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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.



  1. bobbo says:

    I do assume your “I don’t watch TV” and “HDTV won’t improve crap TV” filters are on? Thanks for some great images. “I want my HDTV!”

  2. Will says:

    Is there an RSS feed for the movies? I briefly looked at the site specified at the end of the video and didn’t see one with movies on it.

    Thanks

  3. Milo says:

    TV networks will soon be located next the typewriter factory, across the street from the newspaper.

  4. Glenn E says:

    The colors were arbitrarily added to the images. As vivid colors don’t exist on deep space. Or the telescopic devices use to detect such faint light sources, isn’t designed to pick up and distinguish colors, even if they did exist. So these images were post-processed, and the colors played around with to get the best “Wow” factor for the public. But scientifically, it’s an inaccurate color enhancement procedure. Sorry to be a spoil-sport about yer fun. But to me this is more science as PR, than serious data.

  5. Eideard says:

    Spitzer RSS feeds of several flavors are available at:

    http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/podcasts/index.shtml

  6. TIHZ_HO says:

    #3 Oh no they won’t!!!

    Remember Cable TV’s hook line back in the early 80′s “Commercial Free”? HA! did everyone fall for that one! :lol:

    Cheers

  7. Mister Mustard says:

    That’s pretty cool stuff. I don’t see it in my TV guide though; just more WWF Smackdown, reality TV, and D-list movies….

  8. moss says:

    Nice Luddite response – #4 – loaded with ignorance. Artifically manipulating colors to investigate specific aspects of research are as old as staining samples on a glass slide for microscopic investigation.

    Sorry if that affronts your preconceptions. On 2nd thought – I’m not sorry.

  9. Smartalix says:

    4,

    “But to me this is more science as PR, than serious data.”

    Since it was intended for the general public, what is the harm in that? The scientists have their hard data already.

  10. TIHZ_HO says:

    Well no one mentioned that Eta Carinae is the most unusual star yet observed.

    http://seds.org/messier/xtra/ngc/etacar.html

    Eta Carinae is one of the most massive stars yet observed with an estimated mass more than 100 times of our sun. It has varied in brightness from invisibility to almost as bright as Sirius.

    Cheers

  11. Ben Waymark says:

    Very impressive. What I love about looking at anything to do with looking into the vastness of space of is: It proves exactly how little we know about anything!

    As my mother used to say (and still does sometimes): “You know what, we don’t know shit.”

  12. Beautiful Image!! We live in such an amazing universe. It constantly amazes me that people would want to belittle it by invoking a creator over it or worse, by claiming this vast and ancient universe is less than 10,000 years old. How silly!

  13. bobbo says:

    12–Yes–one of the popular anti-religion guys was on tv with a thumper and the thumper says “Isn’t the universe such a wonderful beautiful place just specially made for us?”

    And ((I LOVE it when basic assumptions are identified and challenged)) the science guy said “Actually, no. The universe is a huge and mostly empty space that is completely hostile to life and especially humanoid/intelligent life. Not well designed for humans at all.”

    Course in our fast food culture, nothing wrong with thinking that something that is 99.999999999999999999999999% hostile to us, is nonetheless especially thoughtfully well designed for us. yuk,yuk.

  14. master1228 says:

    Great, now that i’ve subscribed to this new video podcast, I also found Hidden Universe HD: NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, that means I have two more video casts downloading to my hard drive that I don’t really have time to watch and will let fill up my hd.

    Can I get a clone so I can get stuff done AND watch all this new content at the same time?

  15. Mister Mustard says:

    >>It constantly amazes me that people would want to belittle
    >>it by invoking a creator.

    Pffft. As Ben Waymark’s wise mother says, “you don’t know shit”.

  16. K B says:

    Adding color makes it easier to see the Virgin Mary.

  17. god says:

    Could make it cheese-colored.

  18. Lauren the Ghoti says:

    Just remember that the Guy who created that for our benefit, in spite of acting exactly like an egotistical, malicious, drunk-with-power human tyrant, only expects you to spend a small part of your time on Earth telling Him how wonderful He is… ;)

  19. TIHZ_HO says:

    #7 “…TV guide though; just more WWF Smackdown, reality TV, and D-list movies….”

    “One Drop Reveals the Ocean” :lol:

    Cheers

  20. #18 – Lauren,

    Narcissistic sky bastard, isn’t s/he?



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