caligula04/space exploration

Marvelous photographs of the sun put together by NASA and Berkeley.

6/20/05: "My web-surfing time (which I shall call "writing research") has been dominated by radical politics lately. I need some political books to read. I've got a ton of fiction, a bunch of science, and all the major works of philosophy, but very little politics. Particularly the type of politics I'm into."

8/11/05: "Apparently the great planet controversy will officially come to an end this week. The International Astronomical Union has been discussing the issue for a year and planned to make an official statement next summer. However, the announcement of three potential planets in one day, one of which is larger than Pluto, was enough to inspire them to make a decision just a little bit quicker. It does make me wonder just what the IAU folks needed two full years to discuss; it's a controversy, but there aren't that many different choices to choose from. Review the facts, take a vote, and then we have an official definition."

From the page: "Google SketchUp is a free and easy-to-learn 3D modeling program that lets you create 3D models of houses, sheds, decks, home additions, woodworking projects %u2013 even space ships.

You can add details, textures and glass to your models, design with dimensional accuracy, place your finished models in Google Earth, share them with others by posting them to the 3D Warehouse, or print hard copies.

* Click on a shape and push or pull it to create your desired 3D geometry.
* Experiment with color and texture directly on your model.
* Real-time shadow casting lets you see exactly where the sun falls as you model.
* Select from thousands of pre-drawn components to save time drawing. "

1/19/06: "Pluto is a world of mystery. It has never been visited by any spacecraft. The best pictures of Pluto are blobby and indistinct. Astronomers can't even decide what Pluto is--a planet, a Kuiper Belt Object, an ice-dwarf? NASA's New Horizons spacecraft will reveal all when it reaches Pluto in 2015. The spacecraft launched today."

Space and science news and stuff

My June 2001 art gallery.