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Every week, I take a few minutes to wander through iTunes video podcasts to see what’s been added. Especially in 16×9 format for HD TV sets.
Last night, I noticed a new listing [with several vidcasts already in place] for the Spitzer Telescope. I subscribed and downloaded them all. After supper, my wife and I tend to watch whatever’s waiting on the AppleTV before moving on to the DVR – and what a delight was waiting from the CalTech folks and Spitzer.
This was our favorite. Right-click and download or left-click to play – and enjoy some fine Ken Burns editing and incredible images. The .m4v file size is just over 54mb for just under 2 minutes of video.
Narcissistic? Try ‘insecure’ and ‘needy’.
Be certain of 1 thing, M Scott; it’s a sort of litmus test for true intelligence.
If you can actually entertain for even a moment the childishly absurd idea that whatever entity created or set into motion the Universe would be concerned with – much less demand – praise from humans…. and you live today, not 2000 years ago… then you flunk.
When that monster really goes supernova, I want to be far enough away so I can say, “What the heck was that?”
About 150 years ago, it was one of the brightest stars in the southern sky. Even though it released as much visible light as a supernova explosion, it survived the outburst. Very strange indeed.
Wish I could observe it from the US.
#22 – BR
“When that monster really goes supernova, I want to be far enough away so I can say, “What the heck was that?””
If you are planning on being significantly farther away, I would humbly suggest you get to packing those bags…
Is not nature marvellous yet intimidating in its power and affect at the same time ?
I can see Jesus AND the Virgin Mary in this.
Wonder if I can sell it on EBay?
13. Bobbo: I have to say, its quite funny this idea that some people have that the universe was created just for us… I mean, how much of a sheltered life do you have to lead to think that everything is just there for you…. surely its people who have never actually worked a proper job in their life, never tried to grow their potatoes just watch the bastard beetles eat them all, never looked closely at the huge destructive power a small little stream can have, given enough time…
its one of the many things I really like about Norse mythology: the world view is that we are perched on precariously on a tree, with roots in the ground that are rotting, goats that are eating up all the leaves, an eagle perched at the top, and a serpent at the bottom, and a squirl running up down the tree carrying insult between the eagle and the serpent. “Yggdrasil (the name of the world tree) creaks, Yggdrasil moans” the poem goes.
Someone that feels much more akin to life in this world than the deranged fantasies of a some preachers who seems to think we’ve never actually left the garden of Eden and that, despite a mountain of Biblical evidence to the contrary, that God gives his followers an easy, wealthy and pleasant life.
well, scientifically accurate or not still a good show. thanks for the link!
PS: I REALLY hope that if eta carinae goes nova, then the gamma-radiation beam isnt pointed at us… cuz thta’d suck hard
#8 – Nice Luddite response.
I don’t see how expecting “truth in advertizing” from a scientific establishment, as being a Luddite response. If the images had been properly labeled as “color enhancement added” or something. I would have had no problem with them. But I didn’t see anything except two views (large and small) labeled as which light band was detected.
The “visible” field implies that those are the colors we’d see if we too had a very expensive telescope. NOT SO!! And the “infrared” is even worse, at imply an array of colors seen in so narrow a band of light. It’s clearly meant to WOW the ignore. So forgive me for not being so ignorant a luddite as to accept improperly labeled images. Which any amatuer would be criticized for, if they cranked out their own photoshoped view of the universe, that competed with NASA’s product. It’s bad science to omit information just for PR sake. There was plenty of room in the border of the picture to label this properly.
That asidn…. It was a pretty picture. But I liked the old Battlestar Galactica “Red Nova” better.
WTF does “truth in advertising” have to do with it? They’re not advertising the fucking thing. They’re not selling you anything. They’re not asking you for anything. They have no motive to fool you or anyone else. All they did was make something obscure highly visible and therefore more easiily comprehensible to a general audience. If you think that making something easier to see and appreciate comes under the heading of “dishonesty”, you may need to work on those persecution ‘n paranoia issues.
#22 BubbaRay “When that monster really goes supernova, I want to be far enough away so I can say, “What the heck was that?”
”
Gamma Ray Flares hit Earth in 1998 and 2004
Hmmm BubbaRay Flares?
“In late 2004 scientists detected the largest gamma-ray burst ever recorded. It came from a magnetar–a neutron star with an enormous magnetic field–50,000 light years away. Its powerful rays penetrated deep into the ionosphere, the electrically conductive layer encircling Earth”
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=19066
This was from 50,000 light years away – I have read other articles where it was said if the same event happened but from 500 light years away…life on Earth gets nuked – the only potentially safe place would be a quarter-mile or so underwater or underground. Some have felt these unpredictable gamma ray bursts could explain mass extinctions.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma_ray_burst
“The principal limitation in understanding the bursts was the difficulty in pinpointing their direction on the sky: unlike visible-light, gamma-rays are exceedingly difficult to observe with a telescope, and the bursts’ short duration exacerbates the problem.”
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/1998/17/text/
I imagine if there are more and more gamma ray bursts in the near future we might be the blame… LOL
:-/
Cheers