tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37936507.post116743791054871393..comments2023-08-08T10:25:47.529+01:00Comments on McCabism: Astronomical dreamsGordon McCabehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09151162643523937086noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37936507.post-1167575106524237732006-12-31T14:25:00.000+00:002006-12-31T14:25:00.000+00:00Well how interesting - I'll go and take a look. I...Well how interesting - I'll go and take a look. I missed that. Thanks again, Gordon.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37936507.post-1167530713421839962006-12-31T02:05:00.000+00:002006-12-31T02:05:00.000+00:00Indeed, I've set that picture as the background on...Indeed, I've set that picture as the background on my PC, Clare! <BR/><BR/>I read in New Scientist last week that someone called Paul Silver has proposed that plate tectonics ceased altogether for 100 million years when the supercontinent of Rodinia formed, and may do so again in 350 million years' time when the Pacific ocean 'slams shut'.Gordon McCabehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09151162643523937086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37936507.post-1167525395433481952006-12-31T00:36:00.000+00:002006-12-31T00:36:00.000+00:00I am embarrassed now - my hero Alfred Wegener had ...I am embarrassed now - my hero Alfred Wegener had a theory for this colour... I have just remembered - I read about it once but didn't associate it with something like this - a wash of colour. I looked at pictures of aurorae and thought they were swirls of light. I had no idea they could be like this. Thank you, Gordon, I am much enlightened now. (Wegener thought he had discovered a new element but I read later it was due to forbidden electronic transitions in the oxygen, I think. One of the rare instances when the man was wrong...). Just going to have another look at that picture again, I love it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37936507.post-1167494326150060292006-12-30T15:58:00.000+00:002006-12-30T15:58:00.000+00:00As ever, many thanks for the compliments! Clare, t...As ever, many thanks for the compliments! <BR/><BR/>Clare, the picture is looking North over Lake Michigan at an aurora (borealis); low-altitude aurorae tend to be dominated by green light from oxygen, while higher-altitude aurorae tend to display red hues. If you look closely, you can see a faint red shade above the clouds, and when red and green mix it produces yellow.Gordon McCabehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09151162643523937086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37936507.post-1167476808201820502006-12-30T11:06:00.000+00:002006-12-30T11:06:00.000+00:00Yes, I agree - a vivid piece - and that picture is...Yes, I agree - a vivid piece - and that picture is awe-inspiring too. The sky is such a strange acid yellow-green. I have never seen a sky that colour. I woner what causes it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37936507.post-1167453277274499102006-12-30T04:34:00.000+00:002006-12-30T04:34:00.000+00:00What a beautiful description. It reads like verse ...What a beautiful description. It reads like verse -- the music of the spheres!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com