Unusual for August here, we had a couple little rain squalls move through thanks to the remnants of Hurricane Dean. A little sun broke through and lit up these beautiful hibiscus still bearing the raindrops from the gentle showers.
Environment
A Real Shooting Star
Cal Tech Astronomers using the GALEX telescope, made a very interesting and unprecedented discovery of a massive tail being left in the trail of a well-known star, Mira. The faint tail, seen in ultraviolet light, spans more than 13 light years in the wake of Mira. The discovery of this phenomenon includes a ‘bow-shock’ ahead of the star, analogous to a vessel underway on the sea.
Mira, a late-sequence red-giant star, is shedding it’s outer layers as it hurtles through the universe at amazingly high speeds (relative to our Sun). As scientists study this interesting discovery, they are likely to learn more about the ultimate destiny of our own star, which, as we know, will be similar to Mira in about five billion years.
From Science@NASA:
August 15, 2007: Astronomers using a NASA space telescope, the Galaxy Evolution Explorer, have spotted an amazingly long comet-like tail behind a star streaking through space. The star, named Mira after the Latin word for “wonderful,” has been a favorite of astronomers for about 400 years, yet this is the first time the tail has been seen.
Galaxy Evolution Explorer–“GALEX” for short–scanned the popular star during its ongoing survey of the entire sky in ultraviolet light. Astronomers then noticed what looked like a comet with a gargantuan tail. In fact, material blowing off Mira is forming a wake 13 light-years long, or about 20,000 times the average distance of Pluto from the sun. Nothing like this has ever been seen before around a star.
NASA and JPL/Caltech prepared a half-minute animation which is an artist’s conception of Mira generating her tail. Be sure and watch this neat little video.
Where’s Greenpeace and PETA on this?
I read the blogs and listen to the news every day. Most of the time, when I see something that pisses me off, my reaction is that of mild disgust. Last night, however, I passed the level of outrage when I saw an article on Planet Gore that tells of the destruction of one of the more intelligent species of hominids in the name of producing biofuels.
The Indonesians are steadily clearing the rainforest habitat of the orangutan to make way for palm oil plantations at the behest of the European Union’s thirst for biofuels, bio-diesel, in particular. The result is that the apes are being slaughtered and displaced.
Where the hell is PETA? Where the hell is Greenpeace? My guess is they’re too busy scheming about their next assault on the ‘evil’ USA.
Read Iain Murray’s Planet Gore article, “Crucifying Apes on a Cross of Green“, for the outrageous details.
Landfill Lilies
The nearest County Recycle Center is located at a closed landfill in Rolling Hills Estates on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. When we have collected enough glass, aluminum and plastic, we take them to the center. The County nicely maintains the landfill landscaping and these nice pink lilies were among the flowers we saw blooming today while we were recycling.
Catalina Fire
UPDATE: New Panoramas added at the bottom.
There is a wildfire on Catalina Island this evening. Near real time pictures are available on the Catalina Interior Webcam from Los Angeles Coastal Monitoring Network “interior webcam.”
I made this composite panoramic view of the fire at just after 7:20 PM (Pacific Daylight Time) this evening. Click on the panoramas for a full-sized view.
Update – 7:50 PM:
More updates below the fold.
Alligators in the Sewers – Reggie, Where Ya Been?
Now that Steve Irwin is no longer a threat, Reggie seems comfortable with emerging from his hiding place. We thought his overdue emergence in 2005 ended this unusual story.
We were wrong.
Read about the sighting from the Daily Breeze:
First STEREO Images
The STEREO spacecraft has furnished its first 3D images. The images are taken from STEREO’s X-ray cameras; one taken from the “Ahead” spacecraft and one taken from the “Behind” spacecraft and then combined to produce the 3D effect.
To view these anaglyphic images in 3D you will need red-blue glasses, which you can get free from Rainbow Symphony.
I also repackaged a lower-bandwidth video of the rotation of the solar disk leading up to the view of the Sun seen above. I even put some music to it to add some cinematic pizazz. Eat your heart out, Al Gore: