Cloudbusting

 Yesterday was the first clear-skyed day for some time, and the last chance to see C/2023 A3, otherwise known as Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS or Comet A3, for 80,000 years.  An occasion such as that warranted leaving work early and hightailing it home in order to witness said comet, so I did.

 Having miscalculated the amount of time required to get home, take Bitey out for his evening "movement", and then wander up Madam's Lane with Camera and Tripod, I set out with all three - getting hotter and hotter as I neared Madam's Lane (it had been a VERY warm day for the time of year).

 Once I'd trudged up the not-very-steep-or-very-high Toll's Hill to the Nightship stop (very near boiling point), I gazed around the points of the compass, marvelling at the beautifully clear skies above and to the North, the East, and the South.  And there to the West was my target - obscured behind the only clouds in the sky.  Drat!

The view west from the Nightship stop looking out over Toll's Hill and not seeing any comets.

Where was Kate Bush when I needed her?

 Not wanting to have a completely wasted trip, I thought I'd take some photos of the stars coming out in the west.  But that was scuppered by the Moon which was massive and brilliant, totally obscuring the stars in Camera's sights.  Bah!

 Still, I did inadvertantly get a shot of the light from Cromer lighthouse:

Not the Aurora Borealis

 On Friday the 10th of May this year the Aurora Borealis was particularly spectacular over Great Britain (and other parts of the world) and no end of people witnessed its awesome show and captured photographic images for posterity.  I was not one of those people because I had no idea such an event was taking place until the next morning when it was too late.  Fortunately, it was scheduled* to put on an encore performance that night as well, although it wasn't expected to be quite so spectacular.  This performance suited me because I was to be at my sister's down the road for an evening of cards and gin with a couple of friends and my other sister, so by the time we finished, I could just step outside and see it all going on in the sky above.  Hooray!

 

 Except I didn't see it because the performance was cancelled!  Although I didn't find that out until we'd already staggered wandered down to the cliff top and stood around taking photos of the sky just in case we were too drunk (and in my case, too colourblind as well) to see it.  Apparently the cancellation was something to do with a curtain malfunction or blown light bulb or something according to the conductor of the Nightship (which appeared rather disconcertingly - and in a cloud of noxious fumes from its malfunctioning catlitter converter - right next to where I'd set up Camera & Tripod.  If I hadn't had that last G&T I'm sure I would have noticed the stop).  Bah! 

 

 Anyway, despite that disappointment, I managed to get something out of the experience: some fuzzy photos of a few of the brighter stars:

 The night air was a bit hazy, so these photos are not as clear as my previous efforts. 

 This is made all the more obvious by comparing poor Capella and Polaris - the brightest stars of their respective constellations, Auriga and Ursa Minor - with how they looked just over three years ago on a clear, cold April night. 

Stella Botanica

 Have you ever wondered how all those starships and spacecraft in the Star Trek Universe are made?  Well, wonder no longer as I have discovered evidence that is sure to surprise you.  The starships are not painstakingly fabricated on a planet or in orbit, but rather their parts are sustainably harvested from the giant machine lifeforms that grow in the Lightspeed Lagoon Nebula as the following illustration shows:

This botanical illustration must have found its way back in time somehow for me to have discovered it 250 years before it was created.

I know.  Shocking, to say the least!

- - -

Salt Rooks

 

  So, there I was, minding my own business when I was accosted by a bunch of salt rooks!  I mean, the very nerve.  If they think their display of sharp-edged, cubic cuppery was going to intimidate me, well, they had another thing coming.

 Oh, for fu....  They're just salt crystals!  You'd inadvertantly debigulated us again!

 That's beside the point.  Those crystalline carbuncles are no better than bloody Tholians!  I've a good mind to get Nancy Crater down here.  She'll show those pes-

 Stop.  Just stop.  Your grasp of Star Trek is almost as flimsy as The Very Mistress's.

 Hmmmph!

 Right.  I'll continue captioning these photos from yesterday evening and this morning, then.

