- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Pictures From The Observatory
Left: The latest plane picture. Middle: Military jets were having a dogfight. They're really hard to capture in a picture, but I did get the smoke from one of the flares they were playing with. Right: Cool clouds.
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
Friday, January 30, 2009
RAF 'ordered to shoot down UFOs'
Pilots have apparently fired upon the unidentified objects without success since the 1980s, according to Nick Pope, who used to run the Ministry of Defence's UFO project.
"There was a faction in the MoD who said 'We want to shoot down a UFO and that will resolve the issue one way or another'," he told The Sun.
"We know of cases where the order has been given to shoot down - with little effect to the UFO."
Mr Pope claimed that the RAF only attempted to engage when the mysterious objects were perceived to be a threat.
He said: "In the case of UFOs, whether the object is causing a threat is very much a pilot's judgement call. The public won't know unless it comes down in a heavily populated area."
The MoD refused to comment.
Earlier this month, residents in the Lincolnshire Wolds were left puzzled by the destruction of a wind turbine within hours of several sightings of strange glowing orbs.
At least half a dozen residents reported seeing the orange-yellow spheres, which some witnesses claimed were trailing tentacles.
Dorothy Willows, who lives a mile and a half from the wind farm, said she saw a "low-flying object skimming across the sky towards the turbines" on January 4.
The following morning, a 213ft glass fibre turbine was left crippled, with locals reporting hearing a loud bang like thunder.
One of the £1 million turbine's 65ft blades was ripped off and another severely damaged.
source....
Pilots have apparently fired upon the unidentified objects without success since the 1980s, according to Nick Pope, who used to run the Ministry of Defence's UFO project.
"There was a faction in the MoD who said 'We want to shoot down a UFO and that will resolve the issue one way or another'," he told The Sun.
"We know of cases where the order has been given to shoot down - with little effect to the UFO."
Mr Pope claimed that the RAF only attempted to engage when the mysterious objects were perceived to be a threat.
He said: "In the case of UFOs, whether the object is causing a threat is very much a pilot's judgement call. The public won't know unless it comes down in a heavily populated area."
The MoD refused to comment.
Earlier this month, residents in the Lincolnshire Wolds were left puzzled by the destruction of a wind turbine within hours of several sightings of strange glowing orbs.
At least half a dozen residents reported seeing the orange-yellow spheres, which some witnesses claimed were trailing tentacles.
Dorothy Willows, who lives a mile and a half from the wind farm, said she saw a "low-flying object skimming across the sky towards the turbines" on January 4.
The following morning, a 213ft glass fibre turbine was left crippled, with locals reporting hearing a loud bang like thunder.
One of the £1 million turbine's 65ft blades was ripped off and another severely damaged.
source....
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Daytime Venus
Did you know that a few planets and stars can be seen in the daytime, if you know where to look? Venus is one of those.
Look in the pictures just above the highest tree branch. That's daytime Venus. I should have used a tripod, but I was out for a walk and didn't have it with me. (first picture is focused on the branches)
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
Did you know that a few planets and stars can be seen in the daytime, if you know where to look? Venus is one of those.
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Cancer, the crab, is well up in the east by the middle of the evening. Its most interesting object is a cluster of stars known as the Beehive cluster. To the unaided eye, under dark skies, it looks like a tiny smudge of light. Binoculars reveal a swarm of stars.
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
The Georga Guidestones are located in Elbert County, Georgia, approximately 90 miles (145 kilometers) east of Atlanta, and 9 miles (15 kilometers) north of the center of Elberton. The monument is situated on a rise a short distance to the east of Georgia Highway 77 (Hartwell Highway), and is visible from that road. Small signs beside the highway indicate the turnoff for the Guidestones, which is identified by a street sign as "Guidestones Rd."
The Georgia Guidestones are a huge granite monument located on a hilltop in Elbert County, Georgia, USA. It is sometimes referred to as the "American Stonehenge," a title that has been applied at times to a number of other structures, including Mystery Hill.
A message comprised of ten guides or commandments is inscribed on the monument in eight modern languages, and a shorter message is inscribed at the top of the structure in four ancient scripts.
The monument is almost twenty feet tall, and made from six granite slabs that weigh more than 100 tons. One slab stands in the center, with four arranged around it.
A capstone lies on top of the five slabs, which are astronomically aligned.
An additional stone tablet, which is set in the ground a short distance to the west of the monument, provides some clarifying notes on the history and purpose of the Guidestones.
The stones are placed so that a slit at eye level in the central upright slab permits an observer to view the eastern horizon and aligns with the position of the rising sun at the Summer and Winter Solstices. Through the center stone, from south to north, a two-inch diameter hole is inclined at an angle of 34 degrees and points to the North celestial pole. A beam of sunlight passing through a hole in the capstone forms a spot of light below. The position of the spot can be used to determine high noon and the day of the year.
The eye-level, oblique hole is drilled from the South to the North side of the center, Gnomen stone, so that the North Star is always visible, symbolizing constancy and orientation with the forces of nature.
A slot is cut in the middle of the Gnomen stone to form a window which aligns with the positions of the rising sun at the Summer and Winter Solstices and at the Equinox, so that the noon sun shines to indicate noon on a curved line.
The cap stone includes a calendar of sorts, where sunlight beams through a 7/8 inch hole at noon, and shines on the South face of the center stone. As the sun makes its travel cycle, the spot beamed through the hole can tell the day of the year at noon each day. Allowances are made because of variations between standard time and sun time to set the beam of sunlight at an equation of time. The site was chosen because it commands a view to the East and to the West and is within the range of the Summer and Winter sunrises and sunsets. The stones are oriented in those directions.
