Author Archives: Chompsky

Behold: a stunning image of Arp188, aka the Tadpole Galaxy based on imagery from the Hubble Telescope Archive. To wit:

The cosmic tadpole is a mere 420 million light-years distant toward the northern constellation of the Dragon (Draco). Its eye-catching tail is about 280 thousand light-years long and features massive, bright blue star clusters. One story goes that a more compact intruder galaxy crossed in front of Arp 188 – from right to left in this view – and was slung around behind the Tadpole by their gravitational attraction. During the close encounter, tidal forces drew out the spiral galaxy’s stars, gas, and dust forming the spectacular tail. The intruder galaxy itself, estimated to lie about 300 thousand light-years behind the Tadpole, can be seen through foreground spiral arms at the upper right. Following its terrestrial namesake, the Tadpole Galaxy will likely lose its tail as it grows older, the tail’s star clusters forming smaller satellites of the large spiral galaxy.

(Image: Hubble Legacy Archive, ESA, NASA; Processing: Amal Biju)

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A new work by British artist Dan Rawlings currently housed inside a 19th-century church in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire: a canopy of foliage plasma-cut into the steel shell of a reclaimed oil tanker. To wit:

Future Returns invites us to examine our own part in commercialization and the resulting changes to our natural environment. Rawlings believes it is easy to demonize industry but we must acknowledge that it has allowed life as we know it to bloom. It is our ability to design, create and produce that has put towns like Scunthorpe on the global map. He also believes oil companies have much to answer for, from the state of our environment to mistrust of science.

In fairness.

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Behold: the 1965 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud III – one the most elegant Rollers of RR’s ‘golden’ coach-building era. this car – one of only six hand built by James Young – was originally delivered to Melville Thompson, Esq. of Northern Ireland and required 2600 hours to complete.

Retaining its original 6.2 litre V8 engine and fully restored in 1997 by a former James Young employee, it’s accepting bids this month between €160,000- €237,000.

uncrate

Behold: a diabolical pareidolia captured earlier this month. To wit:

Atmospheric refraction flattened the solar disk and distorted its appearance in this telescopic view of an Atlantic sunrise on June 10. From Belmar, New Jersey on the US east coast, the scene was recorded at New Moon during this season’s annular solar eclipse. The Moon in partial silhouette gives the rising Sun its crescent shape reminding some of the horns of the devil (or maybe a flying canoe …). But at its full annular phase this eclipsed Sun looked like a ring of fire in the heavens. June’s annular solar eclipse followed on the heels of the total lunar eclipse of late May’s Full Moon. Of course, that total lunar eclipse was a dramatic red Blood Moon eclipse.

(Image: Madhup Rathi)

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