Author Archives: Chompsky

Behold: the very first images of the sun taken by the new Inouye Solar Telescope at the 3050m summit of Haleakalā in Hawaii. Three times more detailed than any previous image of the sun, each of the cells you see is around the size of Texas.

It’s hot work, ogling that fiery ball:

Focusing 13 kilowatts of solar power generates enormous amounts of heat — heat that must be contained or removed. A specialized cooling system provides crucial heat protection for the telescope and its optics. More than seven miles of piping distribute coolant throughout the observatory, partially chilled by ice created on site during the night.

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Behold: the Alpine A110 SportX Coupe – the newest quasi-iteration of the car the won the World Rally Championship in 1973.

This supposed La Plagne-bothering special edition is essentially a wider, higher version of the A110 Pure with raised suspension and a ski rack. But Alpine is just showing off here. There are no plans as yet to put it into production.

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Behold: IC 410, aka, the Tadpole Nebula, about 12,000 light-years away in the northern constellation of Auriga. It’s a busy place, what with all the star formation. To wit:

The cloud of glowing gas is over 100 light-years across, sculpted by stellar winds and radiation from embedded open star cluster NGC 1893. Formed in the interstellar cloud a mere 4 million years ago, bright newly formed cluster stars are seen all around the star-forming nebula. Notable near the image center are two relatively dense streamers of material trailing away from the nebula’s central regions. Potentially sites of ongoing star formation in IC 410, these cosmic tadpole shapes are about 10 light-years long. The featured image was taken in infrared light by NASA’s Wide Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) satellite.

(Image: WISE, IRSA, NASA; Processing & Copyright: Francesco Antonucci)

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Behold: the Bertone Aston Martin Jet2 Shooting Brake – a one-off, commissioned by adventurer and vintage car buff Barry Weir in 2012.

Aston Martin has been producing ultra-low volume shooting brake versions of its cars, including the DB5, DB6 and Vantage since the 1960s. This model was created from a new DB9 delivered to Italy and expertly modified by Bertone, whose designers added a hatchback and a panorama roof seamlessly integrated with the lines of the original car.

Completely unique, the car also comes with the original tooling, allowing the buyer to produce more Jet2 shooting brakes should they wish.

Price on application.

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