Christmas eve, and Mary and Joseph are settling down in the stable.
Mary and Joseph have arrived at the stable. A few shepherds are hanging around tending to their animals.
The animals are on the way in the Ark. This year, they’re joined by two Christmas lobsters. If you didn’t know that lobsters were present at the birth of Jesus, then you should watch Love Actually.
Animals on the Ark making their way to the stable. Two Christmas lobsters have joined the party.
Christmas morning! The shepherds have come to the stable with their flock to see the new baby.
Shepherds and some of their flock gathered to see the new baby
The wise men from the East have gathered to marvel at the new star. As usual, Lt. Cmdr. Data has joined them as their guide.
Wise men have gathered to marvel at the new star. Lt Cmdr Data guides the way with his star charts.
All the animals have arrived at the stable to see the new baby!
The animals, joined by the Christmas lobsters this year, have left the Ark and arrived at the stable. Some of the tree ornaments hitched a ride as the Ark passed by.
A radiograph of my new Pixel 6 phone. The Pixel 6 is a big chunky phone with a lot of stuff in it.
X-ray image of a Pixel 6 smartphone. 80 kV, 1 mAs
This one was acquired using a portable x-ray unit at 80 kV, 1 mAs, and the small focal spot. It’s raised up about 25 cm above the image receptor for a bit of magnification (about 1.3x) and cropped in from the original image.
Managed to catch the SpaceX launch of more Starlink satellites this morning.
Also participating in the show were four planets in the early morning sky: Venus, Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn.
Four planets in the sky. From lower left to upper right: Venus, Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn
A couple minutes or so after the launch, we spotted the Falcon 9 plume.
SpaceX Falcon 9 exhaust plume
This was shortly after the second stage separation and fairing separation. The two small specks of light close to each other are the two fairing halves. The third speck of light just behind and below the other two is the booster stage on its way back to the barge off the South Carolina coast. The speck of light above the rocket plume is Mars.
Falcon 9 rocket plume. Faintly visible are the two fairing halves and the first stage booster. Mars is in the background above the plume.
This shows the fairing halves and first stage booster a little better (lower right). Also visible are Venus and Jupiter in the lower left of the image. The larger blob of light above and to the left of the second stage rocket is just internal reflection of a street light across the street.
Falcon 9 second stage rocket. Visible in the lower right are the two fairing halves and the first stage booster. Venus and Jupiter are toward the lower left.
Finally, after almost a year, my PhD diploma is in a proper frame and is hanging on the wall!
PhD diploma in a nice frame
The frame came with some interesting mounting hardware. The plastic hangers have a pointy part on the wall side. Insert those into the key hole hangers on the frame side, put the frame up against the wall where you want to hang it, and press against the wall. The pointy part leaves a little dimple in the drywall right where the plastic hangers need to be nailed. Take the plastic hangers off the frame, nail it to the wall where the dimple is, and then hang the frame.
Pretty clever.
PhD diploma hanging on the wall.
Now I have it hanging on the wall above my computer. Looks pretty good there.
