End of Another week
"Iceland"
I never did make it to work today. Not that I didn't try - after 1 1/2 hours I did manage to drive 18 of my normal 31 mile commute. But the I 285/I 20 overpass, and the next interchange to the east along 20 was a total chaos as "black ice" caused over a dozen accidents resulting in the total shutdown of the interstate. Much of the I-285 ring was also affected, so essentially Atlanta was 'sealed' off from the outer metro area. I was *luckly* to escape sitting in my car another + 45 minutes by getting off at the last possible exit before the total closing of the roadway.
So I'm home sipping gourmet coffee, playing with the Shadow-Kitty and surfing the 'net. There is a limit to my patience when dealing with DOT's lame-assed attempts to keep the roads open...
A Dynamic Duo
Its been awhile since my last pretty astro-image post, so I hope you'll appreciate this "dynamic duo". This is M81 and M82, the main galaxies of a small group located about 8 million light years from our own Milky Way galaxy. The larger one (M81) is a spiral much like our own, while the smaller system (M82) is a bloody mess - as it is ungoing a massive starburst as a result of tidal interaction with the larger object. Both galaxies are easily visible in a small telescope in the constellation of Ursa Major - (The Great Bear), better known as the "Big Dipper".
Now what is really cool is that this image (at a much smaller scale than at the website) was taken by a Canon 20DA, a digital SLR camera - and NOT a CCD. Chuck Vaugh took two 10 minute exposures at ISO 800 through a 6-inch refractor and then combined the shots to produce this image. I think this is sehr kewl, as you can now get awesome results from a decent digital camera.
OK - now give the 'doctor' some candy, err...comments.
:-)
I never did make it to work today. Not that I didn't try - after 1 1/2 hours I did manage to drive 18 of my normal 31 mile commute. But the I 285/I 20 overpass, and the next interchange to the east along 20 was a total chaos as "black ice" caused over a dozen accidents resulting in the total shutdown of the interstate. Much of the I-285 ring was also affected, so essentially Atlanta was 'sealed' off from the outer metro area. I was *luckly* to escape sitting in my car another + 45 minutes by getting off at the last possible exit before the total closing of the roadway.
So I'm home sipping gourmet coffee, playing with the Shadow-Kitty and surfing the 'net. There is a limit to my patience when dealing with DOT's lame-assed attempts to keep the roads open...
A Dynamic Duo
Its been awhile since my last pretty astro-image post, so I hope you'll appreciate this "dynamic duo". This is M81 and M82, the main galaxies of a small group located about 8 million light years from our own Milky Way galaxy. The larger one (M81) is a spiral much like our own, while the smaller system (M82) is a bloody mess - as it is ungoing a massive starburst as a result of tidal interaction with the larger object. Both galaxies are easily visible in a small telescope in the constellation of Ursa Major - (The Great Bear), better known as the "Big Dipper".
Now what is really cool is that this image (at a much smaller scale than at the website) was taken by a Canon 20DA, a digital SLR camera - and NOT a CCD. Chuck Vaugh took two 10 minute exposures at ISO 800 through a 6-inch refractor and then combined the shots to produce this image. I think this is sehr kewl, as you can now get awesome results from a decent digital camera.
OK - now give the 'doctor' some candy, err...comments.
:-)