History
The story behind the guidestones is as mysterious as the monuments themselves. In June 1979 a well dressed, articulate man walked into theoffice of the Elberton Granite Company in Elberton, Georgia and said that he wanted to know the cost of building a large monument to the conservation of humanity. He identified himself as Mr. R. C. Christian and said that he represented a small group of Americans who wished to remain anonymous.
Altough Elberton is considered the granite capital of the United States, the president of the granite company was skeptical of undertaking a project of this magnitude and very skeptical of the stranger in his office. He asked Mr. Christian to speak to the company's banker, Mr. Wyatt Martin, thinking that would be the last he saw of him.
However, Mr. Christian went to the bank and explained to Mr. Martin that although his name was a pseudonym with symbolic meaning, he and the group he represented were very serious about erecting these guidestones for, "the conservation of the world and to herald the coming age of reason. Should there be a holocaust in the civilized world, the group wished the guidestones to be one of the most enduring things to help humanity start anew.
Mr. Martin agreed to handle the funds and after an escrow account was set up, work began on the monument. Skilled workers quarried and cut the blocks, others sandblasted the message in 4" high letters, and still others hauled them to a hillside 7 miles north of Elberton where they were astronomically aligned with the North celestial pole, the noonday sun, and the rising and setting points of the sun and moon on the horizon.
A year after completion of the project the final correspondence arrived in Elberton from R. C. Christian and the group responsible for the guidestones. So far no one knows who this mysterious group is or why they felt compelled to erect the Georgia Guidestones and its message for mankind.
Controversy: A California man named John Conner has called for the Guidestones to be removed from public property saying they are an occult monument. He believes the name "R.C. Christian" is actually a reference to Christian Rosenkreuz, the supposed founder of the Rosicrucians, a secret society dating back to the 15th century.
A message consisting of a set of ten guidelines or principles is engraved on the Georgia Guidestones in eight different languages, one language on each face of the four large upright stones. Moving clockwise around the monument from due north, these languages are: English, Spanish, Swahili, Hindi, Hebrew, Arabic, Chinese and Russian. The message in English reads:
* Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature.
* Guide reproduction wisely improving fitness and diversity.
* Unite humanity with a living new language.
* Rule passion, faith, tradition, and all things with tempered reason.
* Protect people and nations with fair laws and just courts.
* Let all nations rule internally resolving external disputes in a world court.
* Avoid petty laws and useless officials.Balance personal rights with social duties.
* Prize truth, beauty, love, seeking harmony with the infinite.
* Be not a cancer on the earth. Leave room for nature. Leave room for nature.
A shorter message appears on the four vertical surfaces of the capstone, again in a different language and script on each face. The explanatory tablet near the Guidestones identifies these languages/scripts as Babylonian Cuneiform (north), Classical Greek (east), Sanskrit (south), and Egyptian Hieroglyphics (west), and provides what is presumably an English translation: "Let these be guidestones to an age of reason."
A few feet to the west of the monument, an additional granite tablet has been set level with the ground. This tablet identifies the monument and the languages used on it, lists various facts about the size, weight, and astronomical features of the stones, the date it was erected, and the sponsors of the project. It also speaks of a time capsule buried under the tablet, but the positions on the stone reserved for filling in the dates on which the capsule was buried and is to be opened are missing, so it is not clear whether the time capsule was ever put in place.
The tablet is with one edge to each of the cardinal directions, and is inscribed such that the northern edge is the "top" of the inscription.The complete text of the explanatory tablet is detailed below.
The image abive shows the overall layout. The tablet is somewhat inconsistent with respect to punctuation, and also misspells "pseudonym." The original spelling, punctuation and line breaks in the text have been preserved in the transcription that follows.
The text of the tablet is as follows: At the center of each tablet edge is a letter representing the appropriate compass direction (N, S, E, W), contained within a small circle.
At the top center of the tablet is written:
THE GEORGIA GUIDESTONES
CENTER CLUSTER ERECTED MARCH 22, 1980
Immediately below this is the outline of a square, inside which is written:
LET THESE BE
GUIDESTONES
TO AN AGE
source....
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
The Moon is new at 1:55 a.m. CST today as it crosses between Earth and the Sun, beginning a new month-long cycle of phases. The Moon is lost from view in the Sun's glare but will return to view as a thin crescent in the western sky on Tuesday or Wednesday.
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Castle Rock Family ATV Club Winter Poker Run - Pictures
There was no chance of breaking that rule!
I remember skinny-dipping there a long time ago when I was a lot less scary to look at!
There wasn't much snow on the lake, so I didn't have to worry about getting stuck.
Here's the Hawkeye parked by the island.
Castle Rock Lake is pretty big. Big enough to make a Polaris Hawkeye look even smaller!
Packed so tight in Slip Inn they couldn't even get the door closed!
In total, I rode 40 miles. It's been awhile since I did much riding, and I had a great time spending the day with my friends on the lake!
These pictures and more can also be viewed on the picture page (Home).
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
In total, I rode 40 miles. It's been awhile since I did much riding, and I had a great time spending the day with my friends on the lake!
These pictures and more can also be viewed on the picture page (Home).
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
Saturday, January 24, 2009
What A Great Day!
Yes, it was a little bit nipply out on the lake today, with the temp hovering around 0°F all day, but it really didn't feel bad. Not a lot of wind and plenty of bright sunshine. The snow wasn't deep at all. Only a few inches. Where did it all go from the lake? Did the wind blow it off? Hmmm, it's knee deep everywhere but on the ice.
Everything went well. Dad's old Jon-E warmer worked great. My thermos was unbelievable. What little hot chocolate I had left in it when I got home tonight was still too hot to drink!
When I got to the lake my Hawkeye wouldn't start with the electric starter (it was -8°F at that time). All it did was growl a little. I thought; "Uh Oh, this isn't a good sign." But I gave it one pull on the ripcord and it fired right up. Whew. Never had any trouble with the electric starter the rest of the day, it worked flawlessly as did the rest of the machine.
