June 21, 2008
June 20, 2008
Saturn's Rings from the Other Side
What do Saturn's rings look like from the other side? From Earth, we usually see Saturn's rings from the same side of the ring plane that the Sun illuminates them. Geometrically, in the above picture taken in April by the robot Cassini spacecraft now orbiting Saturn, the Sun is behind the camera but on the other side of the ring plane. This vantage point, specifically 17 degrees above the ring plane, gives a breathtaking views of the most splendid ring system in the Solar System. Strangely, the rings have similarities to a photographic negative of a front view. The ring brightness as recorded from different angles indicates ring thickness and particle density of ring particles. Elsewhere, ring shadows can be seen on the sunlit face of Saturn, shown sporting numerous cloud structures in nearly true color.
Doomi
If you're like me and you have a thousand sticky notes all over your desk and computer, you might benefit from this awesome piece of free software, personally, I love it.
The Telectroscope
Positioned at a spot near Tower Bridge, it allows people to watch their counterparts in New York, peering through an identical scope near the Brooklyn Bridge. It is the invention of Paul St George, a 53-year-old artist in based in London who - using broadband internet cable to transmit video images between the two venues at high speed - gives the impression that the two cities are connected via a telescope under the Atlantic sea.
For £1 a go, people will be able to wave down a massive viewing pipe into the earth and see New Yorkers waving back.
It is the first time that spectators will be able to have a real-time,
life-size view across the pond 24 hours a day. Nicky Webb, the director of the Telectroscope production company, Artichoke, said: “You are not going to spend four hours looking down this Telectroscope, but there are all sorts of lovely possibilities, you could arrange to meet friends in New York or even propose marriage down it! "Schools in Southwark and New York will be twinning up and using it. Its aim is to be something huge, impressive and magical.”
[Via www.telegraph.co.uk]
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