Starship Asterisk*

Ann,

My last word on the subject (for now, anyway) is to note the truly unusual and intriguing pale magenta or lavender color across NGC 7008. I hope we provoke a response here from an astrochemist. See http://tinyurl.com/2elr8pr

Bob

Ann, Thank you! That's a most interesting perspective, and one I sympathize with, as you are, in effect, seeking "truth in imaging." (Which is why I personally am uncomfortable with HST and other artificial narrow-band palettes, even though they do indicate differentiation in gaseous compo...

Ann, You frequently express your distaste for planetaries (but sometimes make an exception.) Given that planetaries are among the most vivid and diversely colored objects the in sky, and are among the youngest and most dramatic in their origin, what underlies your disdain for images of them? Kind Re...

To be clearer, some of the most interesting people I know qualify as informed crazies. But maybe that's a function of my journalism background.

Bob

Ah, I hadn't realized we are looking at sand-ripple scale. But still, we appear to have very dark sand on top of light (rippled) sand. Is there a material difference, and if so, what process keeps the light and dark materials separate?

Bob

The large, dark "bacterial" dunes appear to be superimposed on a complex field of much smaller dunes, formed in turn on some nastily complex system of bedrock ridges. Any information as to the difference in material composition between the big dunes and the surrounding dune-like terrain? O...

Starship Asterisk looks fairly popular to me, but here are a couple thoughts on why it's not even more popular. One is the "Discuss" header on APOD. That implies discussion only of APODs, a very limited prospect. I signed up a couple years ago to discuss a particular APOD, and failed to no...

http://www.astrophotogallery.org/bobgil ... 1-pln.html

Copyright: Robert Gillette

I fully agree with Dietmar. What's the point of repeating an APOD, especialy of a familiar object, when there's so much else to be seen, and such a variety of great new images to draw on?

"Teaching by repetition" is no excuse. If you want repetition, go to the archive.

Bob