Lots of new pictures, which I'll probably post some of them tomorrow! It takes me that long to narrow them down to a number that my super slow connection can handle.
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
Yes, it was a little bit nipply out on the lake today, with the temp hovering around 0°F all day, but it really didn't feel bad. Not a lot of wind and plenty of bright sunshine. The snow wasn't deep at all. Only a few inches. Where did it all go from the lake? Did the wind blow it off? Hmmm, it's knee deep everywhere but on the ice.
Everything went well. Dad's old Jon-E warmer worked great. My thermos was unbelievable. What little hot chocolate I had left in it when I got home tonight was still too hot to drink!
When I got to the lake my Hawkeye wouldn't start with the electric starter (it was -8°F at that time). All it did was growl a little. I thought; "Uh Oh, this isn't a good sign." But I gave it one pull on the ripcord and it fired right up. Whew. Never had any trouble with the electric starter the rest of the day, it worked flawlessly as did the rest of the machine.
Lots of new pictures, which I'll probably post some of them tomorrow! It takes me that long to narrow them down to a number that my super slow connection can handle.
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
China: Dazzling UFO seen and flimed by eight firefighters
A remarkable UFO was seen and filmed in China by an entire squadron of fire-fighters in Liu Pan Shui City in the province of Guizhou through a camera with a 700X zoom capability. One of the fire-fighters, Wang Jia Wei, noticed an odd looking, brightly flashing star moving in a south easterly direction and went inside the fire-fighters barracks to get a camera.
Luckily for Wang he was able to find a Panasonic camera used by his comrades to record damage caused by fires that allowed him to zoom in on the mysterious object seven hundred times. At that point Wang could see that the object was in fact two rotating spinning top shaped crafts or halves of a whole craft joined at a their bases. They were flashing a multitude of colours: Purple, red, blue, orange, white and gold.
Wang then called his eight fellow fire-fighters out and they observed the slow moving craft for almost an hour until the craft suddenly vanished.
20 minutes of footage was recorded and have been showed to Chinese reporters. The firemen approached the Liu Pan Shiu meteorological bureau two days after the sighting to seek some answers. Surprised staff members working for the bureau were shown the footage but were unable to identify what the object might be, declaring that it is indeed a UFO. There has been no suggestion that the fire-fighters faked the sighting and this not believed to be the case by any involved parties, the footage has been handed to government astrological departments for further analysis.
The UFO corresponds to the craft often described in sightings around the word as a ‘diamond UFO’. These craft are usually seen at great heights and almost never seen on earth itself. This has lead some to believe they are highly evolved technology well beyond your ‘standard’ saucer and might be used to travel from other civilized planets rather merely used to explore planets like earth after exiting a more substantial mother ship.
The incident has received wide coverage by mainstream media in China, although it has received no publicity in the west as far as we know. Hardly surprising, as this is a credible and compelling incident of the type Western Governments would rather people not know about. The Chinese Government, however, is known to take a more open minded approach to UFOs and generally regards them as fact.
source....
A remarkable UFO was seen and filmed in China by an entire squadron of fire-fighters in Liu Pan Shui City in the province of Guizhou through a camera with a 700X zoom capability. One of the fire-fighters, Wang Jia Wei, noticed an odd looking, brightly flashing star moving in a south easterly direction and went inside the fire-fighters barracks to get a camera.
Luckily for Wang he was able to find a Panasonic camera used by his comrades to record damage caused by fires that allowed him to zoom in on the mysterious object seven hundred times. At that point Wang could see that the object was in fact two rotating spinning top shaped crafts or halves of a whole craft joined at a their bases. They were flashing a multitude of colours: Purple, red, blue, orange, white and gold.
Wang then called his eight fellow fire-fighters out and they observed the slow moving craft for almost an hour until the craft suddenly vanished.
20 minutes of footage was recorded and have been showed to Chinese reporters. The firemen approached the Liu Pan Shiu meteorological bureau two days after the sighting to seek some answers. Surprised staff members working for the bureau were shown the footage but were unable to identify what the object might be, declaring that it is indeed a UFO. There has been no suggestion that the fire-fighters faked the sighting and this not believed to be the case by any involved parties, the footage has been handed to government astrological departments for further analysis.
The UFO corresponds to the craft often described in sightings around the word as a ‘diamond UFO’. These craft are usually seen at great heights and almost never seen on earth itself. This has lead some to believe they are highly evolved technology well beyond your ‘standard’ saucer and might be used to travel from other civilized planets rather merely used to explore planets like earth after exiting a more substantial mother ship.
The incident has received wide coverage by mainstream media in China, although it has received no publicity in the west as far as we know. Hardly surprising, as this is a credible and compelling incident of the type Western Governments would rather people not know about. The Chinese Government, however, is known to take a more open minded approach to UFOs and generally regards them as fact.
source....
Friday, January 23, 2009
I'm Ready For The Castle Rock Family ATV Club Poker Run Tomorrow
The last time I went for a ride on my Polaris Hawkeye was November 16th when JR and I rode the routes in the refuge. I haven't even started the Hawkeye since the first week of December, which was the last time I tried to get out in the woods with it (I've since been able to walk as far as the snowmobile trail a couple times, but that's it).
Anyway, the little Hawkeye fired right up this afternoon and I loaded it in my truck. I was amazed that it started so easily after setting so long, even though it was a warmish day today. I had to brush a lot of dust off it from setting dormant in my machine shed.
I filled Dad's old Jon-E handwarmer with fluid. Sounds like it's going to be a good day for it. In the morning I'll fill my thermos with some hot chocolate (it'll be the first time I've used it), and gather all my other stuff up.
