Further solidifying my reputation as the consummate geek (FRIDAY OPEN THREAD)
Most of you know I’m a slave when it comes to tech stuff, even though half the time I have to get assistance from others on various technical problems/questions I have with/about certain fancy gadgets. I also enjoy taking pix of fake bunny rabbits, oh like the one that used to be in my front yard, am not shy about admitting one of my early influences was Wonder Woman, have an addiction to Christmas decorations, and am proud of the fact that I grew up listening to and trying to be like Olivia Newton-John 
So it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone to find out that I’m a stargazer – a casual one, not one who knows everything there is to know about every star in the galaxy, but who enjoys it nevertheless … along with playing amateur photographer when it comes to sky high events like the recent lunar eclipse, where I tried and bombed miserably at photographing it (scroll).
I brought this up because the Hubble Space Telescope just celebrated it’s 18th anniversary last week and NASA released some 59 HST photographs of “merging galaxies.” This one in particular I found stunning:
Caption: NGC 6050/IC 1179 (Arp 272) is a remarkable collision between two spiral galaxies, NGC 6050 and IC 1179, and is part of the Hercules Galaxy Cluster, located in the constellation of Hercules. The galaxy cluster is part of the Great Wall of clusters and superclusters, the largest known structure in the universe. The two spiral galaxies are linked by their swirling arms. Arp 272 is located some 450 million light-years away from Earth and is the number 272 in Arp’s Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies.
Schweet. Kinda romantic-looking, ain’t it? 
Looks invigorating, too – can you imagine being the captain of your own private spaceship and flying into outer space to view something like that? It would totally rule. And if there happened to be a sizeable, inhabited land mass nearby, ‘twould be an ideal place to perfect my Jedi mind trick powers, too, since they don’t seem to work too well with the moonbats we have here on Earth …
Ok – time for me to say hello to some shut-eye. Friday’s going to be another busy day for me, so please utilize this as an open thread until I return tomorrow afternoon or evening. Also, I’ll be home most of the weekend, and will try to make up for some of the blogging I missed this week.
TGIF, all, and g’nite.
(Note: I do not find the term “geek” insulting when I use it to describe someone – including myself. I wear it like a badge of honor 
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