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From the Observacar – Flame Nebula and what did the ancients see?

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Figure 1 – NGC 2024 The Flame Nebula, Celestron Origin, 60 min 360 frame exposure, (c)DEWolf 2025

We last spoke about M42, the Great Nebula in Orion. M42 is one of the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex of nebulae. There also lies the equally spectacular Flame Nebula or NGC 2024. NGC 2024, is approximately 1,400 light-years away from Earth. I took Figure 1 of NGC 2024 with my Celestron Origin 60 min 360 10 sec exposures.

At first glance, the Flame Nebula resembles a billowing, fiery structure, with streaks of red, orange, and blue interspersed throughout its cloud-like formations. This fiery appearance is due to the nebula’s ionized hydrogen gas, which glows vividly when illuminated by the ultraviolet light emitted by nearby hot, young stars. Within its dense molecular clouds, the conditions are perfect for the birth of new stars. The nebula’s energetic environment is driven by the radiation from young, hot stars, which heats up the surrounding gas and dust, causing it to ionize and emit light.

One of the most prominent features of NGC 2024 is the presence of the star HD 38563, a massive, young O-type star that lies at the center of the nebula. This star is responsible for much of the illumination of the surrounding gas, making it a key player in shaping the nebula’s appearance. The intense radiation from HD 38563 also causes the surrounding material to be pushed away, carving out the gaps and caverns in the nebula’s structure.

In addition to HD 38563, there are numerous smaller stars in the region that are still in the process of formation. These stars are hidden deep within the nebula’s dense gas clouds, making them difficult to observe directly in visible light. However, infrared observations have allowed astronomers to peer through the thick dust and uncover many of these young stellar objects.he Flame Nebula offers a glimpse into one of the most fundamental processes of the universe: the birth of stars. Star-forming regions like the Flame Nebula play a critical role in the evolution of galaxies, as the formation of new stars is closely tied to the development of the galactic structure. These regions also provide astronomers with valuable data about the early stages of star formation and the processes that shape stellar systems.

In response to my post about M42, the Great Orion Nebula, a reader asked what the ancients thought about M42. Certainly, they could easily make out this mag. 4.0 “fuzzy star.” Of course, they had no understanding of what they were as nebulae.However, specific mention of M42 in the archaic literature is sparse.

Before talking about myths, I have to add the caveat that when it comes to myths about stars and constellations I always wonder if they were believe or merely though of as pleasant stories and mnemonics for remembering the patterns. I have only to gaze upon Perseus and Andromeda to recall her rescue from Cetus the sea monster, while her parents Cassiopeia and Cepheus waited terrified on shore

On the other hand, the stars have always held deep meaning for human cultures. They have guided travelers, inspired myths, and ignited our curiosity about the cosmos. For the Meso-American Mayan civilization, a civilization renowned for its advanced knowledge of the night sky, the stars were not just points of light—they were part of intricate stories and cosmic cycles. And Messier 42 connects deeply with the Mayan Hearth Myth.

In the Mayan creation myth, the hearthstones were sacred objects placed at the center of a home. The hearth symbolized the core of the household, where fire, warmth, and sustenance were kept alive. The hearthstones also held great spiritual importance, representing the foundation of life, energy, and balance. These mythological hearthstones were believed to be the heart of the universe, where life and creation originated.

In the Mayan Zeitgeist, the Orion constellation symbolized not just the hearthstones of creation but also the vital energy and cosmic fire that fueled the universe. The stars of Orion, including the bright supergiant Betelgeuse and the star cluster surrounding the Orion Nebula (M42), were seen as representations of these sacred hearths. Messier 42 was the very flame of the hearth.

The fire is the very site of creation. And perhaps this belies a deeper understanding for such indeed, as a stellar nursery is what M42 is in fact. Just as a hearth in Mayan homes was the source of warmth and life, the nebula could be seen as a cosmic hearth that generates the very building blocks of stars and life across the galaxy.

