peterography

I’ve never understood how anyone in this universe can stay bored for long. I assume most of my blog readers inhabit the same universe as I do, so don’t you agree that this is a damned interesting one, as universes go?

Take this exploding comet, for instance. Up until a few days ago comet 17P/Holmes was an obscure 17th magnitude snowball orbiting the sun at a distance ranging from about Mars to Jupiter, i.e., pretty far out there. Suddenly on October 25 it exploded, increasing in brightness by a factor of a million literally overnight. It’s easily seen now with the naked eye at prime time by anyone who just turns off their TV, goes outside, and looks up. Tonight I took a picture of it from my deck:

For the technically-obsessed, this was taken with a Nikon D100 at ISO 1000, using a Nikkor 180mm f/2.8 lens, 20 second exposure. That slightly dark ring around the center is not an artifact - it’s really there. The stars are slightly streaked because I was still adjusting my equatorial mount settings when a bank of clouds rolled in and spoiled the party.

This comet is just plain weird - its orbit is less eccentric than most comets; its behavior and appearance are way more eccentric. The usual wackos have been emerging from the web woodwork, suggesting that it’s the fulfillment of a Hopi prophesy, or positing that it’s an alien spacecraft uncloaking itself or experiencing a reactor core explosion.

But I have my own theory. Remember that witch from the Wizard of Oz - Glinda, the good witch of the North? She was never seen slumming it on a broomstick. Instead, she always travelled around in a bubble, and I think the resemblance is striking:

Now, I’m not making any predictions here; all I’m saying is that it might not be a bad idea to apply for membership in the Lollipop Guild.

You know,  just to be on the safe side.