Category Archives: Graphics

A True Image from False Kiva

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Astronomy Picture of the Day: Far in the distance is part of the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy, taken with a long duration exposure. Much closer, the planet Jupiter is visible as the bright point just to band’s left. Closer still are picturesque buttes and mesas of the Canyonlands National Park in Utah, USA, lit by a crescent moon. In the foreground is a cave housing a stone circle of unknown origin named False Kiva. The cave was briefly lit by flashlight during the long exposure. Astrophotographer Wally Pacholka.

Chemins de St. Jacques de Compostelle

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Chemins de St. Jacques de Compostelle: The Way of St. James, or St. James’s Way, is the pilgrimage to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where legend has it that the remains of the apostle Saint James the Great are buried.

Santiago de Compostela: One etymology for the name “Compostela” is that it comes from the Latin phrase campus stellae, i.e. “field of the star”, making Santiago de Compostela “St. James of the Field of the Star”. This would reflect the belief that the bones of St. James were taken from the Middle East, to Spain and then buried where a shepherd had spotted a star. A church was eventually built over the bones, and later replaced with the Cathedral de Santiago de Compostela.
Other etymologies derive from the Latin word Compositum, i.e. “The well founded”, or Composita Tella, meaning “burial ground”. Yet another etymology derives it from “San Jacome Apostol”.