Once the seawater had evaporated from the pitted and crumbling promenade,

all that's left are salt crystals.

No wind and no waves mean smooth seas.

The Sky and the Moon

 Just a reminder for The Nature-led Life's March photo submission request: The Sky and the Moon - as hosted by the delightful Melanie.

 I've emailed my photos in, but narrowing down the many, MANY photos I have of the sky and the Moon was rather harrowing, so I thought I'd create a post out of some of those that I didn't submit.

25 January 2018 : Pre-dawn

[Featured in No Moon At All]

Moss Walk for Melanie

A moss island on the Madam's Lane bridge

  What with one thing or another (which I shall elaborate on in a future post), December passed by in a bit of a blur.  This meant that I managed to forget about Melanie's Nature Led photo submission (the theme for which was 'Nature at Rest').  Oops!

 So, as the skies were blue, this morning I headed out with Camera to get some photos for this month's theme: Moss.  And here are the results:

Exposed tree roots near the radar station

Moss lining the edge of the Paston Way path leading up past the radar station

Catching Crabs

 Summer popped back to brag about old times, but I didn't want to get caught up in its inane dude-bro rambling, so I took advantage of the change in weather it brought and went for a walk along the beach instead.

 I wasn't the only one with that thought though...

Gah!  There are people everywhere!

Just look at the six - six!! - in this photo, milling around and getting in my way!

I get up at four in the morning so you don't have to!

 Yes, the longest day is here, and didn't it come around quickly!?  Where is the year going? 

 Anyway, as I'm working today, rather than miss out on the extra few seconds of daytime because I'm stuck in front of a laptop, I thought I'd capture the day so I can experience it tomorrow instead (I have the day off!).  Of course, if any of you, the delightful Blogorati, wish to make use of this day after it's occurred too, then help yourselves!

 This is part one.  I'll post part two tonight, soon after it happens.

Late!  (And it's not because Camera's clock is six minutes fast...)

Ah. There you are!

White Cliffs of Over(strand)

Uh, oh...  This doesn't seem right?

 On Thursday, knowing that the temperatures on Friday were going to hit at least 30° and therefore any outside venturing then would result in heatstroke, and crisping of skin followed by complete desiccation, I slapped on some sunscreen, stepped outside and sloped off down to the beach to get some fresh air and have a paddle.

 

 

 Only it didn't quite go according to plan...

A sudden embiggening of the landscape alerted me to the fact that I had inadvertantly happened upon the Lilliputian Cusp interface again, promptly becoming debigulated.

Soon to be 399...

 Sorry I haven't been around much over the past couple of weeks or so.  Amongst other things, I had some bad news last month that's affected me more than I thought it would.  It was something that I've known was coming for a while now, but I just thought I'd have another couple of years or so before it became real.  Unfortunately, Car is seriously ill, and is not expected to make it beyond the end of 2022.

A frosty Car from back in January

 Car went in for its MOT in the middle of November, and I knew my purse wouldn't get through unscathed.  I'd had a bad feeling about Car for most of this year, and even considered getting a new car back in September, but my optimism - buoyed on by my superb procrastinatory skills and a hefty dose of denial - won out.  Which meant that come MOT time, I submitted Car for the roadworthiness test, stubbornly forseeing a rose-tinted, birds & butterflies (yes, even at that time of year - I saw a peacock butterfly at the beginning of this month, no less), happy ending - possibly involving the doe-eyed young mechanic who had seen to Car previously.

Berenice Bobs Her Hair

 You'd better turn your lights off to best view the photos in this post (except for the final two)...

 Yes, it's back to snaps of the stars courtesy of my paparazzi telephoto lens "Starry Night" setting on Camera.  I can tell that you're all just thrilled!  After all, we haven't had one of these since mid-February's Blogorati Stars post.  And this post features brand new photos taken from Hexenhäusli Device's backgarden on 7th April!  How we spoil you.

