Recent content by Andy Resnick

Took this a few weeks ago, forgot to share. I've forgotten the camera settings (400mm @f/4 lens, tho...): Jupiter (visible as a tiny dot in the lower right) was at closest approach to the moon; this is a single shot @ 400mm. The surprising thing (to me) is that both the moon and jupiter are...

Pine tree sap icicle (sap stalactite?) [Edit] Up close, it really looks like an icicle-icicle:

Thumbs-up for the photo, thumbs-down for the snow :)

Had a few clear nights during the past week, here's M44 (Beehive cluster/Praesepe): Definitely happy with the outcome, especially the jewel-toned stars. Astrometry.net picked up 6 galaxies, but there are another half-dozen that it missed (for example, the imaginatively named Z 89-66, 2MFGC...

Next sample: Tinguaite. Altered phonolite (QAPF field 11), Fen complex. Trachytic groundmass of sanidine laths, aegerine needles, and small aggregates of anhedral granular mineral, likely muscovite/paragonite secondary to groundmass nepheline. Small phenocrysts of biotite, large...

If it wasn't 1) during the workweek and 2) effing freezing cold, I would probably give it a try- thanks for the maps!

A couple of years ago, one of my Physics I students was a graduate of US sniper school- he knew that the Coriolis force had to be corrected for when long-distance shooting, but (prior to class discussion) didn't understand why or what.

https://apnews.com/article/meteor-cleveland-fireball-astronomy-89d1cd3e060774ff897512cb811710d7 Made for interesting discussions in class today! Nearly everyone heard it, hardly anyone knew what caused it.

Nice! Is that near Clingman's dome? We were there (and Asheville) a few months prior to Hurricane Helene; how does everything look now?

Tinguaite. Altered phonolite (QAPF field 11), Fen complex. Tinguaite does not occur within the Fen Complex itself but rather as a diffuse ring of dikes and spatters, about 5 km in radius: Samples should therefore be expected to display some compositional variation. It’s not clear if the...

This has been a truly shite winter here; I cannot begin to explain how relieved I am finding this today:

This is the last of the three samples with similar composition: Tinguaite. Altered phonolite (QAPF field 11), Fen complex. This porphyritic rock is classified as a phonolite due to the nepheline phenocrysts, and as the variety tinguaite due to the presence of aegirine needles in the...

Next sample: Tinguaite. Altered phonolite (QAPF field 11), Fen complex. This porphyritic rock is classified as a phonolite due to the nepheline phenocrysts, and as the variety tinguaite due to the presence of aegirine needles in the groundmass. Large blocky phenocrysts of heavily altered...

Accept no substitutes...

Full disclosure- I include this image with my 'Intro to Biological Physics' course materials because it's such a good resource. My students *really* like it.