Posts by markmccaughrean@mastodon.social
(DIR) Post #AsznXchisb35ALGcL2 by markmccaughrean@mastodon.social
2025-04-11T20:44:21Z
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The images were downloaded as small-sized PNGs from the Apollo Image Archive at:https://wms.lroc.asu.edu/apollo/browseIf you want to play with the full, raw images yourself, they're all available as well. But beware – the full scan of each image is >1GB in size.
(DIR) Post #AuiYkaqG72MRF4zLMW by markmccaughrean@mastodon.social
2025-06-01T18:21:34Z
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A less-than-welcome garden visitor this evening – an Asian hornet (Vespa velutina), an invasive species here in Europe, on a peony 🤨I saw many around the house last summer & reported them, as is requested. There must be a nest nearby ... 😬And as a bonus, some little beetles enjoying another rather sadly decaying peony, perhaps also an Asian variety 🌺#Insects 🪳#Heidelberg 🏰#Photography 📷#BugOfTheDay 🪰#MacroPhotography 🔬#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
(DIR) Post #AvwFiyXvOiR81RmiBM by markmccaughrean@mastodon.social
2025-07-08T16:17:02Z
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Still trying to get some good bee portraits & still struggling with their large size & fidgety motions 🙀Not that this little beast was much more cooperative – it's a ferruginous bee grabber (Sicus ferrugineus), a fly from the conopid family 🪰As the second, not very good photo shows, it often holds its abdomen in a peculiar way, curled up underneath 🤨#Insects 🪳#Photography 📷#BugOfTheDay 🪰#MacroPhotography 🔬#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
(DIR) Post #Aw3fsGlsxp7O4G7u9g by markmccaughrean@mastodon.social
2025-07-12T12:56:16Z
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The huge carpenter bees in the garden (genus Xylocopa) continue to fascinate me, & this is one of my favourite pictures to date 🙂👍It shows the subtle dichotomy of the gorgeous wing colouring – a bright metallic violet-blue in reflection & a deep crimson in transmission ❤️The light dusting of yellow pollen offsets the otherwise dark head & body nicely 🙇♂️#Photography 📷#BugOfTheDay 🪰#MacroPhotography 🔬#InsectsOfMastodon 🕸️#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
(DIR) Post #Aw3fsJ908qnTQWxOSm by markmccaughrean@mastodon.social
2025-07-12T13:04:38Z
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And although this picture of another carpenter bee is nothing like as crisp overall, I can't resist sharing it too.Not only does it show the wings in their full metallic violet-blue glory, but it also captures a fleeting moment of garden drama, as a small spider crawls on the bee's head & a honey bee cruises in from behind.It just goes to show how big the carpenter bees are 🙀#Photography 📷#BugOfTheDay 🪰#MacroPhotography 🔬#InsectsOfMastodon 🕸️#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
(DIR) Post #AwAGykMBVXRADyFndY by markmccaughrean@mastodon.social
2025-07-15T17:40:02Z
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Another bug for you, this time a random shield bug that I can't identify properly, partly because I only have a shot of its underside.But still pretty & worth sharing.If anyone can ID it from just this angle, please let me know.#Photography 📷#BugOfTheDay 🪰#MacroPhotography 🔬#InsectsOfMastodon 🕸️#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
(DIR) Post #AyETfW2Z8CAUN8EKOm by markmccaughrean@mastodon.social
2025-09-15T14:02:01Z
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Absolutely incredible – this guy 🙇♂️Mondo Duplantis clears yet another new world record pole vault height, 6.30m, with his last attempt at the World Athletics Championship in Tokyo 🇯🇵Worth remembering that he has broken this record 14 times since 2020 – the current men’s long jump, high jump, & triple jump world records were all set in the 1990s.We are seeing one of the true legends of athletics making history 👏#MondoDuplantis #WorldAthleticsChampionships
(DIR) Post #AzEUHlTcQxiKoNU4e0 by markmccaughrean@mastodon.social
2025-10-15T12:01:18Z
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Ah, the Fermi paradox.Always good for some column inches in the press, even if most theory papers concerning its resolution are basically just blokes in a pub bullshitting whilst three pints in 🍻And there’s always one, bless him, who’s convinced the aliens are here already 🙄https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/oct/15/bored-aliens-has-intelligent-life-stopped-bothering-trying-to-contact-earth
(DIR) Post #B0Xj5RduT2l0jUWZiC by markmccaughrean@mastodon.social
2025-11-23T09:54:45Z
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Well, hopefully that’s a good omen 😬The first train of my 7.5 hour journey to Obergurgl in the Austrian Alps was due to depart at 10:47.It departed at 10:47. Even on a frosty Sunday morning, after overnight temperatures down to -6°C.Keep up the good work, #DeutscheBahn 🤞
(DIR) Post #B0Xj5SjcPIuy7UCeFU by markmccaughrean@mastodon.social
2025-11-23T10:18:26Z
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My first connection of five today, & the departure of the ICE from Heidelberg to Stuttgart scheduled for 11:11 happened at 11:12.Close enough for government work 🤷♂️
(DIR) Post #B0Xj5TnCTTNROst1TE by markmccaughrean@mastodon.social
2025-11-23T11:06:01Z
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Next: one minute late into Stuttgart, with an eight minute connection onwards to Austria via Munich.Next connection in Wörgl in 3.5 hours. That said, I’ll have to switch carriage in Rosenheim before crossing the border. I’m travelling in first today, because Deutsche Bahn sent me a 25% discount for a one way journey in that class if taken before Christmas.But it only applies in Germany, so I’ll switch to second for the last half hour of the journey to Wörgl 🤷♂️Probably.
