Hobbies - A thread for other things we kill time doing.

M 27 Dumbbell Nebula



Surprised and pleased I got true color! Here is what it looks like with a half a million dollars of equipment:



I like mine just fine.

Best image to date: not touched up in any way, this is how it appears through the scope.

M 57 (the Ring Nebula) was formed thousands of years ago when a dying, sun-like star exhausted its nuclear fuel and shed its outer layers of gas into space. This glowing, expanding shell of stellar material is illuminated by the incredibly hot, exposed core of the original star, which is now a compact white dwarf.

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When (it) formed roughly 1,600 to 2,000 years ago, its gas shell was smaller, denser, and closer to its hot central star. Theoretical models suggest it was likely intrinsically brighter in its infancy—potentially shining up to several hundred times the luminosity of our Sun—before the expanding gas cooled and diffused over the centuries.

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(T)he light blue color of the inner ring is the glow of hydrogen and oxygen, and the reddish color of the outer ring is from nitrogen and sulfur.

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M 57 Ring Nebula. 2,570 light years away.

Trying to put rhinestones and beads on a dress with a $5 tool, fabric glue, and nonexistent executive function.

Neptune. Guess which one.

Top left?

Top right. Blue-green.

$330 for the 11 2026 cars? My wallet is unprepared.

aparch said:

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$330 for the 11 2026 cars? My wallet is unprepared.

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Another release of F1? I am a little tired of them honestly. I had gotten a few of them before they did the official F1 releases and then picked up one or 2 of the F1 branded ones. And then the only ones I did get were more for the Maker vs being F1 (I try to get every Aston Martin, Ferrari, and McLaren, after that it depends).

Proud2baLaker said:

Another release of F1? I am a little tired of them honestly. I had gotten a few of them before they did the official F1 releases and then picked up one or 2 of the F1 branded ones. And then the only ones I did get were more for the Maker vs being F1 (I try to get every Aston Martin, Ferrari, and McLaren, after that it depends).

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Sounds like it. And a second wave of the (much cheaper, but less detailed) mini-F1 sets as well.

I'll wait till they release and check the digital instructions to see if they'd be worth getting. I appreciated the unique designs and building techniques for the 2024 cars, but I don't know if the 2026 cars will be all that different. I haven't put the Audi together yet, but I did read that more resembles the non-F1 branded cars than the F1 branded cars.

aparch said:

Sounds like it. And a second wave of the (much cheaper, but less detailed) mini-F1 sets as well.

I'll wait till they release and check the digital instructions to see if they'd be worth getting. I appreciated the unique designs and building techniques for the 2024 cars, but I don't know if the 2026 cars will be all that different. I haven't put the Audi together yet, but I did read that more resembles the non-F1 branded cars than the F1 branded cars.

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I had built the 2024 McLaren and Aston and the 2022 Mercedes which were not "F1" branded and liked them. When the F1 brand came around, the Aston, McLaren, and Mercedes looked almost identical to the previous versions other than the Minifigures (and their helmets) and 1 or 2 other minor things so I didn't bother. I did get F1 Ferrari and Oracle Red Bull because I liked the looks but didn't bother with any others. I did finally find the Lego F1 Academy Lego branded car (77258) but its actually less detailed than the other F1 braded cars and has about 50-75 parts less than the F1 branded. I will have to wait and see what, if anything, they do differently with the 2027 versions. I'd like to see more of the older iconic sports cars and what not from the 50s-70s and maybe some of the 80s and 90s depending on which ones. I'd really love to see some stuff from like the 30s like Bently, Bugatti, Rolls Royce, etc. Some cool stuff there.

4.3 meter (169 inch) Lowell Discovery Telescope in Happy Jack, AZ (elevation 7740 feet), the fifth largest optical telescope in the continental United States.

My wife enjoys taking photos of me at my maximum likeness to Laughing Buddha.

The sun at elevation is sneaky.

Kepler said:

The sun at elevation is sneaky.

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You may want to walk back your "Nuke the South" comments looking like that Kep, ha ha....

RaceBoarder said:

You may want to walk back your "Nuke the South" comments looking like that Kep, ha ha....

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I'll wear my redneck proudly in front of Saint Peter. If He can't sort it out we're all lost anyway.

Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius.