Science | Alex Farris Photo Blog

This month has been a bit busy. It didn't start off well, as I attended funeral and memorial services for two friends, Bryan Kolski and Jessica Adkins, at the end of July. Things have picked up since then, though, and among research work, a wedding and starting some volunteer reading for IRIS, I got two photo assignments from The Indianapolis Star. The first, taken on the 3rd and published on the 9th, was of a Greenwood man returning to the pool in Plainfield where he almost drowned in June, just to thank the lifeguards who saved him, especially Shelby Partin, who saw him first. The second, taken the 13th and published on the front of the West Local Living section today, was of a local YMCA that's gotten very popular and expanded a lot of its services, including the Zumba classes.

Sadly, the month ended with another death: that of Neil Armstrong, the first human to set foot on the Moon. He, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins traveled more than 230,000 miles just so Armstrong and Aldrin could walk on the Moon for a little over two hours. I've always been a fan of NASA, ever since I watched Apollo 13 for the 10th time at age 8, so while I wasn't alive on July 20, 1969, I still feel great awe that we did it and some sadness that Neil is gone. So, at the end of this entry is a set of pictures that should give a bit of perspective. It's my own way of doing what the Armstrong family asked people to do: "Honor his example of service, accomplishment and modesty, and the next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink."

I took two photos of the Moon, one at 8:53 p.m. EDT last night (left) and the other at 3:33 a.m. EDT this morning. They show the satellite in ever-so-slightly different phases, but because they were taken 6 hours and 40 minutes apart, and because the Moon seems to librate, each photo sees at a slightly different angle. The angles are just different enough, and your brain is just powerful enough, that if you cross your eyes and put one image on top of another, you can convince yourself that it's a 3D image. Try it!

The first try at a six-month pinhole camera got moved, so this time it's sturdier.

This camera is attached to a block of wood that is nailed to two other blocks of wood on top of a playground, and it's placed at least 10 feet off the ground. It should stay put this time.

Of course, NASA beats me, but I think I did pretty well with my limited resources.

Venus makes a transit across the sun as seen from the east side of Hendricks County, Indiana, on June 5, 2012. The last transit occurred in 2004. Transits occur in eight-year pairs separated by more than 100 years, so the next transit won't occur until 2117.