August 27, 2008

MARS!

27th Aug the Whole World is waiting for, Planet Mars will be the brightest in the night sky starting August. It will look like a very small and visible moon to the naked eye. This will cultivate on Aug. 27 when Mars comes within 34.65M miles off earth. Be sure to watch the sky on Aug. 27 12:30 am. It will look like the earth has 2 moons.

Everyone has potential ringside seats to this celestial wonder. Mars is visible to anyone on Earth with clear skies. And the exact instant of the closest approach is relatively unimportant, other than marking a curious mathematical moment. A complete Mars Viewer's Guide is available from SPACE.com. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287.

August 26, 2008

Michael Phelps Poor Sportsmenship

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Charlene Chua in Work/Life: illustration & photography directory

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Charlene Chua is part of Work/Life: the UPPERCASE directory of Canadian Illustration & Photography. The book is part art book, part directory, and will be distributed to select art directors as well as be on sale at the gallery.

The book is being launched on Thursday, June 5, at UPPERCASE gallery, Calgary, AB. In conjunction with the Work/Life book, UPPERCASE gallery will be hosting an exhibition of artwork by the contributors.

Charlene’s website: www.charlenechua.com

Uppercase gallery: www.uppercasegallery.ca

[Via The Little Chimp Society]

The Art of Lwnski:

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The Art of Tony Moore:

Article on more great Reverse Graffiti stuff:

Zack Snyder Speaks about Watchmen at Comic-Con

Sex Drive - Funny

Prepare To Get Slapped

An Awesome New Achievement in Human Intelligence

Morning Show Spaghetti Cat

August 25, 2008

Quantum Mechanics for Dummies - Electrons Are Weird



Clips from a BBC documentary explaining the arguments from the 1920's until now as to whether electrons are particles, waves or both.

It outlines Einstein's distaste at Heisenberg's uncertainty principle and is a good starting point in realising that the universe is far, far stranger than can be imagined.

August 24, 2008

Crescent Rhea Occults Crescent Saturn


I LOVE PHOTOS LIKE THIS OF SATURN !
Soft hues, partially lit orbs, a thin trace of the ring, and slight shadows highlight this understated view of the majestic surroundings of the giant planet Saturn. Looking nearly back toward the Sun, the robot Cassini spacecraft now orbiting Saturn captured crescent phases of Saturn and its moon Rhea in color a few years ago. As striking as the above image is, it is but a single frame from a recently released 60-frame silent movie where Rhea can be seen gliding in front of its parent world. Since Cassini was nearly in the plane of Saturn's rings, the normally impressive rings are visible here only as a thin line across the image center. Although Cassini has now concluded its primary mission, its past successes and opportunistic location have prompted NASA to start a two-year Equinox Mission, further exploring not only Saturn's enigmatic moons Titan and Enceladus, but Saturn herself as her grand rings tilt right at the Sun in August 2009.

High Cliffs Surrounding Echus Chasma on Mars


What created this great cliff on Mars? Did giant waterfalls once plummet through its grooves? With a four-kilometer drop, this high cliff surrounding Echus Chasma, near an impressive impact crater, was carved by either water or lava. A leading hypothesis is that Echus Chasma, at 100-kilometers long and 10-kilometers wide, was once one of the largest water sources on Mars. If true, water once held in Echus Chasma likely ran over the Martian surface to carve the impressive Kasei Valles, which extends over 3,000 kilometers to the north. Even if initially carved by water, lava appears to have later flowed in the valley, leaving an extraordinarily smooth floor. Echus Chasma lies north of tremendous Valles Marineris, the largest canyon in the Solar System. The above image was taken by the robotic Mars Express spacecraft currently orbiting Mars.

A Seemingly Square Nebula


How can a round star make a square nebula? This conundrum comes to light when studying planetary nebulae like IC 4406. Evidence indicates that IC 4406 is likely a hollow cylinder, with its square appearance the result of our vantage point in viewing the cylinder from the side. Were IC 4406 viewed from the top, it would likely look similar to the Ring Nebula. This representative-color picture is a composite made by combining images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2001 and 2002. Hot gas flows out the ends of the cylinder, while filaments of dark dust and molecular gas lace the bounding walls. The star primarily responsible for this interstellar sculpture can be found in the planetary nebula's center. In a few million years, the only thing left visible in IC 4406 will be a fading white dwarf star.