Figure 1 – The Triangulum Galaxy. (c) DE Wolf 2021.

We have been sitting out the storm here in New England , and I have been thinking of other spiral whirlpool. For the last few weeks I have been anxiously awaiting delivery of fresh image data from the Skygems Veloce 200 RH telescope in Spain, building up images and I thought today perfect for processing these. Hence, Figure 1 of M33 the Triangulum Galaxy.

M33 is 2.73 million light years away. It is, in fact, a member of our local galaxy group.So if you want, it is a galactic close neighbor.

It always struck me as sobering that the light in the image traveled 2.73 million years to get here and, if I had not captured it, it would have fallen on blind eyes. It is reminiscent of “If a tree falls in the forest and there is no one to hear it, did it really make a sound.” While this may sound like mumbo jumbo musings, the question first proposed by George Berkeley (1685 – 1753) in the 18th Century is really at the heart of the controversy between quantum mechanics and more determinists Newtonian physics – the inseparability between the observer and the observed. 

I think that part of the beauty of astronomy and astrophysical objects is the way that they challenge our minds by huge distances, huge time scales, and huge sizes. They at once point to the minuscule size of men and women and at the same time to their infinite ability to comprehend. 

This is a stack of five 600 sec exposures of the Skygems Veloce 200 RH Telescope in Spain.

Figure 1 – Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, Plum Island, MA. (c) DE Wolf.

The hot August days continue, and they continue to remind us of the imminent coming change of seasons. For many, New England is epitomized by the barrier islands of Capes Ann and Cod. I took the photograph of Figure 1 at the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge on Plum Island yesterday. This is a delicate and precarious place; so battered by winder Noreasters.

Figure 1 – Bromeliad guzmania. (c) DE Wolf 2021.

A dear friend gave me a  bromeliad guzmania as a house warming gift. Bromeliads are oh so dramatic house plants. They ultimately fade away only to resurrect themselves as so called “pups.” This morning I was checking that the cups on my bromeliad were holding water when I became totally enthralled and delighted by how the early morning sunlight transilluminated the leaves to yield the soft pastel orange image of Figure 1. It was, of course, a task for my iPhone XS. I was for a few moments transported to a tropical isle.

Figure 1 – The photograph within the Painting. Boston, MA. (c) DE Wolf 2021

I took the image of Figure 1 on Friday morning while having coffee in the cafeteria of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. There was a minimalist painting on the wall, one of those green squares mixed with green squares kind of things. But from my vantage point, I saw a perfect reflection of a beautiful birch tree in the courtyard just outside the window. It was splendidly catching the mood of the morning light. The whole image created this sense, in my mind, of mixing and interloping planes. It was conceptually a parallel to the original painting.

Birches have a deeper magic to my, perhaps all, generations. We were weened on the poetry of Robert Frost, and what greater tone poem than his birches.

“When I see birches bend to left and right

Across the lines of straighter darker trees,

I like to think some boy’s been swinging them.”

Robert Frost, Birches

Figure 1 – Great blue heron ready to strike. Great Meadows national Wildlife Refuge, Concord, MA. (c) DE Wolf 2021.

On Thursday I was walking around Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Concord, MA, when I saw another bird photographer standing on a little bridge and gesturing to me. So I slowed down and walked as quietly as I could. When I got up close to her, I asked “what are we looking at?” She point straight ahead. It was my closest encounter with a Great Blue, and you get that goose-pimple feeling of what the world would be like if animals didn’t fear us. This one had positioned itself on the flat water in the outlet current from the pond and was waiting patiently for small fish to be carried by. I took several photographs. But my favorite was this one, where the neck is wound up like a spring, just ready to release. So wonderful!

Canon T2i with EF 100 to 400 mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM lens at 300 mm, ISO 1600, Aperture Priority AE Mode 1/630th sec at F/7.1 with no exposure compensation.

Figure 1 – Alien worlds within our own #2, Lotus Shoots perforating the surface. Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, Concord, MA. (c) DE Wolf 2021.

I wanted today to continue on the theme of Alien Worlds within Our own. Figure 1 shows some lotus plant stalks perforating the surface at the Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Concord, MA last winter. I have noticed that lotuses do everything possible to maximize having the seed pods face downward once they are ripe; so as to have the seeds settle to the bottom. The seem grabbed and reminded me of some science fictions movies, Aliens, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and perhaps Anaconda.

As it turns out, this year has been a disaster for the lotuses at the GMNWR. They are devastated by spring flooding, and no blooms are to be found!

Canon T2i with EF 170 to 200 mm f/4 LUSM lens at 200 mm, ISO 800, Aperture Priority AE Mode 1/640th sec at F/7.1 with no exposure compensation.

Figure 1 – American bullfrog, the Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge. (c) DE Wolf 2021.

When I was a kid, I loved dinosaurs. Perhaps if you judge by the number of times that I have watched the Jurassic Park series, I still do. No correction, I definitely still do! 

Earlier this week I was delighted to find this (Figure 1) fist-sized American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus) starring back at me at the Assabet RIver National Wildlife Refuge in Sudbury, MA. As he nervously eyed me, I had a moment to think about the pudgy dinosaurs of the amphibian age. Indeed, the prototype dinosaur ichthyostega lived 370 million years ago in the Devovian period. Icthyostega was pudgy, but he had a tail, as do tadpoles today. Actual frogs appear to have evolved around 190 million years ago. It is sobering. They’ve been around a lot longer than we have and quite probably will out date us at the rate, which we are going. Frogs are extremely adaptable, which gave them an edge when mass extinction led to the demise of the age of dinosaurs and will, in all probability give them an edge when the demise of the age of hominids comes.

Mark twain famous said that “If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And If it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first.” I am not personally interested in eating frogs. Call it the dinosaur loving child in my heart. But the important point that Twain is making is that it is best in life to tackle each day’s most difficult task early and first. It is your frog. 

Tying these two themes together, it would perhaps be worth our while to eat the frog of climate change before it eats us!

Canon T2i with EF 100 to 400 mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM lens at 260 mm, ISO 1600, Aperture Priority AE Mode 1/1600th sec at F/7.1 with no exposure compensation.

Figure 1 – Magenta hibiscus or swamp  rose-mallow. Great Meadow National Wildlife Refuge, Concord, MA, August 2, 2021. (c)n DE Wolf 2021

I have been thinking of something very simple, yet elegant, for today. Among the many flowers heralding in these August days have been the magenta hibiscus, the swamp rose-mallow.  Figure 1 shows a cluster that I photographed on Monday at the Great Meadow National Wildlife Refuge in Concord, MA.  All of these blooms seem to define midsummer. By July we seem to be taking summer for granted, particularly the long sunlight. As halcyon August emerges thoughts of the coming fall and winter start to creep in. Flowers such as these hibisci seem to define August with all of its marvelous ambiguity.

Figure 1 – Great Blue Heron at the Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge, August 3, 2021. (c) DE Wolf 2021.

The great blue herons (Ardea herodias) almost always elicited a gasp of satisfaction and wonder when you encounter them. Here is something unique and truly a privilege to behold – something prehistoric in nature. This morning at the Assabet River National Wildlife refuge I came upon this glorious bird in the marsh grasses with wonderful waterlilies in the foreground. How could I resist. It seemed to demand to be photographed! I was, as always, enthralled.

Canon T2i with Ef 100 to 400 mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM lens at 220 mm, ISO 1600, Aperture Priority AE Mode 1/1600th sec at F/7.1 with no exposure compensation.