Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Triops

Here at The Hollar Observer, we don't just observe the universe through a telescope. We observe everything. Today our Triops eggs arrived. Triops are a type of shrimp dating back millions of years before even the dinosaurs. The eggs arrived in "suspended animation" and can remain this way for over 25 years. Oddly, their lifespan is just a few weeks to a couple months but can grow to 3 inches in that short time. The package claimed to contain 30 to 50 eggs, but I counted over 70. So follow as we hatch and grow these ancient creatures.
As Jupiter passed opposition this year, I was able to get a good night of images. It took another couple weeks until I could find the several hours it took to process and create this animation. It's about three hours compressed into 3 seconds. The Great Red Spot is easily visible.

Click on the image to see the animation.