NASA’s Spitzer and Hubble Space telescopes teamed up to show a cosmic cloud called the Orion nebula where stars are born.
Hubble contributed ultraviolet and visible light images while Spitzer brought infrared to the mix. The composite image shows a chaotic area of hydrogen and sulfer gas (green) as well as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons which show as wisps of red and orange.
Download a larger image here
Outside, the last remnants of the “storm” caused by Earnesto are wetting the lawn. The hype, as usual, failed to live up to the actual event. That’s not a bad thing but a good out and out window shaking howler would actually be easier to take than 48 hours of gloomy drizzle and occasional showers.
I woke up this morning at my normal horribly early time, took one look out the window and went back to bed. Normally, I would play golf in weather like this but the pre-dawn had a depressing feel to it so I opted for an extra hour or so of sleep. Tomorrow is another day.
Early September, in the parlance of the air travel industry, is a “shoulder” month. Changes abound as the summer season winds down and prepares to hand the baton to fall. Some trees are acting as harbringers and their leaves are starting to turn. The sky looks so different at this time. On sunny days, the blue is paler. On cloudy days, the overcast feels lower. Squirrels have a desperate air about them as they scurry across the lawn like shoppers who have arrived just a little too late for the early bird sale.
Waking to darkness foretells the coming months when daylight is a precious commodity that we squander sitting in offices lit by the cold glare of flourescents. The summer’s tan will slowly fade to the pasty hue of winter.
A gloomy post for a gloomy day. Tomorrow the Sun is supposed to reappear. All will look brighter.
A recent post on Fark led me back to YouTube to look at some old music videos. I know I’m old but I really miss the ones that actually told a story or at least got the idea that they were presenting on a visual media. Some examples for your viewing pleasure:
Drive by The Cars
And She Was by The Talking Heads
Darkness, Darkness by Robert Plant (originally performed by Jesse Colin Young and the Youngbloods
We Didn’t Start The Fire by Billy Joel
Voices Carry by Til Tuesday
Cloudbusting by Kate Bush (with a cameo from Donald Sutherland)
Right Now by Van Halen
The One I Love by REM
Another Day In Paradise by Phil Collins
Freedom ’90 by George Michael
All Night Long by Lionel Richie (ok, this one is a little dated)
You Can Call Me Al by Paul Simon (with Chevy Chase)
Steppin’ Out by Joe Jackson
Boys Of Summer by Don Henley
Bop Til You Drop by Rick Springfield (!)
Time After Time by Cyndi Lauper
The Living Years by Mike and the Mechanics
That’s it for now, I could do this all day.
[thumb:479:l]The last morning before the clocks go back. An early tee off with friends. Sunshine finally made an appearance after a week of clouds and rain so it was great to get out for one of the last rounds of the year.
[thumb:478:r]Peel Village Golf Course is owned and operated by the City of Brampton. In 1999, it was officially recognized as Canada’s first fully-certified municipal course under the Audubon Co-operative Sanctuary System. I’ve seen everything from deer to coyotes on the course and over a 100 species of birds call it home. Careful course management ensures that Peel Village is consistently lush even in drought conditions without the need for excessive irrigation or chemical usage.
[thumb:350:l] (Click any picture to enlarge)The author on Mt. Titlis in Engleberg Switzerland. An incredible view. The temperature was about 1 degree C and the clouds rolled in and out the whole time we were there. After a 45 minute cable car ride (3 seperate cars including one that revolves as it climbs), we were treated to an incredible view.
[thumb:352:r] This picture shows the last of the three cable car runs returning to the base of Mt. Titlis with the village of Engleberg in the background. At 10,000 feet in height, breathing gets a little bit difficult and you really feel the pressure change as you come back down.
[thumb:351:l]The trip from Zurich to Engleberg passed through Zug and Lucerne and the view is spectacular all along the way. I’m glad I decided to take this excursion and I’ll probably be posting pictures for a while.
(click to enlarge)
When aircraft come close to reaching the speed of sound, they sometimes produce a “Prandtl-Glauert Condensation Cloud”. Here we have a B2 Spirit stealth bomber accompanied by 2 F-15E Strike Eagle fighters.
The technical explanation of why these clouds appear is available here.
(via Linkfilter)
Good morning from Calgary. More cowboy hats than you can shake a stick at. Stampede week 2 is in full flight and it looks like people are having a lot of fun.
We got into the hotel at about 8:30 last night, a little late to take in the sights, so we just had a quiet dinner. Good Alberta beef.
This morning, the branch is putting on a pancake breakfast and I brought my appetite. Weather here is beautiful, sunny and a little cool, but I’ll take that over the Toronto steambath any day.
The flight out on Westjet was good. Comfortable leather seats with individual TVs make the trip go a little faster. I got some pictures of interesting cloud formations but I won’t know if they turned out until I get back home and download them. I’ll try and post the best ones.
Nothing exciting to report today. We just started the second day of the meeting and my body thinks it’s 3am though my watch says 9. Today’s subject is not that riveting and I’ll be looking for something to hold my eyes open by the end of the day.
Tonight I meet up with a colleague who used to be based in Toronto but moved back to Germany where he’s originally from and it will be nice to catch up with him. We’ll probably catch a quick dinner and retire to the bar for a few hours.
No new pictures today, yesterday was cloudy and rainy, but today has dawned sunny and quite pleasant.
Yesterday Jan and I took her new car up to Wasaga Beach and then went out to lunch with Maxine. We headed over to the village at Blue Mountain where the Interwest group is pouring buckets of money into development.
I don’t ski but I have played the Montera golf course a couple of times and I always found the area a tad seedy and tired looking. New condos building among old chalets gave the area a schizoprehnic quality. Well, the new money is trying very hard to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. The “village” is filled with trendy stores, bars and resturants with new construction everywhere.
We had a lunch at a new place called Kaytoo and I was very surprised at how reasonable it was. They probably double their prices when the ski season starts but the food is good, the staff is pleasant and the decor is clean and very pleasing to the eye. They’re creating a lake just outside the restaurant and the patio is large and comfortable. Unfortunately, the weather yesterday was a little cool and breezy but I’m sure that they’ll have plenty of business on a warm summer’s day.
We did manage to catch a little sunny break so the top came down and we got to do a little cruising. Convertibles seem to make people smile and the ocassional toot of admiration was heard. Most of the day, however, was cloudy with scattered showers that took a lot of fun out of the excursion.
Today is another blah day so I’m hiding in the basement watching the US Open.
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