Gum 29 should be the Lobster Nebula

I don't seem to have the imagination necessary to name astronomical objects. I still can't fathom why the Eagle Nebula is so named. However, this new image from ESO of Gum 29, a young star-forming nebula seems to beg for the name Lobster Nebula. However, that name's already taken by this blob. (I think the lobster is coming at you.) Still, when circled, Gum 29 looks quite tasty.

Flock of Common Terns at Long Beach

A flock of Common Terns spent last Saturday at Long Beach Conservation Area. Every two or three minutes they all decided to take off at once. I figure there was about 250 birds.

Last night's lunar eclipse

Saturn at left, Regulus at top.


A widefield view during totality.

My Dada album cover

From Joey, I tried the Dada album cover meme. From wikipedia, a random article as band name, I got Spring Creek, South Dakota, from quotations.com I got this quote "I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what." from Harper Lee's "To Kill A Mockingbird", (the last four words are the album title) and this picture from flickr's recent interesting posts (3rd picture).

Dresses made from condoms

Smugmug link

Surprisingly colourful creations.

My pictures of Arizona

Comet 17P/Holmes

Comet 17P/Holmes has undergone a huge outburst, from magnitude 17 to 2.5, which means it's gone from being visible with only the largest telescopes to easy naked-eye visibility. I took this picture last night in my backyard.

More pictures and maps at www.spaceweather.com.

Moon composite

A composite image of the moon. Two images stitched together. Taken with a Meade black and white DSI ccd camera, and my 85mm Stellarvue refractor.

M57

Took this photo the Ring Nebula, M57, Saturday night. Surprisingly good! Meade black & white DSI, and my 85mm Stellarvue refractor.

M13

I am surprised by how well this picture of globular cluster M13 turned out. Took it Saturday night, with a black and white Meade DSI and my 85mm Stellarvue.

Favourite science images

Following Carl Zimmer, who followed Larry Moran, I've picked my favourite scientific image from the Wellcome Trust's new Creative Commons-licensed image database. I wanted the spectrum of just the sun, but I guess I will have to accept some other stars too.

[Credit: Wellcome Institute, Creative Commons License.]

Recent solar activity

This is a picture I took of the sun yesterday. There are two large prominences, at 1 and 9 o'clock. On the disc there is one sunspot and some small filaments. No retouching to the picture.

Aurora last night

Some aurora pictures from last night, taken in my backyard: