Poll: Star Trails Submissions, June 10

[owlice]

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Please click on each image for best viewing; thank you!
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Gemini AO Laser with Star Trails 1
http://ifa.hawaii.edu/~jasonchu/Star%20 ... res%29.jpg
Copyright: Jason Chu



Gemini AO Laser with Star Trails 2
http://ifa.hawaii.edu/~jasonchu/Star%20 ... res%5D.jpg
Copyright: Jason Chu



Northern Stars from Portugal
http://www.miguelclaro.com
Copyright: Miguel Claro



Gemini AO and Keck Lasers with Star Trails
http://ifa.hawaii.edu/~jasonchu/Star%20 ... Res%5D.jpg
Copyright: Jason Chu



Subaru and Polaris with Keck Laser and Star Trails
http://ifa.hawaii.edu/~jasonchu/Star%20 ... res%5D.jpg
Copyright: Jason Chu

[nerbyon]

Hi dear Owlice and group,

I just would like to add this image (third on the poll ) with label to help identify the tracks, with the name of the stars most obvious and important, in some northen constellations.



It is interesting to note, that all stars are dragged, unless, the well-defined star in the upper right of the image, that indicates the North Polar. We can also observe some traces of boats on the water.

The image was took in the Cabo Espichel (lit. Cape Espichel) that is a cape located to the west of Sesimbra, Portugal, about 45Km south of Lisbon. The place has a breathtaking views of its cliffs,168 meters high and facing the Atlantic Ocean.

Thanks for your attention....

Miguel Claro
http://miguelclaro.com

[Chris Peterson]

Hey, Owlice-

I pretty much ignore all these image submission pages. They take too long to load, the images don't fit in the browser, and I can't even skip to the bottom to see the latest post without waiting for all the images to load. What you think about limiting these images to small versions, no more than a few hundred pixels wide, with links to the larger images? That would make it a lot easier to navigate. It also allows for comparing several images on the same screen.

[owlice]

Chris,

Most of the time, you should be able to skip to the bottom; I usually can, and I'm on an ancient, small laptop. ("Ancient" = six years old. )

Regarding the size of the image(s), I have no control over what the submitters have loaded on their websites. I cannot speak for the APOD guys, but it's easier for me to deal with images submitted by URL than by attachments. Some submitters offer their image in several sizes on their websites; if so, I select what is typically the "small" or "medium" image to display on a thread and then link the image to the largest size available (so clicking on the image will take one to the image website). If the image is available in only one size, that's what goes on a thread (though sometimes I skip putting very large images on a thread; I know people don't like scrolling).

Attachments are a different matter; I have to ask for permission to display them (copyright issue), and if an image is large (most are), I will reduce it to what I think is a reasonable size to display. (For me, clicking on an image with scrollbars expands the image if the image itself is not a link; I hope it works like that for others!) This takes time, space, and limits when I can put an image up.

In the case of the images on this thread, there were no smaller versions; it was post them large (as is) or not at all. I picked posting. Better to have them out there for some to skip and some to view than not at all was my thinking. Was that the right decision? Y'all will have to tell me; maybe I'll start a poll to ask.

If there are better ways to handle this, I'm certainly open to them and would really appreciate the input.

[rstevenson]

I too have had some trouble with large images slowing down page display, since I always click the little orange symbol in the lists of threads to take me directly to the latest post in a thread. But I can manually scroll to the bottom while the image loads if I want to.

If I wasn't aware of the time it takes to do it, I'd ask that these image submission pages, as well as all vote pages, use only thumbnails linked to larger images. But I feel your pain.

Rob

[Chris Peterson]

I too have had some trouble with large images slowing down page display, since I always click the little orange symbol in the lists of threads to take me directly to the latest post in a thread. But I can manually scroll to the bottom while the image loads if I want to.

So can I. But the big images don't seem to have HEIGHT and WIDTH tags attached to them (which is an HTML style no-no). So the bottom of the page becomes a moving target as the images above continue to load. At least, with Firefox. I haven't tested it with another browser. I figure if it doesn't work with Firefox, it doesn't work <g>.

[rstevenson]

Firefox is my browser of choice too. Interestingly I can manually scroll to the bottom of a thread and it'll stay there while the images load. FF v3.6.3 in Mac OS X v10.6.3. Time to switch?

Rob

[bystander]

I use Firefox also. I don't have any problem scrolling to the bottom. I also find larger than window size images annoying. I oftem scroll past them, and sometimes don't go back to look, but, as owlice says, sometimes smaller images just aren't available and, unfortunately, img scaling doesn't seem to be recognized.

[owlice]

Yeah, I've been looking to see if there's any way to designate the height and width within the image tag, and so far as I can find, it can't be done.

I think it's important to remember that the images are being submitted for consideration as an APOD; they aren't submitted to Asterisk. Of course the submitters send in what best shows off their work, and many times that's going to be a big image. I'm very glad they share and that I get to see these images!

[owlice]

Miguel, my apologies for not commenting earlier -- thank you for labeling the stars! Star trail pics are always interesting to me because they show so well how varied star colors are.




(It occurs to me that Phad, Nekkar, Muphrid, and Izar would make great names for cats! Wish I'd thought of that sooner...)

[bystander]

Yeah, I've been looking to see if there's any way to designate the height and width within the image tag, and so far as I can find, it can't be done.

According to the BBCode.org Tags Reference, it is possible. It just isn't implemented in phpBB. Maybe geckzilla can fix that.

[nerbyon]

Hi Owlice, thanks for the comments.

I found it interesting to include these star names, because they are not so well known

Best wishes

Miguel Claro

http://miguelclaro.com