 Actually, I don't really know what I'm doing with these photos.  I started off with an attempt to get the constellation of Camelopardalis looking more like a giraffe (for that it what it's supposed to be) rather than a clothes horse (which is what it looks like in my Universe book - and pretty much everywhere else).  I think I was relatively successful?  Then I had a go at Cassiopeia and Perseus, but gave up with Auriga as I couldn't stop giving him (although I think he looks like a her in the book) a fat bottom.

The Calamities of the Carmine Quill

 A silent Ms Scarlet  held up the intertitle card with a self-satisfied grin.  Having flirted with the idea of becoming entirely text based and giving up speech forever, she had gone out on a few dates with it, made a deep connection, and then eloped, with the marriage ceremony held at the Grade II listed telephone box in Mogwash.

 After an interminable amount of time - at least eight or nine seconds - Ms Scarlet's grin had regressed to a scowl.  Why wasn't anyone taking any notice of her very clever, and painstakingly crafted card?!  Fortunately, she had prepared for this eventuality - as unlikely as she thought it would be - and held up another card: 

Misty Mysteries

WARNING: This post may contain poo!

 As the second day of the weekend also turned out sunny (but not as balmy as yesterday), I had no choice but to go outside again.  But this time down to the beach where some misty mysteries lay in wait:

While most of the beach was basking in sunshine, the wet bits and the cliffs weren't

Blogorati Stars: Who's Next?

 This is the post I was working on before yesterday's walk in the snow photos (and that tit killing) usurped it.  Some of the comments from the last Blogorati Stars post (featuring 'Petra) got me thinking about how to get more of you lovely Blogorati into the night sky.  Short of launching you into orbit aboard Ariane 5, that is...

 As only two of you - the aforementioned 'Petra and the inestimable Mago - actually appear in the IAU's list of approved star names, some plotting scheming unconventional thinking is required to get the rest of you up there.  For example, Melanie Reynolds used to be known as Proxima Blue - in her words: "inspired by Proxima Centauri, yes I know its a red dwarf, shush! You don't know her heart." - so why not work up a star map of the constellation Centaurus and pop Melanie in there in place of Proxima?  Because I can't see it.  Centaurus is too far below the ecliptic for me to see its nether regions (where Proxima lies), so there'll be no photos and, therefore, no star map.  We'll have to come up with a different star.

The largest erection up Madam's Lane is obscuring Scorpius' tail

And her bush is obscuring what little of Centaurus that might be visible

Blogorati Stars: 'Petra

 Almost a year on since the last Blogorati Star's post, may I introduce our next Star:

'Petra

 I don't know how I missed it, but Petra was in the same batch of approved star names as Mago back in December 2019.  Perhaps it's because she's...

Not Very Bright Marilyn Monroe GIF from Notverybright GIFs

 Yes, at 196 light years away poor Petra (AKA WASP-80) is too dim to be seen with the naked eye, with an apparent magnitude of only 11.88.  If you get your telescope out however, Petra can be found in the constellation Aquila (the Eagle) just off the tip of its beak at right acension 20^h 12^m 40.18^s, declination −02° 08′ 39.1″.  She also has an entourage - at least one planet, Wadirum, constantly orbits her, attending to her every whim and desire.

I haven't been out stargazing lately, so I put this star map together from a photo I took back in August 2019 (which is why Saturn is in Sagittarius here rather than Capricornus)

  Yes, Mago will have some stellar company with this Diva Lady.  And speaking of Mago, let's pre-empt his Sunday Music with some 'Petra-themed tunes:

Blue Bottom and Rainbow

 So, what have I been up to since The Year of Ferrero Rochering Dangerously ended and now?  (Other than that Tippi Hedren moment and Ms Scarlet's First Vinyl meme, of course - see previous post.) 

 Well, apart from work and wandering about the countryside surrounding Hexenhäusli Device, not a lot.  As these photos go to show...

 First up from 27th December, the titular blue bottom and a load of clay: 

Near the end of the End-of-the-Line is a blue bottom!

 

Don't worry, this photo was taken from quite a long way off.

This grey seal pup had just been disentangled from a discarded jacket, and was getting over the ordeal by lounging about waiting for its mum to return from the sea.

