These great hollow globes of artificial super-metals, and artificial transparent adamant, ranged in size from the earliest and smallest structures, which were no bigger than a very small asteroid, to spheres considerably larger than the Earth. (Olaf Stapledon, STAR MAKER)
Friday, March 31, 2017
Dimensional Snowball
Get out your 3-D glasses! Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a red-blue anaglyph of the surface of Comet 67P Churyumov–Gerasimenko.
Thursday, March 30, 2017
Wednesday, March 29, 2017
Laserium
Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the use of lasers for image-sharpening. Anybody remember Pink Floyd under a planetarium dome with lasers?
Tuesday, March 28, 2017
Astronomy and Geology
Odd formations on the ground and star clouds in the sky make up today's Astronomy Picture of the Day.
Monday, March 27, 2017
Down Down Down Down
Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day brings us beyond the blue event horizon. A supermassive black hole consumes a star, the accretion disk heats up and produces a jet. Astounding universe we live in!
Sunday, March 26, 2017
Persistence of Life
Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows a tardigrade. An alien on Earth? Probably not, but a good example of the ability of life to adapt at the extremes.
Saturday, March 25, 2017
Shadow and Moons
Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a Damien Peach wonder. Jupiter with intricate cloudscape, Ganymede (and shadow) and Io overhead.
Friday, March 24, 2017
Nice Grouping
Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day features an owl and galaxy and a local interloper. Comet 41P/Tuttle–Giacobini–Kresak encounters galaxy Messier 108 and nebula Messier 97 (the "Owl Nebula").
Thursday, March 23, 2017
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
Origin Story
The very secret origins of the Wild Cards novels and stories aren't very secret, but this essay by John Jos. Miller gives a nice new perspective on what happened. And they say nothing ever comes out of playing games!
Tuesday, March 21, 2017
Monday, March 20, 2017
Sunday, March 19, 2017
Springtime Spin
Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a short video showing the day/night divide over a year.
Saturday, March 18, 2017
JWST
Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the James Webb Space Telescope in the clean room at Goddard. I really hope this thing works!
Friday, March 17, 2017
Phasing
Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows several months on phase changes for Venus. Which phase is the brightest in the evening (or morning) sky?
Thursday, March 16, 2017
Starlight Moon
Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day brings us the starlit face of Mimas. Another wonderful image courtesy of the hard-working Cassini orbiter!
Wednesday, March 15, 2017
Legacy Image
Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is an image of the Cone Nebula courtesy of the hard-working Hubble Space Telescope.
Tuesday, March 14, 2017
Winter Composite
Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows a composite of visible stars and enhanced nebula in the winter skies. "Mouseover" the image in the link for a guide.
Monday, March 13, 2017
Closeup: New Worlds
Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day brings us the best view ever of Saturn's tiny moon Pan. The detail comes at a price, we're in the final stages of Cassini's extended mission.
Sunday, March 12, 2017
Heart of the Nebula
Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day brings us one of my favorite sites in the night sky. Christoph Kaltseis brings us the heart of Messier 42, The Great Nebula n Orion.
Saturday, March 11, 2017
Bursters
Are Fast Radio Bursts signs of alien probes? Or something else? It's nice to imagine what might be if it were something else (those courtesy of Gregory Benford).
Friday, March 10, 2017
MoonLab
Are NASA and international partners planning a station for lunar orbit?
I'd love to see it, but "show me the money" and don't believe it until they "bend tin" given past disappointments.
Thursday, March 9, 2017
To Far Centaurus
Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows "active galaxy". The visible image is only a portion of what is going on there.
Wednesday, March 8, 2017
Swirling Complexity
Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the complexity found in the Great Nebula of Orion. This one is worth making into your desktop image!
Tuesday, March 7, 2017
Monday, March 6, 2017
Northern Beauty
Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows northern wonders ("mouseover" the image in the link for a guide).
Sunday, March 5, 2017
Saturday, March 4, 2017
Day Job
Still in the midst of a product cycle that is slowly reducing my SAN. Hence low productivity on reading and gaming and such. Zounds.
Dark and Light
Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows dark dusty lanes and bright emitting lanes in NGC 2170 in Monoceros.
Friday, March 3, 2017
Thursday, March 2, 2017
Wednesday, March 1, 2017
Ring of Fire
Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the ring of fire and Bailey's Beads during a solar eclipse.