Witch's Broom Nebula

I haven't written about a celestial object for a while.

The Witch's Broom Nebula is part of the Veil Nebula which is also known as the Cygnus Loop.

It is 1400 light years away and the result of a supernova 20,000 years ago.

I think it looks amazing.



*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

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Today has been a really hot day, peaking at 38 degrees Celsius. And we still don't have air conditioning!

When my human returned home from work today, Neil also came over for a beer. I tried to jump up on Neil's lap but he wouldn't let me as he was wearing good work trousers. Not fair.

It's still warm tonight, so I'm just going to lie on the floor.

the Cat's Paw Nebula

If you want proof that cats are heavenly creatures, then check out the Cat's Paw Nebula.

The creator, or 'intelligent designer' certainly left evidence of her handiwork by leaving her paw print.



See - The Cat's Paw Nebula from Astronomy Picture of the Day

*As always, please check out Cooper and Camilla who always have interesting things to say.

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It was cold and wet today, so I spent most of the time cuddling with my human. We even had another afternoon nap together.

This evening, an old family friend of my human, Evelyn came over for a dinner of slow cooked lamb shanks. I sat on her lap a few times, but I think she might be allergic to me. Sigh!

I haven't been feeling well and was really restless last night with the rain. I startled and freaked out my human in the middle of the night by scratching at the wardrobe door, the floor and the bathtub. Sometimes I'd like the convenience of a litter tray inside. I also didn't feel like eating today.

I'm gonna go back to napping now.

keisercat@wildmail.com

Orion

I love celestial objects, in particular nebulae.

The Orion Nebula was first 'discovered' in 1610 by Nicholas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc.

It is about 1,500 to 1,600 light years away and is the brightest diffuse nebula in the sky and visible to the naked eye.

But it looks best up close! The Hubble Telescope captured the best picture ever.



*As always, please check out Cooper and Camilla who always have interesting things to say.

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My human came back a little earlier today from work, but not by much. Later, Couscous' human, Anaree came over for dinner of lambshanks cooked in tomato, served with mash potato and sweet potato, and brussel sprouts. They also watched the Danish police drama Rejseholdet (Unit One) on TV. I sat on her lap briefly, which should be long enough to upset Couscous (as he is a boy cat).

I begged for some lamb by looking very pitiful. But no, I was denied this simple pleasure yet again. My human knows that I love lamb! Eating lamb is an Australian birthright!

keisercat@wildmail.com

space: the final frontier

(queue music from Star Trek original series)

Today I want to pay tribute to Dr Carl Sagan who was born on this day (9 November) in 1934 and died very much pre-maturely from myelodysplasia on 20 December 1996.



Dr Sagan is best known for his work on astronomy and his television series Cosmos which was shown world-wide during the 1980s.

Although he did not have the same effect in astronomy as Johannes Kepler, Nicolaus Copernicus, Tycho Brahe or Galileo Galilei (and they were fighting against conventional religious thinking at the time), Dr Sagan brought an understanding of astronomy and science to a lot of people.

Those familiar with his work will confidently agree that Dr Sagan would probably not have very nice things to say about 'intelligent design'. He was after all, a major proponent of the the Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence (SETI) project.

More information from Wikipedia


Andromeda - somewhere in this galaxy is a planet which is the ancestral home of all cats...

*As always, please check out Cooper and Camilla who always have interesting things to say.

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My appetite is back to normal. I had a super fresh grain-fed raw chicken wing for dinner and gobbled it up in one go. I didn't swallow it whole, I did use my teeth and crunch through the bone (calcium, iron and other essential minerals).

keisercat@wildmail.com

Helix Nebula

On 26 April 2005 I wrote about the Horsehead Nebula which is one of my favourite pictures of a celestial object. I also wrote about the Cat's Eye Nebula on 4 May 2005.

I love pictures from outerspace. Perhaps it is our collective feline memory of when we travelled to Earth from our home planet (heh heh heh...).

Anyway, another one which I have decided is also a favourite is the Helix Nebula, NGC 7293. It is 650 light years away in the Aquarius Constellation. It looks round, but is actually a really really long tunnel or cylinder of glowing gases. It is actually a dying star.



More information - HubbleSite

The picture is also doing the rounds of hoax emails dubbed as the "Eye of God" promising miracles if the email recipient passes the message on. What another crock! As it is forbidden to look upon the face of God, then no living soul is allowed to look at the real eye of God and live.

*As always, please check out Cooper and Camilla who always have interesting things to say.

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There were strange visitors early this morning. They came in and went to the back of the house with a ladder and a drill. Oh, they were electricians putting up a new back door light.

I spent most of the day on my mat on the deck outside (but not outdoors).

We finally watched the rest of Lost in Translation. It is a wonderful movie about being alone and lost in a place where you don't understand anything or anybody.

keisercat@wildmail.com

The Cat's Eye Nebula

A little while ago, I wrote about some of my favourite pictures from outer space. Recently, I made an interesting discovery! There is a formation that is named after us (a body part anyway!), called the Cat's Eye Nebula.

It is three thousand light-years away and is a dying star throwing off shells of glowing gas. It is also one of the most complex planetary nebulae known.

According to NASA "the features seen in the Cat's Eye are so complex that astronomers suspect the bright central object may actually be a binary star system".



Maybe they can name a fluffy looking system after me!

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Today was another ho hum day, again. I have taken to spending my days on the dining room chair. I did have a chicken wing for dinner again.

keisercat@wildmail.com

wow, pictures from outer space...

There is nothing more intriguing to a cat than trying to fathom the concept of interstellar and intergalactic space.

NASA has released some photos to commemorate 15 years of the Hubble space telescope (which will be decommissioned very soon).

You can see the pictures here.

I think pictures of formations in space are fascinating. One of my personal favourites is the Horsehead Nebula in Orion



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After all the excitement of the dog visiting yesterday, today was a bit more dull. I spent a little bit of time on my deck catching sunrays.

Tonight I had a very special treat for dinner. Cooked (poached) corn fed chicken thigh fillets. I gobbled it up really quickly. It has been a long time since I have had cooked chicken.

keisercat@wildmail.com