It's supposed to be -15°F in the morning and a high tomorrow of 0° but it shouldn't be too bad. It's not far between stops. So, barring any difficulties in the morning, and if I don't decide to stay home and tend the woodstove instead, I'll be heading for the lake. Once I get there, I hope the snow isn't too deep for my ATV. Otherwise I'll ride a couple laps around the parking lot, I guess. I most likely won't be staying late for the poker drawing etc. By then I'm sure woodstove at home will need some serious attention. But I plan to spend the day cruising around the lake with my ATVing pals!
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
The last time I went for a ride on my Polaris Hawkeye was November 16th when JR and I rode the routes in the refuge. I haven't even started the Hawkeye since the first week of December, which was the last time I tried to get out in the woods with it (I've since been able to walk as far as the snowmobile trail a couple times, but that's it).
Anyway, the little Hawkeye fired right up this afternoon and I loaded it in my truck. I was amazed that it started so easily after setting so long, even though it was a warmish day today. I had to brush a lot of dust off it from setting dormant in my machine shed.
I filled Dad's old Jon-E handwarmer with fluid. Sounds like it's going to be a good day for it. In the morning I'll fill my thermos with some hot chocolate (it'll be the first time I've used it), and gather all my other stuff up.
It's supposed to be -15°F in the morning and a high tomorrow of 0° but it shouldn't be too bad. It's not far between stops. So, barring any difficulties in the morning, and if I don't decide to stay home and tend the woodstove instead, I'll be heading for the lake. Once I get there, I hope the snow isn't too deep for my ATV. Otherwise I'll ride a couple laps around the parking lot, I guess. I most likely won't be staying late for the poker drawing etc. By then I'm sure woodstove at home will need some serious attention. But I plan to spend the day cruising around the lake with my ATVing pals!
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
source....
The Little Dipper stands in the north tonight and every night. The star at the tip of its handle is Polaris, the north star, which appears in the same position in the sky every night. The other stars of the Little Dipper rotate around Polaris, and never set.
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
Thursday, January 22, 2009
He must have been triple-dog dared
Boy Gets Tongue Stuck to Frozen Streetlight Pole
A 10-year-old boy in Hammond, Ind. got his tongue stuck to a streetlight pole Wednesday evening during a cold snap he'll likely never forget.
And yes, his friends dared him, according to a local newspaper report.
The uncomfortable stunt is typically preceded by a triple-dog dare, as in the modern movie "A Christmas Story," in which Flick tries it as his friend Ralphie watches on with horror. But many people (presumably including the Hammond boy) aren't sure it can really happen.
Here's how it works: The tongue is covered with moisture, so when exposed to temperatures below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, that moisture can freeze. The temperature in Hammond was about 10 degrees Wednesday evening.
Of course, the heart constantly pumps warm blood to the tongue, trying to keep it from freezing. But a frigid metal pole has no heart.
"The metal is a much better conductor than your tongue (up to 400 times more powerful)," explains Frank J. DiSalvo, director of the Cornell Center for a Sustainable Future and co-director of the Cornell Fuel Cell Institute. "The metal takes heat faster than your body can replenish it."
Put your tongue to a frozen pole, and the moisture on your tongue may indeed freeze. Pull it off, and you may loose some tongue. The Hammond boy did just that and ended up with a bleeding tongue.
A more practical solution, if there's a friend nearby (perhaps the one who triple-dog dared you): Pour warm (not hot) water on the junction of tongue and pole. A better idea: Don't accept the dare.
source....
Boy Gets Tongue Stuck to Frozen Streetlight Pole
A 10-year-old boy in Hammond, Ind. got his tongue stuck to a streetlight pole Wednesday evening during a cold snap he'll likely never forget.
And yes, his friends dared him, according to a local newspaper report.
The uncomfortable stunt is typically preceded by a triple-dog dare, as in the modern movie "A Christmas Story," in which Flick tries it as his friend Ralphie watches on with horror. But many people (presumably including the Hammond boy) aren't sure it can really happen.
Here's how it works: The tongue is covered with moisture, so when exposed to temperatures below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, that moisture can freeze. The temperature in Hammond was about 10 degrees Wednesday evening.
Of course, the heart constantly pumps warm blood to the tongue, trying to keep it from freezing. But a frigid metal pole has no heart.
"The metal is a much better conductor than your tongue (up to 400 times more powerful)," explains Frank J. DiSalvo, director of the Cornell Center for a Sustainable Future and co-director of the Cornell Fuel Cell Institute. "The metal takes heat faster than your body can replenish it."
Put your tongue to a frozen pole, and the moisture on your tongue may indeed freeze. Pull it off, and you may loose some tongue. The Hammond boy did just that and ended up with a bleeding tongue.
A more practical solution, if there's a friend nearby (perhaps the one who triple-dog dared you): Pour warm (not hot) water on the junction of tongue and pole. A better idea: Don't accept the dare.
source....
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
The Great Orion Nebula
As beautiful an object as you will ever see in the night sky, the Orion Nebula is a blister of glowing gas set alight by blazing new stars. This nebula is just a small part of the vast star-making machinery in our own Orion Arm of the Milky Way that offers many wondrous sights for backyard observers. The Orion Nebula is one of the finest sights in all of nature: the birth of a cluster of new stars out of a dark cloud of interstellar gas and dust.
• M42 lies in the “sword” that appears to hang off Orion’s Belt. The nebula is the middle “star” in the sword, which to the naked eye appears slightly fuzzy.
• Turn a telescope toward M42 and you will see a greyish bat-shaped mist lit up by dozens of blue-white stars. Try looking at the nebula with a range of magnifications. Start low, say at 40-50x, and work your way up. The nebulosity extends much farther than you may first think: use averted vision to glimpse its full expanse. At high magnification you’ll lose the overall shape, but you can see the fine detail in the nebula’s mottled structure and the beautiful diamond-like stars near the center that sparkle like a jar full of fireflies.
• Because of its size and brightness, the Orion Nebula looks almost as good from city skies as it does from country skies, and is a fine sight in small and large telescopes.
