Stunning NASA photos are sending the nation down the weed shop

At 5:00 p.m. EDT yesterday, NASA officials began shredding a series of stunning images of deep galaxies captured by the James Webb Space Telescope. And almost immediately, America began to spark.

About 30 years and $10 billion in the making, the Webb telescope takes us to corners of the galaxy the human eye has never seen before, to places, as one member of the team put it, “so far away that the Light has taken many billions of years to get from these galaxies to our telescopes.”

The Webb Telescope floats in space a million miles from Earth and can effectively peer into the past. Until the big bang.

Think about it, fellow stoners.

Reporters regret not getting high before the press conference

An image of the Southern Ring Nebula taken by the James Webb Space Telescope is shown during a news conference at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory July 12, 2022 in Pasadena, California (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez).

And that’s just the backstory. The space photos sent back to Earth by the Webb will keep you staring into the abyss for hours. If you’re in the right headspace.

These images are not blurry. They are not vague or unclear. Vividly colored, spiraling, swirling, in bursts of orange and blue, these images, in the words of Dennis Overbye of The New York Times, “penetrate and transform the clouds of dust that enshroud the cosmic nurseries where stars are born in transparent bubbles showing the baby stars nesting within.”

Wow indeed.

Cancel all plans, you will stargaze

The NASA photo of the Carina Nebula captured by the Deep Space Webb Telescope is certified breathtaking travel. (Photo: NASA)

And so, my friends, it shouldn’t surprise you that at the very same time that the images started flooding our timelines and screens yesterday, a certain respected plant started trending on Twitter. Hat tip to journalist Erik Olsen for noting the confluence of events:

You see, it’s no coincidence that Carl Sagan, author of Cosmos and one of the leading astronomers, cosmologists, and astrophysicists of the 20th century, was also one of the most famous cannabis enthusiasts of the 20th century.

It’s true. Sagan was a stoner. known. Dude even has a cannabis strain named after him.

Back in the late 1960s, Sagan wrote an anonymous essay for the book Marijuana Reconsidered, describing the creative effects of cannabis and its impact on his work.

In that essay, he recalled a number of insights that came to him during the high:

“After about an hour of extremely hard work, I found that I had written eleven short essays on a wide range of social, political, philosophical, and human-biological subjects… From all outward indications, such as public reaction and expert comment, they seem to contain valid insights. I have used them in graduation addresses, in public lectures and in my books.”

Related

Why scientist Carl Sagan embraced cannabis his entire life

Astronomer Carl Sagan, Professor of Astronomy and Space Sciences at Cornell University, was one of the first scientists to speak about the beneficial properties of cannabis. (AP Photo/Lennox McLendon)

Too bad Sagan isn’t with us anymore to enjoy the photos the Webb sent back.

Because really, nothing fits these stunning, stunning, absolutely stunning images of our universe better than cannabis.

Ok WTF is THAT?!?

This head-to-head comparison shows near-infrared (left) and mid-infrared (right) observations of the South Ring Nebula from NASA’s Webb Telescope. (Photos: NASA)

Would you like to put yourself in the right headspace to gaze philosophically into ancient waves of light emitted by billions and billions of stars?

Allow us to draw from Leafly’s world famous master database to offer these suggestions:

• Super Lemon Haze—Two-time Cannabis Cup winner, a kief-crusted, multicolored wonder.
• animal face— David Downs of Leafly said: “Sometimes you have to circumnavigate the earth so high that all you can hear is heavy breathing and a pulse in your ears. Animal Face takes you there.”
• Red Bullz– Strong medicine. Effects arrive like a super duper high THC hybrid, for a concert fade, a gaming marathon, or a stargazing session.

Related

America’s best-selling weed strains of summer 2022

More varieties for stargazing

Maybe you’re looking for something more literal. Apparently. Like a strain with the word space or star in the name. we have you

Max Savage Levenson

Max Savage Levenson probably has the lowest cannabis tolerance of any author on the cannabis beat. He also writes about music for Pitchfork, Bandcamp and other bespectacled people. He is the co-host of the Hash podcast. His dream interview is Tyler the Creator.

Check out Max Savage Levenson’s articles

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