Cosmic Pond

Well, here's another "pretty picture". Can you guess what this nebula is called? No, not the sperm nebula. I'll give you a hint...NASA refers to this region of space as "The cosmic pond of gas and dust." Yes, those two objects look like tadpoles. The Tadpole Nebula (IC 410) is some 10,000 light years away. Each tadpole is approximately 10 light years long. They are shaped by the cosmic winds blown from a neighboring cluster of newly formed stars known as NGC1893. The tadpoles are where stars are formed. Pretty cool, huh. Well, actually very hot as each head of the tadpoles glow hot from intense radiation.

I want to thank Adam Block for his excellent Pixinsight tutorials and for his recommendation for using Russell Croman's Noise, Star, and Blur Xterminator programs. These programs are real time savers and fun to use. Adam goes into great detail explaining how these programs work so even someone like me can create images like this.

Please have a great holiday season and be safe. Cheers!

Sunflower Stained Glass Mural Panel 3

The sunflower stained glass mural panel 3 of 4 is complete and mounted. Panel number 4 is 25% complete. Panel 4 has many large pieces of glass and should be completed before March if all goes well. This project has been an uplifting experience for me and I'm in no hurry to see it end. Thank you for sharing the journey with me.

Panel 3 of 4 ready for solder

Panel 3 of 4 is ready for solder. it's a great time of year to work in the shop. The heater is running and holiday music is playing in the background. We just received our first snow on the surrounding hills and volcano. Late fall is really beautiful here.