Posts Tagged space

Agoraphobia

Agoraphobia, by Austin Kleon

Agoraphobia © Austin Kleon

I’ve only just been introduced to the newspaper-blackout poetry of Austin Kleon — I love this one, ever so much. Buy the print here.

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Raining Peridot

Peridot Rain

An artists impression of the green crystals falling down upon the star, almost like glitter. Picture: NASA/JPL

I’m a big fan of olivine/peridot, so when I saw this article about — get this — a star bombarded by peridot rain, I knew I had to post it!

MORE proof that space is amazing, this time from the not-too-distant constellation of Orion, where one star is currently being bombarded with green crystal rain.

The embryonic star is described as “Sun-like” – as in our Sun – and named HOPS-38.

The crystals are a green mineral called olivine and have been spotted raining down from the clouds of gas engulfing HOPS-68 by NASA’s Spitzer infrared detectors.

Much as I would like to visit, I’ll have to content myself with one day visiting Hawaii’s green beach (composed primarily of olivine crystals; scroll down.)

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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.

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Drops of Jupiter

Okay, so I’m one of the last dozen people (apparently) on Earth to have discovered this wonderful, wonderful song: Drops of Jupiter by Train. And now I’m passing it on to the rest of you, because if you have not had the pleasure, it has the most marvelous lyrical imagery. Seriously, I am in love with this song. Here are the lyrics.

Now that she’s back in the atmosphere
With drops of Jupiter in her hair
She acts like summer and walks like rain
Reminds me that there’s time to change
Since the return from her stay on the Moon
She listens like spring and she talks like June

Tell me, did you sail across the sun?
Did you make it to the Milky Way to see the lights all faded
And that Heaven is overrated

Tell me, did you fall for a shooting star?
One without a permanent scar
And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there

Now that she’s back from that soul vacation
Tracing her way through the constellation
She checks out Mozart while she does tae-bo
Reminds me that there’s room to grow

Now that she’s back in the atmosphere
I’m afraid that she might think of me as plain ol jane
Told a story about a man who is too afraid to fly so he never did land

Tell me, did the wind sweep you off your feet?
Did you finally get the chance to dance along the light of day
And head back to the Milky Way
And tell me, did Venus blow your mind?
Was it everything you wanted to find
And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there

Can you imagine no love, pride, deep-fried chicken
Your best friend always sticking up for you, even when I know you’re wrong
Can you imagine no first dance, freeze dried romance
Five-hour phone conversation
The best soy latte that you ever had . . . and me

Tell me, did the wind sweep you off your feet?
Did you finally get the chance to dance along the light of day
And head back toward the Milky Way

Tell me, did you sail across the sun?
Did you make it to the Milky Way to see the lights all faded
And that Heaven is overrated

Tell me, did you fall for a shooting star
One without a permanent scar
And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself

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Fascinated by Outer Space

I'm Fascinated by Outer Space

“I’m Fascinated by Outer Space, and I Vote.” Get the t-shirt — hat-tip to Brian for sending me the link.

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NASA Turns 50

NASA @ 50 Years

Today marks NASA’s 50th anniversary. It also marks the release of their space art collection in book form, NASA/ART: 50 Years of Exploration! Here’s to a great 50 years, and hopefully to another legacy-filled 50 years to come.

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Space artwork, part 3

Artwork by John Harris

John Harris is an artist with a very recognizable style; the images here are book covers for Ender’s Game and Speaker For The Dead, both by Orson Scott Card. His website states:

John has now spent thirty years illustrating work by some of the best science fiction writers… Isaac Asimov, James Blish, Frederik Pohl, Orson Scott Card, Samuel R Delany, Ben Bova, Allen Steele, and many more.

Odds are, if you’re an avid science-fiction reader, you’ve seen some of John’s work. Check out his website for more information, and this excellent post for many more images!

Artwork by John Harris

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Album Artwork, redux

Retro album artwork

I found these great covers here (via Brian.)

Album covers are strange and I don’t dig them up to post here nearly often enough… should I make this a more regular feature? Comments?

Retro album artwork

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Space artwork, part 2

Artwork by Dave Archer

I was fortunate to see Dave Archer in person as a teen, demonstrating his million-volt reverse-glass space painting. At that time (mid-1990s), his art was all over Star Trek: The Next Generation and I spent almost all my off-time at his booth, looking at his originals (I was working at my mother’s art booth at the same exposition.)

Artwork by Dave Archer

I think what I like so much about his art is the contrast between the clean, detailed planets and the wispy, chaotic gas clouds produced by the electricity. It’s ordered and random, precise and yet running wild, brightly colorful at times and yet so subtle. It still reminds me most of Star Trek, because Dave Archer was all over EVERYTHING in the franchise (or so it seemed at the time; and at that time I was very into ST:TNG), but that’s just a small part of his fantastic portfolio of work. Check it out here!

Artwork by Dave Archer

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Space Artwork

Artwork by Tobias Roetsch

Space art is truly visionary, enabling us to experience vistas both real and unreal. Government agencies and private corporations pay artists to try and express that which we can’t see, that which doesn’t yet exist, that which we’ve only just discovered. These artists deserve link love, so in coming weeks I’ll be giving some out!

Artwork by Tobias Roetsch

I’m kicking this series off with Tobias Roetsch, whose detailed illustrations of other worlds is beyond belief. Go to the gallery, pick an image, hit download to get a large version, and oggle at the beauty. This guy has one heck of an imagination, and his expressions thereof are simply breathtaking. Full of light, these pieces are dynamic and epic. There’s lots to see at his gallery, and plenty of wallpaper for download as well!

Artwork by Tobias Roetsch

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