Map created by Samuel Arbesman

I have to say, I am just in AWE of this terrific concept by Samuel Arbesman. Not only does it ingeniously illustrate the relative positions of things in our galaxy, it mimics possibly my favorite map in the process (does one have such a thing as a favorite map? I hadn’t considered it until now, but yes, my statement is accurate: the Tube map is definitely my favorite map.)

This map is an attempt to approach our galaxy with a bit more familiarity than usual and get people thinking about long-term possibilities in outer space. Hopefully it can provide as a useful shorthand for our place in the Milky Way, the ‘important’ sights, and make inconceivable distances a bit less daunting. And while convenient interstellar travel is nothing more than a murky dream, and might always be that way, there is power in creating tools for beginning to wrap our minds around the interconnections of our galactic neighborhood.

Read the whole thing, it’s worthwhile.

A Brief History of Space Films since Star Wars, image by dailyfill.com.

Go to DailyFill.com for the full-size version of their brief history of space films since Star Wars, mapped by location (and color-coded for box-office hits… and misses.)

Found this amazing graphic on this blog, a map by National Geographic (which has it as a Flash-based thing; the image above links to a much larger image for your downloading pleasure.)

A recent NASA Image of the Day shows the Moon’s south pole in false-color high-res glory:

This composite image depicts the moon’s rugged south polar region and is the highest resolution topography map to date of the moon’s south pole. It was generated by scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, using data collected using the Deep Space Network’s Goldstone Solar System Radar located in California’s Mojave Desert. This new map provides contiguous topographic detail over a region approximately 311 miles by 249 miles (500 kilometers by 400 kilometers). Image Credit: NASA/JPL

I’ve got the Moon on my brain today, so here’s some Moon-spam for ya! First, the above sketch by Deirdre Kelleghan shows Venus emerging from the limb of the moon, following a lunar occultation, shown below:

Next, this was last Friday’s APOD, of the Moon (the LARGE, faint crescent) and Venus (the small bright crescent):

This next image is the latest, best far-side map of the Moon, courtesy of SELENE/Kaguya (and today’s LPOD) in glorious shades of grey…

…which is simplified from this color version, downloadable in ENORMO-VISION.