A gradient is a slow change from one colour to another, so gradual as to blend the colour change so that it is seamless.We are going to make a small image that graduates from white to blue and which will be used as a background image in a webpage.To follow along, open the Gimp, select new and set the size to 200 pixels wide by 400 pixels high.Now look at the toolbox and choose the 'Blend' tool just over halfway through the tool list. Look down at the tool properties that open below the toolb... Read Full Story

At last we have a proper looking sunspot on the face of our sun!Sunspot 1029 is growing as I write this and producing quite a barrage of flares. Of course, a few years ago this spot would be considered so small as to not be worthy of note but, in these days of the quiet sun, it is certainly worth a fanfare.The photo is from SOHO (ESA and NASA) and shows the spot clearly.Let us hope that this is the first of many more! Read Full Story

The twin sunspots, like angry wasps slowly orbiting the face of the sun have, at last, produced some magnetic activity.Mind you, a 'C' class flare, in better times, would go unnoticed but, in this deepest of deep solar minimums this is a major event.The spots are, really, the first proper spots we have had this cycle and some magnetic activity was guaranteed so this is hardly surprising but it is very pleasing to see that the sun hasn't forgotten how to shoot out a burst of x-rays.To recap, a... Read Full Story

For the first time in a long, long time we have not just one sunspot but two!The first spot - I have already written about this - was seen forming on the far side of the sun and has at last rotated into view to be noticed and numbered (it's 1026). But now a second spot is emerging to join the first one.According to Spaceweather this is the first time we have had more than one reasonable sized spot for at least a year.If this marks the beginning of a period of renewed solar activity remains t... Read Full Story

The sun has been blank for, let me see, another long period of 14 days again but all that may be about to end.On the far side of the sun and about to rotate into view is a sunspot, or what appears to be the beginning of a spot. It also looks as if it has the potential, at least, to be a good sized spot.That's one piece of good news and the other is that it's located around the 30 degree latitude mark which will identify it firmly as a spot of the new cycle, Cycle 24.The sun is off to a very ... Read Full Story

Of all the possible container plants, herbs must be amongst the best to grow for several reasons.First, they are not hard to grow, an important requirement, and second, they are useful in more than one way. Herbs can be decorative with their different leaf shapes and colours and they represent a growing resource for the kitchen table.The problem to bear in mind with herbs is that once you start you will find that you need increasingly more and more containers to house your collection! On th... Read Full Story

The Lashenden beacon is near Headcorn in Kent in the UK and sends the identifier 'LSH' on 340 kHz. It's position is given from the waypoint website as 510917N by 0003853EHeadcorn is the base for one of the most active parachute centres in the South of England with jumping taking place up to 15,000 feet. More information can be found on the excellent page for the airfield:http://www.headcornaerodrome.co.uk/pilots_page.htmlI made several attempts to log the beacon and I could definitely hear so... Read Full Story

The sun still seems to be firmly stuck in some kind of cosmic backwater according to the statistics on SpaceWeather.Com.I, too, have been watching the number of spotless days clock slowly up - we are now at (Saturday August 22, 2009) 42 days since the last activity.SpaceWeather have been watching it, too, and point out that 'the longest stretch of spotless suns during the current solar minimum was 52 days in July, August and Sept of 2008'. As you can see, we are approaching that record now a... Read Full Story

The Perseids meteor stream is always a good one and something that the world likes to stop and watch and this year was no exception for the stream was a very good one. The stream peaked three times from the morning (in the UK) of April 12th, 2009 onwards.It was already known that the Earth would pass through a slightly thicker filament than normal but this year there was a surprise. After exiting that dense area it hit another patch dragged in by the Earth's gravity and produced a second sh... Read Full Story

" />" />"id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368675040213766850" />The last few posts have covered, in brief, the whole area of tropical band DXing and it just remains now to write a few words to close this section.So what is, in a sentence or two, the continuing appeal of this hobby that really gets people involved and keeps them listening?There seem to be two separate facets: firstly there is the obvious fun in hearing and 'collecting' stations heard from a long distance. This is a basic theme that repe... Read Full Story