Saturday reflections

I happened to be in Grand Central this afternoon, so this picture of the clock on the façade from earlier this year is appropriate. The sculpture around the clock is called The Glory of Commerce, a name even more ostentatious than the artwork.

Sunrise, sunset

Omicron upended all of my plans for my winter break. I had invitations for overnight visits with two sets of friends, but nobody wants to have or be a houseguest with such a contagious virus running rampant. Then, of course, I got sick myself and got to spend ten days in quarantine.

So I decided to get out of town for a few days, and booked an AirBnB in Montauk, at the eastern tip of Long Island. Where I had enough misadventures to remind myself of all of the less fun aspects of travel, culminating in having to leave a day early when yesterday's predicted rain turned out to be snow.

But here's something I didn't expect to see on this side of the continent: sunset over the ocean. This is Ditch Plains Beach, on the south side of Montauk Point. The sun is so far south this time of year that from the right angle you can actually see it set over the Atlantic.

Astronomy Tuesday

Here's a last look at Comet Leonard, which has completed its swing around our sun and is now headed out of the solar system. You can really see the colors in this image, the green coma surrounding the head of the comet, and the blues in the tail.

Researchers at the University of New South Wales found that the green color that surrounds the heads of some comets is caused by the reaction between diatomic carbon—a highly reactive form of carbon found in stars and comets—in the comet's coma and the ultraviolet radiation from the sun. The blue color in the tail comes from carbon monoxide.

Image Credit and Copyright: Blake Estes (itelescope.net)

Sunday bird blogging

The beautiful summer colors of a starling in Central Park.

Saturday reflections

The Corinthian columns in front of Grand Central, on 42nd Street.

The Gunks

Those views of the Palisades reminded me of this: the Shawangunk Mountains in Ulster County, a ridge that forms part of the western boundary of the Great Appalachian Valley.

Two more from Fort Tryon Park

These are from late November.

View from Fort Tryon Park

I'm going to try to catch up on some old pictures before school starts again. The skies here may look wintry, but this picture looking up the Hudson from Fort Tryon Park was taken on a rather mild day in October.

Astronomy Tuesday

NGC 1333 is a reflection nebula in Perseus. The dust hides much of what is going on, but those red spots are called Harbig-Haro objects, bright patches of partially ionized gases associated with newborn stars.

Image Credit and Copyright: Michael Sherick

Sunday bird blogging

A typically gorgeous female cardinal in Central Park.

I am about 99% asymptomatic this morning, so I'm going to consider myself out of quarantine as of tomorrow. I think I will treat myself to a drive.

Saturday reflections

This is a view of Midtown West in Manhattan. I'm not crazy about most of these buildings, but as a group, all that glass reflecting all that sky is pretty stunning.

Life in quarantine

This picture is actually from last winter, but since we got our first real snowfall last night, it's appropriate. And since I'm in quarantine, I can't go out and take any pictures of this storm—a concept that, apparently, some people have a hard time understanding.

I'm in Publix, this lady in front of me has a cart full of stuff. The cashier casually asks her "are you stocking up on groceries to stay safe". The lady responds "I actually tested positive 3 days ago. I'm in quarantine now"

My face: pic.twitter.com/GxFF0ZnMCJ

— You ever seen a baby pigeon? (@Real_JRoe) January 7, 2022