpanishMoss #nikon
The last gold-colored Ginkgo leaves in fall, hanging on a branch covered in Spanish moss. They form a curved line crossing diagonally the square frame of the photograph. The light shines through them. They resemble Monarch butterflies at the end of their journey, when they congregate in the forest where they will spend winter. Photo taken in the Florida State University campus, Tallahassee, FL, on Dec 17, 2024. Nikon D850.
December 19, 2024 at 2:50 PM
mmarengo.bsky.social
Gias Soprano di Sestrera under the Margüareis massif, Alta Valle Pesio, in Summer 2016.

#photography #photosky #travelphotography #landscape #landscapephotography #mountain @bskyphotos.bsky.social #Italy #VallePesio #Marguareis #mountain #nikon
Green alpine meadow with the gias soprano di Sestrera is in the foreground. In the background the Marguareis massif, under a blue sky with dark clouds. A gias is a stone construction used shepherds to store and age the cheese produced by the animals they tend to during the summer. Alta Valle Pesio, Piemonte, Italy, August 2016. Nikon D700.
December 17, 2024 at 5:59 AM
mmarengo.bsky.social
Geoabstract: a lonely mountain in the Arizona desert (aereal).

#photography #photosky #travelphotography #landscape #landscapephotography #abstract #geoabstract @bskyphotos.bsky.social #Arizona #desert #mountain #nikon
Aerial photo of an isolated mountain in the desert of southern Arizona, near Tucson. Mist, or possibly dust lifted by the wind, create layers of warm toned pastel colors. January 19, 2005.Nikon D100.
December 13, 2024 at 5:54 AM
mmarengo.bsky.social
A stroll on Crane Beach, Massachusetts, after sunset.

#photography #photosky #travelphotography #landscape #landscapephotography @bskyphotos.bsky.social #CraneBeach #beach #night #bluemood #mood #nikon
A woman is walking on a beach, in the blue light after sunset. She holds a cigarette in her hand. Her reflection mirrors her image in the shallow water where the waves break on the sand. Crane Beach, MA (USA), May 1st, 2005. Nikon D100.
December 10, 2024 at 4:35 AM
mmarengo.bsky.social
Kiyumizu-dera (清水寺) temple in Kyoto, Japan.

#photography #photosky #travelphotography #landscape #landscapephotography @bskyphotos.bsky.social #Japan #kyoto #kiyumizidera #temple #nikon
Late afternoon photo of the Kiyumozu-dera, one of the most spectacular temples in Kyoto, Japan. It was founded in 780 on the site of the Otowa waterfall (Kiyomizu literally means "pure water"). The waterfall has been converted into a three streams fountain, from which visitors can drink. Water from the first stream will give you longevity. The second stream is associated to fortune at school, and the third one will give you fortune in love. It is said that you should not drink from all three streams, though, because it is considered greedy. June 1st, 2012. Nikon D700.
December 7, 2024 at 3:39 PM
mmarengo.bsky.social
Captured on my way to the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile (La Serena region), along the Panamericana Highway. Peppers left drying in the desert next to a roadside capilla.

#photography #photosky #travelphotography @bskyphotos.bsky.social #chile #laserena #panamericana #desert #landscape
Rows of very red aji peppers left to dry on the side of the Panamericana highway near La Serena, Chile. The dry desert mountains of Chile's Norte Chico, sites for many astronomical observatories (La Silla, Las Campanas, Cerro Tololo), can be seen in the distance against the dark blue sky. May 2002. Nikon D100.
December 5, 2024 at 3:13 AM
mmarengo.bsky.social
Comet NEOWISE seen from #Ames, #Iowa in July 2020.

#astrophotography #photography #comet #stars
Photo, taken after sunset, of comet NEOWISE seen from Ames, Iowa. Most visible is the curved dust tail of the comet. Fainter, but still visible, is the bluish gas tail, pointing straight away from the Sun. July 17, 2020. Nikon D700.
December 4, 2024 at 3:30 AM
mmarengo.bsky.social
White on white. If anybody wonders about the dog in my profile picture, that's Kero, our #samoyed. Lover of #snow, and #winter cold, here in one of our #skyjoring escapades in #Ames, #Iowa. The one in the family that least appreciated our move to FL. He left us at 14 years old, and is much missed.
White dog on white snow and white sky. My late samoyed dog, Kero, on a snowfield in Ames, Iowa. March 2014, Nikon D700.
December 3, 2024 at 12:09 AM
Reposted by Massimo Marengo
merrdiff.bsky.social
I am so glad @rossandersen.bsky.social took the time to write this. It is a thorough and accurate summary of the @vrubinobs.bsky.social situation. I have MANY FEELINGS about each and every facet of said situation, let me tell you. This won't be the last you hear of "telescope vs crap in orbit" 🔭
When a Telescope Is a National-Security Risk
How do you know what you’re not allowed to see?
www.theatlantic.com
December 2, 2024 at 8:49 PM
mmarengo.bsky.social
After lurking on BlueSky for a while, it is time for an #introduction. I am an astronomer at #FSU working on stars, especially the ones that blink. On the bad site I used to post about #science and #photography. I am interested in good journalism and how to make the world safe and inclusive for all.
Full frame of the photo I am using as BlueSky banner: sunrise at Las Campanas Observatory, Norte Chico, Chile. The dome in the foreground hosts the 1-m aperture Henrietta Swope telescope. Photo from January 2006, possibly taken from the terrace of the Magellan telescope.
December 1, 2024 at 4:02 PM