Archive for January, 2009
Shuttles Are Fun.
Posted by Danielle in Art & Architecture on January 30, 2009
A strange little image found on SpaceNews.jp, via Dark Roasted Blend.
Hubble's Next Discovery – You Decide!
Posted by Danielle in Perspectives on January 29, 2009
As part of the International Year of Astronomy, the Hubble Telescope will turn and image a celestial object, never before seen in such detail… and you get to vote for which one! Go to youdecide.hubblesite.org and vote for the one you’d like to see the most. (Also you can enter to win a 16×20″ print of the new image, woo!)
“Hubble’s Next Discovery — You Decide” is part of the International Year of Astronomy (IYA), the celebration of the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s observations. People around the world can vote to select the next object the Hubble Space Telescope will view. Choose from a list of objects Hubble has never observed before and enter a drawing for one of 100 new Hubble pictures of the winning object. The winning image will be released between April 2 and 5, during the IYA’s 100 Hours of Astronomy, a global astronomy event geared toward encouraging as many people as possible to experience the night sky. Vote by March 1 to swing Hubble toward your favorite target.
Astro-philatelics, part 49
Posted by Danielle in Currency & Postage on January 28, 2009
Today is the 23rd anniversary of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. These stamps are from Mali and were issued for the tenth anniversary of the disaster, in 1996.
Atomic!
Posted by Danielle in Advertising & Media, Home & Office on January 26, 2009
This oddity comes to you courtesy of Found in Mom’s Basement, via Dark Roasted Blend. Even sewing needles benefit from atomic power, apparently!
Space Art Master
Posted by Danielle in Art & Architecture, Home & Office on January 23, 2009
Saturn As Seen From Titan (1944), © Chelsey Bonestell
Reproduced courtesy of Bonestell LLC
Give your eyes a treat today, check out the fantastic space art of Chelsey Bonestell (1888-1986.) Considered to be the father of modern space art, his treatments of architecture (particularly the Golden Gate Bridge) are just as tremendous. What a talented guy!
Seen above, Saturn As Seen From Titan (1944) is his most famous work, and is one of the most recognizable pieces of space art, period. Read and view a bit more about the painting’s development.
The original spiral nebula
Posted by Danielle in Perspectives on January 22, 2009
M51 is the quintessential spiral galaxy, as shown in this
reworked Hubble image with superior detail!
The 51st entry in Charles Messier’s famous catalog is perhaps the original spiral nebula – a large galaxy with a well defined spiral structure also cataloged as NGC 5194. Over 60,000 light-years across, M51′s spiral arms and dust lanes clearly sweep in front of its companion galaxy (right), NGC 5195. Image data from the Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys has been reprocessed to produce this alternative portrait of the well-known interacting galaxy pair. The processing has further sharpened details and enhanced color and contrast in otherwise faint areas, bringing out dust lanes and extended streams that cross the small companion, along with features in the surroundings and core of M51 itself. The pair are about 31 million light-years distant. Not far on the sky from the handle of the Big Dipper, they officially lie within the boundaries of the small constellation Canes Venatici.
Astro-philatelics, part 48
Posted by Danielle in Currency & Postage on January 21, 2009
This 1966 set of stamps hails from the Yemen Arab Republic and celebrates the Gemini 6 & 7 missions. (Rest of the set can be viewed at here.)
Googie Tuesday, Part 11 (Inaugural Edition?)
Posted by Danielle in Art & Architecture on January 20, 2009
Slightly in honor of, but really having nothing to do with Inaugural Tuesday, I present a Googie Two-fer! The above is a spectacular rotosphere decked out in patriotic red, white and blue. (See?? Slight relevance!!)
The below is quite Googie, not at all patriotic, not really that space-y looking, but very familiar to me, as it resides in Dunsmuir, California, just down Interstate 5 from my home town of Mount Shasta. (I believe it’s called the Hitching Post.) I saw it in a sea of southern California Googie and chuckled.
The Comet
Posted by Danielle in Art & Architecture, Entertainment on January 16, 2009
Holdings of The Ohio State University Libraries. No infringement intended.
This delightful Art Nouveau magazine illustration hails from a 1915 edition of Puck Magazine. Sadly this is the only place online I can find the illustration (watermarked, as it is) and I know nothing of the artist, but it’s a fun piece and very in keeping with the aesthetic of the time.
Celestial Canvas
Posted by Danielle in Perspectives on January 15, 2009
This image by Thomas V. Davis looks like a work of fine art. (It’s hard to believe this is natural, and not brush strokes and Photoshop..!)
Is this a painting or a photograph? In this beautiful celestial still life composed with a cosmic brush, dusty nebula NGC 2170 shines near the image center. Reflecting the light of nearby hot stars, NGC 2170 is joined by other bluish reflection nebulae, a red emission region, many dark absorption nebulae, and a backdrop of colorful stars. Like the common household items still life painters often choose for their subjects, the clouds of gas, dust, and hot stars pictured here are also commonly found in this setting – a massive, star-forming molecular cloud in the constellation Monoceros. The giant molecular cloud, Mon R2, is impressively close, estimated to be only 2,400 light-years or so away. At that distance, this canvas would be over 40 light-years across.
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About Silver Rockets
This blog celebrates space exploration, human spaceflight and the heavens, through lots and lots ofimages.
My name is Danielle Signor, and I am a space cadet.
This is a blog, NOT A SHOP. Click the images for their source or purchase link, if available.
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