#3519

She has the bloody cueball? Are you actually shitting me?

Scratch is fucking everywhere! He's hiding in every era, corrupting every plan, manipulating entire generations of trolls into serving his goals. I'd ask where this ends, but I already know it doesn't end - not until the universe does.

Looks like it's go time, then - but who’s the smart money really on?

Well, Gamzee won’t be able to intimidate Vriska as easily as his previous victims - and honestly, I think even Eridan is too lost in the sauce to fear him now. Our young Prince of Hope is probably the most vulnerable fighter, though, since losing his wand would render him powerless. I think he'll be the first to go down.

If I'm right, then this fight is really between Vriska and Gamzee. Cards on the table, who's taking that matchup?

Gamzee is strong, scary and durable, but I still think this comes down to maneuverability. If Vriska takes to the skies, melee combat is out, and - although we can't be sure about this - we didn't see any ranged weapons in Gamzee's Specibus. The best he has is probably Equius's bow, and I wouldn't count on him hitting a moving target before she can steal his luck. Even if he does have an effective ranged option, Vriska would still be a challenge to tag. She was astoundingly fast in Wake.

Yeah, I'm giving the advantage to Vriska here. Let's see how it goes!

She's back, motherfuckers!

And furthermore, she seems to be shining like a star. Methinks something Space-y is happening here.

Hubble sees a flickering light display on Saturn

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have captured new images of the dancing auroral lights at Saturn’s north pole. Taken from Hubble’s perspective in orbit around the Earth, these images provide a detailed look at Saturn’s stormy aurorae — revealing previously unseen dynamics in the choreography of the auroral glow.

The cause of the changing patterns in Saturn's aurorae is an ongoing mystery in planetary science. These ultraviolet images, taken by Hubble’s super-sensitive Advanced Camera for Surveys, add new insight by capturing moments when Saturn’s magnetic field is affected by bursts of particles streaming out from the Sun.

Saturn has a long, comet-like magnetic tail known as a magnetotail — as do Mercury, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune and Earth [1]. This magnetotail is present around planets that have a magnetic field, caused by a rotating core of magnetic elements. It appears that when bursts of particles from the Sun hit Saturn, the planet’s magnetotail collapses and later reconfigures itself, an event that is reflected in the dynamics of its aurorae.

Some of the bursts of light seen shooting around Saturn’s polar regions travelled at over three times faster than the speed of the gas giant’s rotation!

The new images also formed part of a joint observing campaign between Hubble and NASA's Cassini spacecraft, which is currently in orbit around Saturn itself. Between them, the two spacecraft managed to capture a 360-degree view of the planet’s aurorae at both the north and south poles. Cassini also used optical imaging to delve into the rainbow of colours seen in Saturn’s light shows. On Earth, we see green curtains of light with flaming scarlet tops. Cassini’s imaging cameras reveal similar auroral veils on Saturn, that are red at the bottom and violet at the top.

Notes

[1] A magnetosphere is the area of space around an astronomical object in which charged particles are controlled by that object’s magnetic field. The magnetosphere is compressed on the side of the sun, and on the other side it extends far beyond the object. It is this extended region of the magnetosphere that is known as the magnetotail.