Data acquisition by Jim Misti On August 24, 2011, a supernova torched off in the Pinwheel Galaxy, only 21 million light-years away. This makes it one of the closest supernovas seen in decades. The guys and gals who track these things dubbed it PTF 11kly, a type of white dwarf detonation that usually progresses in [...]
I worked hard on processing this image, because the data was acquired on a still, dark night in New Mexico in April and was some of the highest quality data I acquired while I was still able to use LightBuckets remote controlled telescopes. I processed the data last month, finally got tired of looking at [...]
I keep plugging along, trying to get better at putting together astronomical “pretty pictures.” My raw material was acquired using the LightBuckets observatories in New Mexico, as well as from data made publicly available. I have discovered that there are two software approaches to digital processing of astronomical data. The well-traveled path uses Photoshop CS [...]
When I suspect someone is trying to play mind games with me, messing with my head, I don’t like it. Nicholas Carr, author of What The Internet Is Doing To Our Brains: The Shallows, believes it is far worse than just mind games. The digital world can actually cause organic changes in the structure of [...]
It’s officially summer now, and the trees have pretty much done with their annual growth spurts. The car was due to go on the operating table at The Glass Doctor to get a windshieldectomy, courtesy of a flying rock from our last trip to the lake, so I drove to the auto hospital and took [...]
This spectacular galaxy, designated Messier 51 and popularly called the Whirlpool Galaxy, is probably one of the most photographed celestial objects. I remotely snapped it about a year ago using a telescope located in a mountain valley near Rodeo, NM. The image below is my second attempt at processing that data, partly to determine if [...]
Are classical music lovers a dying breed? I have no idea of course, but I do know that all over the country all-classical FM radio stations are changing their broadcasting format from classical to contemporary rock or (even worse) talk-talk-talk. I understand that many cities now have no classical music stations. KFUO-FM in St. Louis, [...]
Galaxy Messier M66. Go here for details. Well, maybe not the last. The outfit that rents remote-controlled time on several telescopes is closing down. Details at the Lightbuckets site, at least while the web site is still online. I first used their equipment on June 5, 2010, and since then I have accumulated lots of [...]
That is the title of a book I am reading by Frederick Kempe. It triggered memories of my inexplicable recall to Army active duty in the fall of 1961. I knew I was part of a largely symbolic recall of reservists because of the Berlin Crisis, but that’s where my knowledge stopped. I had little [...]
Larry opines in a recent email (and if the link doesn’t work, blame Larry): Aw, you just have to hear this: Der Bingle The song was an early effort by Irving Berlin. What appealed to me was the relaxed and cordial back-and-forth conversation between Crosby and Jolson, between verses. This song takes me back to [...]