So I think it not unlikely that the Mayan believed M42 to truly be the universe’s flame. As always I turn in the end to Shakespeare to support the view of stars as fires. After all it is just past Saint Valentine’s day. So for TC:

“Doubt thou the stars are fire, Doubt that the sun doth move, Doubt truth to be a liar, But never doubt I love”

William Shakespeare, Hamlet

I am back

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On Cape Hedge Beach, Rockport, MA October 24, 2021

Dear Readers of Hati and Skoll,

Back in September, Hati and Skoll went euphemistically “down.” Actually what happened is that my site used a PHP that was not supported by the current version of Word Press. Rather than cobble it together, I chose to rebuild the site. I mean, after all the latest version of Word Press was so “improved” and “user-friendly.” Well, kinda not! I have finally got it up and running again. It looks pretty different compared to the earlier version and has both nicer and worse features. I am going to continue to modify the site, particularly modernizing the galleries, but thought that I had better get things going again, before everyone forgets me. However, I am told that no one really cares because bloggers are luddites struggling like troglodytes beneath the earth to maintain the status quo.

Over the last couple of months I have been steadily photographing particularly on Cape Ann in Massachusetts and worked up a number of photographs that I believe worth sharing. So I think what I am going to do for the next few weeks is post these images even if the warm glories of an autumn day seem to clash with the harsh realities of winter. I hope that you enjoy them.

Today’s image is a photograph taken by a friend showing yours truly, camera in hand, on October 24th at Rockport, MA’s gorgeous Cape Hedge Beach. This is my absolute favorite North Shore photography site; so I will be sharing many photographs from Cape Hedge, especially sunsets.

Please send your comments about the site, especially if you find something that just doesn’t work.

Thanks so much for your interest and patience!

David

Light in the forest

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Figure 1 – Light in the Forest, Punkatasset Pond, October 17, 2020 Concord, MA. (c) DE Wolf 2020.

The saga of autumn continues; so I am offering “Light in the forest,” an image that I took at the pond by Punkatasset Hill in Concord, Massachusetts with my iPhone last Saturday. The magic is, as ever, in the light. Sunlight from the pond penetrates the Woods and lights up both the canopy and the turning ferns as well. The hill was originally called Broad-topped Hill by the native Americans.  

In 1775, the Concord Minutemen took their positions on Punkatasset Hill, where they were met by reinforcements from other towns. The the smoke of militia supplies set ablaze by British troops in the center of Concord, and, as a result, Colonel Barrett led his militia down first to a hill only a few hundred yards from the Old North Bridge, and then to the Old North Bridge itself.

This was the birth of American democracy. Take it back! Vote! 

Pennywise

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Figure 1 – Pennywise the Clown, Salem, MA October 2019. (c) DE Wolf 2019.

As we get closer and closer to Halloween, the creatures that you run into on the streets of Salem, MA getting scarier and scarier. So not surprising, I today took the image of Figure1, which I am pretty sure is going to be my creepiest photograph of Halloween 2019. It is Pennywise the Clown.

Nothing is more terrifying than a clown! And for those, who have read the Stephen King novel or seen one of its movie dramatization, the chills run up your spine and you are left wondering whether this is someone dressed as Pennywise to collect tourist tips for the privilege of taking a photo with the clown or … While it is just possible that this is the true child murderer of the centuries. You really cannot be sure, as it is said that he has been found in sketches of ancient carnivals, often seen with a red balloon.

Stephen King is such a master of the macabre that you are left wondering whether IT, or Pennywise, is some mythic character, long whispered about on chilly October nights. Pennywise, according to King, is based upon serial killer John Wayne Gacy who performed at children’s parties as Pogo the Clown. He was responsible for a string of murders of 30 young men and boys in the Chicago area in the 1970s,

Perhaps, I should leave it at that. Leave it for you to stare at the blood red colors of Pennywise’s costume – the blood on his face and the carnivorous teeth. He is something unworldly, something evil, of evil. And whether he is real or merely a creation of the depths of a primordial terror in our minds, may not truly make a difference.

Canon T2i with EF70-200 mm f/4 USM lens at 159 mm, ISO 400, Aperture Priority AE mode 1/125th sec at f/6.3, pattern focusing with no exposure compensation.

 

Photopictorialism Study #18 – Salem Courtyard

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Figure 1 – Photopictorialist Study #18 – Courtyard off Salem, MA’s Essex Street. (c) DE Wolf 2019.

The other personal transition for me this week is my migration of Hati and Skoll Gallery to a new iMac and the Adobe Creative Cloud. My old system was getting just too cumbersome and slow in the “modern era.” So Figure 1 is my first full attempt. The photograph of a brick courtyard, off Salem, MA’s Essex Street, was taken with my iPhone XS and then convert to black and white using Adobe Photoshop CC. As you can see I gave it a subtle selenium tone and then added noise so as to create a grainy photopictorialism effect. This creates a pseudo mist in the image, which the brightness of outside seems to penetrate creating the optical sense of being in a tunnel.

