Below is a reworked version of M31 that I posted a week or two ago. This is the same image but tweaked to try to bring out the older, redder stars in the galactic core and contrast them to the bluer, younger in the outer galactic disk. The same tweaks have rendered the background space black rather than bluish black in the former rendering. It’s a process, and I am still learning.
We learned this evening that one of our neighbors who has been living and working out west died of a heart attack – RIP. He had a long career as a nuclear physicist doing nuclear fusion research. He was a tinkerer, a traveler, and a cat lover. I would have liked to share these images with him. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be.
Aging means not just the erosion of our vitality and vigor, but a gradual accumulation of losses – of our parents, siblings, friends, and ultimately everyone we care about including ourselves. It’s a privilege that many do not get to have. Our friend was probably 10 years our junior. As I said earlier, RIP my friend.