Starship Asterisk*

http://deepskycolors.com/pics/astro/201 ... 2010rp.jpg
Copyright: Rogelio Bernal Andreo

AH!! Gentlemen, thank you very much! Okay, that makes total sense to me now (and doh!!)!! Thank you!!

kjardine, thank you very much! I beg your indulgence; I have another question... why does the local zodiacal dust show up as a wave? Rather, how it is that it is so well organized? I thought the wave might possibly be an oscillation artifact from processing of some kind; I didn't think it'd be real ...

sarahstitcher wrote:it makes me think of waves crashing on the beach

I can see that.

I was asking about the wave (don't know what I'd call it -- too square to be sine, not square enough to be square?) that is visible in the image kjardine linked to.

Amir, are you working on blueprints for a time machine? :-) I don't know Auster at all; so many books, so little time! Thanks for the link! Rob, thank you; yes, the kid does read online a lot, and certainly he reads for school, too. It's very unusual for him to turn down a gift, especially a book. (...

kjardine, thank you for that link. Wow! I need to collect the whole set; they should be on canvas.

What is the wave in that picture?

That there is an internet encyclopedia of science. Rats. I may never sleep again!

That's a gorgeous picture. Art, even. Wow!

http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id ... 26&size=lg
Copyright: Guido Montañés

http://www.robgendlerastropics.com/NGC2442.html
Copyright: Robert Gendler, Jan-Erik Ovaldsen, Christina Thöne, and Chloé Feron

Orca, I've seen "The Blind Watchmaker" around -- maybe even in my house (our book collection is in great disarray) -- but haven't read it yet. It sounds like something I'd like; thanks for the write-up! I'm currently reading "Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us" b...

I was browsing through Borders last night and see that Timothy Ferris has a new book out -- "The Science of Liberty: Democracy, Reason, and the Laws of Nature" -- and that brought to mind another of his books, " Seeing in the Dark : How Amateur Astronomers Are Discovering the Wonders ...

This is pretty cool; it clearly shows the southward shift of the rising sun: http://joeorman.shutterace.com/Sun/Sun_05.html

Yes! I'm thinkin' 4 pixels by 4 pixels.

Ah! Well, then, at one serving/week, that sounds about right!

Well, that certainly didn't take long! Congrats, makc!

So the answer to my question is "too much."

Too much? Not enough? We'll find out!

Nice crop it is.

#17 coming up, but if I get another of these, I really will cede to Chris!

one serving of chocolate per week

Per week?!?! How limiting!!!

...or at least somewhere with dark skies. One can shoot out nearby street lights only so many times as a kid before getting into trouble, and as an adult, one knows better (and a brother is less likely to be willing to lend a hand).

That's one pretty picture!

Oh, no, please! You do it!

There are several reasons why I chose that picture; that the asterism is famous and would be easy for some was just a bonus!!

neufer's line made me laugh, so I appreciated it!

Chris, only because I found one easily (with feeling! and meaning!), I went ahead but really, I'd have been quite happy to pass the mantle (or magic helmet... whichever!).

What APOD is this from?

When I saw today's APOD, what came to mind was "spear and magic helmet". It was late; I was tired. What can I say? The earworm's been with me all day!

It's a wonderful picture.