Galactic eye

Luc Perrot, www.lucperrot.fr

Today I saw this incredible picture on the Astronomy Picture of the Day. It's a composite made of eight images from a fisheye lens put together to make what looks to me at first glance like a God's Eye. He took the pictures at night, illuminated with a lamp, and put them together to make a complete circle. In the middle is the Milky Way, and if you look closely you can also see his tent, a shoreline, and much more. He took this on the island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean. Click to enlarge to truly appreciate the image. APOD continues to amaze me, and I never miss a morning picture to give me a more accurate perspective of the world. Sometimes I get too focused on minutia when I need to look at the bigger picture.

Another wonderful thing from the blogging world that I discovered through Sharon's Paws Create is a website filled with donated art that goes to help the animals suffering from the Oil Disaster. Sharon has donated some beautiful art, and the other amazing donated art that is being sold will bring tears to your eyes, they are so poignant and beautiful. Go on over to Ripple to buy a beautiful piece of art for $10. Here's what they are about:

Each sketchcard on this blog $10. The $10 is a donation to help the animal victims of the Deep Water Horizon Gulf Oil Spill. Every penny is donated. The two nonprofits that are benefitting are The Institute for Marine Mammal Studies and The International Bird Rescue Research Center. You can purchase a card if you donate directly to one of the nonprofit and email me the confirmation and your address to ripplesketches@verizon.net. The artist will mail you the signed card.

The creator of the blog also adds, "We don't have to feel helpless. We can help. Our small actions together will ripple outward."
:-)