• In a small scope, the nebula appears greyish because its light is not bright enough to stimulate the color-sensing cone cells in your retina. In a larger telescope, you might see traces of green and red. I have never seen the color firsthand, but it must surely accentuate the beauty of this wonderful object.
• The Orion Nebula is so complex and sublime that you see new detail every time you look at it. Try not to rush when you observe this wonder. Savor it. And if you can, try to make sketches to train your eye to see more detail. This nebula is an object that, in my opinion, looks better visually than photographically.
The Orion Nebula
• The particulars: M42 lies some 1,500 light years from Earth and spans about 20 light-years. Radio telescopes show the unlit gas and dust span more than 100 light-years beyond the visible nebula and contains the mass of 10,000 Suns.
• At the heart of the nebula is the multiple star system theta Orionis, also called the Trapezium, so-named because it looks like a tiny trapezoid. There are actually six stars here, though you need good seeing, a 4 inch or larger telescope, and magnification of 100x or more to resolve them all. The stars of the Trapezium, which are just 100,000 years old, have blown a bubble in the surrounding gas that gives us a view of the nebula’s inner core.
• The energy that lights up the gas and dust of the Orion nebula comes from dozens of hot new stars that have recently coalesced out of the nebula itself. Hydrogen and traces of oxygen gas absorb the blue and ultraviolet light from the stars and re-radiate red and green light at characteristic wavelengths. A UHC or OIII filter may improve the contrast in some parts of the nebula, especially for urban observers.
Just north of the main nebula, separated by a gulf of dark sky, lies the smaller companion nebula, M43. It’s also an emission nebula, lit by an embedded 8th magnitude star. And south of M42 you’ll find the 3rd-magnitude triple star iota Orionis, another fine object for a small scope.
It’s truly one of the most beautiful things you will every see.
source....
I hope to take some pictures of this myself as soon as the weather cooperates.
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
As beautiful an object as you will ever see in the night sky, the Orion Nebula is a blister of glowing gas set alight by blazing new stars. This nebula is just a small part of the vast star-making machinery in our own Orion Arm of the Milky Way that offers many wondrous sights for backyard observers. The Orion Nebula is one of the finest sights in all of nature: the birth of a cluster of new stars out of a dark cloud of interstellar gas and dust.
• M42 lies in the “sword” that appears to hang off Orion’s Belt. The nebula is the middle “star” in the sword, which to the naked eye appears slightly fuzzy.
• Turn a telescope toward M42 and you will see a greyish bat-shaped mist lit up by dozens of blue-white stars. Try looking at the nebula with a range of magnifications. Start low, say at 40-50x, and work your way up. The nebulosity extends much farther than you may first think: use averted vision to glimpse its full expanse. At high magnification you’ll lose the overall shape, but you can see the fine detail in the nebula’s mottled structure and the beautiful diamond-like stars near the center that sparkle like a jar full of fireflies.
• Because of its size and brightness, the Orion Nebula looks almost as good from city skies as it does from country skies, and is a fine sight in small and large telescopes.
• In a small scope, the nebula appears greyish because its light is not bright enough to stimulate the color-sensing cone cells in your retina. In a larger telescope, you might see traces of green and red. I have never seen the color firsthand, but it must surely accentuate the beauty of this wonderful object.
• The Orion Nebula is so complex and sublime that you see new detail every time you look at it. Try not to rush when you observe this wonder. Savor it. And if you can, try to make sketches to train your eye to see more detail. This nebula is an object that, in my opinion, looks better visually than photographically.
• The particulars: M42 lies some 1,500 light years from Earth and spans about 20 light-years. Radio telescopes show the unlit gas and dust span more than 100 light-years beyond the visible nebula and contains the mass of 10,000 Suns.
• At the heart of the nebula is the multiple star system theta Orionis, also called the Trapezium, so-named because it looks like a tiny trapezoid. There are actually six stars here, though you need good seeing, a 4 inch or larger telescope, and magnification of 100x or more to resolve them all. The stars of the Trapezium, which are just 100,000 years old, have blown a bubble in the surrounding gas that gives us a view of the nebula’s inner core.
• The energy that lights up the gas and dust of the Orion nebula comes from dozens of hot new stars that have recently coalesced out of the nebula itself. Hydrogen and traces of oxygen gas absorb the blue and ultraviolet light from the stars and re-radiate red and green light at characteristic wavelengths. A UHC or OIII filter may improve the contrast in some parts of the nebula, especially for urban observers.
Just north of the main nebula, separated by a gulf of dark sky, lies the smaller companion nebula, M43. It’s also an emission nebula, lit by an embedded 8th magnitude star. And south of M42 you’ll find the 3rd-magnitude triple star iota Orionis, another fine object for a small scope.
It’s truly one of the most beautiful things you will every see.
source....
I hope to take some pictures of this myself as soon as the weather cooperates.
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
How Google Is Making Us Smarter
Humans are "natural-born cyborgs," and the Internet is our giant "extended mind."
Our minds are under attack. At least that’s what I keep hearing these days. Thumbing away at our text messages, we are becoming illiterate. (Or is that illiter8?) Blogs make us coarse, YouTube makes us shallow. Last summer the cover of The Atlantic posed a question: “Is Google Making Us Stoopid?” Inside the magazine, author Nicholas Carr argued that the Internet is damaging our brains, robbing us of our memories and deep thoughts. “As we come to rely on computers to mediate our understanding of the world,” he wrote, “it is our own intelligence that flattens into artificial intelligence.”
I have a hard time taking these Cassandras of the Computer Age seriously. For one thing, they are much more interested in our fears than in the facts. In his new book, Txtng: The Gr8 Db8, the English linguist David Crystal demonstrates that many of the dire warnings about texting are little more than urban legends. Texting doesn’t lead to bad spelling, he finds. In fact, Crystal writes, “texting actually improves your literacy, as it gives you more practice in reading and writing.”
