a barred spiral galaxy - the rainforest expands - # 58

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Way to click Bahsten......................!

All clicked here in NE Tejas.....
The name - by the way - is a Caddo Indian word for the area prior to the arrival of the Spanish which translates to - "Land of Friendly People." The French and Spanish picked up the word and passed it on to the Mexicans - and during the early 1800's the 'wet backs' from the USA picked it up from the Mexicans. I say 'wet backs' because the settlers had to cross the Red River (from the John Wayne movie) to get to the area. - - - True story, Big Grin

G'day all~

Piff, I sent the rain and ya sent it right back!!!

Sailing to work today ya all. <splash>





In the year 964 A.D., the Arab Abd Al-Rahman Al Sufi described the Andromeda Galaxy as a small cloud. In 1612 Simon Marius first saw it through a telescope. At only 2 million light years, Andromeda, also known as M31, is our closest galactic neighbor. It is slightly larger than our own Milky Way galaxy but has the same organization to its 400 billion (400 x 109) stars. Although Andromeda's full angular diameter is seven times as much as the full Moon, it appears much smaller to the naked eye because only the central region is bright enough to be seen even on a truly dark sky night.

The Andromeda Galaxy will collide with our own Milky Way in about 3 billion years as it approaches at 140 kilometers per second. They will probably merge to form a single massive elliptical galaxy. Andromeda's right ascension is 00 h 42.8 m and its declination is +41° 16'. (Super-Size Image 843 Kb and 1,955 x 2,700 pixels

Really interesting Stradee - however, no one will be here to experience the collision because our sun will have decayed into a Red Giant by then and the Earth will have become part of it. groan

Dan,

Wow! Then we all should begin packing!

There's no hurry Stradee, the universe as we know it consists of material that is being burned. After all the burning is done - there will be left only the ashes of our existence.

Or, maybe there will evolve some little ash people. Then the wife can say to her husband - "Get your little ash in here!"

You and your 283 friends have supported 1,809,852.6 square feet!

Marine Wetlands habitat supported: 68,894.4 square feet.
You have supported: (35,516.5)
Your 283 friends have supported: (33,377.9)

American Prairie habitat supported: 33,657.9 square feet.
You have supported: (9,551.0)
Your 283 friends have supported: (24,107.0)

Rainforest habitat supported: 1,707,300.2 square feet.
You have supported: (159,529.1)
Your 283 friends have supported: (1,547,771.1)


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1 Aktbird57 .. 1054 41.545 acres

Thanks, Danon- I'll go clean out the photos. How'e Patti doing?

So good to see old clickers!

Stradee -- We kept some of the (dratted) rain here... believe me. We even had a storm last night & lost power.

Oh, Spring, wherefore thy sting?

Click.

I decided to touch a tree today. It was a big old knarled tree on the edge of a river. It had one baby branch growing 3 feet up right in the middle of the tree, so I touched the new branch.

I couldn't tell what type of tree it was from the old bark, which was craggy and llifted and dark from the rain, but the baby branch looked like it had the bark of a white birch. One of the branches had been pruned and was shaped like a wish bone, nifty tree.

Hi paulaj, Piffka, wayfarer, ehBeth and all,

All clicked this fine Dienstag.

piff, daylight savings begins Sunday, and who knows if we'll see the Spring season at all this year. Raining again today.

There are birds nesting in the eaves of the porch though, so when the weather clears for a few hours, the menagerie begins singing - the Jays skawking, plus pheasant out and about. It is so cute seeing Pheasant parents and thier babies out for a stroll during spring and summer months.

Danon, before the universe burps, you have got to see the "ashes..." art exhibit!

http://www.ashesandsnow.org/index2.html

Hi paulaj, welcome to the rainforest thread!

Stradee, Yes, I have seen a segment on TV about Gregory C. He is quite the artist. I like his work. He says that he does not "fix" his photos - but its really hard to believe with a few things he has done - like swimming with the whales, with no breathing device. But, I still love his work.

Colbert's ashes inspire.

Hello <waves through the trees>

That is a nice gentle picture you brought us. I love elephants, I'm not to hip on how they are trained by circus people though, it's sad to watch.

Hi, Paula, great to see you here with the WildClickers

aktbird57 - You and your 283 friends have supported 1,811,374.4 square feet!

Marine Wetlands habitat supported: 69,058.3 square feet.
You have supported: (35,516.5)
Your 283 friends have supported: (33,541.7)

American Prairie habitat supported: 33,657.9 square feet.
You have supported: (9,551.0)
Your 283 friends have supported: (24,107.0)

Rainforest habitat supported: 1,708,658.2 square feet.
You have supported: (159,552.5)
Your 283 friends have supported: (1,549,105.7)

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1 Aktbird57 .. 1055 41.580 acres

This rare freedom allows for an unhampered purity of artistry, a sky's the limit vision that is unlike anything else out there. "We would hang around for months. With whales we could work for six weeks, without even shooting a frame of film... around full moons is a good time. I think it's the Zulus who say, patience is an egg that hatches great birds. I guess I'm a Zulu at heart. You wait heartfully, and there are days of miracles, and there are days when you're just thinking about them. But you don't push it. The elephants will decide, or the whales will decide. I'll work on elephant time




The photographer himself swims with the sperm whales in the pictures you see without the benefit of breathing apparatus. "Bubbles are a sign of distress for a whale, you've got to do everything in free dive. It's almost four and a half tons; you're like an olive in a martini. The most important thing when working with the world's largest carnivore is that you not convey any fear. There were a few incidents, but they were the exceptions. These are not artistic stunts. Normally I would not do these things, but if you believe in something, sometimes you have to fight for it."

Hi, everyone...we've clicked!

Thanks for the new thread, Beth!

Cool link, Stradee. Like danon, I think that I've seen some of the photos on t.v. before. I love elephants! They're incredibly smart and their behavior is absolutely fascinating to me...Some of my very favorite animals ever! Elephants, whales and Bengali Tigers.

Piffka...
We didn't lose power here, but the rain and the wind have been incredible! There have been trees down all over. I kept the blinds closed for a while Saturday and yesterday because I couldn't stand watching the huge cedar tree in the front of my house bending over so much that it brushed against the living room windows. (The tree is waaaayyy on the other side of the sidewalk from the house so it really has to bend to touch the window...scary!) I don't even look out into my back yard during wind storms because of all the tall evergreens planted out there...you know, the kind that can slice your house in half if they chose to do so. Two things I don't do well around - wind storms and earthquakes - so I live here !!!

Hi paulaj!

Circuses and zoos are no place for elephants, I agree.
Here's a great place in Tennessee where rescued elephants live the rest of their lives in safety and comfort.

http://www.elephants.com/sanct.htm

Elephants are quite wonderful animals arn't they?

Dan, Gregory Colberts next expedition is to the Antarctic "to send a message to the penguins from elephants" in collaboration with, world-renowned choreographer William Forsythe, dancers, scientists, and his film crew. "We're taking a 65 meter boat from the St. Petersburg Hydrographic Institute, with a Russian crew of twenty. There's going to be 48 of us and it's going to be a wonderful laboratory of wonder.



Matrix, if more people met and interacted with elephants, there'd be far greater appreciation and less exploitation of the magnificent animals - that I can guarantee. When I have more computer time - I'll tell you about Tara. She was a 60 yr old Asian elephant I was fortunate enough to have met.

Matrix, the rains have finally stopped! Yardwork for the next three days!

Haven't seen my house from all the new growth, the walkways have all but disappeared, and I've got three days outdoor work scheduled. Pine kneedles everywhere - and the hedges are beginning to resemble walls.