(DIR) Post #B0Xj5V0hwjmBB4DKAC by markmccaughrean@mastodon.social
2025-11-23T13:20:19Z
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Arrived in Munich on time.Departed Munich on time.To the minute.What is going on?!Did Switzerland invade Germany last night & take over the country’s infrastructure? 🤪
(DIR) Post #B0Xj5Vp2va2fhBlWcq by markmccaughrean@mastodon.social
2025-11-23T13:53:03Z
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FFS 😡All that good work shattered here in Munich Ost.The ICE train is now broken & has an “unknown” departure time.Not at all obvious whether a pre-emptive shift to regional trains across the border will be quicker … assuming this train leaves at all.Good to see that #DeutscheBahn is back to its usual crapness 🙄
(DIR) Post #B0Xj5WXMGpUHucUuh6 by markmccaughrean@mastodon.social
2025-11-23T14:16:58Z
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So, the train was fixed & left 35 minutes late. We’re now crawling through the frosty Bavarian countryside towards the Austrian border.Will I make it to Obergurgl before the university guest house kitchen closes? 😱
(DIR) Post #B0Xj5X9zxAObqSZlvE by markmccaughrean@mastodon.social
2025-11-23T15:19:45Z
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Well, at least I’m over the border into Austria.Arrived at Wörgl 35 minutes late, but in principle that would mean I’d make the connection in Innsbruck to Ötztal & then the bus to Obergurgl just 30 minutes later than my original one.Except of course the train from Wörgl to Innsbruck is now 10-15 minutes late, throwing that all up in the air again 🤷♂️ I’m not going to get any dinner, am I?
(DIR) Post #B0Xj5XpTSxZZv5ytZQ by markmccaughrean@mastodon.social
2025-11-23T16:04:02Z
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OK, despite the late departure of that train from Wörgl, I made the connection in Innsbruck, even with an official connection time of zero minutes. I suspect they delayed the outgoing train to allow passengers to make the transfer.Next stop for me: Ötztal. The connection time to the bus there is two minutes. Hmm.And of course I’m thirty minutes late overall.
(DIR) Post #B12OBycbyjv5htpHdI by markmccaughrean@mastodon.social
2025-12-06T15:52:53Z
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It's that time of year, when Stage 0 ("just ignore it – it's ages away 🤷♂️") has turned to Stage 1 ("oh, if I must, but what? 🤨") 🎄🎅So, here's a self-serving suggestion to help you avoid Stage 2 ("aaarrrggghhh 😱"):Available in real shops & online ✅Compact, easily wrapped form ✅Not cheap, but not too expensive ✅Short chapters for a short attention span world ✅Make two people very happy (one of them me; thank you 🙇♂️) ✅ SPAAAAAAAACE! 🚀🛰️🔭👩🚀🌚🌞🪐💫✨ISBN 978-3-7408-0601-9#111PlacesInSpace
(DIR) Post #B16UjRqTiuTSFwUmnI by markmccaughrean@mastodon.social
2025-12-04T13:24:58Z
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I've been using the open source image processing tool, GIMP, as part of my work for many years 👍So it was an honour to be asked to create a splash screen for the latest version release candidate, GIMP-3.2RC1 🙇♂️Thanks to Jehan, GIMP project maintainer, & David Tschumperlé, project manager for the G'MIC plugins, for the conversations that led to the invitation 👏And yes, the main release GIMP-3.2 will feature another of my JWST images (you can probably guess which 😉).https://www.gimp.org/news/2025/11/17/gimp-3-2-RC1-released/
(DIR) Post #B1YJB0TVaY14v8l6xs by markmccaughrean@mastodon.social
2025-12-20T13:57:41Z
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Weekend update for folk interested in image processing & open source software – the second GIMP 3.2 release candidate is out.Like RC1, RC2 features one of my JWST images as the splash screen, this time the short-wavelength infrared view of the inner Orion Nebula & Trapezium Cluster.The original image is 21,000 pixels wide, & GIMP + G'MIC were key in preparing it. And I'm working on a new JWST image with GIMP's help now – you'll see it in 2026 🙂👍#GIMP #OpenSource #Photography #Science
(DIR) Post #B2mVSFewT8yMVUSlF2 by markmccaughrean@mastodon.social
2026-01-29T12:32:02Z
2 likes, 1 repeats
Enter the Dragon 🐉🥋Here it is – my new JWST image of the young protostellar outflow system in Cassiopeia called HH288, aka The Dragon Jet.We discovered it in the 1990s & the NASA/ESA/CSA JWST reveals stunning new detail, including several new jets crossing the main dragon 🙂👍This is a 4K version – you can view & download the full 12K image here: https://www.flickr.com/gp/markmccaughrean/944q5814f8For more coverage, see this by @DrCarpineti at: https://www.iflscience.com/dragon-jet-erupts-from-baby-stars-in-stunning-new-jwst-image-82374#Space #SpaceScience #Astronomy #Photography