Posts Tagged planets

Diamond Star

Lucy Diamond Star White Dwarf

Old news (but good news): meet the star with a 10 billion trillion trillion carat diamond at its core! I’ve been fascinated with the thought of diamond-core stars and planets ever since first reading 2010. Just last year, studies indicated possible carbon-rich, diamond-core planets; for those of you on a budget, there’s a cubic zirconia (and/or zircon) star that will suit any piece of cosmic-sized jewelry. Both cubic zirconia and zircon are diamond simulants, CZ being the most popular.

You might ask why I’m stuck on diamonds, seemingly out of the blue — the truth is, I’ve been saving this post up. I am just finishing Diamonds & Diamond Grading, as part of my Graduate Gemologist coursework, and today is my first final exam in approximately 7.5 years. I have been studying THE SPARKLIES at great length and thus ends my weak attempt at a tie-in between my two favorite subjects: SPACE, and SPARKLY ROCKS.

Incidentally, the reason you don’t see more star-shaped diamonds — whole, one-piece stars, I mean — is because so much of the rough carat weight is lost in cutting. An efficient shape, it is not.

, ,

2 Comments

Planetary Dawn

Dawn of the Planets

Image Credit & Copyright: Luis Argerich, luisargerich.com

A quick post for your Wednesday…

This month, four of the five naked-eye planets gather along the eastern horizon near dawn. The celestial grouping is seen here just before sunrise on May 5, from a beach near Buenos Aires, Argentina. Starting near the top of the frame, the brightest beacon is Venus. Mercury is below and right of Venus and brilliant Jupiter is lower still, near image center. Below Jupiter, Mars is relatively faint and struggles the most to shine through a thin cloud bank and the warming twilight glow. Watch, and as the month progresses the tantalizing configuration will change, with Mars and Jupiter moving higher while Venus and Mercury wander through the sky closer to the rising sun.

, , , ,

No Comments

Brother Sun, Sister Moon

Brother Sun Sister Moon Ring

I’ve had gemstones on the brain today (more so than normal, I mean), after reading about the $45.6M sale of this Fancy Intense Pink diamond at Sotheby’s on Tuesday (if you like sparkly things, watch the video. SPARK. LY. THINGS.) Annnnnyway, I keep going back to Etsy to visit this stunning planetary ring, so I might as well post it so I can continue to admire it long after it sells. Really, it merits going to the listing and looking through all the photos, as every angle has lovely and interesting detail.

This ring is the penultimate in the evolution of a ten year design process. In order to achieve a “Celestial” look, I must make this ring the hard way. Each dot or “star” is actually a small hole bored through the Ti ring itself and then riveted with Fine Silver. Silver, being the whitest of all metals, is a great stand-in for stars as well as the perfect contrast to the gunmetal gray of Titanium. The Yellow Diamond Sun and the White Diamond Moon are each set into metals of opposing colors to reflect the yin/yang nature of the universe as I see it. The planets are each represented by historically corresponding metals; 14K Pink Gold stands for the planets of Mercury and Mars; Fine Silver stands for Venus and Jupiter, and 18K yellow Gold represents Saturn. This ring is the best example, to date, of what I have been striving for, a subdued astronomical look of many small and even smaller dots punctuated by different metals as planets in a sea of stars.

Kudos to Patrick Burt for his stunning creation!

, , , , , ,

3 Comments

The Space Art of Jeff Ward

Outer Boundaries, by Jeff Ward

Outer Boundaries © Jeff Ward

I’m always keen to find new space artists to feature here, and today’s discovery is the talented Jeff Ward. His work spans science fiction, fantasy and space/astronomical, and it’s all definitely worth a look!

Among the Outer Ring, by Jeff Ward

Among the Outer Ring © Jeff Ward

I think this one here is my favorite ↓

Spiral Galaxy, by Jeff Ward

Spiral Galaxy © Jeff Ward

, , , , ,

No Comments

Porcelain

Porcelain, by Jakub Skorutowski

Porcelain, by Jakub Skorutowski

I couldn’t resist one more space art piece, especially since it’s named (and seemingly inspired?) by my favorite Moby song, Porcelain.

, ,

No Comments

Age of Discovery

Age of Discovery, by Josef Barton

Age of Discovery, by Josef Barton

Had to post more space art, because this one is a wallpaper, and aren’t you just falling over yourself, running to download it? Because I know I was! Beautiful, Hubble-like softness — I love it.

, , , ,

No Comments

Stunning Space Art

Myriad, by Josef Barton

Myriad, by Josef Barton

I was delighted when I discovered this collection of space art last Friday. My favorites are shown here (and linked to their DeviantArt file pages, so you can see each one embiggered.) Enjoy!

In The Circle, by Josef Barton

In The Circle, by Josef Barton

I love the colors on this ↑

Bound, by Janne Rasanen

Bound, by Janne Rasanen

Beautiful composition and simplicity ↑

Terminus, by Josef Barton

Terminus, by Josef Barton

Fantastic contrast of warm and cool colors (and wow, the planet’s surface detail!) ↑

Showtime, by Josef Barton

Showtime, by Josef Barton

Amazing composition, ocean colors! Funnily enough, almost all the images I was drawn to were by the same artist.

, , ,

No Comments

Planet Posters

Bespin, by justinvg

All art on this post © justinvg.

I owe my finding of these fantastic Star Wars planet “poster” graphics to my friend Lexa (who makes me look like I have merely a casual interest in the Star Wars universe. Which, uh… is really not the case!!) I dearly hope justinvg gets these made as actual posters; they’d go so well with the IYA 2009 posters which I long to own.

UPDATE: Posters available here!!

Dagobah, by justinvg Hoth, by justinvg
Tatooine, by justinvg Endor, by justinvg

Alderaan, by justinvg

, , ,

2 Comments

Celestial Glass

Celestial Series by Glass Eye Studio: Mercury Celestial Series by Glass Eye Studio: Milky Way

I was reminded of these fantastic glass sculptures last week by a commenter; I saw a display of Glass Eye Studio’s Celestial Series in a rock shop coming back from the Oregon coast after Christmas. I’m a sucker for glass anyway, but these are particularly spectacular — I especially like the Moon (naturally) and Mercury.

Celestial Series by Glass Eye Studio: Neptune Celestial Series by Glass Eye Studio: Moon

Celestial Series by Glass Eye Studio: Rings of Saturn

, , ,

No Comments

History of Space Films

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

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.)

, , , , ,

No Comments