Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts:  

The math aspect of today's image rates a 9.  The reason is the ridiculously low exponent of Z in the formula, which at 1.005 is by far the closest I have yet come to an exponent of unity, a value that does not produce fractals.  The orientation of the image is also unusual, lying halfway between the Mandelbrot and Julia planes, and double rotated 45,45 degrees from both.

The art aspect rates an 8, which is also quite respectable.  I put over an hour of extra time into the coloring, most of it devoted to bringing out the subtle striations in the background. The name "Signs in the Sky" refers to this striped background effect.

The calculation time of 12 minutes is challenging, but nothing when compared to the herculean calculation time of the next FOTD.  The web sites can always remove all calculation-time challenges however.

Today's weather left a lot to be desired here at Fractal Central, with clouds and occasional rain keeping a solid damper on all planned outdoor activities, not that many activities were planned for today in this minor city of 9,800 residents.  The temperature of 50F 10C kept a damper on the three fractal cats, whose photos will soon be made available for public admiration.  The humans, who couldn't care less about public admiration, simply made it through the day with nothing going wrong, which is far easier said than done.

The next FOTD will be posted when the right cosmic moment arrives.  Until then, take care, and what time is it on Alpha Centauri at this present cosmic moment of time?

Jim Muth
jimmuth@earthlink.net


START PARAMETER FILE=======================================

Signs_in_the_Sky   { ; time=0:12:00.00 SF5 at 2000MHZ
  reset=2004 type=formula formulafile=basicer.frm
  formulaname=SliceJulibrot5 passes=1 float=y
  center-mag=2.35282/0.822917/22.31169/1/-97.5/0
  params=45/0/45/0/1.2598348/0/0/0/1.005/0
  maxiter=22000 inside=255 logmap=-640 periodicity=6
  colors=000jEehDdeCccB`aAXZ7TX5QU2MS0IN0FI0AC058002\
  00GJZCDR98K63DnrthonbkiXedRWXLOOFIG9E8DD0ICDNB9PA5\
  J22L10900T2EI05800M0GD06B04902620550H0jG0pF0vD1z9f\
  xAgoAigBiZBjRtkItkAtl2tl0tj0ti6tgEtfKtdRQcXSacT`iL\
  3TL3UL2VL2VL2WL1WL1YL1ZL0ZL0_L0_L0`L0`L0bL0cL0cG0M\
  G0MG0MG0MG0MG0MG0MG0MG0MG0MG0MG0MG0MG0MG0MG0ML0RL0\
  RL0RL0RL0RL0RL0RL0RL0RL0RL0bL0bL0bL0bL0bL1b`2o`2o`\
  3n`5nZ5nZ6mZ6mZ7lZ8lY8lYAjYBjYBiYCiYDhXDhXEhXGgXGg\
  XHeWIeWIdWJdWKdWKcULcULbUNbUObUOaTPaTQ`TQ`TSZTTZST\
  ZSUYSVYSVXSWXSYWRYWRZWR_VR_VR`TQ`TQaTQcSQcSQdROeRO\
  eQOfQOgQOgONiONjNNjNNkMNlMMlMMnLMoLMoKMpKMpKLoILoI\
  LnILnILlILlILkILkILjIKjHKiHKiHKgHKgHKfHKfHKeHKeHId\
  GIdGIcGIcGIaGIaGI`GI`GI_GI_GHZFHZFHYFHYFHWFHWFHVFH\
  VFHUFGUEGTEGTEGSEGSEGQEGQEGPEGPEFQDGPEHPFHPGIPHIOI\
  KOKLOLLOMMNNMNONNQONROLSQLTQLVRLWSKXSKYTKZTK`UK`WJ\
  aWJbXJcXJdYIeZIgZIh`Ii`Hj }

frm:SliceJulibrot5   {; draws all slices of Julibrot
  pix=pixel, u=real(pix), v=imag(pix),
  a=pi*real(p1*0.0055555555555556),
  b=pi*imag(p1*0.0055555555555556),
  g=pi*real(p2*0.0055555555555556),
  d=pi*imag(p2*0.0055555555555556),
  ca=cos(a), cb=cos(b), sb=sin(b), cg=cos(g),
  sg=sin(g), cd=cos(d), sd=sin(d),
  p=u*cg*cd-v*(ca*sb*sg*cd+ca*cb*sd),
  q=u*cg*sd+v*(ca*cb*cd-ca*sb*sg*sd),
  r=u*sg+v*ca*sb*cg, s=v*sin(a), esc=imag(p5)+9
  c=p+flip(q)+p3, z=r+flip(s)+p4:
  z=(-z)^(real(p5))+c
  |z|< esc }

END PARAMETER FILE=========================================