Alec MacKinnon

@alecmackinnon

Solar physicist, adult educator, human. Scottish. Retired; hopefully not yet moribund. Prog, jazz and indeed, surprising though it might be to the younger me, folk. Cycling

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Alec MacKinnon@alecmackinnon· Jul 13

Erskine Bridge looks like a huge mountain ha ha in the middle of a bike run this morning #cycling #erskinebridge #glasgow

Looking west along the River Clyde from near Inchinnan. The Erskine Bridge is in the middle distance, rather hidden against the Kilpatrick hills behind. The cycle path along the riverside is in the foreground, large industrial buildings on the other (north) side of the river. Puffy clouds in a blue sky

Alec MacKinnon@alecmackinnon· Jun 25

A woodland walk, the shade welcome on a hot summer's day #Fife #BankheadMoss

a walker on a wee bridge over a ditch in a wood. Grassy floor of the wood dappled with sunlight.

Alec MacKinnon@alecmackinnon· Jun 21

At the Reflecting Pool, and guys, this doesn't look right.

The big golden fish in the pool from the Singing Ringing Tree with the Prince turned into a Bear kneeling beside it. A hypnotic, unsettling - wonderful ! - delirium in the childhoods of people my age. Could have been worse, though: at another point the pool is drained and the poor fish stranded

Alec MacKinnon@alecmackinnon· Jun 18

Looked like this

Alec MacKinnon@alecmackinnon· Jun 17

Venus and the crescent Moon over a corner of the enormous car park of Guarulhos airport, São Paulo, Brazil.

Alec MacKinnon@alecmackinnon· Jun 10

A wee house among very tall ones #saopaulo #consolacao

Small, colonial era looking house in Sao Paulo, Brazil, with very tall tower blocks on both sides and behind. Road in the foreground

Alec MacKinnon@alecmackinnon· Jun 1

Amazing what still lurks at the bottom of a drawer #espm2002

My name badge from the 10th European Solar Physics Meeting, Prague, 9-14 September 2002

Alec MacKinnon@alecmackinnon· May 25

perhaps no more liberties than in this depiction of Newton, by Eduardo Paolozzi next the British Library in London (not the best picture but maybe it has some late-in-the-day drama)

sculpture representing Isaac Newton in London by Eduardo Paolozzi (1995), inadequately lit, day's last light behind

Alec MacKinnon@alecmackinnon· May 23

One moment this beautiful spring morning in Pollok Park, Glasgow, looking along the White Cart. #pollokcountrypark #glasgow #m43photography

we look along a river, trees on either side, particularly to the right (same side as the photographer). There are reflections of trees in the water and fluffy white clouds above. The river is the White Cart and the scene is in Pollok Country Park, Glasgow

Alec MacKinnon@alecmackinnon· May 22

Look up #clouds #m43photography

wispy clouds against a blue sky, wisps looking like they all spread out from a point just above the bushes and trees at the very bottom of the picture

Alec MacKinnon@alecmackinnon· May 17

spring tree, spring sky #spring #m43photography

leafy green tree with blossom seen against a pale blue sky with fine cloud

Alec MacKinnon@alecmackinnon· May 11

Turns out the cycle path really is closed. And it's being patrolled by laser-armed drones

Cycle path coming to an abrupt end at a high metal barrier. Lens flare looks like a death ray aimed at me from above

Alec MacKinnon@alecmackinnon· May 10

Bike ride this morning. Kavus Torabi playing music as I get ready to go out. I'll leave it running from the phone in my back pocket. When I'm out of Bluetooth range the house will go quiet #cycling #psychedelicmusic #silenthouse

Bike outside the patio door, Bluetooth speaker on the stool inside. A beautiful sunny morning

Screenshot of Bandcamp app playing Kavus Torabi's Hip to the Jag

Alec MacKinnon@alecmackinnon· May 5

Arran yesterday from much further away than your picture, the top of Clunch Road near Stewarton. I always enjoy the way it comes and goes as you cycle around in that country between Glasgow and Kilmarnock

Alec MacKinnon@alecmackinnon· May 3

Spring among the trees in Pollok Park, Glasgow. #pollokpark #glasgow #woodland

In shady, sparse woodland, bluebells round the bases of the trees, lurid red rhododendrons (or azaleas?) at left

Alec MacKinnon@alecmackinnon· Apr 21

Like this

Twilight sky with Venus on the upper edge of a long, thin, dark cloud, and thin crescent Moon below. House roofline with chimney stack and TV aerials below

Alec MacKinnon@alecmackinnon· Apr 19

In the dark, dank forest

Coniferous trees in a sunless forest, branches shrouded in mossy strands

Alec MacKinnon@alecmackinnon· Apr 14

here are some coronal loops, extending over the limb of the Sun, as seen just now by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (false colour representation of ultraviolet light). Stock-in-trade for us, despite the funny jargon :-)

false colour representation of the hot solar atmosphere as seen in ultraviolet light by Solar Dynamics Observatory, AIA instrument. Several bright loops in the middle, tops above the limb (edge of the disk!) of the Sun

Alec MacKinnon@alecmackinnon· Apr 11

In Pollok Park, Glasgow this morning - between the showers #spring #photography

a path among trees that are still mostly bare. Daffodils at left. The left of the picture is shadowed and the right lit by bright sunshine.

Alec MacKinnon@alecmackinnon· Apr 5

a late afternoon visit to Court Knowe, from where Mary Queen of Scots is believed to have watched the defeat of her troops at the Battle of Langside in 1568. Every Scots kid learns her story; she's part of our modern world. It's strange to think people then still believed in a geocentric cosmos

The monument on Court Knowe, Cathcart, Glasgow that commemorates Mary Queen of Scots' presence there on 13 Mat 1568, watching her troops being defeated by a rival force loyal to her infant son. The Sun is setting to the west (left) and dark clouds loom north of Glasgow

Alec MacKinnon@alecmackinnon· Mar 29

The Sun yesterday afternoon showing quite a few spots at the moment, and faculae, the bright mottling seen near sunspots towards the edge of the Sun's disk. Taken with the Dwarf 3 #smartscope lent by Creative Regeneration, Greenock. I think, quite impressive for such a small instrument! #Astronomy

Alec MacKinnon@alecmackinnon· Mar 14

Singing, still to God #Cardiacs

Cardiacs on stage at the QMU in Glasgow. Many people taller than me in the foreground

Alec MacKinnon@alecmackinnon· Mar 6

a single stalk of seaweed #photography #m43photography #ayrshire #coast

a single stalk of seaweed lying on very fine sand illuminated from the right-hand side

Alec MacKinnon@alecmackinnon· Mar 4

deep in the 13th century preparing for a talk about Michael, astrologer, astronomer, who was certainly a Scot but came to prominence in Spain and Sicily