UnSpace

I tried to photograph the comet Loneos (C/2007 F1) just after sunset. A cloud that made a beautiful sunset just sat there slowly creeping up toward Arcturus. As often seems to happen, Pittsburgh weather got in the way of my astronomical viewing. This time, though, the weather provided something interesting to watch in its own right. You can click on these small versions of these time-lapse photographs to see the VERY LARGE versions:

The lowest star you can see near the sunset is Arcturus. The comet was one degree below that star, but was never visible, even with a 30 sec. exposure. The cloud obscured too much.

The Big Dipper is an "asterism," not a constellation' it's part of the Great Bear (Ursa Major) constellation. This photograph makes it easy to see.

As you can tell, I'm still having fun with the camera.

I just found out that there was this big debate: Was Jesus crucified with 3 nails or 4 — or maybe 2? Which side of the chest was He stabbed in?

I've always believed it was 3 nails and the left side — hence the blood and water released from the stab wound. Belief might be too strong a word — try "assumed. That makes me a "triclavianist." Apparently that was declared a heresy by the Roman Catholic church.

Me, who thinks the argument about "angels on the head of a pin" is actually a legitimate question as to whether spiritual "substance" has boson-like or fermion-like properties, thinks that this whole "How many nails" bit is the result of people wasting time that could be better spent helping folks.

I just got a chance to read Tony Norman's most recent column "Here come da Judgement Day."

Tony might have been a little more heavy-handed toward the end than I would have chosen, but his column is still better than anything I could have written. Tony did a better job of expresing my religious beliefs than I could, also.

"Here come da Judgement Day" is worth a few moments of your time, but I suspect it will wind up occupying more than a few moments once you've read it.

I read through a lot of news sites in the morning as I eat breakfast. Two articles which I pulled up back to back were:

• Death From All Sides: "An extensive evidence file assembled by the Iraqi National Police after the controversial Blackwater shooting suggests that the private contractors opened fire unprovoked from the ground and the sky."
• Nickel Mines legacy: Forgive first: "Members of the Nickel Mines Amish community came together to share their sorrow the day after the shooting a year ago that left five girls dead. When the community reached out to the widow and parents of the murderer they sparked a national conversation on the power of forgiveness."

For those of you not familiar with the Blackwater USA security firm, it's founder is Erik Prince, someone who claims to be a follower of Jesus Christ. Most of the Blackwater soldiers claim to be followers of Jesus.

For those of you not familiar with the Nickel Mines Amish community, you probably think of them as "technologically impaired." But the reason for their avoidance of most technology is to keep them from being distracted from Jesus Christ.

Like I said, the two articles showed up back to back. To the first, I would say "These people do not represent all Christians." Unfortunately, I would also say the same about the second article, with a totally different feeling about it.