FOTD -- May 28, 2003 (Rating 8) Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: What is the outer limit of the solar system? Is it the planet Pluto? No, Pluto, which is hardly worthy of being called a planet, is not the end of the solar system. Are a few icy rocks a short distance beyond Pluto the limit of the solar system? No. What then is the end? The end of the solar system is the Oort cloud of comets, which surrounds the sun and extends nearly halfway to the nearest star. These distant chunks of rocky ice drift lazily along in their orbits at a rate of perhaps one meter per second, taking many millions of years to complete one revolution. Today's image reminds me of a cloud of comets, such as the Oort cloud. The resemblance inspired the name "In the Oort Cloud". Of course, the actual comets in the Oort cloud are totally dead. They are not surrounded by a coma of ejected gases, nor are they as crowded together as the 'comets' in the image, but the image bears enough of a resemblance to a cloud of comets to justify its name. At this time, I must make a minor confession. At the beginning of the month, I stated that I would post no 'evaporated' images during the month. Until today, I have posted none. But the 'normal' version of today's image that I originally found became so much better when it was evaporated that I could not keep it secret. The entire image is composed of < bof60 > inside fill. The scene of today's image is located inland, near the discon- nected area of chaos south of the main body of the mayparent fractal. Of course, since the scene is an evaporated one, the parent fractal is no longer there. When the time came to rate the image, I had no trouble deciding on an 8. The image truly is an exceptional one (as FOTD images go). The render time of 16 minutes is not so exceptional, but this minor annoyance can be eliminated by downloading the completed GIF image from Paul's web site at: <http://home.att.net/~Paul.N.Lee/FotD/FotD.html> or from Scott's site at: <http://sdboyd.dyndns.org/~sdboyd/fotd/index.html> Though the clouds were heavy, the expected rain failed to materialize here at Fractal Central on Tuesday, and as a result, the Fractal Central cats had an enjoyable day. The temperature of 61F 16C was a bit chilly for their sensitive whiskers, but at least the grass was dry when they ventured into the yard for their afternoon exploration. This morning is once again cloudy and rain is once again threatening. The duo will have as good a day as they can. My day will be as good as the work permits and as good as I make it. Until next FOTD, take care, and give those Fractint bugs a shot of Raid. Jim Muth jamth@mindspring.com jimmuth@aol.com START 20.0 PAR-FORMULA FILE================================ In_the_Oort_Cloud { ; time=0:16:13.23--SF5 on a P200 reset=2002 type=formula formulafile=allinone.frm formulaname=MandelbrotMix2 function=recip passes=1 center-mag=-0.79387328486147/+2.42904310788191/3.7\ 3372e+008/1/-5/-1.9083425896814e-005 params=-10/-1\ .1/-1/-11/0/1e+100/0/0 float=y maxiter=1200 inside=bof60 outside=iter periodicity=10 colors=000zzzzyyzxxxwwwvvuuusttqssorrmqqjppgoodnna\ mmZmlWkkTkjQjiNihKhgHgfEfeDdaCbXB`TAZP9WL8TGNRCAMA\ ZF9l77y06t7CoDHjJMeQS`WXWaaYZ`_X_aVZcTYeQYgOXiMWkK\ VmHVoFUqDTsBSt9SsEWsJZrObrTerYuqbw000QpdRoQSoQTpRU\ pRUpSVpSWpTXpTYpUZpU_pV_pVXqTVqSSrRQrQNsPLsNItMGtL\ DuKBuJ9uI8tK8sL8rM8qN8pO8oP8nQ8mR8lS8kT8jU8iV8hW8g\ X8fY8eZ8d_8c`8ba8ab8`c8_d8Ze8Yf8Xg8Wh8Vi8Uj8Tk8Sl8\ Rm8Qn8Po8Op8Nq8Mr8Ls8Kt8JuchIR_hS_iT`jU`kV`kWalXam\ YanZao_bp`bpabqbbrccsdctecufcud`rcZpbXn`Vl_TjZQgXO\ eWMcVKaTI_SFXRDVPBTO9RN7PM5NP9RSCUUFYXI`ZLcaOgcRjf\ UmhXqk_tmbwmcwndxnfxogxoixojxRrbRraSs`St_TuZTuYUvX\ UwWUwWSsVRpUPlTOiSNfRLbQK_PIWPHTOGQNEMMDJLBFKACJ99\ JAAIAAIBAHBAHBBGCBGCBFCBFDBFDCEDCEECDECDEDCFDCFDBF\ DBGDBGEAGEAHE9HE9HF8IF8IF8IF7JF7JG6JG6KG5KG5KH4LH4\ LH4LH3MH3MI2MI2NI1NI1NI1OK4PL6PM9QNBROERPGSQJSRLTT\ OUUQUVTVWVWXYWY_XZbX_d_Xf } frm:MandelbrotMix2 {; Jim Muth a=real(p1), b=imag(p1), d=real(p2), f=imag(p2), g=1/f, h=1/d, j=1/(f-b), z=(((-a*b*g*h)^j)+(p4)), k=real(p3)+1, l=imag(p3)+100, c=fn1(pixel): z=k*((a*(z^b))+(d*(z^f)))+c, |z| < l } END 20.0 PAR-FORMULA FILE==================================