Posts Made By: Nico Taelman

Cool stuff, and they do custom work too, nice.
Nico

Hi guys, and girls.
I uploaded my first real webpage today. I have been obsessed by Mars Exploration for about as long as I can remember and while there are probably a million sites on Mars already I decided to have a try at it. To say the least it will be a great way for me to spend my spare time and share something altogether. I hope it works and I will find time to update frequently.

http://users.skynet.be/fa240695/

Oh yeah, I'll take care of a more user-friendly domain name ASAP.
See ya!
Best wishes
Nico

I've got something on my mind. A few weeks ago my mother turned 60. OK, let's give her a nice surprise party? My elder sister and brother said that would cost too much. So I proposed to buy her a new computer since her current machine has serious hardware issues. Per 'family' each €125 equalling € 375 should be enough, she has a monitor,..."What?" "€ 125?" "That's a lot of money" ; was their reply and they refused. Background info; my brother bought the following in three months time; a jeep and trailer, a BMW sportscar and a home-cinema dolby surround system; at the time I asked for the birtday present he also cashed $600 from his insurrance thanks to a receipt for a digital camera my mother gave him. The camera was supposedly in the car he wrecked last year. BTW, the camera was a gift from me to my mother last year. On to my sister; they bought a seashore-vacation home last year, they both drive big Mercedes cars and own a small company.
Now for me; I'm not a big spender, I had a wild youth and now I'm between part-time work and study. I get around but cannot really afford 'luxury'. Don't care, if I'd care enough I would have more wealth, right? I prefer to finnish my studies.
But for them, they eventually bought my mother some flowers while I myself bought her a complete new computer.
How's that for greedy? Cheap. Or is it me?
Nico

I thought this was a nice anaglyph to share; Spirit sits at the rim of Missoula Crater looking towards Bonneville Crater. With a little effort, its tracks between the craters can be traced back all the way to Bonneville Crater. It's an image I especially like for its depth and the rocks that can be seen all over the area. Link to original images; http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all/spirit_p105.html
Nico

Amazing! This might just be the best thing ever investigated on Mars! Look at the structure of the rim; the rock outcrops, the layering, the depth....unbelievable. Opportunity won't be bored that's for sure!
Nico

Spirit's view at about 900 metres from the base of Columbia Hills, on Sol 132. Waiting...I wonder if they'll manage to drive up the apparently gentle slopes on some locations at the base. Notice the big boulders near the hills. Anaglyph was made with left-filter #7-images, and right-filter #1. The surface roughness would actually be somewhat flatter than it appears in this image.
Nico

I had the opportunity to observe the transit from the observatory roof of the university of Ghent and here are some of the results of the ending of the transit. Lovely! The views through an 8" f6 dobson belonging to the observatory were very impressive. These images are taken with an ETX-105, eyepiece projection with a 20 mm SP eyepiece and fujifilm finepix 601 digital camera.
Thanks for looking.
Nico.

Here's another image, one of the cleanest images I got through a blue color-filter which I processed to bring out the Venusian atmosphere.
Nico

What is it with the price for Canon's D10 camera (and others by the way). I'm a couple of months away from a purchase but I see price differences from €1600 here in Belgium to as low as $750 in the US. A friend will bring one for me from New York or Chicago and I have noticed the cheap versions don't come "in the box" and without manufacturer's warranty...What would be the best option? Can anyone help me out? There's also the rumour Canon has a new camera coming out soon which should make for a price-drop on the D10.
Thanks
Nico

Our family lost a good friend yesterday. I have as much cats as I'd like to have telescopes but I would have given my scopes and probably a lot more for him to stay. Pasta; the chief-cat of our cosy little family has died and I felt the need to share this. I would have done all I could but my vet made the wrong diagnose and I didn't get the chance. This was a one-in-a million cat. Knowing how I feel it made me wonder how people care for their pets and how much they mean to you guys...
Anyone?
Nico, Anne, Marie-Hailie, and the other cats; Punky, Pingu, Cleo and Cinqo.
Thank you for being there Pasta.