Revisiting Animal Faces – #6 – Carly

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Figure 1 – Border Collie Carly. (c) DE Wolf 2018.

In revisiting Animal Faces I have been trying to sneak in a few one ones. So for today I wanted to share a new photograph, which shows my newest canine friend Carly. Carly is a Border Collie, and as her eyes express, Carly has the gentlest and warmest of canine souls. Here she seeks just a bit of love.

Dogs interact with photographers. Carly is, in fact, leery of the IPhone camera’s click! But do they interact with photographs? First, we should answer the age old question of whether they perceive television, and the answer is yes. Their expressed indifference is the result of the fact that they, a lot faster than we, have determined that it is all just a bit BORING! As for photographs studies based on eye movement definitively show that dogs can recognize their owners in photographs.

But it is important to recognize that smell is the predominant sense in canines. Their world of perception is dominated by the smell map. This is because while humans might have 5 million olfactory receptors in our noses, a more typical number for dogs is 200 Million.

We took Carly and her partner in all things canine, Jack, to Heard Farm, which meanders around giant fields and finally circles back on itself. When the two dogs got out of the car, Carly saw the scent trail immediately as plain as we see light and headed clockwise along the path. Jack saw the trail and headed counter clockwise. Both were correct!

Which brings us back to the television and the photograph. Neither offer up a scent-based map. They are indeed BORING!

Early October on the pond

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Figure 1 – Early October on the pond (c) DE Wolf 2018.

It is October. So, despite the rain and fog my friend and I ventured to the Wildlife Refuge to walk about the pond and take in the early color and the mud. It was singularly cold, wet, grey and spectacular – a world cast for the most part in subdued pastels. Because of the rain, I chose to only bring my IPhone and otherwise just enjoy our solitude. Figure 1 captures a fallen and decaying tree partly submerged and ultimately merging with the pond. The grasses have turned and there is the subtle hint of color in the foggy draped background.

The white rose

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Figure 1 – The white rose, Concord, MA, (c) DE Wolf 2017.

Christmas is, of course, a colorful time of year and is meant to challenge the grey December bleakness. The traditional colors are red and green, silver and gold. To be different, I thought I would offer something different today – a pure white rose.  I have tried this type of image before and am invariably unhappy at some level with the results. Ah well! I will point out that a white rose while complementing winter on one hand is like the colors of Christmas diametrically opposed to it on the other hand. The white rose speaks to spring and summer – to purity and rebirth. In winter it remains the symbol of Persephone still trapped in the underworld.

The relationship of the albino rose to its carmine relatives it but a matter of … Well, perhaps Shakespeare said it best in Henry VI.

“Prick not your finger as you pluck it off,
Lest bleeding you do paint the white rose red
And fall on my side so, against your will.”

Canon T2i with EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM lens at 55 mm, ISO 1600, Aperture Priority AE Mode, 1/50 th sec f/9.0 with -1 exposure compensation.

Tufted titmouse

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Figure 1 – Tufted titmous, Sudbury, MA. (c) DE Wolf 2017.

Before we get too far into winter, I wanted to post the photograph of Figure 1. Just after Thanksgiving I put up mu bird-feeder for the winter and literally within minutes it was swarming with birds. One of my favorite feeder birds is the little greyish blue tufted titmouse, Baeolophus bicolor, shown in the photo. I can, of course not resist reference here to Gilbert and Sulivan’s Mikado.

“On a tree by a river a little tom-tit
Sang “Willow, titwillow, titwillow”
And I said to him, “Dicky-bird, why do you sit
Singing ‘Willow, titwillow, titwillow'”
“Is it weakness of intellect, birdie?” I cried
“Or a rather tough worm in your little inside”
With a shake of his poor little head, he replied
“Oh, willow, titwillow, titwillow!”

Well, yesterday we had our first snowfall of the season and the titmice (or mouses) (I will not go into that argument again) are scurrying about very busily. Their size make them very hard to photograph well. But you have to love the little Elvis bouffant and the jet black eyes, that speak so well to their reptilian origin.

They will be outside my window all winter now flit to and from the feeder and foraging for fallen seeds in the snow. One cannot help but admire their ability to endure the vicious Northern winter.