More of Dawn's Crack

 While the 10th Anniversary Infomaniac Garden Photos Event was underway, and to wake myself up for a day in front of the work laptop, I went out and about just after the crack of dawn again.  Well, I needed to have something not too taxing in the bag for when the event was over...

 So, here is the first batch of some of the many, many photos I took in the last couple of weeks:

Monday, 2nd November:

From the cliff top looking east

 

On the prom near the beach huts

 

Secrets and Rocher: A Delilah Smythe Debacle

 Desperate for some good publicity after the "Marmalised Marmalades" BBC swearing scandal in 1988, diabolical deviant, Delilah Smythe, approached equally desperate (and weak-willed) Royal, Prince Edward, with a "fool-proof" idea: an It's A Royal Knockout rip-off substituting the mid-ranking royals with celebrity chefs.  She'd even roped in Jane Asher, the Swedish Chef and Martha Stewart as team leaders.

A Royal Rocher wrapper??

 However, at a royal charity dinner, the Queen, in no uncertain terms, put the kybosh on Edward's involvement, and without Edward, Delilah's idea was doomed.  As fate would have it, while on her way to pilfer some cutlery during the dinner, Delilah just happened to overhear something she shouldn't when she stooped to pick up a discarded Rocher wrapper near to a hushed conversation between Michele Ferrero, philanthropist and owner of Ferrero SpA, and Dame Christopher Biggins, Official Pantomime Dame of Great Britain and the Commonwealth realms.

Blogorati Stars: Mago

 After waiting somewhat impatiently for the Union astronomique internationale, or International Astronomical Union (IAU), to publish the next lot of official star names (the last set of additions was back in August 2018), I did some link clicking on their website and have just discovered that some 112 additions were made two weeks ago, on 13th February 2020. 
 Imagine my surprise when I discovered that a star in the constellation Camelopardalis (the Giraffe) has been named Mago!  Apparantly, the star designated HD 32518 was named after the Mago National Park in Ethiopia (noted for its giraffes), but a little research and some wild deductions later has led me to conclude that the star is, in fact, named after our very own Mago!  And he very probably influenced its naming considering that the name was suggested by pupils at a school in the town of Neckargemünd, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany - not a million miles away from our Mago in Franconia.  Surely not a coincidence?

 HD 32518 Mago is almost 400 light years from Earth, and although bigger and more luminous than our sun, is barely visible to the naked eye from here.  It is certainly undetectable by Camera (or it was back in August 2019 when I took this photo), so I've marked its approximate location with a golden circle.

 Mago can be found at right ascension 05h 09m 36.7201s, declination +69° 38′ 21.8551° - or at the nape of the giraffe's neck not far from the star Alpha Camelopardalis, also known as Shǎowèi. 

 Camelopardalis is one of the northern most constellations and, therefore, is only partially visible (if at all) from south of the equator (sorry, Dinah).  It is bordered by Ursa Minor and Cepheus to the north, Cassiopeia to the east, Perseus, Auriga and Lynx to the south, and Draco and Ursa Major to the west.

 I shall be scouring the additions to the list of IAU-approved star names to see if any other Blogorati have managed to get themselves so immortalised.

First Photos of the Year

 I feel like I'm at a loose end, despite having various things to do.  Probably because I have various things to do, actually - I can't muster up the enthusiasm to do any of them.  And I've felt this way since before hearing the sad news that we've lost LẌ (which has only made me feel more "meh").
 So, forgetting everything else and going against my not-really-a-New-Year's-resolution to NOT clutter up the blog with meaningless photo-posts when I've got shit-all else to post about, I've flicked through the few photos I've taken so far this year, and plopped the "best" ones up here.  They're of the same old subject matter that I've subjected you to a thousand times before, so don't expect anything to write home about.

1st January: The first day of 2020 finds the cliff sacrificing itself to replenish the beach again just past the End-of-the-Line (and Camera reminding me to clean its lens...).

3rd January: A cleaned Camera lens later allows for a clear sunset and moon shot.