More significantly, the ominous warnings feed on a popular misconception of how the mind works. We tend to think of the mind as separated from the world; we imagine information trickling into our senses and reaching our isolated minds, which then turn that information into a detailed picture of reality. The Internet and iPhones seem to be crashing the gate of the mind, taking over its natural work and leaving it to wither away to a mental stump. As plausible as this picture may seem, it does a bad job of explaining a lot of recent scientific research. In fact, the mind appears to be adapted for reaching out from our heads and making the world, including our machines, an extension of itself.
This concept of the extended mind was first raised in 1998, right around the time Google was born, by two philosophers, Andy Clark, now at the University of Edinburgh, and David Chalmers, now at the Australian National University. In the journal Analysis, they published a short essay called “The Extended Mind” in which they asked a simple question: “Where does the mind stop and the rest of the world begin?” Most people might answer, “At the skull.” But Clark and Chalmers set out to convince their readers that the mind is not simply the product of the neurons in our brains, locked away behind a wall of bone. Rather, they argued that the mind is something more: a system made up of the brain plus parts of its environment.
Clark and Chalmers asked their readers to imagine a woman named Inga. Inga hears from a friend that there’s an exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art. She decides to go see it. She thinks for a moment, recalls that the museum is on 53rd Street, and starts walking that way. She accesses her belief that MOMA is on 53rd Street from its storage place in her brain’s memory network. Now imagine a man named Otto, who has Alzheimer’s. His memory is faulty, and so he keeps with him a notebook in which he writes down important details. Like Inga, Otto hears about the museum exhibit. Since he can’t access the address in his brain, he looks it up in his notebook and then heads off in the same direction as Inga.
In the view of Clark and Chalmers, Inga’s brain-based memory and Otto’s notebook are fundamentally the same. Inga’s mind just happens to access information stored away in her brain, while Otto’s mind draws on information stored in his notebook. The notebook, in other words, is part of his extended mind. It doesn’t make any difference that Otto keeps his notebook tucked away much of the time. After all, Inga tucks the memory of MOMA’s address out of her conscious awareness most of the time too. Clark and Chalmers concluded that real people are actually more like Otto than like Inga: We all have minds that extend out into our environments.
source....
Humans are "natural-born cyborgs," and the Internet is our giant "extended mind."
Our minds are under attack. At least that’s what I keep hearing these days. Thumbing away at our text messages, we are becoming illiterate. (Or is that illiter8?) Blogs make us coarse, YouTube makes us shallow. Last summer the cover of The Atlantic posed a question: “Is Google Making Us Stoopid?” Inside the magazine, author Nicholas Carr argued that the Internet is damaging our brains, robbing us of our memories and deep thoughts. “As we come to rely on computers to mediate our understanding of the world,” he wrote, “it is our own intelligence that flattens into artificial intelligence.”
I have a hard time taking these Cassandras of the Computer Age seriously. For one thing, they are much more interested in our fears than in the facts. In his new book, Txtng: The Gr8 Db8, the English linguist David Crystal demonstrates that many of the dire warnings about texting are little more than urban legends. Texting doesn’t lead to bad spelling, he finds. In fact, Crystal writes, “texting actually improves your literacy, as it gives you more practice in reading and writing.”
More significantly, the ominous warnings feed on a popular misconception of how the mind works. We tend to think of the mind as separated from the world; we imagine information trickling into our senses and reaching our isolated minds, which then turn that information into a detailed picture of reality. The Internet and iPhones seem to be crashing the gate of the mind, taking over its natural work and leaving it to wither away to a mental stump. As plausible as this picture may seem, it does a bad job of explaining a lot of recent scientific research. In fact, the mind appears to be adapted for reaching out from our heads and making the world, including our machines, an extension of itself.
This concept of the extended mind was first raised in 1998, right around the time Google was born, by two philosophers, Andy Clark, now at the University of Edinburgh, and David Chalmers, now at the Australian National University. In the journal Analysis, they published a short essay called “The Extended Mind” in which they asked a simple question: “Where does the mind stop and the rest of the world begin?” Most people might answer, “At the skull.” But Clark and Chalmers set out to convince their readers that the mind is not simply the product of the neurons in our brains, locked away behind a wall of bone. Rather, they argued that the mind is something more: a system made up of the brain plus parts of its environment.
Clark and Chalmers asked their readers to imagine a woman named Inga. Inga hears from a friend that there’s an exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art. She decides to go see it. She thinks for a moment, recalls that the museum is on 53rd Street, and starts walking that way. She accesses her belief that MOMA is on 53rd Street from its storage place in her brain’s memory network. Now imagine a man named Otto, who has Alzheimer’s. His memory is faulty, and so he keeps with him a notebook in which he writes down important details. Like Inga, Otto hears about the museum exhibit. Since he can’t access the address in his brain, he looks it up in his notebook and then heads off in the same direction as Inga.
In the view of Clark and Chalmers, Inga’s brain-based memory and Otto’s notebook are fundamentally the same. Inga’s mind just happens to access information stored away in her brain, while Otto’s mind draws on information stored in his notebook. The notebook, in other words, is part of his extended mind. It doesn’t make any difference that Otto keeps his notebook tucked away much of the time. After all, Inga tucks the memory of MOMA’s address out of her conscious awareness most of the time too. Clark and Chalmers concluded that real people are actually more like Otto than like Inga: We all have minds that extend out into our environments.
source....
