Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

World Climate Report

snow-palms.jpgI had a chat with a colleague at work this morning about the recent snowfall in Malibu, California. He chuckled, “It’s the Gore effect,” and told me about an article he saw on Instapundit, “Wherever Al Gore goes, unusually low temperatures seem to follow.”

I read Instapundit’s article and found that the term “Gore effect” has actually made it into the Urban Dictionary.

My colleague and I had a good chuckle over that.

Having heat or cold spells is hardly unusual — it’s just the way things go. Long term temperature and climate effects are in the domain of the Sun’s behavior and there is little we can do about that. Short term phenomena will average out to the global mean annual temperature — which seems to be cooling off a bit according to this report about the Nordic sea ice expansion from World Climate Report:

Continue reading…

18 Jan 2007 by Global Warming Science Whacko Politics

Comet McNaught Transits SOHO

This is simply extraordinary . . . We’re in awe.

Brightest Comet in Over Forty Years

Comet McNaught (C/2006 P1) has not only become the brightest comet SOHO has ever seen, but even the brightest comet observed in over forty years! The comet swung by the sun on Jan 12th – 15th, and is now emerging into the skies of the southern hemisphere. During its close encounter with our mother star, comet McNaught became a naked-eye object in broad daylight. It was discovered on August 7th, 2006 by the hugely successful comet discoverer Rob McNaught (Siding Spring Survey). At time of discovery, the comet was a very faint object, but the predicted perihelion distance (closest distance to the sun) of just 0.17 AU indicated already that the object had the potential to become very bright.

As you are probably aware, the LASCO instrument on-board SOHO has the ability to watch comets as they get extremely close to the Sun. Fortunately for us, comet McNaught has passed right through the LASCO C3 field of view! We do not know exactly the peak brightness of the comet yet, but it is definitely brighter than -3 mag! It is thus much brighter than comet NEAT or comet 96P/Machholz. In other words, comet McNaught is by far the brightest and most spectacular comet SOHO has ever seen!

18 Jan 2007 by Aerospace Astronomy Science

A White Orchid

We made a run to the local garden shop to get some home and garden supplies last week. While we were in the hothouse, I snapped this image of this very nice white Phalaenopsis Orchid.

white-orchid.jpg

17 Jan 2007 by California Photography

Coming Up Roses

Not sure about the name of this amber-colored variety of roses, but they are very nice. These roses are our centerpiece on the dining room table this week.

amber-rose.jpg

16 Jan 2007 by Arts Photography

Waiting — Again

Thanks to the State of California, we’re on the 10-day wait for a new Remington 870 Express shotgun. All but a handful of states have no waiting period for shotgun purchases, and many of those do not require registration for shotguns either. Not good old moonbatty California, though.

remington-870-security1.gif

Image: The Remington 870 Security Shotgun waiting in the vault for us.

Not only do we Californians have to jump through all the aggravating hoops, but then have to go to extraordinary steps to even keep guns in our home. The Attorney General’s description of “acceptable” gun safes looks like a specification for an airlock on the International Space Station — this many tumblers, that many bolts, this minimum thickness and so on. Safes that meet the specifications are easily out of the price range of many folks who deserve home protection.

Another point — if a sudden home invasion were to occur, how quickly can you get your safe open and have the weapon loaded and ready to use? What if the safe is on another floor — upstairs and you’re downstairs or vice-versa.

15 Jan 2007 by California Firearms

Three Strikes Out

We put up a silhouette target at the range today. We personified it a bit by sticking on some adhesive target patches we brought along. We then each discharged five shotgun rounds, taking photos before, after I shot five 20 gauge rounds and again after Cap’n Bob shot five 12 gauge rounds. The target was at about 25 yards from where we stood. Earlier, we peppered a couple of pistol targets with rounds from Cap’n Bob’s .357 Magnum and my 9 millimeter (both S&W). The shotguns we use are Remington 870 Express, 20 and 12 gauge sizes.

We had a lot of fun at the range today.

123.jpg

14 Jan 2007 by Firearms

Comet McNaught Visible in Broad Daylight

mcnaught-soho.jpgThis may be a once in a lifetime celestial event for Earthlings to witness. A sun-grazing comet, McNaught, is visible to the naked eye in broad daylight! If you have clear skies, you should step outside today and try to observe the comet.

SOHO also “sees” the comet, but it’s so bright in the sky it badly blooms the image.

Image: SOHO LASCO C3 view of McNaught.

Read more about how to observe this spectacle from SpaceWeather.com:

Continue reading…

14 Jan 2007 by Astronomy Science

Categories

Archives