Free Range Cats

Science Dog Update On
The Holmes Comet

(click the picture for a larger view)


Comet Holmes refuses to fade. The unusual comet that surprisingly brightened nearly a million-fold in late October continues to remain visible to the unaided eye from dark locations. Night to night, Comet 17P/Holmes is slowly gliding through the constellation Perseus, remaining visible to northern observers during much of the night right from sunset. The remarkable snowball continues to retain a huge coma, but now shows very little of a tail. How much longer Comet Holmes will remain visible to the unaided eye is unknown.

Here is a sky chart to help you find the comet in the night sky.
(click on the picture for a larger view)


Nobody knows why Holmes erupted, but it underwent a similar explosive brightening in 1892.

The recent display, which began Oct. 24, brought the comet from visual obscurity to being one of the brighter objects in the night sky. It has since dimmed somewhat as the material races outward from the nucleus at roughly 1,100 mph (0.5 km/sec).

The Hawaiian astronomy team writes in a press statement: "This amazing eruption of the comet is produced by dust ejected from a tiny solid nucleus made of ice and rock, only 3.6 kilometers (roughly 2.2 miles) in diameter."

The new image from the Hawaiian observatory also shows a modest tail forming to one side, now just a fuzzy region to the lower-right. That's caused by the pressure of sunlight pushing on the gas and dust of the coma. But the comet is so far away — 149 million miles (240 million kilometers), or about 1.6 times the distance from Earth to the Sun — that even Hubble can't resolve its nucleus.

The offset nature of the coma, seen in ground-based images, suggests "a large fragment broke off and subsequently disintegrated into tiny dust particles after moving away from the main nucleus," Hubble astronomers said in a statement Thursday. The comet's distance, plus all the dust, prevent Hubble from seeing any fragments, however.


Once this land was home to large herds of free range cats!

Watch the video below to see one of the great cat roundup's.


click for link to cat herding video


Woof
Abby

Uno - Number 1

You Go Dog!

Barking and baying up a storm, Uno lived up to his name Tuesday night by becoming the first beagle to win best in show at the Westminster Kennel Club.

The nation's new top dog was clearly the fan favorite, and drew a roaring, standing ovation from the sold-out crowd at Madison Square Garden when he was picked.

Click to read more......





















Click here to see the Uno interview on CNN
















Congradulations Uno!

Abbythedog Political Thoughts

~~ If voting could really change things, it would be illegal.
~~ If pro is opposite of con, then what is the opposite of progress? Congress!



Woof
Abby

Valentines Day Dog

Ah yes, the season of love is upon us!

That time of year when we make great efforts to attract the attention of someone special in our life and let them know we love them.


This is the valentine greeting I receive this year. Woof – Woof!

It’s always nice when you find a sole mate that is the perfect match for you.

"There is more hunger for love and appreciation in this world than for bread." ~ Mother Teresa

Have you ever asked yourself – Why do we celebrate Valentines Day in February? – I think it is because there is nothing good on TV and it’s still cold outside.

Woof
Abby

Big Dog Laughs

More humor from Abbythedog.

My master knows there is a conspiracy going on.
Read his observations:

Have you noticed that stairs are getting steeper, groceries are heavier, and everything is farther away? Yesterday I walked to the corner and I was dumbfounded to discover how long our street had become!

And, you know, people are less considerate now, especially the young ones. They speak in whispers all the time! If you ask them to speak up they just keep repeating themselves, endlessly mouthing the same silent message until they're red in the face! What do they think I am a lip reader?

I also think they are much younger than I was at the same age. On the other hand, people my own age are so much older than I am. I ran into an old friend the other day and she has aged so much that she didn't even recognize me.

I got to thinking about the poor dear while I was combing my hair this morning, and in doing so, I glanced at my own reflection well, REALLY NOW - even mirrors are not made the way they used to be!

Another thing, everyone drives so fast these days! You're risking life and limb if you happen to pull onto the freeway in front of them. All I can say is, their brakes must wear out awfully fast, the way I see them screech and swerve in my rear view mirror.

Clothing manufacturers are conspiring these days. Why else would they suddenly start labeling wranglers size 32’s as 36’s or 38’s? Do they think no one notices? The people who make bathroom scales are pulling the same prank. Do they think I actually "believe" the number I see on that dial? HA! I would never let myself weigh that much!

Just who do these people think they're fooling? I'd like to call up someone in authority to report what's going on -- but the telephone company is in on the conspiracy too: they've printed the phone books in such small type that no one could ever find a number in there!

All I can do is pass along this warning:
WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!
Unless something drastic happens, pretty soon everyone will have to suffer these awful indignities.

PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW AS SOON AS POSSIBLE SO WE CAN GET THIS CONSPIRACY STOPPED!

PS: I am printing this in a larger font size because its possible your computer may be affected by this same conspiracy. ---Abbythedog---

This would keep’em busy.
At a high School in Montana a group of high schoolers played a prank on the school. They let three goats loose in the school. Before they let them go they painted numbers on the sides of the goats. 1,2,4.

Local school administrators spent most of the day looking for #3.

Remember,
"It's hard to make a comeback when you haven't been anywhere." ---Abbythedog---


Woof
Abby