Monday, January 19, 2009
On This Day In 1996:
An arctic cold front moved through the region. Prior to the cold front, temperatures were in the 50s across southern Wisconsin. However, by the end of the day, the temperatures had fallen below zero. The temperature fell 57 degrees at Richland Center, WI (52/-5) and 58 degrees in Platteville, WI (51/-7). It was the greatest diurnal temperature change at both locations. In addition, 1.03 " of (liquid equivalent) precipitation fell at Guttenberg, IA making it their wettest January day. Snowfall totals from the storm: In IA: New Hampton (7"), Postville (6"). In MN: Preston (8"), Hokah (7"), Lanesboro (6"). In WI: Galesville (6"), Mondovi (6"), Sparta (6").
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
An arctic cold front moved through the region. Prior to the cold front, temperatures were in the 50s across southern Wisconsin. However, by the end of the day, the temperatures had fallen below zero. The temperature fell 57 degrees at Richland Center, WI (52/-5) and 58 degrees in Platteville, WI (51/-7). It was the greatest diurnal temperature change at both locations. In addition, 1.03 " of (liquid equivalent) precipitation fell at Guttenberg, IA making it their wettest January day. Snowfall totals from the storm: In IA: New Hampton (7"), Postville (6"). In MN: Preston (8"), Hokah (7"), Lanesboro (6"). In WI: Galesville (6"), Mondovi (6"), Sparta (6").
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
Canon PowerShot SX100 IS, Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ8K, and Canon PowerShot A2000 IS - Moonshot Comparisons
All cameras were set on automatic (except for spot metering), hand-held/no tripod. I could probably have done even better with manual settings and a tripod (especially with the Panasonic which it's fully auto Moon photos suck) but I wanted to compare how well the cameras figured out what to do with the Moon. The SX100 has a little more yellow tint and the A2000 is more white. Which is the most accurate portrayal of what my eyes see? Not sure. The yellow of the SX100 is, I think. But the crisp white of the A2000 is more accurate of a telescopic view, I believe.
Canon PowerShot SX100 IS. Full optical zoom - full optical zoom + cropped sensor - full optical and full digital zoom.
Canon PowerShot A2000 IS. Full optical zoom - full optical zoom + cropped sensor - full optical and full digital zoom.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ8K. Full optical zoom - full optical and full digital zoom.
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
All cameras were set on automatic (except for spot metering), hand-held/no tripod. I could probably have done even better with manual settings and a tripod (especially with the Panasonic which it's fully auto Moon photos suck) but I wanted to compare how well the cameras figured out what to do with the Moon. The SX100 has a little more yellow tint and the A2000 is more white. Which is the most accurate portrayal of what my eyes see? Not sure. The yellow of the SX100 is, I think. But the crisp white of the A2000 is more accurate of a telescopic view, I believe.
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Originally Posted 11/11/08:
News from the observatory:
The cows enjoying one of the last few warm days of Autumn.
I don't know why they do this, and I don't know what they're called, but you can always tell Winter is here when these little weeds form ice on themselves.
And the airplane picture.
My telescope happily following the Moon across the sky. When it's tracking something, it makes little chirping sounds like a cricket. Sounds like it's from outer space itself!
The Moon and the Seven Sisters on the rise. The Seven Sisters are the little dipper looking thing (but not the Little Dipper) under the tree branches, left side.
The waxing gibbous Moon. This picture was actually taken through high thin clouds.
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill!
UPDATE:
ICE FLOWERS: Temperatures across much of the United States have plunged to record-low levels. It's so cold, ice flowers are sprouting from the ground:
"When I went out to get firewood on the morning of Jan. 16th, I noticed these little luminous beings of ice scattered all around our yard," says photographer Chyenne M. Star of Edgemont, Arkansas. "I have never seen them before - or anywhere in our area."
Scientists have been studying the ice flower phenomenon for almost two hundred years. Botanists, physicists, geologists--all have puzzled over the fragile ribbons of ice that wrap themselves around the stems of some plants during winter. Over time, the following consensus has emerged: Liquid water from deep soil flows up into the stems. Linear cracks in the stems expose the water to freezing air. Water turns to ice, and the ice extrudes from the cracks in thin sheets.
source #1....source #2....
News from the observatory:
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill!
UPDATE:
ICE FLOWERS: Temperatures across much of the United States have plunged to record-low levels. It's so cold, ice flowers are sprouting from the ground:
"When I went out to get firewood on the morning of Jan. 16th, I noticed these little luminous beings of ice scattered all around our yard," says photographer Chyenne M. Star of Edgemont, Arkansas. "I have never seen them before - or anywhere in our area."
Scientists have been studying the ice flower phenomenon for almost two hundred years. Botanists, physicists, geologists--all have puzzled over the fragile ribbons of ice that wrap themselves around the stems of some plants during winter. Over time, the following consensus has emerged: Liquid water from deep soil flows up into the stems. Linear cracks in the stems expose the water to freezing air. Water turns to ice, and the ice extrudes from the cracks in thin sheets.
source #1....source #2....
Flu in U.S. found resistant to main antiviral drug
Virtually all the flu in the United States this season is resistant to the leading antiviral drug Tamiflu, and scientists and health officials are trying to figure out why.
The problem is not yet a public health crisis because this has been a below-average flu season so far and the chief strain circulating is still susceptible to other drugs — but infectious disease specialists are worried nonetheless.
Last winter, about 11 percent of the throat swabs from patients with the most common type of flu that were sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for genetic typing showed a Tamiflu-resistant strain. This season, 99 percent do.
"It's quite shocking," said Dr. Kent Sepkowitz, director of infection control at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. "We've never lost an antimicrobial this fast. It blew me away."
The single mutation that creates Tamiflu resistance appears to be spontaneous, and not a reaction to overuse of the drug. It may have occurred in Asia, and it was widespread in Europe last year.
source....
Virtually all the flu in the United States this season is resistant to the leading antiviral drug Tamiflu, and scientists and health officials are trying to figure out why.
The problem is not yet a public health crisis because this has been a below-average flu season so far and the chief strain circulating is still susceptible to other drugs — but infectious disease specialists are worried nonetheless.
