Yesterday, we had a public event to talk about the upcoming solar eclipse. A local amateur astronomer friend and I made an hour-long presentation describing the celestial mechanics that make an eclipse happen and also the practical aspects of observing and photographing an eclipse such as use of filters for protection. After the event, a retired eye-doctor from the Navy told us about his experience from 1970s. He was stationed in Florida and a group of marines from Georgia were sent to him for treatment. It seemed that they viewed the solar eclipse at that time without any protection and damaged their eyesight. According to him, these marines were about to be shipped out to Vietnam and they did this intentionally to get out of that tour of duty.
We have one more event scheduled next Monday. Let’s see what stories I get to hear there.
Either the Christian nationalists are too stupid and trump is using them to grab power or they are super smart and using trump to push their regressive policies onto American people. Either way, a relationship that involves using each other to get what they want is not going to end well.
These photos were taken about 24 hours apart. From the movement of the Sunspots we can appreciate the Sun’s rotation. This is the first time for me to observe this and the Sun rotates much slower than I expected.
Sun on Feb 25, 2024. The huge sunspot group AR3590 is as wide as 10 earths. It can be seen even with eclipse glasses. Check it out if you have them. This kind of solar storm is capable of knocking out telecommunication satellites, power grids and internet. There was some speculation that last week’s cellphone outage was because of this - turned out not to be the case.
Alrighty! Had enough of this week. Time to hang up the boots and step into the weekend. You all have a good one!
My favorite constellation in the sky. Playing here with a diffuser filter to get that soft dreamy look.
I just hate dealing with insurance companies, especially when I have to file a claim and follow up. Going through the process to replace our destroyed mailbox had made me anxious for the last couple of days. Thankfully, it is all sorted out and if the contractor can get to it quickly, we will have a mailbox by this weekend.
“Prodigies can very quickly learn what other people have already figured out; geniuses discover that which no one has ever previously discovered. Prodigies learn; geniuses do. The vast majority of child prodigies don’t become adult geniuses.”
— An Abundance of Katherines by John Green a.co/gUICER7
Contribution limits for retirement accounts for 2024 (source):
Making a post here so I can find it quickly.
I like John Green’s excellent writing. His novels are well written and are a good read including this one but, my favorite is his book “Anthropocene reviewed” and the eponymous podcast.
Finished reading: Turtles All the Way Down by John Green 📚
Actually DNF. It started out very well but became too violent and I didn’t want to keep reading.
Finished reading: Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor 📚
“To be alive is to be missing.”
— Turtles All the Way Down by John Green a.co/hDdwZZM
Started watching season 5 of “Fargo” over the weekend. Really liked the first two episodes. Acting, storytelling, pacing… everything is just excellent! Have to find a big chunk of time to binge watch the rest of this season.
Bright blue skies on today’s hike. The spikes that I bought for my hiking shoes are working really well.
It was a cloudy day with light flurries but not too windy and cold. Perfect for a forest bathing session. Did not see a single person on the trail. I had it all to myself. 😄
