Bright Planets at McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope
Image Credit: Mike Line (Caltech), Ed Mierkiewicz (Univ. Wisconsin-Madison), Ron Oliversen (NASA-GSFC)

Explanation: Bright planets Venus and Jupiter are framed by the National Solar Observatory's McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope in this very astronomical scene. The photo was taken at Kitt Peak National Observatory on March 9. A heliostat sits atop the 100 foot high solar telescope tower to focus the Sun's rays down a long diagonal shaft that reaches underground to the telescope's primary mirror. Of course, after sunset shadows were cast and the structure illuminated by light from the nearly full rising Moon. Opened to begin the night's work, the dome housing Kitt Peak's 2.1 meter reflector is included in the frame, while the Pleiades star cluster shines above the heliostat tower. The angular McMath-Pierce was commissioned 50 years ago to study the Sun, but has also made many observations of these two bright planets. On this night it was conducting observations of sodium atoms in the tenuous lunar atmosphere.



http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/

Halestorm gave fans the official music video for their anti-love song 'Love Bites (So Do I)' for Valentine's Day.

Halestorm release their sophomore effort 'The Strange Case of…" on April 10th and hit the road with Staind and Godsmack as part of the Mass Chaos tour three days later. Frontwoman Lzzy Hale recently described the band's new single 'Love Bites (So Do I)' to Noisecreep:

"The song is my little stab against the media's portrayal of love. Your heart cannot be measured or judged by the quizzes in magazines and scenes in movies. So for both boys and girls I tell you this, love who and how you want, and for god's sake when love bites, bite back! That bitch can eat her heart out!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmkHqUwa4zg

Metallica announced they have tapped award-winning director Nimród Antal to direct the upcoming Metallica 3D feature film project. Charlotte Huggins (JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH, JOURNEY 2: THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND) will produce. The film will be a marriage of narrative and concert and will star the five members of Metallica: James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, Robert Trujillo, and the fans. It will begin shooting this August and will be released in the summer of 2013. “I’ve been a fan of Nimróds since his first Hungarian film, Kontroll, showed up at Cannes in 2004 and blew everybody away, said Metallica’s Lars Ulrich. “I’ve watched with excitement his career inHollywood blossom over the last few years. Within five minutes of meeting him I was addicted to his enthusiasm, his take on the creative process and his “thinking outside of the box” personality. Let’s get on with it!!!” “Metallica has always been a huge part of my life, and it’s an incredible opportunity when we get to work with our heroes,” said Antal. “We are going to harness the powerful and almighty energy of Metallica’s live shows, inject a narrative into it, and shoot it in 3D to elevate the entire experience.”

 Godsmack, Five Finger Death Punch and More Set to Rock the Sea for ShipRocked 2012

The fourth annual ShipRocked cruise kicks off on Nov. 27 and includes acts such as Godsmack, Five Finger Death Punch, Sevendust, P.O.D., In This Moment, Black Stone Cherry, Filter, Fuel. Additional bands will be announced in the coming weeks.

Cruise guests will enjoy performances from each band, artist meet-and-greets and question-and-answer sessions, as well as artist-hosted events such contests, game shows, memorable parties, theme nights and much more.

"Our fourth annual voyage is poised to be our biggest and best sailing yet, and we couldn’t be more excited to have GODSMACK at the helm. SR12 will include some of the biggest names in modern hard rock, as well as a generous helping of new bands to watch out for in the future. Of course, it wouldn’t be a ShipRocked cruise without a few of the amazing artists who have helped make the last three decades sound so good"- says ShipRocked producer Alan Koenig of ASK4 Entertainment.

The cruise begins in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., on Nov. 27, and sails for four days hitting spots such as the Caribbean with ports of call in Key West, Florida and Nassau, Bahamas (which subject to change). The cruise returns to Ft. Lauderdale on Dec. 1. For more information, check out GetShipRocked.com.

Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival, the world’s largest touring heavy music festival experience, has announced the addition of MOTÖRHEAD to the 2012 lineup. The legendary metal veterans will join the 2012 main stage lineup, featuring SLIPKNOT in the headlining position, as well as SLAYER — both returning to the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival for a second time.

MOTÖRHEAD frontman Lemmy Kilmister commented, "Well, we’re used to mayhem in this band, so it’s kind of a family tradition! Bring it!"

The Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival will make a 27-date trek across the U.S. beginning on June 30 at the San Manuel Amphitheater in San Bernardino, California. Tour dates.

6/30 – San Bernardino, CA

7/1 – San Francisco, CA

7/3 – Seattle, WA

7/6 – Phoenix, AZ

7/7 – Albuquerque, NM

7/8 – Denver, CO

7/10 – Dallas, TX

7/11 – Houston, TX

7/13 – Tampa, FL

7/14 – Atlanta, GA

7/15 – Indianapolis, IN

7/18 – Oklahoma City, OK

7/20 – St. Louis, MO

7/21 – Chicago, IL

7/22 – Detroit, MI

7/24 – Cincinnati, OH

7/25 – Cleveland, OH

7/27 – Philadelphia, PA

7/28 – Pittsburgh, PA

7/29 – Washington, DC

7/31 – Saratoga, NY

8/1 – Buffalo, NY

8/3 – Boston, MA

8/4 – Scranton, PA

8/5 – Hartford, CT

Rob Zombie To Start Work on New Album in June

Hard rock titan Rob Zombie has announced that production on his upcoming film 'The Lords of Salem' is coming to a close and that he plans to enter the studio to begin work on a new album in June.

Rob Zombie's dance card for 2012 is filling up rather quickly after spending the last several months plugging away at his new witchcraft horror flick 'The Lords of Salem' Zombie will hit the road for a co-headlining tour with Megadeth in May but those aren't his only plans. As production on THE LORDS OF SALEM ends it is time for music, he revealed. "We will be packing up the band and moving to remote location to record. No distractions, just music."

This will be Zombie's fifth solo album and will follow 2010's incredibly long-titled 'Hellbilly Deluxe 2: Noble Jackals, Penny Dreadfuls and the Systematic Dehumanization of Cool.' He'll be joined in the studio by his stellar band guitarist John 5, drummer Ginger Fish and bassist Piggy D.

'The Lords of Salem' is both written and directed by Zombie and centers on a 300-year old coven of witches that return to terrorize modern day Salem, Mass, the film has a tentative 2012 release date. SEE HIM AT ROCK ON THE RANGE CREW STADIUM IN MAY!

Slash Teams Up With Betty White For Zoo

Slash has had a long association with the Los Angeles Zoo, and he's now filmed a new commercial for it with Betty White.

The new ad is to promote the March 8 launch of the zoo's new attraction, called The Lair, which will feature "60 species of weird, rare and endangered amphibians, invertebrates and reptiles."

Slash will be with Myles Kennedy May 14th at the Brick.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7BK0NIZbhs&feature=player_embedded

850 people in New Orleans were knocked back onto mattresses in human dominoes to break the world record for the number of people taking part. Very cool...all for charity too...all the mattresses were donated to local communities (IE: shelters etc..)
....I don't think I would have wanted to be on "the curve/corner)...too much pressure!!! Check out the video below!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSwfqaVeCWs