- The Mount Rushmore climbing area is only the 2nd SummitPost.org “climbing” submission for South Dakota. This is not overly surprising due to the state’s remoteness but is astonishing regarding the quality of granite routes that can be found here. There are two popular climbing areas south of Rapid City, South Dakota in the Black Hills National Forest (1.2 million acres!): the Needles area, which is known for its ethics via trad climbing and limited fixed protection; and the Mount Rushmore climbs which feature many fully bolted sport routes.
- Black Eye Galaxy (Wikipedia)
The Black Eye Galaxy (also called Sleeping Beauty Galaxy or Evil Eye Galaxy and designated Messier 64, M64, or NGC 4826) is a relatively isolated spiral galaxy 17 million light-years away in the mildly northern constellation of Coma Berenices. It was discovered by Edward Pigott in March 1779, and independently by Johann Elert Bode in April of the same year, as well as by Charles Messier the next year. A dark band of absorbing dust partially in front of its bright nucleus gave rise to its nicknames of the “Black Eye”, “Evil Eye”, or “Sleeping Beauty” galaxy. M64 is well known among amateur astronomers due to its form in small telescopes and visibility across inhabited latitudes.