Interesting Items...

Trev · Jun 28, 2020

Trouble is that 'vocal fans' (short for fanatics) are causing all sorts of unnecessary and unwarranted mayhem on the streets of UK these days, and not just restricting themselves to 'bigging up' TV progs.

Ezra Pound · Jul 2, 2020

Rainbow Chrysanthemum

Is this the most obviously Photoshopped image you have ever seen?, now available from Amazon - NOT

Black Hole · Jul 2, 2020

Interesting? Hmm.

Couldn't possibly be. And the weird coloured cut flowers you sometimes find in the supermarkets are dyed (by standing them in dyed water).

I was wondering whether one could achieve that rainbow effect on a single bloom by dividing the bottom of the stem and standing each division in different coloured water, but I reckon if it worked we would have seen it by now.

Incidentally, some variations in petal colours that get marketed as special cultivars are actually caused by viruses.

trog · Jul 2, 2020

It reminds me of the blue orchids you see for sale at B&Q and most supermarkets. There are no natural blue orchids, all have been injected with a dye and will if still alive the following year be white. Even worse are the brightly coloured paper flowers glued onto cacti in those same places.

Black Hole · Jul 11, 2020

Naked-eye comet 2020F2 NEOWISE + noctilucent clouds (first time I've seen them), 0255BST 2020/07/11.

8s exposure @ f4, ISO400 (longest exposure available on this camera: Fuji FinePix HS50EXR). Pre-cropped original (x4.25 optical zoom, equivalent to 17mm focal length) available here (free to use with attribution): https://i.ibb.co/t2CKS8p/DSCF5640.jpg

Just need to edit out that power cable now, and maybe apply a bit of spot-enhancement on the comet.

Edit: replaced original photo with cropped and contrast-adjusted version, details added (heck, it was late!)

sine24 · Jul 13, 2020

It doesn't show the split tail it is supposed to show.

Black Hole · Jul 13, 2020

sine24 said:
It doesn't show the split tail it is supposed to show.

So? If you think you can do better... :disagree:

By "split tail", I assume you mean the gas tail and dust tail. The gas tail would be much fainter, and pretty much in a straight line from the head away from the Sun. This is not an astronomical photograph, it is an ordinary photograph with an ordinary camera showing more-or-less what you would have seen visually in that place at that time.

EEPhil · Jul 13, 2020

sine24 said:
It doesn't show the split tail it is supposed to show.

You should have seen the picture when I viewed it. For some reason my browser located itself at the bottom of BH's post. It cropped the comet out of the picture and all I could see was the bright area of sky with the cable through it. What comet I though, has BH gone mad? Fortunately your post made me look at the picture properly.

Black Hole said:
So? If you think you can do better...

Very much doubt it. My camera can't even take a proper picture of the moon. So ( :rolleyes:

) IMHO a good, sharp picture.

Black Hole · Jul 13, 2020

EEPhil said:
You should have seen the picture when I viewed it. For some reason my browser located itself at the bottom of BH's post.

I originally uploaded the whole frame to an image hosting site and used an image link. I reckon that's what you first picked up. Since then I have replaced it with a locally hosted reduced image. I will be replacing it again when I have a final processed version.

Black Hole · Jul 13, 2020

Here's a picture culled from earthsky.org, by Bob King (I hope he doesn't mind), illustrating sine24's point (and mine!). Note how subtle the gas tail is (just visible), and decide what the chances are of it being recorded in my photo, given the circumstances and the equipment:

That must have been a much longer exposure than my camera could muster (count the stars!), possibly with tracking, in much darker conditions, and with a substantial zoom or telephoto lens.

Yeah, OK, that's a much better snap of the comet, and artistic in its own right, but it's not here (it's Minnesota), and where are the noctilucent clouds?

Black Hole · Jul 14, 2020

I have now updated the photo in post 1744 with the final tweak, in 1024px format (note the power cable is gone).

Ezra Pound · Jul 14, 2020

http://news.sky.com/story/viking-link-475-mile-underwater-interconnector-will-give-uk-access-to-denmarks-clean-energy-12027879

I wonder what happened to the UK - Iceland cable

Black Hole · Jul 14, 2020

Chunky!

Ezra Pound said:
I wonder what happened to the UK - Iceland cable

The pikeys nicked it.

Wallace · Jul 14, 2020

I think you might need to go on a diversity course.

everthewatcher · Jul 14, 2020

Ezra Pound said:
I wonder what happened to the UK - Iceland cable

According to WP the project was still at the feasibility stage in 2017 but as of 2019, no further progress had been reported.

prpr · Jul 14, 2020

Black Hole said:
The pikeys nicked it.

A real Meatloaf moment there...

Trev · Jul 15, 2020

Why do we need this stuff from abroad when those nice state funded Chinese companies will build nuclear power stations all over the place for us.
I wonder if we could persuade them to pay for HS2, but I expect they realise that it would be a particularly stupid idea.
Perhaps the final realisation what China are up to will 'wash off' on HS2 and the idiots will finally realise etc. etc. But I won't be holding my breath.

everthewatcher · Jul 15, 2020

Trev said:
Perhaps the final realisation what China are up to will 'wash off' on HS2 and the idiots will finally realise etc. etc. But I won't be holding my breath.

Although they may be aware of what's happened in Africa with Chinese involvement, arrogance will make them think they're too clever to let it happen here.

Ezra Pound · Jul 17, 2020

There is a lot more of this 'cabling' going on than I was aware of :-

UK - France 1961, 1986

xyz321 · Jul 17, 2020

Current usage graphs including the interconnects between the UK and other countries.

G. B. National Grid status

www.gridwatch.templar.co.uk

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