Friday Fractal XLII

i-fe43a6461370a211bb84bdd8d994a509-gefwhole2.jpgi-7d2a16aafe04462418621482354699d5-gefwhole.jpgWhat happens when you cross two immensely complex patterns, and then picture them at the perfect unique angle? Consider first, the merging of a skewed Mandelbrot set with a cloud-like plasma fractal. Zoom in on one, out on the other, and blend:

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Now compare this with a photograph of a distant galaxy:

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NGC1356

Like my fractal, the photo was taken at a particular and unique angle, capturing an eclipse of enormous scale. In this case, the Chandra X-Ray observatory captured the eclipse of a black hole with a galactic cloud. This gave astronomers the perfect opportunity to measure the halo of matter falling in to the black hole:

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Astonishingly, this cloud of matter is less than a hundredth of a light-year away from the black hole--a distance much smaller than expected. In less than 100 years, in other words, the cloud in the picture will pass the event horizon, and disappear entirely from our perspective.

Click here for more information from NASA's newsroom.

Galaxy images via Chandra X-Ray Observatory. All fractals made by the author using ChaosPro.

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Note from your fractalist: Sorry, folks, this one is a day late. I discovered early yesterday that my old website had been hacked. It has been fixed, now, although I plan to eventually remove everything from there, and repost it here somewhere.
After questioning how easily we might create useful models of our environment the other day, I started to wonder if I could even mimic our planet with a fractal.
Today, you can create your own fractal. (Don't worry, I'll still include one of my artistic fractals at the end of this post.) You don't need to download any programs, or learn any new techniques.
Something about climate change makes people want to argue. Take Greenland, for instance.

I can really pinpoint which is the biggest crowdsourcing website (in terms of brand recognition). There are always seem to be a new one popping up which I've never heard. This time it's Crowdflower. The learning continues...