Last winter, about 11 percent of the throat swabs from patients with the most common type of flu that were sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for genetic typing showed a Tamiflu-resistant strain. This season, 99 percent do.
"It's quite shocking," said Dr. Kent Sepkowitz, director of infection control at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. "We've never lost an antimicrobial this fast. It blew me away."
The single mutation that creates Tamiflu resistance appears to be spontaneous, and not a reaction to overuse of the drug. It may have occurred in Asia, and it was widespread in Europe last year.
source....
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Taurus, the bull, charges high across the south on winter nights. Thanks to three "landmarks," he's one of the easiest constellations to find. The landmarks are his bright orange "eye," the star Aldebaran; his V-shaped face; and the Pleiades cluster on his shoulder.
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
Wii gamers suffering from ”Nintendonitis” caused muscle injuries
While Nintendo Wii gained popularity as the game that combined fun with fitness, gamers are increasingly suffering muscle injuries caused due to what is being termed as “Acute Wiitis” and “Nintendinitis.
A large number of active video gamers are reportedly reaching physiotherapists with complaints of repetitive strain muscle injuries owing to excessive playing hours spent on Sonys Nintendo Wii. (Web site, Wii Have A Problem.)
Generally, Wii gamers are required to actively jump, swing and move while manipulating wireless handheld devices.
Darren Rivett, Associate Professor and Australian Physiotherapy Association spokesman, said that the new injury trend had emerged in the past year and increased as the game gained popularity.
“It’’s not an epidemic but certainly after the Christmas period with a new game and plenty of time to play, we see a lot more. People jump in a bit too enthusiastically and do too much, at too high a level, too soon,” The Courier Mail quoted Rivett as saying.
He advised that players need to treat a Wii session as regular sport and exercise, with warm-up stretches, regular breaks and a time-limit on play.
And if taken otherwise, one could risk repetitive or sudden strain, with the knees, shoulder and upper arm more prone to injury.
But, he claimed that the exercise benefits far exceed the risk of injury.
In fact, the game had also been used in the “Wiihabilitation” of stroke and accident victims.
A Wii devotee Matt Pfeffer, 24, of Toowong in Brisbane said the games should be seen as a complement to regular outdoor sports, rather than a replacement form of exercise.
“At the end of the day it gets the kids off the couch instead of pressing buttons. Any kind of movement has got to have some benefit, he said.
Physiotherapists have offered some tips to play Wii safely, which include stretching before beginning play, starting at a lower level to warm up muscles and taking regular pauses from play, every 15 to 20 minutes.
Players were also recommended to stop playing at the first sign of soreness followed by a break for a few days.
source....
While Nintendo Wii gained popularity as the game that combined fun with fitness, gamers are increasingly suffering muscle injuries caused due to what is being termed as “Acute Wiitis” and “Nintendinitis.
A large number of active video gamers are reportedly reaching physiotherapists with complaints of repetitive strain muscle injuries owing to excessive playing hours spent on Sonys Nintendo Wii. (Web site, Wii Have A Problem.)
Generally, Wii gamers are required to actively jump, swing and move while manipulating wireless handheld devices.
Darren Rivett, Associate Professor and Australian Physiotherapy Association spokesman, said that the new injury trend had emerged in the past year and increased as the game gained popularity.
“It’’s not an epidemic but certainly after the Christmas period with a new game and plenty of time to play, we see a lot more. People jump in a bit too enthusiastically and do too much, at too high a level, too soon,” The Courier Mail quoted Rivett as saying.
He advised that players need to treat a Wii session as regular sport and exercise, with warm-up stretches, regular breaks and a time-limit on play.
And if taken otherwise, one could risk repetitive or sudden strain, with the knees, shoulder and upper arm more prone to injury.
But, he claimed that the exercise benefits far exceed the risk of injury.
In fact, the game had also been used in the “Wiihabilitation” of stroke and accident victims.
A Wii devotee Matt Pfeffer, 24, of Toowong in Brisbane said the games should be seen as a complement to regular outdoor sports, rather than a replacement form of exercise.
“At the end of the day it gets the kids off the couch instead of pressing buttons. Any kind of movement has got to have some benefit, he said.
Physiotherapists have offered some tips to play Wii safely, which include stretching before beginning play, starting at a lower level to warm up muscles and taking regular pauses from play, every 15 to 20 minutes.
Players were also recommended to stop playing at the first sign of soreness followed by a break for a few days.
source....
Friday, January 16, 2009
-31°F this morning! There is frost on the walls inside this crappy house. The coldest I have ever seen was -45°F in the mid '90s (1996 maybe?). (There was frost on the walls then too!) Fortunately the furnace has not kicked on at all, and I have the thermostat set at 70°. The wood-burning stove has kept heating this drafty shack with no problem. Thank my ambition and resourcefulness for wood heat! We wouldn't be living here anymore if we were still without it.
Warmer weather coming. Matter of fact, I might just go for an ATV ride somewhere this weekend. I keep wrestling with the idea of becoming a snowmobile owner again, but I'm torn between the pure fun of it that may or may not happen for a few weekends every year, and the lack of usefulness and storage space the entire rest of the year. I guess if I found one for a few hundred dollars I might consider it. I would hate to leave it out in the woods under a tarp for who knows how long until it snows again though. It's so hard on them. But I would have to build another shed otherwise.
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
Warmer weather coming. Matter of fact, I might just go for an ATV ride somewhere this weekend. I keep wrestling with the idea of becoming a snowmobile owner again, but I'm torn between the pure fun of it that may or may not happen for a few weekends every year, and the lack of usefulness and storage space the entire rest of the year. I guess if I found one for a few hundred dollars I might consider it. I would hate to leave it out in the woods under a tarp for who knows how long until it snows again though. It's so hard on them. But I would have to build another shed otherwise.
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
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