Astronomy and Overnight Thread

IC 418: The Spirograph Nebula
Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA); Acknowledgement: R. Sahai (JPL) et al. Explanation: What is creating the strange texture of IC 418? Dubbed the Spirograph Nebula for its resemblance to drawings from a cyclical drawing tool, planetary nebula IC 418 shows patterns that are not well understood. Perhaps they are related to chaotic winds from the variable central star, which changes brightness unpredictably in just a few hours. By contrast, evidence indicates that only a few million years ago, IC 418 was probably a well-understood star similar to our Sun. Only a few thousand years ago, IC 418 was probably a common red giant star.

Video- Glenn Beck on Scott Brown: 'Could end with a dead intern'

h/t pigboy for telling me about this, via Ben. Anyone else kind of bothered about how much talk there is about Brown's looks? Seems rather sexist to me.

Evening Distraction

Yeah, I know it's a commercial, but it's damn purty. I love driving to GR from here in the fall, just glorious colors everywhere. Via Cat.