Open Eyes

Distant Vision

Take a gander in high resolution....expand.

The small open star cluster Pismis 24 lies in the core of the NGC 6357 nebula in Scorpius, about 8,000 light-years away from Earth. The brightest object in the center of this image is designated Pismis 24-1 and was once thought to weigh as much as 200 to 300 solar masses. However, Hubble Space Telescope high-resolution images of the star show that it is really two stars orbiting one another that are each estimated to be 100 solar masses. In addition, spectroscopic observations with ground-based telescopes further reveal that one of the stars is actually a tight binary that is too compact to be resolved even by Hubble. This divides the estimated mass for Pismis 24-1 among the three stars.  The images of NGC 6357 were taken with Hubble's Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 in April 2002. ImageCredit: NASA, ESA, and J. Maíz Apellániz (Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, Spain)

Top 10 States People Are Leaving

1. New York
2. Illinois
3. Ohio
4. Nebraska
5. Kansas
6. Iowa
7. Louisiana
8. North Dakota
9. South Dakota
10. Mississippi

This is the Forbes list of the top 10 states that people are moving away from. I think you will notice what state is conspicuously absent in spite of the right wing rants about high taxes and social programs.

I Love This Place

A rose bud in the afternoon cloudy light at the Treehouse. 12/11/10

I went to the office to check the mail this afternoon, and snapped a few pictures.

Along the Treehouse driveway, the roses continue to bloom. 12/11/10

Evidence Of Falling Leaves

The rain knocked the leaves straight down off these trees. 12/11/10

Today I stopped at the Hilltop Mall to see if Penny's had more turtle neck shirts for the band. The mall was really busy for some reason and there was a long line of parents with kids in tow to get their picture taken on the lap of some guy with a white beard and a red suit. Fascinating.

They didn't have turtle neck shirts at Penny's, I guess turtles are out of season.

Nice Sunset

The view from the stairwell landing was ideal this evening. 12/11/10

Today's Relatively Appropriate Song;

Life Is Wonderful